Last night's featured a printed ultrasound report entitled, get this, "Abbey Lou" (?!) The first paragraph ended with something about seeing girl parts, though it was phrased in a strange way that I can't quite remember.

At any rate.. the score:

Girls: 6 Boys: 3

Labels: dreams

14 Weeks! Hooray! I am finally starting to feel like I have actually made some progress.

I have gained, get this, 14 pounds. Oh yes, yes I have. Though this is not at all unusual for me (exact same weight gain at the same point with both boys), it's always a little disconcerting to gain that much in so short an amount of time. Gah.

Since I'm still hungry all the time (though nothing like the first month or so), but haven't entered my gastric bypass phase yet, I've just been trying my best to focus on making every bite at least be healthy food. Lots of straight protein, lots of veggies, lots of fruit. I've naturally gravitated toward the six small meals a day strategy and it seems to be working well. I would like to get to my doctor's appointment in two weeks and only have gained a pound or so... but we'll see.

I said I felt movement the other day and I think I did feel a little bump or kick, but not much since. Either things are arranged differently inside this time or this is going to be my most laid back baby ever. I'm rooting for the second option.

Still thinking probably boy, but I have days where I second guess that. So I guess I've achieved my goal of being confused enough to be surprised at the ultrasound. I would actually love to see Tom's face if it does turn out to be a girl. I hope I can videotape that part because, honestly, the look on his face would truly be priceless.

I ran into a mom from Ben's class last night who I knew had three boys (5, 2 and infant) but I learned that she actually has an older fourth boy as well who is 8! I think my jaw dropped to the floor... four? Really? FOUR boys? (and they all look exactly alike!) We exchanged stories of the neverending "hoping for girl this time?" comments and she said something interesting. She said she would love to have a fifth child (crazy lady, I know) but only if she could guarantee it would be another boy. This said she just feels like at this point that a girl would totally throw her for a loop... boys are what she knows... boys are what she has clothes and toys for... etc." While I was not at that point when we were trying for Three, I can totally get where she is coming from. In a way, a third boy for us would be a bit of a relief, for all those reasons she said. But yeah, I am not about to try my luck with four. Yikes.

Anyway... all seems to be going well. My appointment is in two weeks and I'll get the form for the ultrasound to answer the big question. (but unfortunately, not the *bigger* question about the baby's hair!!!) ;)

Belly pic coming in a day or so. :) It's large and in charge, let me tell you.

Nothing else to ponder yet since we still have no idea on the boy or girl thing yet and frankly, I'm tired of talking about puking. (which had gotten better and better each day, thank goodness)

So, I remembered I also love the name Elise. Like, a WHOLE lot. The conundrum, as with Lucy and Caroline, is that it's the name of a neighbor's little girl already. She's Ben's age... so I'm thinking using it might be less of a big deal than if she had just HAD a baby and named her Elise. Anyway... just another name to throw into the mix. Might have to clear it with said neighbor just in case it makes our final list. I have loved that named since elementary school when there was a little girl a few grades behind me named Elise. It's also a derivation of Elizabeth, which is a family name I had wanted to incorporate somehow anyway...

So funny that going into this pregnancy, I thought we were completely set on names. This decision may be drawn out for awhile, I'm thinking. SO much harder than the other two times... why?!

Labels: names

I think I've been feeling a few movements here and there this afternoon! Maybe... waiting a day or two to really confirm it... :)

Labels: kicks and bumps

Same deal. All the names I would actually consider from the SSA Top 500. (please keep commenting on the boy post too though! I need help!)

-Emily
-Elizabeth
-Grace
-Caroline
-Oh, how I want to put Lucy on this list... but there is a Lucy in our neighborhood... come to think of it, there's a Caroline too, so that's probably totally out.
-Harper
-Genevieve
-Eliza (always loved 'Liza and that song "little Liza Jane" LOL!)

(sidenote: Krystyna, did you know that Anya is actually on the top 500 list from 2008? I was surprised when I came across that!))

Wow... I just realized how few girls' names I love. Yikes. Maybe I should expand this to the top 1000... here we go...

-Clare
-Rory

And the following ones that didn't see on the list --
-Josie
-Eleanor
-Molly

And yeah, so that wasn't so helpful.

Anyone got any girl names to add? Because this is not much of a selection. Also, if anyone could come up with any name other than Millicent or Mildred that shorten to "Millie"? I'm all ears.

