Today is such a strange day! Brady was home this morning, and is now working this afternoon. This almost never happens, and Brady would always prefer to crush his work in the morning rather than the afternoon, but this was just how the house had to be scheduled. He could not get in sooner. So we’re rolling with it.

This morning was spent playing, coloring, putting the last batch of cold brew together for the party, and filing our insurance claim on our van to get the hail damage repaired. Wavy also had her first try at tummy time, which she tolerated to a point but didn’t much care for. Pretty normal, if I remember right. So the morning was relaxed, but we got a few things done, anyway!

Brady had to haul out halfway through lunch, and I realized that I have no one coming through to snuggle Wavy today! Is this the first day without company?? I think it might be, and that feels crazy! Just yesterday, we had friends pop by three different times to hang with Waverly and the other kids. Today, nada! No excuses, guys 😉 I assume none of you are here today because you’re ALL coming on Saturday. Correct? Good! Seriously though, it feels strange!

I put the three middles down for a nap, Dekker is reading books and coloring, and Wavy had some milk and is now sawing logs in her cradle so I can blog. All in all, this is likely what our “normal” will look like for the next while. I can hope, anyway!!

Brady is picking up a little side table for me after work, and hopefully a cheese slicer so I don’t cut my fingers to shreds the day of Waverly’s party. Is anyone else HORRIBLE at slicing cheese? I’ve always been terrible at it, and its time for that to change. (Yes, I’m FAR too excited about the cheese slicer. Don’t judge me.)

Maybe in the remainder of quiet time, I’ll tidy up my bedroom and my en suite. Its all such a mess, and I admit, I have yet to fully unpack our hospital bag stuff. At this point, I should really just wash everything thats still in there. And my en suite is just generally messy and could use a tidy. C’mon, Hailey! Motivation!!!

Orrrrr I could just hold Waverly instead.

Boom. Decision made.

So, I have this baby. And she’s super great. Suuuper great. I could just sit and hold her all day long! But the reality is that I actually can’t, because I have four other children to manhandle and contribute to, a house to keep, and a never-ending list of tasks to work on. I’m totally happy with my choices, don’t worry. Not complaining in the slightest.

Today has been a wonderful day. Jerilee came over in the morning with coffee. Brady put the kids down for naps after lunch, and headed out to have our van inspected from the fender bender that we experienced a few days before Wavy was born. Jerilee and I put the party favors together, which for some reason felt like an ominous job, but once we got started, it was so simple. I love how they turned out! She and Brady did a few other things on my list while Cher came and took some pictures of Waverly. Her first little photo shoot! Well, second, I guess. Birth pictures 😉 I’m SO eager to post those, by the way, but I think I should wait for the birth story. Right? Put them all together? Or separate posts? 🤔 Hmmm…

Our company has been gone for a couple of hours now, and its usually early to mid-afternoon when I settle in to blog. But rather, I settled in with my Waverly Violet, and it was all over.

Who ever chooses to move when they’re under a baby?! But I know I’m going to feel even less motivated later on, so we’re making it work.

Yup, we’re rolling with it! This is not my first rodeo blogging whilst trapped under a baby, but this is also the calmest, most chill baby ever, so she makes it easier than usual. She can join me anytime! Until I get a desk, anyway. I don’t have one, and I’d really like one! Just a little bitty desk for in our bedroom. But until I acquire one, snuggling under my half-asleep baby girl will have to do!

More and more party stuff is getting done every day! Let us know if you’re coming, if you haven’t already!! The more guests, the better!! Come snuggle this little miss before she gets too much bigger!

💖

We have had our delicious little daughter in hand for just about a week, and what a sweet week its been! We are all just completely over the moon. Tickled PINK. Beside ourselves. All the phrases for downright thrilled. I figure now is a logical time to close out this series that I have SO enjoyed putting together week after week! I’m almost sad to see it go, yet I am happy to wave goodbye to pregnancy for the moment. Hopefully this won’t be my last series 🙂 Did you guys enjoy it, too?

