This Day

"When in doubt, choose the kids.  There will be plenty of time later to choose the work." 

~ Anna Quindlen

Today was my last day of working outside the home.  Tomorrow I start in my "new position", as a Stay-at-Home-Mama to my four baby boys.  (Squeeeeeeeee!)

25-26 weeks

I'm getting so behind on my updates, so here's a recap as I'm on the brink of ending my 25th week, and beginning my 26th:

Pregnancy Highlights - Feeling the baby move more and more, starting to feel a little rolling action and feet/hands in my hips or under my ribs.  So cool!  I'm feeling generally great too, with the exception of being tired still, but I'm not complaining.


How Far Along:  ending 25/beginning 26 weeks

Total Weight Gain/Loss:  Umm...I think around 22 lbs so far, which is way better than any of my previous three pregnancies at this point!  I'll be happy if I stay under a 40 lb weight gain...

Maternity Clothes:  Oh yes, please!  Much more comfortable and fit better overall.  Although, I've started to outgrow a few items without stretch (jeans) and some of the shirts I have aren't long enough on me, so I don't prefer to wear them.  I really hate outgrowing maternity clothes -- way to make a girl feel really great about herself at such a vulnerable time in life....ah well, I know the weight will come off, eventually...

Gender: Can you believe we didn't find out for our fourth baby?! We're TEAM GREEN! And it's making everyone who knows us absolutely crazy!!! For what it's worth, I am feeling "BOY"...

Movement:  Definitely!  LOVE IT.  The baby is a great sleeper, and doesn't wake me or keep me up at night :)  Most active times are first thing in the morning, around 8-10 PM, and any time after I eat!  I love this time of pregnancy - it's like sharing a secret between just the two of us.  I've started to see a little bit of movement on the outside now too, which is also incredible!

Sleep:  doing great in this area too. I've always had a super-bladder too, so mostly I sleep through the night without having to get up to pee.  I'm glad for that too, because once I wake up in the night, I have a difficult time getting back to sleep.  I generally sleep about 8-10 hours a night, though recently I've been staying up a bit too late for my own liking.....I suppose I'm preparing for what's ahead when it comes to third trimester: snooze-fests and sleeping through the few "favorite shows" that I do have, on the couch beginning at 8 PM, haha!!

What I miss:  Nothing really....a glass of wine or a beer with dinner or snacks, I guess.  I had a sip of Tim's MGD the other day, and oh yum....I'm looking forward to having one of those again some day! 

Cravings:  Not too much at this point.  Sometimes I'll get really intense cravings for salads with tomatoes and cucumbers, and italian dressing and parmesan cheese.  Just typing that out makes me want one!  I love to eat, but have been attempting to keep it under control and just enjoy everything "in moderation" -- this helps with the weight gain, excessive spending (from buying coffees, fast foods, and junk), and with me feeling fairly great vs. just okay.

Symptoms:  Stuffy nose, lower back pain when I've "overdone it", shortness of breath, some difficulty in being over.  But truly, overall I really do feel amazing! 

Best Moment this week:  Starting to look forward to organizing and rearranging for The Newbie to move in -- still in the planning stages, but I definitely have a list!  It's fun to keep things relatively simple: it helps the time go by faster, and also to keep things in perspective about the baby not "needing" a lot of things, and also that life will return to a "new normal" once s/he arrives! 
I'm also trying to sort out my feelings about what's best for our family regarding my working after baby comes: working PT, FT, or SAHM all-together.  This is both an exciting and a daunting task, and an entire post for another day...stay tuned.


And apparently, uploading photos here takes an incredible amount of time, so I'll try again another day....ETA:  Here's one I copied from FB.  Apparently I can't upload directly to my blog....

Baby #4 - 24 weeks

I miss my babies!