Labels: names

An exhaustive list... I am noting any name that I would even remotely consider. Feel free to register opinions on any of them. It would help me immensely. Don't be offended if I didn't list your child's name... chances are, especially if I see you on a regular basis, that I actually really like it but don't want to use it because well, it's already your child's name. ;)

I'll do another list for girls in another post...

I was going to star my favorites, but I don't want you to censor your opinions or taint them in any way. (Also don't want to give away the ones that could most likely be winners.)

-Jacob
-Michael
-Ethan
-Joshua
-Alexander
-William (LOVE Will as a nickname)
-Joseph
-Noah
-Christian
-Jonathan
-Samuel (LOVE "Sam" and "Sammy")
-Isaac
-Sebastian
-Liam
-Henry
-Colin
-Oliver
-Micah
-Jonah
-Patrick
-Peter
-Avery

Labels: names

I am on a cantaloupe kick these days. Can not get enough. Seriously. It's the BEST FOOD EVER. (for the moment)

I wonder what's in it that I need a ton of right now?

Hrm...

ETA: (because I always end of googling these sorts of things) Check out the last one... cravings rock! ;)

-Cantaloupe is a rich source of vitamin A, a cup of cantaloupe provides about 103.2% of the daily value for vitamin A and beta-carotene and important nutrient for a healthy vision.

-Cantaloupe is also rich in Vitamin C, a cup of cantaloupe provides 112.5% of the daily value for vitamin C. Vitamin C protect our immune from free radicals and it also help stimulate white cells to fight infection.

-Cantaloupe folate content is important for the production and maintenance of new cells, especially during pregnancy.

Labels: cravings

Oh, how I hate them, but that is neither here nor there.

I have to admit, my maternity clothes, however hated and however ugly, have served me well. About 3/4 of them are from when I was pregnant with Ben, so they have lasted through THREE pregnancies now and that's pretty darn good. A few shirts and all the shorts are from when I was pregnant with Simon and I look forward to breaking those out when the weather finally turns warm again. (speaking of which, is this ever going to happen?)

These clothes really are old friends, which is why I was saddened to lose my one and only pair of maternity jeans today to a hole in the right knee -- the exact same fate every other pair of jeans I own eventually meets. For the life of me, I can't figure out what I do to cause constant right knee (but not left knee) wear and tear, but anyway...

So this afternoon I treated myself to a couple of new pair. I was so excited when I went on the Gap maternity website and found the jeans I usually wear when I'm NOT pregnant are now available in full-panel maternity style. WOOHOO! So excited. Whoever eventually inherits my maternity clothes will be excited too because they are super nice! :)

I hope they get here soon because I'm down to just my khakis and yoga pants for the time being. LOL.

Bleh. I just feel so LUMPY these days. I just keep telling myself it's not forever... it's not forever... off to go eat again.

Labels: 13 weeks, belly pics

Great ultrasound dream last night... lots of detail. This one was most definitely, "It's a boy!" It started out the tech told me that because it was still so early, she couldn't do better than 50/50 and then we took a closer look and yeah, there was no mistaking those parts...

Boys are catching up!

Girls: 5 Boys: 3

p.s. I was iffy for awhile there (I even had girl pronouns randomly popping into my head when I'd think about the baby, which has never happened to me), but I think am ready to officially register the "mommy's intuition" vote that this baby is, in fact, our third little dude. Off to ponder the boy names some more...

Labels: dreams

More naming discussion last night at our house. While I do not plan on sharing the name we ultimately settle on, I will tell you this. My husband? LOVES the names Jacob and Isaac.

This gives me pause because he has never really professed actual LOVE for a name before, he has always just gone along with my choices and vetoed ones he really hates.

I have to admit that Jacob and Isaac are actually two of my favorite boy names, but they have never made my list because I just have never been able to bring myself to give one of my sons THE #1 baby name of the past five years. And I'm not sure where Isaac is, but it's up there too, I'm sure. No offense to people who have used these names, like I said I really do LOVE them... a LOT... I just like to shoot for slightly further down the popularity list. (I think it's a result of being Erin H. for years in school)

But given that my husband actually threw some names into the pot, I feel like I need to actually give them consideration! Hrm...

ETA: Isaac was actually #37 in 2008, which is further down the list than Benjamin! Interesting!

Labels: names

So have you noticed my two tickers -- the one with the floaty baby over there on there on the right and the one up top? If so, have you noticed they are a day different?

