Gladdest Hours

It's a.........

BOY!!!!!!!

There is a little Baby BOY in my tummy!    

 

We really never thought we'd see the day. LOL!  

And, it was so QUICK! So easy to see boy-parts!  I was on that table for two minutes and the technician said, "Well, it looks like you have the other variety this time!"

"What?" I asked.  

"You've got the other variety this time!" 

"Really? You're kidding!"  I said.

"No...I saw it right away, actually, but we were chatting!" she responded.

Pete, who had apparently not yet settled his very large quadriceps and gigantic shoulders into the tiny little chair provided for him, wasn't even paying attention yet.  I think he was dreaming of firing his new gun in the mountains the next day.....but he denies it, of course. 

"What?  Huh?  What are you talking about?" he stammered.

"Pete....it's a BOY!  She said it's a boy! Can you believe it?"

"No way!  It's not a boy! It can't be a boy!"

"Yes.....it's a boy!

"Are you SURE?  Where? Show it to me! Can we see?" 

And, yep....there it was....REALLY OBVIOUS!  As opposed to the past when we've waited 45 minutes and  the ultrasound-tech says, "Well....we think it's a girl, but we're not sure."  I always wanted to just give a gigantic eye roll and shake my head and say, "Really?  Could you check AGAIN?  I've been here for over an hour and provided your student-ultrasound-program with a real live pregnant body and you've rolled over every single inch of my belly and you STILL CAN'T TELL?  REALLY?  Did you quadruple-check?" 

I think it's especially funny that God chose to send my 49-year-old-husband a boy NOW.  So much for teaching that child how to play LaCrosse and climb mountains!   LOL! 

Above is a 21 week photo from last Sunday....but the ultrasound "says" the baby is measuring more around a due date of Dec. 15 (instead of Dec. 29) which would be 2 weeks early.....so maybe this is a 23 week photo.

Here we go!

The midwife is on her way.  My fifth labor.  When I get to this point, I am always in utter disbelief that I am actually going to "do this" yet again.  Up until now, I do a pretty good job of NOT thinking about it. 

I've been having contractions since late this morning after my first 40-week-prenatal-appointment.   The girls went to bed early, as we hoped we'd have to wake them up sometime tonight.  And, it looks like we will! 

36.5 Weeks & Feelin' Groovy

Just kidding, of course.  I'm not quite feelin' groovy, but I certainly can't complain.

I'm actually not as completely incapacitated as I was with Caroline's (#4) pregnancy at this point. There are probably three reasons for this:

1. I'm about 30 lbs. lighter than I was at 36 weeks with Caroline.
2. I am completely wrapped-up with my compression hose and belly/back belt.  These items have made such a big difference.  I haven't had to visit the chiropractor (no sciatic pain!!) or foot doctor, which is a minor miracle. 
3. The girls are TWO YEARS OLDER and are a much bigger help this time around.  They are 7,  5.5,  4, and 2.   As opposed to 5,  3.5,  and 2.  They run downstairs to get food from the pantry, clean bathrooms, empty the dishwasher, put groceries away, do laundry, etc.  We don't have "just littles" anymore, and it is SUCH A BIG HELP for this slow-moving, lumbering mama! 

Due date is April 29, but I've never made it to 40 weeks. Caroline was 8 days early, and each delivery seems to get earlier and earlier. 

The countdown continues..... 

32 Weeks / 8 Months

I know I'm getting closer (and bigger) when Pete starts calling me "Oompa-Loompa" and "Weeble."    

Good Ting I'm Pwegnant!

Dorothy Jo (age 4) :  "Boy, Mom....since Cawaline tuns TWO today, she's not a BABY!!!  Good ting you're pwegnant and almost ready to have anodder one, udderwise we would have NO BABY in the house anymorwa!"

