24 weeks and a baby name

It’s been a while since I’ve posted a pregnancy update, so I thought I’d do one now that I’m 24 weeks. My glucose test is next week. My belly and our baby boy are growing rapidly! This pregnancy is rolling along.

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I’ve been feeling really good. I’m sore and my legs and hips get tired toward the end of the day. I have a lot of energy during the day, but I fall asleep around 9:30 every night, which is incredibly early for me. Todd and I are night owls and love staying up late watching TV. I fall asleep on the couch almost every night.

I’m sleeping well for the most part. Changing positions is getting to be a challenge, and Todd says I’m snoring now. Whoops. But I do feel rested. Baby boy seems to wake up every morning right when I open my eyes, and then he starts moving all around. (Or maybe it’s his movement that wakes me up and I just can’t really tell.)

I don’t have any specific cravings. I do like sweets, but they leave the worst taste in my mouth after I eat something. I love cheese and I love meat. But no real consistent cravings.

Hudson and Hayes are incredibly excited and talk about the baby all the time. Hudson likes to talk to the baby, and he has been doing the funniest thing. He asks me to open my mouth wide so he can shout into my mouth and the sound travels down to the baby. It’s a very interesting thought process, but it also makes a lot of sense. Despite me telling him that he can talk straight at my belly, he still thinks it makes more sense to talk into my mouth. I just laugh every time!

We’ve officially decided on a name and I thought I’d announce it here. Coming up with a 3rd boy name wasn’t super easy, but we ultimately decided not to use another “H” name. I like a few other “H” names, but none of them seemed right. And I didn’t want to choose a name just because it started with a certain letter. I wanted a name with some meaning and really wanted to use family names again.

We love the name we’ve chosen, and it’s so fun to hear the kids say his name.

baby name

His name is James Walker and we plan to call him James Walker. I hadn’t really ever considered a double name for a boy, but I just loved it when we first said it. James was Todd’s maternal grandfather and Walker is my brother’s name, and my dad’s middle name.

So, we’re pretty excited about our little James Walker! Now we’re ready to start counting down until when we meet him.

15 weeks

Hey hey hey there!

It’s been a bit of a slow morning and I had some time to pick up my computer. But I’ve had some technical difficulties with logging into my blog lately, and whenever I actually decide to write a post, it takes me about 20 minutes just to log in. Perhaps it’s a sign?

I wanted to share a bit about this pregnancy so far as I’m now 15 weeks and starting to feel like myself again.

Todd and I had talked about having a third baby, but we wanted to wait until we were settled into our home and we wanted to wait for Hayes to turn three. Not because it’s a magic age (far from it!), but I just wanted to move a little farther past the baby stage.

Toward the end of June, I realized that I was late. Another week went by and I was close to two weeks late. At a regular grocery store trip, I picked up a pregnancy test, but just put it under the sink in the bathroom. In my heart, I knew that I was pregnant, but I guess I was just scared to confirm it. Even though it was what we wanted, something about a third baby just had me wondering if we could handle it.

On a Saturday afternoon when Todd was home, I decided to take the test, and it only took about 30 seconds for the plus sign to show up confirming our suspicions. We were going to have another baby! I cried and told Todd, and he just laughed and hugged me. We were so excited… and nervous.

I waited a few days to share the news with my parents and told our closest friends as we saw them. I set up an appointment with my doctor, and went in at 8 weeks.

Around six weeks, I had been feeling pretty lucky that I’d managed to avoid any symptoms or sickness. We were having this fun, carefree summer. I had horrible all day sickness until 24 weeks with both boys, so I was so relieved. But then it hit me with full force around six weeks this time. All day, every day. I’d find myself dozing off on the couch while watching cartoons with the boys. And it took me an hour to get out of bed every morning. And the evenings were actually the worst! I couldn’t eat at night and going to sleep was the only way to feel better.

But the sickness was so reassuring because I knew that my body was doing what it needed to do to support our little baby. And the 8 week appointment went perfectly.

I had to back out of going on a mission trip with our church this summer. It was a trip I had really looked forward to, but with the way I’d been feeling, I knew I couldn’t go without really disrupting the trip. It ended up being the best decision.

We had our last appointment at the end of August and the baby was wiggling all over the place with a really high heart rate of 173. And then, miraculously, I started feeling better. I still have little moments where it hits me, but I feel like I can go and do what I need to do and not worry about getting stuck somewhere and getting sick. I am so thankful to have turned a corner!

I’m 15 weeks now, and definitely starting to show. I’ve been wearing maternity pants for a couple of weeks now, and have been able to wear my normal long tunics and tops to cover up that super awesome belly panel!

We talked about not finding out the sex of this baby. We know it’s our last baby, and I would really love to have that big surprise moment in the delivery room. But, to my complete surprise, Todd really wants to find out.

He told me he’d be fine to find out and not tell me, but I know that would drive me crazy and I’d have to know if he knew.

I’m not a big lover of surprises normally, but for the third baby we have everything we need. We have gowns and onesies and sleepers and a crib and sheets and a room. I think it would be so much fun!

