Baby Number 5!

We are so excited to announce Baby #5 will be joining our family!

Due December 5th!

If you've ever read her before you know I've always wanted a large family. And to me, four kids didn't seem large. To Mike, it absolutely did. Well....SURPRISE SURPRISE we'll be having just one more. I'll be honest, even though I very much wanted another baby, it still took me awhile to get used to the idea. Between being sick and exhausted, having 4 kids and a husband to take care of, and just the idea of adding another mouth to feed, an infant to take care of, sleepless nights, etc etc.... it wasn't immediate excitement. I'm thrilled today but it definitely took a little bit of time. Not something I'm used to. With the other 4 I was jumping with excitement! I even brought it up to my doctor and she was so understanding and told me that it's completely normal, to give it time and I would get there...and she was right. 

Baby is looking great and growing right on track.

We did have a little bit of a worry after my first doctors appointment. On our first ultrasound they noticed I had two blood clots next to the baby. They call this subchorionic hematomas. I was told to take it easy, not exercise and they put me on modified bed rest. These clots can cause miscarriage but most of the time clear up on their own. It was scary, but I tried not to panic. I did however wonder how I was going to tackle bed rest and 4 kids. Mike took over all the household chores, Lexi came by on all her days off and we made it work. I had a moment where I saw a little bleeding but come to find out it was just the clots passing and everything was fine. Thank God! At my 12 week ultrasound the blood clots were gone and the baby was thriving!

To top it off, this baby has made me SO sick. For a month straight, yes while I was supposed to be on bed rest, I was pretty much married to my couch and bed. Mike and Lexi were troopers and jumped in whenever they could to help me with the kids. Which I am so thankful for because when my head wasn't buried in a toilet I just wanted to be sleeping. I tried ALL THE TRICKS and nothing helped. The kids were so understanding and patient with me, which helped a lot. It's nice having them all be a little older now so I can explain things to them and they understand a little bit more. Although, Kensington is now convinced every time someone doesn't feel well that "the baby is making them sick". Hey! It worked! It's getting better...though I'm not out of the woods yet. With Kamryn & Logan this feeling lasted until I was 17 weeks. With Kensington and Tenley 14 weeks. Today I am 15 weeks and I still get waves of nausea and need to lay down, but the vomiting has subsided so I consider that a MAJOR victory! Is that TMI? Sorry, its life. Pregnancy is NOT glamorous by any means. At least for me.

We found out just a week ago that the baby is a BOY! Talk about exciting! The perfect finishing touch to our family. Everyone is over the moon to have a baby brother.

As for names...because some of you have asked. I know what I want to name him but Mike hasn't given me the thumbs up. He will though....because he loves me! ;-) We'll probably keep it to ourselves until he get's here...but who knows? I may tell you next week. LOL! 

We are feeling so blessed to have another baby joining our family. So far he looks perfectly healthy and that matters to us, more than anything. He does NOT cooperate for ultrasounds and stares right at the camera. Last time they pretty much had to flip me upside down, I jumped, I rolled side to side and this kid would not budge. He likes his little upside down position and he's already stubborn. Sounds like his big brother....Lord help us! The funniest part was when the ultrasound technician would push down on my belly trying to get him to move, he would put his hand up trying to stop her like "what are you doing?!?" It just cracks me up how they are so tiny (the size of a lemon) but already so smart and active. 

I want to thank everyone for joining us in the excitement of this new life. You all have been incredibly supportive on social media and in person, and I cannot tell you how much that means to us. We were nervous to let the news out. I mean, since we had Kensington it seems the world has been telling us to stop having kids so we were sure we'd get some not so nice comments but we haven't gotten even a single one. (I think everyone has learned the age old saying "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.") Was everyone shocked? Of course. But they were also so so happy and most of all kind. This baby is a blessing and I'm so happy everyone agrees with us on that.