Size Comparison: Wavy’s size is now only comparable to a baby. A small baby! I haven’t had her weighed since last week Wednesday but assuming she’s gained at least a little since then, I’d peg her around 7.5 lbs. I should get one of those baby scales…

Appointments: I guess our only “appointment” since Wavy was born was when Healthy and Home came over. If you’ve been following, you know we checked out well, no problem. We were deemed healthy and functioning well. Our next appointment is our two-ish week check, which we’ll have on July 20th. I weirdly love those early appointments because I like knowing my baby is doing well, and I like seeing my doctor. I know that seems weird but it really isn’t if you know my doctor. Either way, getting the all clear feels good. 

How am I feeling emotionally: Truthfully, I feel victorious! I am thrilled beyond belief that our baby came home, and that she is healthy and thriving! I am not 100% anxiety-free, thats for sure, but I don’t think I can ask that of myself anytime soon. It took a lot of lead up to get to where we are, and its going to take some time to wind down again, if that makes any sense. Wavy breathes SO quietly, with absolutely no gurgle or rattle whatsoever, and while I’m happy her lungs are clear, I definitely get nervous when she’s SO quiet and SO still! There is a constant “Is she breathing??” worry in the back of my mind. Hopefully I don’t feel that way for a whole lot longer, but its already petering out. Thank goodness.

How am I feeling physically: This one might be a long one! Sorry folks! Physically, I’m feeling a lot of things, yet everything is pretty under control at the same time! I’m taking Tylenol, which I’m sure is taking care of some of the discomfort, but my observations so far go like this: I’m hardly cramping at all. I’m hardly bleeding at all. I wouldn’t know I had stitches if they hadn’t told me. My pelvis still cracks sometimes but rarely hurts anymore. My reflux stuck around for a day or two, but is gone now. Everything has been SO smooth. My two big issues – my boobs and my back. As many of you know, I bottle feed from the get go (PLEASE let’s not get fired up about this issue! ❤) so my boobs are engorged like there’s no tomorrow. I’m trying to take the best steps in drying them up, and while its working, its taking SO LONG! I’ve been wearing a tight fitting, life sucking bra non-stop for 3+ days now and these suckers are still rock solid. Sooooo thats been interesting! My back is also quite sore, as it tends to be after I have an epidural. Its not unreasonably painful or anything. Just enough to remember that there was a pretty sizeable needle in it not that long ago. However, this time, I had TWO full epidurals, so thats probably why it hurts more than usual.

Wish Lish/Purchases: Inevitably, we’ve purchased Waverly a few clothing items in order to have some that fit her! We ONLY purchased 3 month items, and we were gifted a good handful of newborn items which have helped immensely. Yet, most of the sleepers we were given were 0-3 and she is still just swimming in there. So we bought a few newborn sleepers, and were given a gift of a few other beautiful little newborn sized clothing items. And for a wish list? Nothing 🙂 We are SO set up. We have everything we could ever need or want for her. We are GOOD.

Pictures: Have you not seen enough pictures?! Lol! I can give you more!

And those aren’t even the labour and delivery pictures yet!! EEK! Just you wait until I get that birth story together, pictures and all! THAT will be a post, let me tell you!!

How are the kids feeling: I definitely jumped the gun on this one, but I couldn’t resist! You can read the post on how the kids feel about Wavy here. Spoiler alert. They LOVE her!!!

Getting to know the baby: No more speculating! Waverly has a beautiful, content, happy demeanour. She’s been sharing her sweet little secret smiles already, and they have not been followed by gas or vomit. Say what you will, but I think she’s pretty aware. Just the other day, she was laying on the floor when Solly meandered his way over. He sat down and leaned over to be near her face, and smiled at her. And she smiled back. It. Was. Awesome.

Yes, I admit I 100% stole this picture from my mom. But she stole the smile from my daughter so, fair and square.

The BEST part of being pregnant: The BEST part of being postpartum is sleeping comfortably, using my right leg again, bending forward, etc. My body is much happier in general, and I’m so thankful for it. Its funny because so many women say they forget the pain of labour when its behind them. I very much remember what labour pain feels like, but what I forget is the pelvic pain, leg pain, and the general weighted down ness. So while I am incredibly grateful to be able to be pregnant, its a welcome change to go from full term pregnant to suddenly be not pregnant, and physically comfortable again! The distraction of the newborn baby doesn’t hurt either. 