I can't figure out WHY and it drives me nuts. I redid them TWICE trying to figure it out and each time, I input the exact same LMP date, yet one says I insists am 12 weeks 6 days and one is congratulating me on being 13 weeks today. (shrug) Very strange. Oh well... ultimately it doesn't matter, the odds of the baby actually coming on the due date are slim to none, but it still bothers me every time I visit my site.

Gr.

Tom and I were bantering back and forth about names tonight. Though I have been very set on the boy name for a long time and LOVE it, Tom has never been 100% thrilled with it. So in the interest of at least the appearance of marital compromise, I decided to temporarily wipe the slate clean and just explore some other options and see if anything sticks.

We came up with a couple of possibilities tonight... although the middle name is giving me problems. Both the boys have part of Tom's name in their names and I'd feel strange about not continuing the tradition with a third boy too -- but the last bit of Tom's name that hasn't been used is "Douglas" and frankly, I am not a huge fan. Bleh. So considering wiping the slate clean there too...

The girl name, I'm pretty much set on, (which happens when you work on it for six years... LOL) I do continue to peruse girl lists just to see if anything else catches my eye, but so far, haven't come up with anything else.

(sigh) It's a hard thing, this baby naming...

Might have to play the social security list game again in a few months and test the waters on some names...


p.s. Everyone keeps asking me what the infamous Chinese Gender Chart says, so I went and found the real one that converts your age to your lunar age and your conception month to the Chinese lunar month and it says... GIRL. However, I put in the numbers for Ben and Simon too and apparently, they are both girls as well. LOL! So yeah, I'd say take the CGC with a grain of salt... or perhaps several.

Labels: names

Finally got my bloodwork... yay for Labcorp taking appointments now. That expedited that whole process. The kids were awesome too.

Then we headed over to the hospital for my doctor's appointment. It was a typical, speedy one. Weight, pee, heartbeat, belly measure. Again, kids were awesome. Ben, of course was mezmerized by the whole thing. He also couldn't get enough of the female anatomy poster on the back of the door... luckily, it was mostly cross-sections and things that were difficult for a five-year-old to visually interpret. But he sure did ask me a lot of questions. Sheesh. (next time, if he goes, remind me to ask for the room with the fetal growth poster instead... )

My doctor asked me one more time if I wanted the first trimester screen and/or the NT scan, both of which I declined, although I did confess that it was tempting because I'd love an extra ultrasound. She laughed and reminded me my big one isn't too far off. I mentioned how we're all excited to find out what flavor this last little Baby Graff is and she thought that was hysterical. Apparently, she had never heard it put that way before.

Then she looked at both the boys and felt the need to remind me that once you have two of one gender, the odds are that you'll get a third of the same. Ya know, I do realize that, and I assured her that would be more than fine with me, but I'd still like to just FIND OUT ALREADY!!!! LOL.

Back on March 10th for my 16-week!

Labels: doctor's appointments

The 12-week belly, in all its glory. I'll spare you the shirt-up shot.



And, for comparison's sake. here's 12 weeks with Simon.


For continuity purposes, and because I'm a dork, here's a shot from today in the same outfit I had on in the Simon pic. The size disparity isn't quite as great in this one, actually...though still slightly bigger!

Labels: belly pics

My prenatal appointment from yesterday got rescheduled for tomorrow morning. I also realized I'm horribly delinquent in getting my prenatal profile bloodwork done... as in, four weeks delinquent. Oops. So I'm headed to the lab beforehand.

Anyway, I'm taking both boys with me because.... why not? My mom could watch them but honestly, I think some fresh air and a car ride will do them good. Plus, Ben has a rather strange obsession right now with pregnant bellies, baby doctors and pregnancy in general and I'm trying my best to demystify it all. (seriously, it deserves its own post over on the other blog...)

Should be an interesting morning!

Wow. I've hit the baby dream jackpot the last two nights!

Last night was another breastfeeding anxiety dream, I think. LOL.

Tom's parents were coming to pick us up for something or other and I kept running around packing up things for the baby. Of course, this being a dream, it seems our other children were nowhere to be found.

I realized she (yep, another girl) hadn't eaten since morning! Gah! I realized that not only did I not have time to pump before we left, but that I hadn't even bought any bottles. I did manage to find one that came with the pump and threw some powdered formula into it, shook it up and tossed it at my MIL. Then I went about looking for all the rest of the pump parts so we could leave, realized it was already 8p.m. and this was ridiculous and sent my husband on his way while "Lily" (a name that, while lovely, is not and never has been on my list) and I stayed home.

