Four won't kill ya ... right? RIGHT?!?!

Yesterday I went to the OB and found out, officially, that #4 is on the way! And my first reaction was relief that it's only #4 and not #4 and #5, to tell you the truth. It seems that for the past few months all I have been hearing about is twins, and I was kinda sweatin' it. I'll take 'em one at a time, if I have a choice!



I know these are a little blobby looking. Give me a break, it's only about and inch and a half long! :) It was amazing to see how well-developed our baby was already. At first it was just sitting there while the doctor measured it and took these shots. Then I said, "Oh look, there's a little hand," and all of a sudden the baby started doing this little wiggle, and its hands and legs started flailing and its mouth was moving and it did a flip. It was incredible to watch! You'd think after 4 times it wouldn't be so exciting ... but it was as good as the first time! I loved it. And it was amazing to see all that motion without feeling anything!

It's been very fun to let family know of our upcoming arrival. I couldn't resist telling my family right away because I felt like I had a great opportunity. For Christmas my sis-in-laws and I made family calendars for my side. I just had them printed when I suspected I was pregnant. I thought I was due Sept. 18, which is Rachelle's birthday, so I took a sticky note and added it under her birthday so it read "Rachelle's birthday and Tami's due date." Then I mailed them their calendars and waited for them to call :) Of course, my mom saw it right away! That was fun. (Now they're saying my due date is actually Sept. 12, but I'm sure I won't have it until the 18th anyway.)

To tell our kids we played "Mom's Clues" one family home evening where I put handprints on different baby items around the house, and they had to find the clues and write them in little notebooks, then sit in a thinking chair. I asked them what all the clues meant and Caden said incredulously, "A new-borned baby???" Tessa jumped up and said, "And it will be a sister for me!!!" So we're hoping for a girl, I guess, but will take whatever we get! Then they wanted to continue playing Blue's Clues and were not interested in more baby talk at all :)

To tell Dave's parents we had each of the kids make them a Valentine's card, then I made an extra one that said, "Happy Valentine's Day Grandma and Grandpa! Love, Grandbaby #15 (coming in September!)" They loved it and all reacted very well and excitedly. We appreciate everyone's positive support! It's nice that no one rolled their eyes or groaned ... at least not in our presence.

I'd have to say it's been a great first trimester overall. Besides being totally exhausted and allowing my house to fall into complete shambles, I only threw up a few times right at the beginning (mostly because I hate my prenatal vitamins), and I've felt pretty good overall. Some days I've had some nausea and a general yucky feeling, and evenings are toughest due to the wonderful bloating (I know you wanted to know that), but really I can't complain too much and I'm grateful for it being as good as it has been! I'm feeling pretty confident too that we're ready and we kinda got the baby thing down so hopefully it won't be too difficult this time around! As long as we can avoid colic and reverse sleeping patterns, we'll be OK.