Favourite thing: Dekker is hanging with me as I write this, and he’s pretty adamant that my favorite thing should be Waverly. And he’s not wrong! She is the BEST thing about this last week! But I feel like that would be an easy answer 😉 I think I’m going with Wavy’s hair being my favorite thing. Its thick and beautiful and even and gives her SO much character!! The best thing is about is that it smells AMAZING! Which isn’t surprising, but doesn’t make it any less my favorite. The best. The absolute best. 

*Snnnnnnniff*

I have so loved this series. It helped me stay sane through this pregnancy, and has let me enjoy it a bit more than I would have if I didn’t have to dig in deep to get some of the answers. Does that make sense? Its been a good push to celebrate my pregnancy, no matter how far it went. And guys, it went full term!! Today would have been my due date, and instead, we’ve been able to have our amazing Waverly Violet at home for an entire week! Hopefully there are many, many more weeks to come. I appreciate SO MUCH how so many of you have followed along, and contributed in our life. You’ve prayed and encouraged and helped and loved us through all kinds of in the last year and a half. In that span of time, our life changed drastically, and it was really interesting to see how many people stuck with us as we struggled to figure our life out, and as we didn’t figure things out and just treaded water instead. Its not been smooth, but the love and prayers have not gone unnoticed. Please hang around as we keep on trucking, with our now FIVE kidlets!

Womb in Bloom is officially closed!! 🌸

We decided to brave church this morning, and honestly, I’m so glad we did. Since summer has begun, the group was fairly small, but it felt good. Like home. We showed up a tad early, to try and get our crew settled in somewhere before everything started, yet I admit I was completely useless to Brady this morning. I stood in the foyer and chatted and showed off our beautiful little Waverly. She was SO sweet in her little lemon romper, with her beautiful soft hair and her skinny little legs and content little self. She was happy to be passed around and loved on by as many people as would have her. But eventually, it was time to go locate the rest of my family and actually participate in church.

It was a pretty lovely morning. The church called Brady, Wavy, and I up to the front and welcomed Wavy, prayed over her, and encouraged us as her parents. We feel so supported and loved by our church, even though our attendance is far from perfect, and sometimes, our bench is the loudest bench in the building! It was really touching. Wavy was gifted a rose as a “welcome” present, which is now displayed on our island. Her first flower!

(I feel like the roses from church are almost always red. I can’t help but feel a liiittle bit extra special being given a pink one!)

She spent the rest of the service completely cashed out on my chest. Just flopped. It was SO cozy and cute!

As you can imagine, it took a while to actually exit the church. We could’ve stayed and visited all afternoon! Well, Wavy and I could’ve. Brady too, maybe. The other kids, however, were running circles (literally) and we needed to get them out. Brady took it upon himself to get everyone out and settled, and then ever so gently brought me the car seat, and slipped Wavy into it. Never a rush, but it was obviously time to go. Especially considering my parents were coming for lunch! Oy! At least they had offered to bring it, right?? We did eventually get home, and we had a super yummy lunch all together. Wavy was wide awake and next to us the whole time. She is just SO content!!

But eventually, nap time was upon us, and my parents headed home. The little boys are down, Dekker and Laela are playing Lego, and Wavy is snuggling with Brady while I blog. Tonight, we will receive yet another supper from the church (How great is that?!) and hopefully get to bed at a good time! Waverly had a decent night last night, but Brady is back at work this next week so he needs real rest! Wish him luck!

Thing One: Wavy’s Party

How cool is it that its not just a baby party anymore! Not even Bambina’s party! WAVY’S PARTY!! Is it strange how thrilling it all feels so say? She’s HERE, and we can PARTY! And by “party,” I mean eat brunch together, lol! Still counts 😉 So guys, we are ONE WEEK away from the party, and I’m amped! Most things are organized and arranged, but one or two food items are being ordered or made by others, and I’d love me some rough numbers. I think I’m going to put a poll on the Facebook event to see if you think you might bring your families, are coming on your own, etc. Nothing has to be exact, so if you even think you might bring more people, just say so, and if you don’t, thats fine. I just want to have enough for everyone!! That being said, we ducked out to the farmers market this morning and gathered up a couple of party things. Our first real family outing!! I’m not counting the one earlier this week where we all stayed in the van while Brady ran up in the hospital to grab some stuff we left there. It went pretty smoothly, if I do say so myself!