This brings the new tally to:

Girls: 5 Boys: 2
(I had the score wrong yesterday because I went off an older post)

(and the breastfeeding anxiety dream count to 2. LOL. )

Labels: dreams

Wow. I haven't had any pregnancy/baby dreams for weeks! Finally, something new!

In last night's dream, I had opted for the nuchal screen and my mom went with me. The tech did the scan and there was the baby. It looked perfect, I made sure to check and my subconscious noted this. LOL. Then my mom said, "See? It's a girl!" The ultrasound tech just rolled her eyes and I said, "I know, it's too early to see. Will you tell her that?" She was going to take some more time to check but then a whole crowd of other pregnant women walked in for scans so we had to leave.

I am giving this one to the boys because of the feeling of doubt that came over me when my mom pointed out what she thought were girl parts.

So, the tally stands at: Girls: 4 Boys: 2

We have a tie!!!

Labels: dreams

The light at the end of the first trimester is in sight!

I've got a good handle on the puking. The all-day nausea is consistently absent and I am even having a fairly easy time with the acid reflux. (knock on wood) I think that's because I'm actually avoiding the pain-inducing foods this time around -- ZERO coffee, NO tomatoes or tomato products (although pizza seems to go down okay?), nothing carbonated and no citrus of any kind. It's working well! I've even been able to sleep laying flat instead of sitting up! Woohoo!

No movement yet, at least, nothing obvious. I've thought maybe I've felt a few bumps and whatnot here and there, but nothing definitive enough to say it was movement. So, still waiting on that...

Heartbeat still strong and in the high 160's.

I was supposed to have a doctor's appointment Wednesday but thanks to Snowpacalypse II, that's looking iffy, at best.

So yep. That's pretty much it these days! Another day, same old gestating...

I'm starting to understand why so many third, fourth, fifth, etc. children have empty baby books. Though I am determined that this baby will have at least a completed baby book and a first-year scrapbook, I can definitely see that it is going to be no easy task.

Just look at this blog, for instance. I have posted next to nothing about what is actually going on with the baby. Ben and Simon's pregnancy posts were full of details about when they lost their tails, when their eyes started moving toward the center of their heads and what citrus fruit they were the same size as at any given time. LOL.

And you may have noticed that it's been two weeks since I posted a belly picture. I was so much more on the ball with Simon. But this time, it's like life keeps getting in the way... doctor's appointments for both boys, taking Ben to school, taking Simon school, getting Ben's homework done and making sure he has everything he needs for the next day... bathtimes, bedtimes, life in general.

Belly picture coming, I swear. Baby Three, you will be documented if it kills me! ;)

So I am pondering the whole cord blood banking thing this time around. I looked into it with one of the boys, can't remember which and was totally put off by the price. But, this is our last chance, so I thought I should at least give it some thought. I was reading that with one child, it makes no sense because if that child has an immune disease, they can't use the same cord blood because it will just regenerate the disease. But with 2+, the odds of being able to use it are higher... plus, it could be used for other family members as well.

Anyone else looked into it? Done it? Thoughts?

Finally, Gymboree came through for me... I usually buy the boys one or two Gymboree matching outfits a year and this is just too cute to pass up. Doubting Three will fit into 3-6 months though before the weather gets too cool to wear shorts/short sleeves, so I may have to buy a year ahead on that one. (the equivalent newborn line is tractors... GAG)

Check out the gators though... admittedly, not as cute as the goldfish.. but still adorable.

10-1/2 weeks. Doing Disney pregnant for the FOURTH TIME, was not all that bad... I'm not far along enough that I had to pee all the time and the weather was beautiful, so that didn't bother me at all. The only downside was that I'm still at the stage where when I get hungry I need to eat REALLY QUICKLY and that resulted in us spending a LOT more money on food than we usually do. I'm also still tired a lot and barfing in the morning and sometimes a little stomach-iffy on and off until early afternoon, so it wasn't always easy to trudge through the parks, but I tried to be a good sport. The stroller came in handy for leaning on while I walked... ;)

Simon and I are on the same nap schedule, LOL. So we took two-hour naps together every afternoon while Tom and Ben entertained each other.

Everything seems to be going well. I haven't felt any movement yet and I feel like that should be happening soon... I think I was 10 weeks with Simon when I felt the first big flip flops...