The Ducote Family

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

One month to go...

It is pretty hard to believe that in approximately one short month our family will grow again and we will be a family of 6!!!  Life will definitely be turned upside down for awhile but we are so excited to meet this little girl and to discover what our new normal is going to look like!  I have done an awful job of documenting this pregnancy (sorry baby girl) so will do a major recap now!!

I have felt really well this pregnancy.  Other than being very tired for the first trimester and experiencing food aversions during the first few months, I can't complain.  I am definitely starting to feel uncomfortable at times now but am still very active during the day, still working out 6 times a week either by walking or doing a strength training video and then keeping up with the kiddos.  We have definitely had a fun summer and haven't let this pregnancy stop me from doing anything!  I will nap occasionally now while Julia naps and the kids have quiet time but probably only about once a week and feel like it is more because I am not getting much sleep at night rather than just being tired from the day.  The nights are more annoying than anything right now as I bounce back and forth between the couch and our bed and basically sleep sitting up.  I am often awoken in the middle of the night by either heartburn/acid reflux or by having trouble breathing but am getting through it and know it can't last forever and that these long nights are just getting me ready for what's to come.

I haven't had any crazy cravings but my sweet tooth is definitely in full force and I can't say no to any type of dessert or sugary treat placed in front of me.  I try to have "healthier" options in the house but if something else is offered I won't turn it down.  My weight is a few pounds above than where it was with my other three pregnancies but only by a pound or two and  seems to fluctuate, but my stomach does feel a lot bigger, especially at this point but has consistently felt bigger throughout.  Over the last week I prepped 30 meals to be used in the crockpot.  I found a website with 30 healthy, pretty clean eating crockpot recipes that provided the entire grocery list and then the recipes for each.  I did all of the grocery shopping for them over the weekend and then spent the next five days prepping them-our freezer is now full and I am so thankful that we have the second refrigerator in the garage!  I have never done this before but with Joseph starting school and just adding one more human to this already chaotic family I figured it couldn't hurt.  Now we just have to hope that our freezer doesn't go out on us like it did last month!!

The kids are super excited and all three of them often rub my belly and kiss it.  Julia will say "baby" and rub my belly, and if you ask her what they baby is going to do she'll pretend to cry saying "wah wah wah" and then she'll pretend to rock a baby singing Rock a Bye Baby-so sweet!! (Oh and just for the record her singing of Rock a bye baby is not intelligible at all-it is more of a hum/her own words but to the correct tune!!) She definitely knows that something is happening though and will be so fun to see.  She does seem more aware of what is going on than Ella was when I was pregnant with Ella-those extra months make a difference.   We are still undecided as to what we are doing with the room situation once she comes-we are leaning towards having Julia go upstairs with Ella and having them share a room and then having the baby take Julia's room but will definitely keep her with us for a few months, I'm sure, so we still have some time to figure it out.  Julia is such  a great sleeper in her crib that I hate to make any changes right now so we are just going to wait it out and see what happens in the upcoming months.

We had an ultrasound on August 8th to monitor her growth and she looks great, although is definitely measuring big!  The doctor (not my normal doctor since for the ultrasounds I go to a specialist) estimated that she is already 8 pounds, 15 ounces and that she was measuring 37 weeks, 4 days so about 11 days ahead of my supposedly actual due date.  The doctor was funny and basically told me to go home and start doing jumping jacks and said that if my regular doctor checks me at my next appointment and if I am dilated then she would suggest induction immediately, so I don't have an 11 pound baby.  I am taking it all with a grain of salt since at all of my third trimester ultrasound I have always measured on the big side; however, none have been this big and what has me a bit concerned is that at my 20 week ultrasound I was also measuring about 10 days ahead.  One of the doctors recommended possibly changing my due date but my doctor didn't want to get my hopes up that I'd have the baby early so decided to keep my original due date, especially since I was pretty certain with my dates...we will see soon enough!!!!  Her heartbeat was 142 at the ultrasound and sounded strong and healthy!

We are still undecided on a name!  We have a list all with options that I like so Rich is in charge of ultimately deciding on it since he has in his head that I told him he could name baby #4 (which I totally don't remember doing but am fine with as long as he chooses a name from the list!!)

These aren't the best pictures-I guess I have never been real good about documenting my belly but I am 37.5 weeks with Julia (in the maroon skirt) and right around 37 weeks with Ella (middle) and Joseph (on the left). As I was looking for these pictures I came across my blog entry for Julia when I had an ultrasound at 36 weeks and she was estimated to be 7 lbs, 3 ozs!  Ok, so that scares me a bit considering when Julia was born, she weighed 8.15!!
And here I am at 35 weeks, 6 days with baby #4.  I'll have to try to remember to take a picture at 37 weeks so I can have one to compare a little better.  
The ultrasound tech couldn't get a good profile picture but did point out that she has a lot of hair!!  Can't wait to meet this sweet baby girl!  

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