So we have everything we need to put together a small favour for our guests. Feels GREAT to have that in hand and ready to go! Especially considering the farmers market is only open a few days a week. We got there! Done and done!

You REALLY should all come snuggle this!

Thing Two: Today

Wavy had her first rough night here at home, and her exhausted parents woke with a start at 9:30!!! We bolted out of bed and rushed downstairs. Our kids were beautifully tucked away in their beds, chatting with each other, patiently waiting. We apologized to them profusely, and they were surprisingly gracious about it! We decided to buy them breakfast at Tims, and they were thrilled! Once everyone was adequately treated and happy, we ran our errands. Farmers Market first, like I mentioned. Then a few little things at a nearby mall. Then lunch, because of our later start. Miss Wavy had her first van bottle session, which she handled beautifully, as one would expect.

We hit Costco after lunch, and it was the single time that Wavy got upset and let everyone know. So I scooped her out of her seat and carried her through the store. And let me tell you, she was popular!!! A very cute little hitchhiker to pick up! She and I basked in the sun while Brady unloaded the groceries out of her car seat. Got some vitamin D together.

We got home in the blazing heat and decided it was too hot to take the kids out on the deck as planned, but we pulled the van out of the garage so they could at least play in there. Only a few minutes into that was when that crazy hail storm hit. You guys know the one if you’re from around here. I ran into the garage and right away got the kids inside so Brady moved the van in. He was out in the hail for around ten seconds. Less than.

Is this reminiscent of that awful ping pong “Welts” game to anyone else?

Wavy skipped the storm.

The other kids were VERY concerned with her being right up beside the window. I was eventually able to reassure them that we were all safe, even though the hail was VERY loud.

We began our day in the beautiful, hot sunshine, and its wrapping up in the sunshine, but we have now filed two insurance claims – our house and our van, both of which took a serious beating. Its been such a weird day…

Don’t forget to RSVP for Waverly’s party, and let me know how many of your group might be coming 🙂 Just what you can. No big worries either way. Just come!

This is probably one of the most asked questions I’ve been getting since we brought Waverly home, and I really love that 🙂 Just some solid concrete evidence that people haven’t forgotten the rest of our sweeties in the shuffle of adding a new sweetie. Thanks, guys, for loving ALL of our kids!!

So, their reactions to her and their feelings about her, in no particular order. So far, anyway! Let’s keep in mind she’s 3.5 days old…

I should tell you guys about Laela first. People have been the most amped about her gaining a sister. While she was less concerned about gender than anyone else, she was totally thrilled about “getting” a baby! She was the first to hold Wavy upon bringing her home.

When we told her the baby’s name, and asked if she liked it, her response was “Kinda…” I saved it, though, in telling her Wavy’s middle name was Violet. THAT sold her. Though she still calls her Bambina often enough. Habits are hard to break 😉 Laela often says she “likes the look of her,” and when I confirm that she thinks Wavy is pretty, she nods and says “Yup. And her head! Smells so good!” She’s been listening, haha!

Dekker has been heavily anticipating her, knowing full well what was to come and understanding what it meant to add another kid to our family. He was a bit ripped that Laela got to hold her first, and snagged his turn shortly thereafter. This is the FIRST time EVER that Dekker has asked to hold the new baby. He’s always been fairly hands off when it comes to new family members, never being mean to them, but being at least uninterested or nervous. But he LOVES Wavy.

He is her protector. If she makes the slightest noise, he heads on over to her to check on the situation. He loves to kiss her fingers and touch her hair. But that shouldn’t really surprise anyone who knows him. He is SUCH a sensitive soul. When she first arrived home, he couldn’t pronounce her name very well. He skipped the R completely. Wavely. Like, Navel-y. I told him that daddy and I usually call her Wavy, and he jumped ALL over that! He’s figured out the pronunciation of her full name now, but we all opt for the short form most of the time anyway. So far, Dekker has held firm on his decision to give her a billion kisses. Its a great relationship.