Yep, good "ting!"  We are the house of continual babies.  So far.....never without a baby.  Oftentimes, even with TWO babies, if you follow Dorothy Jo's definition of "baby."  And, girl-babies to boot!   You like babies specifically dressed in pink?  Just come on over!  Even if we haven't kept in touch lately, your chances are high that there will be a female baby in the house....somewhere.

See, Bridget? You're not the only one who's "pathetic." 

This also goes to show that mommies and 4-year-olds think alike when it comes to the definition of "baby." 

Placentas are Neat

All the girls were present at Caroline's birth and hopefully, they'll see  this sister be born too. 

As my tummy gets larger and we start talking more about the nitty-gritty of another sister entering the world, some funny conversations are inevitably going to take place.    Such as this one between Madeleine (6) and me:

Madeleine: "Mom, too bad you didn't keep all of our placentas from when we were born.  After this baby, we'd have FIVE of them!  We could keep them in a jar, label them with our initials: M,E,D,C, and 'whatever this baby's name is' and we could compare them.  We could see which one was the thickest, the longest, the reddest, the heaviest.  All that.  Wouldn't that be GREAT? I wonder if the biggest baby had the biggest placenta?" 

Me: "Hmmmm, you're right.  That would be neat.  You know, the midwives ask us if we want to keep the placentas, but we have decided not to. 

Madeleine, in a very astonisted tone: "Really?  WHY NOT?"   

Me: "Well, I don't know.  Daddy wasn't really too excited about it, and......."

Madeleine: "He WASN'T????!!!!  Whoa!  Oh my gosh, he's CRAAAAZY! Placentas are SO NEAT!" 

I looked over where Pete was sitting.  He was shaking his head, burying it in his hands.  Later he commented, "Okay, this hands-on-science-real-life-experiences-thing is getting a bit out of control.  She's going to be a midwife by the time she's twelve." 

Poor guy.  First it was NFP, then natural childbirth and midwives, then breastfeeding, then home education.  Now, it's placentas.   

Homemade Diaper Wipes Make Me Happy

We really live it up in this house.  Every baby gets a new batch of homemade diaper wipes.   It's very exciting.  I spend an embarrassingly long time picking out JUST the right flannel at Joann's, and then it gets sewn into little 4" x 8" rectangles.   I made them for Madeleine, Dorothy Jo, and Caroline.  Pete's mom made them for Erika.  And my mom made these. 

This time I chose FOUR different prints.  In the past I've picked out one or two, or even just used whatever flannel material I had in the fabric box.  But, this time, I went overboard and got a half-yard of FOUR different prints!!  Like I said.....livin' it up!

Aren't they cute?

There are 39 of them.  A child, who shall go nameless, cut one up, or there would be 40. 

Of course, we make a big presentation of them to Pete upon finishing.  He actually puts up with this nonsense simply because he knows how much money it saves him.  The cost of wiping baby bums in our house includes:

• $4 for this flannel
• Soap and Tea Tree Oil for the wipe solution
• Amount of energy it takes to keep the soap solution warm, if I'm feeling nice.

Once again, here they are.......

Perfectly stacked, probably for the very last time. 

Who knew I could write so much about rectangles of flannel sewn together? Hmmph.

Tummy Pics & Car Seat Babblings

To my dad and brothers: Don't worry......there are no pictures with me in Angelina Jolie-style-maternity-clothing.  Or any pics resembling Demi Moore!  No need to "close your eyes." 

4 months, 5 months, and the current 6-month-picture from last weekend (red):

We're doing a lot of GROWING over here on this side of the country.  I wish my daughters OUT OF THE WOMB would get the growing bug.    Did you know that our 23-month-old BARELY tips the scale at 22 lbs?   The 1-year-old neighbor boy weighs 5 lbs. more than her!    And, Erika is five-and-a-half-years-old and is only 37 lbs.  She's not even out of a 5-point-harness yet.

