Tag Archives: baby #4

The Girly Things Box

In my last post, I showed you a picture of our child clothes storage closet. In the bottom corner of that closet was a box labeled “girly”.

The Box. And my teddy bear from when I was little.

The Box. And my teddy bear from when I was little.

That box was filled with stuff when Calvin was born in the hopes of pulling it out again in the future. Now, 4.5 years later, I get to use the contents! I have only looked at the stuff a couple times in the past years, and nothing has really been added, but now you get to look with me! Some of the stuff is unremarkable and I’ll probably get rid of it. But some of it is kind of special!

I received these mini Chinese lanterns from a friend for a birthday, and thought they would make a great mobile! I had them up in the nursery before Calvin was born, but took them down and replaced them with some blue tissue poms my cousin made for a  shower decoration. They are yellowed and fragile now, so they’re likely destined for the garbage.
The pink wash cloths were a throw-in in when I purchased my diaper bag online, so I could get free shipping. I’ll probably get rid of them. There is really no need for specific baby cloths.
And then there are a few handmade items. The hat is from a family friend; keeping. The blue sweater I believe was given to me by a coworker who bought it at a random market in Victoria; not keeping. The yellow one I don’t remember who made. Maybe Tim’s mom? I’m keeping that. It’s cute!
girl-box-1 And then a random assortment of clothing. The blue one is the free onesie from Thyme Maternity, the pink one I believe was a shower decoration, the sleepers were from my Oma who thought they could be boyish, the green stripes came in a hand-me-down box, and that plaid shirt….no clue. Not keeping that, but all the rest is staying!fullsizerender-1 And here are the special items. We have my own blankie from when I was a baby. Still in pretty pristine condition because that was the child I was. Also my piggy bank.
And a couple more blankets. The white crocheted one is from my great aunt, before Calvin was born. She asked what colour I wanted for the trim, and when I replied “purple!”, I was met with “Are you sure you don’t want something more gender-neutral?” I said “No way! I like purple!” So now I have a beautiful, fresh hand made blanket for Baby Girl.
Under that one is a flannel blanket from Tim’s Aunt, when Calvin was born. The colours are boyish, but the pattern is butterflies and flowers. I could have easily used it, but we had so many blankets already, I decided to keep this one back to stay fresh for a possible future girl.

Baby me in a bonnet, with my blanket and my aunt.

Baby me in a bonnet, with my blanket and my aunt.

And that’s the box! Other than this, I’ve already been blessed with a handful of hand-me-downs, and of course I’ve made a few purchases of my own. Just waiting on them in the mail!

Girls are fun!

It’s a Girl!

It’s a girl! It’s actually a girl!!

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Today we had our ultrasound and the tech confirmed it. We are so thrilled to be adding a daughter and sister to our family! The boys are excited too, although they probably don’t super understand what a girl actually means. Here’s a little video of us telling them. They aren’t the most excitable or expressive children, so don’t watch it with too high of expectations. Haha!

Only a few people know, but this was actually our second ultrasound. Our first one was last week, and the tech then said the thought it might be a girl, which is probably the worst answer you can get. A definite Boy! or Girl! would have been better. But he showed us something on the ultrasound (three lines…if you know what that means, great…if not, google it) that had me pretty convinced, so hearing it confirmed today wasn’t an ultra amazing experience, but we are so happy to have a girl to welcome into our family! One part of me is saying “of course it’s a girl, was there any other option??” and another part is saying “we get a girl? For real?!” It’s a weird experience.

And then there’s this…I get to dig into this box in the bottom corner of the closet that has been sitting around for 4.5 years.image2

My 4th Pregnancy

Hello again! It has been a handful of months since I’ve been here, and I told myself that I wanted to finish documenting our summer and such, but I think I’ll just skip right over it (because nobody will miss it, and I broke my phone and lost a bunch of photos anyway). So, skipping over…

…We found out we are pregnant again! Baby number 4 is on its way, due March 20, just a couple weeks after my 30th birthday. I guess I’ll have to over look my unofficial goal of being done having kids by the time I’m 30. 14021492_10157192166415315_1104246136592307456_n

I feel like going from 3 to 4 is a big jump. 3 is still normal and very acceptable. Having 4 kids puts you over into the world of “wow, you have a big family!”. Only one other person in my peer group has a fourth child on the way. How in the world is it going to be okay for me to ask somebody to watch our brood now?!

Like usual, this pregnancy has been fairly easy on me, physically. No sickness or anything. Just my usual nasal congestion, and an added aversion to snack foods. Why don’t I want that delicious kettle corn?!

However, I have been feeling a lot more anxious this time around. I was super nervous going in to my dating ultrasound. My blood pressure was measuring on the high side at a checkup around 12 weeks, which has never been a problem before. You know what I attribute it to?

1 in 4 pregnancies end in a miscarriage. This is my 4th. I’m due for one now, right? My mom lost her fourth. Like mother, like daughter? Friends and acquaintances are experiencing loss. It can happen to me too! And we are currently in a month of infant loss awareness, where women everywhere are coming out with their personal stories of heartache over little ones they will never meet this side of heaven. As great as that is for those who need to hear – or tell – those stories, it just reminds me of the possibilities and makes me nervous.

Thankfully, at 18 weeks, I am starting to feel the baby move, so that has definitely calmed my nerves. There is just so much time before that of unknown. Is there actually a baby in there?! My growing belly says a definite “Yes!”

And then there’s the thought of what the baby will be. The same thoughts that my friends, family, and strangers alike are thinking. Is it going to be a girl this time?! It is a huge desire of my heart to have a girl! I want to be a mom to a daughter. I want Tim to be a dad to a daughter. I want our boys to be big brothers to a little sister. I want our family to have a different perspective. I want others to have a different perspective of our family. And also, I need more floral in my life!

When we found out Patrick was a boy, I cried in the ultrasound room. It only took a few moments before I was able to say “three boys is going to be awesome!”, but I feel that this time around will be different, as it will likely be or last child. For almost the entire first trimester, this was a more-than-daily thought process:
What’s it going to be?
I hope it’s a girl!
What if it’s a boy?
Oh no! What if it’s a boy!
I get anxious.
I pray for peace and thank God that he knows best.
I think about all the future daughters-in-law.

The anxiety surrounding the gender has greatly diminished since thinking of a boy’s name about a month ago. Knowing that we have a name to attach to a possible boy makes things a lot easier. It’s a real person in there, with a personality and everything! And knowing that a 4th boy would still be different than the other 3 is comforting.

But until we hear otherwise, the hope for a girl is still strong.

15 weeks

15 weeks

 And that’s where we are now. I will have my ultrasound in the next couple weeks. If you can pray for continued peace for us as we go in, and with the outcome, we would be so grateful. Knowing that God loves us and has a plan that shows us that is very comforting.