Rowan is easily the most neutral on the subject of his new sister. He loves her name, and insists he’s always called her Wavy. Its all lies, for the record, haha! While he likes her and isn’t at all scared of her, he’s pretty uninterested thus far. I’m not especially surprised, because she’s obviously not doing much of anything at this point, but I’m thankful he’s not put off by her.

For instance, these pictures didn’t happen naturally. I asked him to go over to her and give her a kiss. He was happy to oblige, but he was soon off in the other direction, doing something else. No jealousy or anger to speak of. He’s just doing other things. When I asked him his favorite thing about her, he says he really likes her stuffie. Lol!

I thought Solly would be the most put off by her presence, to be honest, being that he’s been the youngest for quite a while now, and he tends to wear his opinions on his sleeve. But he LOVES Wavy!!!!

He often hangs out by her rocker, if she’s in it. He’s never come close to toppling it over or anything either. He’ll sit on the window sill sometimes and just watch over her. If I ever say “baby,” he thumps on over to her and announces “Beeebee Weewee!!” Like he LOVES her!!! When he met her for the very first time, he was SO excited! He kept trying to smack her, which we quickly talked him through, and he traded his smacks for gentle rubs. But then he’d rub her whole face, or poke his finger into her mouth. Basic toddler-meets-baby stuff. He took a little dolly hairbrush to her beautiful hair, and dug in pretty good for a second there, but she tolerated it and didn’t even fuss.

Come to think of it, I don’t think any of them have made her cry yet. But like I said earlier on, she’s only a few days in 😉

I have a list of things I want to write about and share with you guys, but they’ll all take a decent amount of planning and thought, and frankly, I feel like an easy one today 😉 I know you’ll all understand.

Yesterday was our first full day at home with FIVE children! It was surprisingly full, but I really loved it. We kicked off with breakfast and a visit from Healthy and Home. If you’re not from around here, Healthy and Home is a program where a nurse from public health drops by your house, does a little check over of you and your babe, and offers advice or help anywhere needed. Our nurse this time around was just amazing!!! She was instantly smitten with our kids, and included everyone in the visit. Since we were considered an early discharge from the hospital (Wavy was only about 14 hours old) there were a few things that needed doing. Wavy had her first blood draw to be sent away, which she didn’t much care for but tolerated nonetheless. She was also checked for jaundice, and passed easily!! Its so different having a baby thats considered “of average size” because they get poked and fussed with WAY less! Its refreshing for everyone. We also checked Wavy’s weight, which has dropped a little as is super normal. But guys, she’s 7 lbs 4 oz now 😮 I don’t even know what to think! She’s SO SMALL!! But she passed everything with flying colors, and the nurse had no concerns with anything. She made the comment that she loved it here, and said she wished she could stay all day. It was right around then that Solly and Rowan started to break down and fight, and Wavy decided she was, in fact, finished with her exam. So I think we cured our poor nurse of that feeling pretty quickly 🤣

My mom came over for a shorty visit shortly thereafter, to play with the kids, hold the baby, and be a familiar, fresh face in our home. It was LOVELY to see her! She offered to bring us supper that night, which we happily accepted!

Once the kids had eaten and were either down for naps or settled in for some Lego time, Brady and I put our feet up and enjoyed a restful lunch together as well. See, guys? I PROMISE I’m resting!

When the kids woke up, we actually braved the rest of the world and headed into the city. I know!!! We shouldn’t be out and about already! But here’s the thing. We realized the day before that Brady had accidentally left an entire change of clothes at the hospital. Included in that stack was a brand new pair of cozy sweat shorts, his favorite tshirt, and one of those wretchedly expensive pairs of underwear. We couldn’t just leave them there :/ So in we went! Brady did the legwork and picked his stuff up from the 5th floor (SO thankful they held onto it for him!!) and then we tried to head home, but accidentally detoured into Carters. Whoops. It was a short visit there, and then we went home. I had a great phone date with my sister as we drove, which was so refreshing. I miss her so much.

We got home shortly before my mom arrived with golden mushroom chicken, rice, and veggies for us. We destroyed that meal, lol! It was delicious!

