My Mama's Boys

I have to admit, I'm almost a little sad about giving up my position as the only girl in the house. These little boys make my world so great! They are sweet and funny and crack us up daily. 

My cute Briggs tells me daily "Mama, you booful." 

It doesn't matter if I got dressed and ready or have 3 day old hair and makeup, he still tells me I'm beautiful. 

He also tells me daily, "Mama, your baby cute!" while he pats my belly.

Ian has only called me beautiful about two times, but he does tell me he loves me every time I tell him I love him. 

Where did these boys learn to be so adorable?!

Baby #3 | 20 weeks

Once I quit taking my meds at 17 weeks and I finally was feeling better on my own, it was amazing. My boys got most of their mom back and I started having a little more energy again and I started loving being pregnant again.

We had our big anatomy ultrasound between 19 and 20 weeks. 

We confirmed that our sweet baby is a girl! 

{Which is leaving us feeling completely thrilled, underprepared, and just feels so perfect for our family this time around.}

Baby girl looked perfect. She was growing just like she should and all of her organs and parts looked just right which is always a relief to see.

Being the anal person that I am, I discussed when I would be getting the Tdap vaccine and when others would need to get it to protect this baby from pertussis. 

And then of course I started telling all of our family members that they were required to get the Tdap vaccine before they held our baby. 

We started feeling baby girl during this time. She gets pretty wiggly at night, but she is not a fan of performing when there's a hand on my belly.

  

Baby #3 | Weeks 14-17

Once week 14 hit I finally started feeling a little better. 

It felt like a miracle after two months of nausea, exhaustion, and simply laying on our couch.

At my 14 week appointment I went to the doctor and much to my surprise was told that he likes to take a guess at the baby's gender at this point. We were planning on finding out what we were having, but it caught me by surprise to possibly find out so soon! I almost hadn't even thought about this baby being a boy or a girl because I had been in survival mode for so long, so I knew I'd be surprised one way or the other. 

We took a peek and my doctor said with 90% confidence, "It's a girl!" I was a little shocked but very excited at the prospect of a baby sister after our two cute boys. Because my doctor seemed so confident, we decided we would go ahead and announce to our families that we were 90% sure we were bringing home a baby girl with a bouquet of 9 pink and 1 blue balloon. 

15 weeks

I feel like my belly has grown as quickly as it did with the boys. I guess that second baby really does pop right out!

It seems like this was the point where I started gaining a little more energy and feeling like I might be more like myself again some day! 

17 weeks

This was a big week because I quit taking my anti-nausea meds this week! 

I was too scared until that point to try life without them, but I finally decided to give it a shot and low and behold I was still able to function! Nights are still my rougher time and I'll occasionally get nauseated if I am hungry, but it's a night and day difference from how I have been. 

Around 16 weeks I felt like I might be feeling little baby movements but wasn't ever 100% sure, but this week I felt more definitive movement which is my favorite thing!

Feeling human again!

The Stockings Were Hung

These boys of ours just crack us up on a daily basis. 

They are so sweet and expressive and say the cutest things.

This is what I heard today when I finally hung up all our stockings.

Baby #3 | Weeks 6-14

Let's just say these many weeks were spent laying on the couch, intermittent naps, early bedtimes, nearly constant nausea, several moments of racing to the toilet although somehow no vomiting, lots of anti nausea meds, one sick day at work, two sweet boys who play so well together that they barely need a coherent mother, and one amazing husband who picked up all the slack and did dishes, cleaning, up with the kids in the middle of the night and early in the morning, working from home to fix lunch and dinner, and keeping our house running for two months. 

It was a rough several weeks to say the least. Thankfully my life-saving husband did not have to leave town during this time or we may not have survived. 

Because I was so miserable, we shared our exciting news with family at 10 weeks by putting our boys in their "Big Brother" shirts and waiting for them to figure out our news. It was hilarious how long it took them to notice and put it together. I'm pretty sure our families had given up hope that we might have more kids, so this baby seemed a pleasant surprise to everyone. My mom's happy dance was something to remember. 

Another highlight of this time period was Halloween. 

Bump's first Halloween.

{How I want to remember feeling}

{How I actually felt that night}

And of course the boys were the most adorable sharks I have ever seen. They loved every minute of being sharks and certainly enjoyed trick-or-treating. 

Here we go again: Baby #3!

 

It all began when I wanted to see how much girly "equipment" I would need to pack to St. George for a weekend get away with my family. So I took a pregnancy test. Low and behold, there was the faintest of little lines staring back at me. I shook with excitement and shock because of course I was sure this was the month I would not be getting pregnant. Of course, what do I know about such matters. And regardless, it didn't matter, because I was pregnant!

My sweet husband didn't trust the pregnancy test and requested I take another one in a few days before he got excited about anything. Which of course I obliged, and then we were both dancing in our bedroom in excitement. It's just amazing how exciting those two little lines can be, even the second time around.

I feel great for a little while with no symptoms so I sure enjoyed those couple of weeks, and then the nausea hit with a vengeance at six weeks and I basically only left my couch when it was absolutely necessary. I had no idea how I was suppose to survive working three 12 hour shifts a week when I couldn't even leave my couch at home.

Fortunately I was able to meet with my doctor nice and early for an ultrasound to check and make sure everything was growing the way it should be because we had been following a cyst and wanted to make sure there wasn't any problems with this pregnancy being ectopic. Thankfully all looked well early on and I asked my doctor's opinion of anti-nausea meds. He recommended one and I gladly took home samples to try, because with three shifts in a row scheduled for the three days after that I wasn't sure if I could survive. And let me tell you, those pills changed my life. Sure I was still completely exhausted and couldn't even make it through a morning at home without a mid morning nap, but at least I wasn't completely nauseated all the time and could at least function throughout the day. Bless that dear OBGYN and his magic pills.

I know I was a little nauseous when I was pregnant with the boys, but sheesh, it seems like it was nothing compared to this. I was nearly surprised with the OB told me he only saw one baby in there because I thought certainly one teeny tiny peanut couldn't possibly cause this much trouble. Apparently it can. And despite feeling pretty crummy and completely wiped out, I am so grateful to have all those world altering symptoms that constantly remind me my body is absolutely amazing and able to grow another human being. I am always in awe that a woman's body can endure such changes to ensure the growth and protection of another. I'm due May 9th and we are so excited for this little bundle growing.

{I did such a great job of documenting my pregnancy with my boys and I feel like I'm failing miserably with this babe, but I'm hoping to do some catching up!}

Angel's Landing

We decided that Angel's Landing was a must-do activity while we were down in St. George. 

Some of the family had done it, but others of us hadn't and were excited for the adventure.

We decided early on that this would not be for those crazy little boys of ours so we got a sitter and headed off on our hike.

Kylie kept telling me to take her picture all over the mountainside. 

She might have had a little too much fun.

We celebrated when we got most of the way up.

And then we finally made it up to the top.

They joked that this was the way they traveled up the mountain!

And then we enjoyed the walk back down.

And we quickly felt that long day of hiking.

It was such an amazing hike and even though some of my people (ahem, Jesse) gave me grief about taking pictures the whole way up, I'd say it was totally worth it. 

I think we all loved it!