Speaking of car seats, Pete and I are quite proud of ourselves.  We have figured out (theoretically anyway) how to get 5 car seats in our '99 Caravan.  We spent about 3 hours on this little exercise in logic and precise measuring over Christmas Vacation.   My brain ached.  But, I think we got it.  I'm ordering a few things this week and then we'll see how the best laid car seat plans of the Gallus Family pan out in real life instead of just on paper.   You should SEE that piece of paper, by the way.  It looks like a Russian spy code or something.  I almost took a picture of it to post, but decided that was a bit ridiculous.  I made a copy, though, and put it in our family binder.   The title is:   Proposed Car Seat Configuration 2008-2010.   Go ahead.....laugh!  I did. 

Is there a Patron Saint of Car Seats?  I think not.  Perhaps I should just stick with the Patron Saint of Hopeless Causes.

It's a......

GEEEEEEEL ! 

For those of you who don't speak "four-year-old-eze"  that would be....GIRL!

Yep.  A Girl!  (of course!)  Pete used to be famous for climbing mountains and how much he could bench.  Now he's famous because he's going to have FIVE DAUGHTERS. 

We all went to the ultrasound on Thursday, except Caroline....she got to stay home with Grammy Anne and smear a St. Nicholas Chocolate Gold Coin all over her face.   

Everyone was sitting at my feet during the ultrasound watching the screen, Erika and Dorothy Jo on Pete's knees and Madeleine sitting on another chair.  About 15 minutes into it, the ultrasound tech said, "OK, I have a good view here.  Are you SURE you want to know?" 

A very loud "Yeeeessss!" was heard.  She turned around to look at them and said, "Oh, well, let's see....hmmmm.....I see 3 little GIRLS here...."

Dorothy Jo and Madeleine chimed in, each trying to out-talk the other "...and there's one more at home!  She's just too little to come here.  So, there's really FOUR girls in our family!" 

"Oh? Four!" she said, feigning surprise, as she already knew that.  "Well, it looks like there is going to be ONE MORE GIRL!" 

Loud cheers went up from the peanut gallery, while Pete chuckled to himself and grinned. 

"Now we will be JUST like All-of-a-Kind Family!" exclaimed Madeleine.

Erika added, "Except we have different names and we are Catholic and not Jewish!"

(Nevermind the fact that they lived in New York city one hundred years ago.)

Debates immediately ensued about what this little baby's name would be.

And, my favorite quote from the past couple of days took place while the girls were telling one of the neighbors that it was a girl. "Nope, there's no little boys in our family YET!"

Girls, girls, girls! 

No mistaken. This is definitely NOT my first pregnancy.

You know you are an Elderly Gravida (a pregnant woman over the age of 35) and on your way to becoming a Grand Multipara when you no longer get excited about maternity clothes (perhaps partly because there is nothing on the market that I would DARE to put by bulging body in),  but INSTEAD eagerly wait with joyful anticipation for your Belly-and-Back-Support-Belt and your Compression Hose (for those lovely varicose veins and aching legs) to arrive!

This time around, it's about being (per Molly) "all-wrapped-up." 

Thank you!

Thank you so much for your well wishes, congratulations and prayers!   The girls wanted me to read all the comments to them; they just beamed all the way through them!

I am feeling OK.  Not great. But, not actually horrible and out-of-commission.  Nausea, tired, and backaches.  But, every first trimester seems to get easier.  The end harder.  Maybe by the time I have baby number TEN, I won't have ANY nausea or throwing up at all!!!! 

It's survival-mode, things whittled down to just the essentials, and Pete picks up A LOT of the slack.  The girls are two years older this time, which means they can do more to help.  I've been able to take myself out of the laundry-equation for the most part, which is a huge help.  They get their own breakfast, albeit not as nutritious as usual.  Food is simple and easy.   I actually made something (from scratch) for the first time in about a month.  That's one advantage to the kids being so young......I can get away with easy-nonsense-food.

Nine weeks along.  Due the end of April.