Weeks 25-28

I wrote it then, but cherish it even more now....

As I sit here today and reflect on weeks 25-28, I have to say looking back they went by so quickly.  However in the moment, I don't think I would have thought to.  As in my past pregnancies, the weeks of 20-27 are some of the most scary, filled with worry and uncertainty.  This time is no different but yet as I think back, the one thing that helped me with each passing day, was to not get ahead of myself, to stay in the moment of the present day and to ask myself, "How are things at this moment?"  It was something Laurie Beth had always guided me on with Madelyn.  At this moment, at this time, I would ask myself that question and then often follow it up with, "Is there any reason to be concerned at this moment?"  99.9% of the time the answer was always no.  That is how I got through the weeks of 25-28.

Look at those long legs!

  That and the fact that my class was in the final weeks, with the majority of the points available at the end, and I knew I needed to stay focused on that goal.  That often kept my mind very busy which is a good thing.  And I always reminded myself we had made it past the 24 mark, something I know that is not the same with each pregnancy but still a trigger for me.  I come to see them now as such... triggers, of post-traumatic stress I still have from our experience with Noah.  

In the last 4 weeks we've seen the baby continue to grow and start now to fill out!  It is so much fun and I feel like I can see similarities between the baby and Madelyn.  Here are a few (or many) of our recent photo shoots with baby H.

The legs that are gaining strength and kicking me with more force each and everyday!  I LOVE it!

I love how they have their feet crossed in this picture.  Reminds me something both Jarrett and I do.  

The baby seems to love the umbilical cord and the placenta because if they don't have their face shoved in the placenta they are holding the cord and playing with it.  

That's the cord in front of the face. 

And we love our hands too.  

 Isn't this one cute, the baby is making a heart shape with their hands.  :-)

More fun playing with our hands.

And as much as the baby is growing on the inside, my belly on the outside is growing just as much too.  I think I definitely have muscle memory because I'm feeling quite large.  Thankfully Jarrett reminds me this is exactly what we want!

The girls are pretty excited about what is in there, although as you see from Isabelle's face, she has a better idea of what this means than Madelyn.  Our current "baby" has no idea what's coming.  Just last night I was talking to her about sleeping in her bed instead of our bed and that when the baby comes she'd going to have to sleep in her bed all night because she will be the big sister.  Then as soon as Jarrett came into the bedroom I said, "Dad, Madelyn and I were just talking about where she's going to sleep when the baby comes."  Dad responded by asking Madelyn where she was going to sleep then.  She sat up in bed (our bed I might add) and said, "I'm sleeping in your bed, its my bed too."  LOL.

Week 27 happen to fall on Easter Sunday and we finally shared the news with our family.  Prior to this we had really kept the news close to our hearts and just between our immediate family.  Part of this was because of the fear and worry we carry with each pregnancy but also part of it was for selfish reasons in that this being our last experience in growing our family, we wanted to soak up as much of every moment we could as our family of 6 growing into a party of 7.  I officially think you become "party size" when you become a family of 7.  I can't wait for this status.  Most would not describe me as a party animal so for once I might actually fit in with this description.   

 The boys have been very supportive and interested in this pregnancy.  Mainly they are concerned about what contractions feel like, how much pain is associated with labor and how anyone can survive something so "horrible" (their words).  I almost wish I could get one of those labor contraction simulators that you see on the internet every once in a while.  I think it would be funny to let the guys in our family try it out.  I wonder how much they could stand.... I have a feeling Gabriel would think he'd be so tough and would probably waive the white flag right from the start.  

Speaking of him, the other night I put my pj's on and obviously my t-shirts are getting too small.  When I walked out to the kitchen Gabe made some comment about my belly hanging out and I responded, "Wait, isn't this the new fashion trend I see all the girls at your school sporting.  Maybe I should just show up with my crop top and see what everyone thinks."  He looked at me with a moment of great fear unsure if I was serious and then he responded, " PLEASE NO, I would seriously die."  Glad to know he thinks I look so great. :-)
But at least now I have another thing I can tease him about. 

As the weeks have gone on, we've been able to see the baby fill out and grow.  It makes me happy to see and to know that with each passing day, we are getting to a better point.  Look at those feet!

This picture makes me laugh, I'm not sure if the baby was moving but it looks like they just have one bone with a boot on and their hand looks huge!

Some of these 3D ones are my favorite.  It seems with each week the baby prefers to keep their facial features a surprise.  Look at these moves to keep their face hidden?

Here's one sneak peak where it almost looks like the baby is smiling.

and soon enough back to shoving their face in the placenta.

At our most recent ultrasound we finally got a great shot of the baby's face and I keep thinking I'm looking at Madelyn when she was in the womb.  I can't wait to meet this baby in person.  Well I can wait, but I'm so excited to see what they really are like when they get here. 

Sometimes it seems surreal that we'll hopefully get to parent 5 kiddos.  In some ways it scares me I think 5, wow that seems like so many, but when I think about it, I truly pray that 5 here on earth to guide and raise is what we are blessed to do.

I look forward to having moments like this photo below to share.  

While I love getting to see pictures of the baby each week as he or she grows, there is one picture or image on the screen that I long for each and every time.  It is this image... the heart rate.  Each week that I see that rise and fall of the heartbeat trace across the screen, I breath a sigh of relief and give great thanks that life is growing and thriving inside of me.  The significance of that gift will never be taken for granted.  

In this picture if you look at the jaw line you can see the tiny teeth buds in the jaw.  Isn't it incredible how amazing our bodies are to create this? 

At 28 weeks I was supposed to start monitoring the movements of the baby and last Saturday night, after a very minimal day of all movements, followed by an evening where I felt nothing and after lying down, eating, drinking and still not getting baby to move, I decided to go into the triage L & D to make sure everything was okay. 

Thankfully they got me right in as you can imagine with each passing moment, the anxiety and fear doubled in my mind.  I tried to reassure myself no matter what happened it was going to be okay.  But honestly I was really scared.  Jarrett stayed home with the kids so I was there by myself, which in a way was the way I wanted and yet knew if it wasn't what we hoped he would have wanted to be by my side.

They hooked me up to the monitor and thankfully right away the nurse found a heartbeat.  The sound I always think of galloping horses.  I love that sound and oh so grateful to hear it.

After a while of monitoring the nurses and the doctor were reassured that things were okay and so was I.  Ever grateful to be able to climb out of that bed and know baby was okay, and safe inside for a few more weeks we pray.

So here we are approaching 29 weeks, and I sometimes think it has gone so fast and other times it seems like we've been counting down the weeks forever.  

So here's to 28 weeks going on 29 and hoping we get a future of ice cream nights as a family of 7.

until next time,
Angie