Guess What??

I know, I know.....it's been a LONG time since I've posted!

I wanted to wait until the next Bumpdate, and I did have those pictures of our summer so far to post, but I still can't find them!! I had my latest check-up at my midwife's yesterday, and now I have info to share, so here's the long awaited post!!

Well, our Baby is healthy and growing and even had the hiccups! 

I'm actually 18 weeks and two days now.....I'm only going to do the subjects that have changed, so not all of the topics will be discussed because a lot of them just haven't changed since my last post!

So, here's the latest stats:

Weight gained? I've only gained about 3 or 4 lbs since my last appointment!! Thank the Lord, I was starting to be afraid that I'd keep gaining and gaining the weight and be as big as an elephant when this baby is born!!

Movement? Yep, feeling lots of pops and bubbles and pokes!

Cravings? Of course, like always! Let's see, lately it's been clam chowder, which I do like but hardly ever have! And the same coffee drinks I've always loved.

Sleep? My sleep is not wonderful.  I have to get up once and sometimes twice to go to the bathroom, and since we don't have a bathroom in our bedroom, I have to walk to the bathroom, which is SO SO SO hard at 3:30 in the morning!!! But it's all worth it in the end, for the pay off!!

Feeling? Well, I'm not feeling awesome.  My pelvis is starting to soften and stretch, and so it feels like it got ran over by a train and then taped back together upside down and inside out....ouch.  And I do have heartburn still.  But I will never complain, I realize fully what a blessing all of that is when the pay off is a beautiful baby!!

Gender? Oh yes, we managed to find out if we're having a boy or a girl yesterday.....IT'S A GIRL!!!!!! But I'm keeping her name under wraps! Yay! This makes Girl #8 for us!!

Best moment of the week? Well, obviously it was finding out that we're having a girl.....but it was also the phone call from a very, very dear friend from another church telling me that they would be having a baby shower for me!!!!! And I just had resigned myself to the fact that nobody on the planet has baby showers for Baby #9! So, I get to look forward to a baby shower!!! 

Miss anything? Nope.  

Looking forward to? I have so much to look forward to! Midwife appointments, having a bowl of clam chowder, coffee drinks, my baby shower, that first baby cry, snuggling with her........sigh......it's bliss!! This Christmas is going to be the best ever!!

So there you have it, the latest Bumpdate!! And still no Bump picture.  I'm trying to talk myself into it, but I just can't find the courage to post my Bump online!! Lol.  Thanks for the patience and we'll just hope that my next post is a lot sooner!!

4 Months

Okay, it's time for another Bumpdate!!

I am now 4 months along in my pregnancy.

I am thrilled and excited and so deeply, deeply grateful to be this far along and be able to shelter this little life.

So, let's get to the particulars, shall we?

How far along? 4 months and one day, or 16 weeks and one day! Baby is now the size of an avocado and has fingernails and toenails!!

Weight gained? I have no idea about this, as i haven't been to my midwife in two weeks and I don't own a scale! I'll find out in two weeks though.....yikes.....

Feeling? Hmmm....I'm feeling nauseated if I don't eat when I'm hungry.  I'm feeling like I'm moving very slowly, but that's just from the excess weight I have on my frame right now.  I'm still feeling tired.  And one thing that I've been having that's only occurred when I was pregnant with twins is heartburn! I get heartburn pretty easily.  To combat this, I use one drop of peppermint essential oil in my water.  My legs and feet also itch!

Cravings? I'm still craving Mexican food about twice a week.  There's this great little restaurant about 5 blocks from us that makes the B E S T authentic Carne Asada Tacos.....the place is really a dive but oh my stars, those tacos are the very best Carne Asada I've ever had. I can't even talk about them because it starts me craving them!  I've been craving steak and eggs with hash browns or omelette and hash browns.  It's funny because I never used to be a big fan of breakfast in general, but being pregnant this time, I crave my two favorite breakfasts regularly! Oh, and I get a side of hollandaise sauce to put on my stuff! YUM!!! These are pretty unfortunate cravings for me because if there is one thing my husband despises the most, it's eating out or getting take out or even the mention of such a thing! But he's been so accommodating this pregnancy, I'm really proud of him!

Gender? We don't know if our baby is pink or blue yet.  We do hope to find out in two weeks.  I did an informal, impromptu poll on FB and the consensus so far is be pink! Imagine that!  Stay tuned.....

Movement? Oh yes, I'm feeling lots of movement.  I'm feeling movement right now as I type this.  It feels like pops and pokes and flutters still, but I've been feeling movement for a LOT longer than all of the pregnancy tracker sites say you can.  I usually feel the most movement as I start eating and when I get into bed and lay on my side.