We went ahead and scheduled an appointment to find out the sex in two weeks. I’ll be around 17 weeks then. We can always cancel it if Todd changes his mind. But it looks like we’ll be finding out then!

We’ve talked about names some, but I’m thinking that Todd is like every other man in the world and the baby name conversation isn’t his favorite one to have. I, on the other hand, have been naming babies in my head my whole life.

We really, really are just praying for a super healthy baby. I was lying on the couch late last night watching Shark Tank Week (yes! Shark Tank Week!) and I got really still. My stomach started feeling really full and bubbly and I just had a feeling that if I laid there long enough I’d feel something. And there were some tiny flutters, and all of a sudden I felt one very distinct kick on my hand. And that was just the reassurance I needed.

I get so nervous between appointments in the beginning and I just want to know that everything is okay. I know that all I can do is pray. And the most comforting thing in the world is that God knows this baby. He created this baby. He knew this baby before he was even formed. But those first tiny kicks are so so sweet.

I hope you’re all having a great week so far, and hopefully enjoying slightly cooler temps that give you the promise of fall!

If you’ve read up to this point, thank you! xo

before Hudson met Hayes

Before Hayes was born, I had this overwhelming feeling of worry. But I was worried about Hudson. I was so worried that we were going to completely rock his world, and that our relationship with him would change.

I worried that he would be sad and feel left out and jealous. And, mostly, I was worried that he would instantly grow up more than I was prepared for him to grow up. To help him prepare for the baby’s arrival, we just talked about the baby a lot. We told him Hayes’s name, and we would pray for the baby every night before bed. I think that constantly talking about it helped prevent some of the surprise when Hayes was born.

We also took Hudson to the store so he could pick out a gift to give to Hayes in the hospital. He picked out a little stuffed animal, and was excited to give it to his baby brother.

My friend, Nina, sent Hudson a book called “I’m A Big Brother” and we read it every day, multiple times a day. And we continued to read it once Hayes was born. He loved looking at the pictures and talking about his new baby brother.

The weekend before Hayes was scheduled to arrive, we had a weekend of fun just for Hudson. We took him to his favorite places and just really had a great weekend celebrating him and soaking up our time with just our little family of three. We were thrilled to be welcoming Hayes, but we were very well aware of how much life would change.

But, goodness, all that worry was for nothing. Life wasn’t a cake walk after Hayes arrived, but the amount of love that our hearts can accommodate just grew and grew. There was no reason to be worried.

And in these first couple of weeks at home with Hayes and Hudson, my mom was there with me while Todd was at work. Having her there helped us divide and conquer, so that Hudson and Hayes were both being cared for at all times. I think the adjustment went really well, and our boys are getting closer and closer to becoming the very best friends.

How did you help prepare your child for a new sibling?

Check out the Huggies Mommy Answers Facebook app and find more posts from bloggers sharing their experiences of motherhood on the Huggies page on BlogHer.com.

6 c-section recovery tips

Our Hayes was born via c-section because he was breech, and because I’d had such a horrible time with Hudson’s delivery. I ended up really liking the c-section.

I know, who says they actually like major abdominal surgery? But since I’ve delivered babies both ways, I guess I can say that I liked the c-section. The pain was manageable and I felt prepared for the recovery. I received some great tips from women and figured out a few things for myself during my experience.

1. Bring lots of pillows from home. You’ll have very limited use of your abdominal muscles, if you have any muscles at all! Having lots of pillows to prop yourself up, will make it easier to reach things in bed and easier to get out of bed when it’s time. You’ll need as much support as possible!

2. Belly wraps are helpful! Having a belly wrap will help hold everything together. It keeps everything tight, so when you laugh or sneeze or stand up, you have just a little bit of extra support in your belly.

3. When it’s time to get up and walk, do it! I was required to be hooked up to the IV for a full day, but the morning that the nurses came and unhooked my IVs, it was time to get up and take a walk. The first walk was to the restroom. I can just remember being so relieved to have gotten the two scariest things out of the way: 1. standing/walking and 2. going to the restroom. Check and check!

4. Walk often. Actually just go ahead and take at least three “laps” around the hospital floor per day. This will help build up your abdominal strength again. It will be so difficult to stand and move without the use of those muscles, but it does come back. Walking often also helps you feel better a lot faster.

5. Other than your couple of times per day walks, take it easy. Let people bring things to you. Don’t lift anything heavier than the baby. You want to heal quickly without complication, so just listen to your body and take it easy.

6. Take a shower as soon as possible and put on your own comfy pajamas. Getting clean will just make you feel so much better. Make sure you have someone there to help you, because standing is just difficult. Bring pajama pants with a low, loose waist band that won’t hurt or irritate your incision. I brought all my favorite toiletries from home and my favorite maternity pajamas that were easy to nurse in. It just felt so good to get clean and comfortable.

I really had a great c-section experience. The pain was manageable (thanks to about four days of pain meds) and I was up and back to normal after about a week. I’m thankful that other moms gave me so many great tips to use as I prepared for my surgery and recovery.

What tips would you add to this list to offer to a new mom recovering from a c-section?

Check out the Huggies Mommy Answers Facebook app and find more posts from bloggers sharing their experiences of motherhood on the Huggies page on BlogHer.com.

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