We wound the kids down for bedtime by watching some music videos on YouTube, and bedtime turned out pretty smoothly. It all went as it usually does, even with Wavy added to the mix. She just makes it that much sweeter, giving all of us one more person to kiss and love. I love how low maintenance she is at this point and how little she asks for, yet I’m SO EXCITED to see what changes come with her joining our family!!!

We made it through day one! I hope we have many, many, many more days like this ahead!

Everyone loves the little details, right? Todays post will hopefully cover most of them for you guys 🙂 Some of you responded to my Facebook post with ideas, which I REALLY appreciate! Some of them will be answered today, and others will come in the posts to come. Today is JUST Wavy’s specific details.

Waverly Violet was born on July 2nd, 2018 at 10:46pm after 9.5 hours of labour.

She weighed 7 lbs 14 oz and was only 20″ long. Our teeniest baby.

She has a FULL head of thick hair that almost looks silvery to me. It isn’t, but our other kids started out with dark brown fuzz and her hair is definitely different. Maybe golden brown is the right direction? I’ll know more when we wash it.

She has dark eyes, as is common in newborns. Her eyes are blue, and they will remain blue, as Brady and I both have blue eyes, as do all the other kids. Did you guys know blue eyes are a genetic mutation? She HAS to have blue eyes because we do. So no surprises there.

Continuing on with her physical details, she has little while “milk dots” across her nose and in her brows like all of our babies have. I LOVE those things. They last such a short time.

Of all the kids, the most common perception is that she looks the most like Rowan.

She is a finger sucker. She makes the BEST slurping sounds!

Wavy was born with a MASSIVE umbilical cord. Like THICK! It looks very slug-like. I won’t lie. I’m excited for that sucker to fall off. Thankfully, its already drying up a bit, so its less *dry heave* sticky.

Our little girly gave me a fright when she first surfaced by not crying. She was wide awake, and gave annoyed grunts as our nurse wiped her off, but wouldn’t cry. Her personality continues to be that way. She is amazingly content and peaceful.

When Wavy is awake, she is WIDE awake. Totally alert. Yet again, she’ll lay wide awake, perfectly content, for longer periods of time than I expected.

Her lungs are 100% clear, which is a first for us. There is no rattle whatsoever in her breathing, leaving her mother in panic mode when she sleeps. Can’t she just gurgle a little even, so I can hear her breathe?!

Lastly, she is already SO familiar with her siblings. It must be very true that unborn babies can hear whats going on in the outside world from inside the womb, because she is so calm in all the chaos and noise that play out in the day. She just watches on from wherever she’s hanging out, totally at peace.

Did I get most of it? Do you feel like you know her a little bit better? She is truly remarkable in every way. Her personality is sweet and patient. She is low maintenance. She fits in so well here. And she is SO pretty!! I’m so thankful to have you all celebrating along with us!!

I truly had not put together how the birth of our fifth child would feel, not only to me, or my husband, but to you guys. I know we have the freedom to take all the time we need to settle in and soak in our new joy, but I almost feel selfish for not thinking of the group of you at home, waiting on pins and needles. So many of you have reached out to me yesterday and today to make sure things went ok. People wondering if I got bumped. Wondering if something had gone wrong. People literally losing sleep. I am truly sorry we didn’t share our news sooner. But as tends to happen, things didn’t go quite according to plan and I can honestly say we haven’t had a second to just sit and write out an announcement.

So, here you have it.

Waverly Violet.

Thank you for the pictures, Cher! Many more coming soon!

She is here. Finally. It feels completely surreal, as though we’ve never had a new baby before. My body clearly feels the same, putting me through the longest labour I’ve ever had, granting me the tiniest baby I’ve ever had. So many curveballs were thrown, yet they all played out so smoothly. So many delays and scary moments, yet my medical team was aces, and kept me well informed and calm. Many questions that Brady advocated for me through. So many people going out of their way to make our experience sweeter. SO many jokes and laughs that left the room wiping tears from our eyes!