I've been in FL for a work training, and it's been 3 full days without my babies.  The first three days were exciting, and quiet, and care-free.  I could eat my meals in silence without having to get up to refill milk glasses, or cut someone's food.  There are no diapers to change, or agendas or schedules to follow, or reminders to give.  There are no dinner dishes, or loads of laundry to do, or floors to vacuum.  I can watch my own TV shows (cable!) and not have to censor the age-appropriateness.  (Seriously?  What on earth did I ever do before I had kids?   Apparently, I took a lot of things for granted, and wasted a lot of time....)

But on day #3, I'm starting to not care about all that "freedom".  I want to see my babies!

I want to share kisses, and belly laughs, and early morning snuggles.  I want to wrestle little boys into diapers and pajamas.  I want to soap up hair and skin, and be splashed by silly-tub play.  I want to wrap my arms around them, and feel their weight.  I want to see their dimples, and hear them playing together. 

I will return to them Friday night, after they are in bed.  It will be all I can do not to crawl out of my skin, and snatch them out of their slumbers when I get in the house. 

Saturday morning is going to be quite the reunion!  My Mama's heart is looking forward to it with much anticipation.

Today.

Today, I am refreshed.

Today, I am soaking it all in. 

Today, I feel confident.   And assertive.   In my work, my time, my organization, my mothering. 

Today, I feel awake and alert. 

Today, I felt sunshine on my skin and fresh air in my lungs.

Today.  My boys were full of smiles, laughter, and plain ol' silliness. 

Today, I had one-on-one time with Wyatt to the fruit market.  We named colors, picked and counted produce, and smelled citrus.  And discussed why pickles and cucumbers look so similar. 

Today, we had our first ice cream of the season. 

Today, I didn't want to put my baby down. 

Today, Jacob giggled hysterically when I got the hiccups after dinner.

Today, I "met" my new niece, Rachel Sophia, through a picture e-mail.  I am already in love!

Just today, I didn't want it to end.

I want more of Today. 

Surviving

So I'm back at work. And to be honest, the transition so far has been smooth sailing. Granted, I'm exhausted, but I was before I went back too! There is no rest for the weary in motherhood, I'm afraid. I've come to accept that this time around (third time's a charm, apparently!) that I will be tired to the bone more often than not. And I.am.tired. But, truth be told, I'm enjoying my children that much more because of my attitude.
Wow. I digress.
Yes, I'm back at work. My schedule has been great - full day in the office, half day in the office, full day working from home, and half day in the office. Not too shabby. And next week is a short one due to Thanksgiving - we are closed Thursday and Friday.
We are blessed: my in-laws have been a tremendous help with this transition, certainly without them, it would be much harder on all of us. Tim started work from home this week ~ Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays he is pluggin' away in our basement office, and we are in search of a Mother's Helper (or in this case, Father's) type of a person to come in and help with the boys so they can have someone totally devoted to them. For now, my FIL & MIL are bridging the gap as well as taking Wednesdays ~ they are retired, and wanting to help (my BIL & SIL and nieces just moved out of state, I know they are grieving this loss) it continues to build the boys' relationship with their grandparents - something I was not able to have with my own grandparents growing up. I will say it again: we are blessed!
My parents are also still going to take the boys on Mondays, and Tuesday mornings my mom and Jacob will go to here. I guess there is an infant and a 2-year-old program starting in January, so Wyatt might join them. Nathaniel could go too, but that's a lot on my mom to try to lug the three of them out solo. ;)

***

In other news, I've been able to cloth diaper the younger 2 on a more consistent basis. I'll admit I don't do it 100% (not at night, not always at naps, not all the time when we're out), but do it as often as I can, and am definitely enjoying it - it's a fun challange for the frugal mama in me. I am definitely cutting down on our output of paper diapers & wipes (3.in.diapers.seriously) and Wyatt's been telling me more often when he's wet or dirty. I keep saying we're getting a 2-for-1 deal on potty training, because Wyatt seems like he's way more eager to learn the skill than his big brother. Hmph!

AND - Score for Mama: all 3 boys are napping in their respective beds this afternoon!

Stay tuned, more pictures & updates to come....Happy Thursday!