Sleep? I'm sleeping pretty good, for me! I tend to be an insomniac.  I'm a side sleeper and I always sleep on my right side.  Well, when I get into bed and turn over onto my side, Baby starts popping and shifting like popcorn in a hot pan! Baby doesn't like it when I sleep on my side, I think it squishes!! So, I sleep mostly on my back, kind of propped up. I always, always, without fail have to get up to go to the bathroom somewhere around 1 and 3 AM.  I get up every day at 5:30 AM.  But so far I'm sleeping pretty good!

Stretch Marks? This hasn't changed much.  I have stretch marks but you can only see them in certain light.  They aren't noticeable at all, and anyway, it doesn't matter to me because it isn't like I go around flashing my belly and wearing bikinis!!! **SHUDDER** So, they're just between me and the mirror!!

Best moment this week? In bed last night, I put my hand on my lower tummy, because I carry really, really low when I'm pregnant.  I put my hand on my tummy and I could feel that my tummy was starting to become hard! Now, this may sound so mundane to most of you, but to me, it's a major milestone!! It means Baby is big enough and things are progressing enough to make my tummy grow.  YAY!!!

Miss anything? I truthfully don't miss one single thing.  This pregnancy is just too wondrous and too wanted to miss anything.  

Looking forward to? I'm looking forward to my next midwife appointment in two weeks. I hope she is able to poke around and maybe get a glimpse to see if Baby is pink or blue! 

There you have it, all of the things about my pregnancy that you didn't know you wanted to know!!!

Thanks!

Wow, I'm overwhelmed!

I want to say thanks to all of you who gave me advice about the Picture Problem and to those gave me some ideas on where to go online.  

Now I'll do some investigating and see what site I like the best, or what my favorite one-stop grocery store here in my town has to offer in the way of photo development.

I'm always glad to have a blog and be connected to my girlfriends in the blog-o-sphere!

I'll let you know how it turns out and what happens, okay?

Again, THANKS!!!

Pictures?

Hey!

I'm sorry for taking an unintended absence from the blog.....I loved the semi-consistancy I had achieved lately.

The reason I've been absent is because, well, I really couldn't decide what to post about!

I decided to post pictures of our summer so far, but I can't find any of the recent pictures the girls have been taking!  Our camera is a little point-and-shoot model with a memory card and the girls usually load that memory card onto Daddy's computer and then they don't label the files into which they put the pictures! I blog and surf the 'net from the living room computer.  I can never, ever find any pictures on either of our computers and it's just because I am very technically handicapped! I've asked the girls on and off to find the pictures they've been taking, but we get busy and forget.....

My new resolution is to have the girls find those elusive pictures and label them, and if they can't label them then at least they can let me know where they are, and I can write some numbers down so at least I can always find them.

You know, my girls take really beautiful pictures.  The scenes they capture are really so eloquent and so breathtaking.  They continue to surprise me because our camera is so chintzy and has been dropped and the lens got stuck and now you can't retract the lens or it will get stuck again and you have to pry it open....blah blah blah blah blah.....The girls consistently long for a Big Girl camera, and we look at them but how can you tell which one is best for mature young ladies who can take killer pics?? There's such a variety of cameras out there.....all I care about is being able to freeze those wonderful and special times on a good camera!

I've also had the strong desire to have some of the gorgeous images my girls have taken printed out, blown up and framed.  Listen, I am so long and so far out of the loop as to technology and you know, I don't even know if there are places that print out hard copies of pictures anymore! Is that totally like, early 90's?? Man.  I mean, we have some of the most beautiful and heart stopping photos on our computer, but it has been my desire to make a photo wall in my living room, with all different sizes of pics, and all different styles of wooden frame that are the same color, and the only way to do that is to print out these pics! I really do miss the days when I could take that film down to my favorite grocery store and drop it off, and a couple days later I'd go back to pick up the hard copies!! I think I've heard of online sources that print out hard copies, but seriously, I wonder if they've ever dealt with my lack-of-skill level??!! And so, in the meantime between finding that place that can give me hard copies to seeing those prints up on my wall, I guess those images on my computer will just burn a hole in my heart!

Maybe someone out there among my two faithful readers has some wisdom or sources for me. I'd really appreciate the help.  I appreciate deeply that my few readers have stayed with me and remained faithful even though I haven't posted faithfully in the past! I'd really appreciate any help anyone can give me on getting my pictures into hard copies.

Stay tuned for a post of summer pictures!