We didn’t get our morning call to the hospital until we intentionally gave up the control and put it in God’s hands. Wavy wasn’t delivered until we gave up on all we expected and trusted God with the process, because it was so clearly out of our hands. Her birth day couldn’t have been what it was without the immense prayer support we were gifted from so many of you, and for that, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

We have her in our arms, and it feels goooood. Relief is coming, and peace is here. More to come soon on the matters of the littlest miss. Her birth story. How the kids reacted to her. The photos from her labour and delivery. Where my heart is. Guys, we have a lot to talk about. But I also have a new baby to squish, so I make no promises. Thank you all, so much, for your eagerness to share in our news! We are SO fortunate to have you along for the ride!!

This is the week, guys. THIS WEEK! We WILL meet our baby this week! We WILL hold her! We WILL smell her! We WILL share her! We WILL tell everyone her name! Hahaha! Its about flipping time, on ALL levels, do we agree? Yes, we do.

Size Comparison: Apparently she is the size of an american short haired cat. Sure, I can roll with that. I bet she smells better, though! Very soon, we’ll know her actual size!! Eek! Why is that such a fun part?!

Appointments: You may have seen, we went to my last prenatal appointment (for this pregnancy, anyway) as a family. The kids did pretty great, actually! Our doctors are so good to them, and include them in the conversation often. (PICTURE) I had my cervix checked, where I learned that I’m basically still completely out of labour, at only 1 cm dilated. No biggie. Baby’s heart rate was good, still in the 130-140 range. I somehow managed to lose 3-4 lbs *shrug* Couldn’t tell you how that happened! As a whole, I gained only 19 lbs this pregnancy! Don’t judge me, I never try to gain or not gain anything. I just roll with whatever happens. Keep in mind, I gained 45 lbs with Dekker and 22 lbs with Solly, and both boys were a SOLID 10.5 lbs. No one is hurting over here. 

How am I feeling emotionally: Determined. I’m still scared, and I’m still excited, but I’m READY to have her. I’ve never been more ready.

How am I feeling physically: It doesn’t even matter. I guess I feel out of breath most of the time? But truly, who cares? My physical feelings are SO secondary to everything else. 

Wish Lish/Purchases: My wish list is just my baby, and nothing else. I need nothing else for her. Everything is ready. We have what we want. We NEED her.

Pictures: Last belly shot against this wall before the whole structure changes.

She’ll be on the outside of my body, and either snuggled against me or eventually propped up, but likely still in the same safe little space in my bedroom, against this plain old wall.

How are the kids feeling: Solly says “baby” and rubs my tummy now. If even the two year old is catching on, you know we’ve been talking about Bambina a LOT! 

Getting to know the baby: No more speculating. I will tell you ALL the real fun facts about her as soon as I know them!

The BEST part of being pregnant: Having the opportunity to be pregnant. My instinct is to write that the best part of being pregnant is NOT being pregnant anymore, because its how I feel today, but I know how fortunate I am to have this opportunity, much less so many times. The BEST thing about being pregnant is knowing I have been that way for long enough to deliver a full term baby, and I can be content in knowing I’ve done my best. 

Favourite thing: My favourite thing for todays post is my medical team. I have the BEST people in ALL the fields! I have the BEST doctor, which has never been in question. I have an AMAZING student doctor who loves Dr. Guselle just as much as I do, and is excited to learn from her! I have the BEST chiro and physio that have physically kept me standing throughout this pregnancy. I had the SWEETEST OB through my first trimester who always told me she liked seeing me and never made me feel like a bother. My husband – partner in crime, father of my children, birth partner, etc. – is an integral part of my medical team, as well. I could not still be here without any of these puzzle pieces. I am confident I will be surrounded by the BEST support system the hospital has to offer, because the nurses are all wonderful and amazing in their fields. I am SO well taken care of, and SO thankful for that!! 

I remember when I was pregnant with Dekker, everything was so surreal. So unbelievable. I had no idea what was coming or what to expect. No book could’ve prepared me. I was so naive, and that was fine. It was SUCH a joyful time, experiencing motherhood for the very first time. I feel just as young and silly and lost this time around. I hope my instincts come back, because these days, I feel like I will be completely green with a newborn. Lucky for me, infants tend to be pretty forgiving in most departments. Or at least I hope so! 

Hopefully hopefully hopefully…