Guess Who 2

Marianne- Sept 2011- almost 6 weeks old.
Kate- April 2007- three weeks old
Kate- April 2007- four weeks old
Marianne Sept 2011- almost three weeks old.

I look down at Marianne when I am holding her and have deja vu all the time. If it doesn't come across in the pictures, these two girls look so similar, and somehow already have the same mannerisms and movement. But they are not exactly the same. Marianne is starting to have more of her own look everyday. It doesn't help though that she wears all of Kate's old clothes.

And just to not leave him out- here is sam when he was four weeks old. He just doesn't look like the girls. The girls look like little elves as babies. Sam looks more like a seal. Was it because he was just so much bigger? Or because he didn't know how to smile for soooo long? Maybe those heavy eyes?

I think they are all adorable. I love my babies.

Lucky Me!

I wasn't sure if this should just be a journal entry, or if it should make its way on to the blog.
I guess proper blog etiquette would dictate- when in doubt don't post it.

But I debated only because it is mostly more complaining. And thought I don't like filling my blog with complaints, I guess the few people that read my blog (my sisters and sis in laws) can cope with a few more paragraphs of grief from a pregnant gal. Plus it is actually funny.

Last Thursday when my doctor's appointment when poorly, I cried.

Today I just laughed.

My doctor was also laughing at me a bit. Really.

He told me that he has never had a patient go late with their 3rd child...I have about 36 hours or I'll be his first. Even more surprisingly he told me, he has never had a 3rd pregnancy he couldn't even do an induction, even two days early, for because they have not dilated at all. I am the 1st.

Aren't I special!

I feel so special.

I feel special that even my experienced OBGYN can't believe how stubborn my body and unborn child are being and chuckled at me in disbelief.

Mixed emotions have washed over me as I have observed births this past week.

I had four friends and two sister- in -laws due between Aug 6 and Aug 23.

All six of these women have had their babies and are home holding their little ones and on their way to recovery. Only I remain. I get to be last. I get to be the only one to be pregnant for all 280 days. Even though I am the shortest by a good four inches to any of them. Each one of them should know how lucky they are- as the last seven days have been the hardest days of any pregnancy ever for me. Though morning sickness left me around 6.5 months, it has returned and I am back to throwing up a few times each morning. The hard part is, is that now I don't move quite as quick and it is more difficult to make it to the bathroom to puke because instead of running, it is more of a waddle. Picture that. And laugh with me.

A google search and some convo with my doc told me that less than 10% or women deliver one or more days late. I know- I still have a day and a half, but unless my water breaks, my doctor doesn't think I am going to go into labor before then.

This 10 % usually includes women who are pregnant for the first time- not me.

Having a boy- nope.

Are obese before pregnancy- nope.

Have a mother who was always overdue- nope mine never went over 36 weeks.

So not typically women who are pregnant for their 3rd time, with a girl, and are normally-petite.

I am just breaking all the rules. I am a rebel like that.

It is so frustration- looking for answers I looked at dates. Maybe I could make some sense of it if it were possible my due date were a little early. But Nope. I know the day I conceived. Not only that I was throwing up and asking for hard candy within the week, my 1st ultra sound came back with the exact same date. And my detailed ultrasound spouts date between Aug 11 and Aug 14.

I looks like Saturday is suppose to be our day.

And I'll cross my fingers hoping still.

Otherwise the doctor will force her out on Tuesday the 16.

Strange as it seems, they won't induce me now because I haven't made any progress, but they won't allow me to stay pregnant past Friday the 19. I could choose a day between the 15 and the 19. That is the latest date that I am even allowed to be pregnant for because it starts being unhealthy for the baby. That seems a small window to me.

But four days or sooner (cross your fingers) makes me feel like a ticking time bomb.

Please let my water break. Please Please Please.

And I think I am done crying, I've moved on to laughing, and saying "of course this is my luck"

One of the best things though.

Every night Jake and I got to bed we say "see you in a few hours"

because we assume i'll go into labor overnight. And every morning when we wake up to children and the sun shinning through our window instead, we look at each other, and the look makes me laugh. It is one of disbelief and humor at learning over and over again that we have no control when it comes to these sort of things.

Baby's Room is Ready and So am I.

I've been putting off finishing the last few things in the baby's new nursery.

Maybe because if it is not done, than I will not feel as prepared, therefore not as disappointed that she is not here yet. But today I went and finished off the last few things. That really only included making my bed, (the twin bed we have in there for me to sleep on those first exhausting few weeks) and moving out the boxes of Sam's old clothes. I still would like to hang on the wall the canvas I painted pink and intend to put her footprints on, as well as the blessing dress I bought her on these cute door knobs I got. We will see.

The preperation for this little girl's coming as been more minimal than the other two kids. It mostly included a bottle of DREFT and and entire day and night of the washing machine going. I washed so many clothes, blankets, the swing, the car seat, the bassinet- so much washing and that is mostly it. I didn't even make her a quilt. Well I attempted to, but it turned out horrible and I refused to finish it.. I had originally planned to make her room orange and purple- the quilt material I had purchased- but when it didn't work out, she got several hues of pink left over from Kate's room and previous projects I'd made for others. She did get that sweet butterfly mobile that I made one afternoon as well as a matching shadow box, and a few new swaddling blankets. That made me feel a bit less like I was cheating her. In the end Jake pointed out I shouldn't feel bad, since she may not have the perfect nursery I spent hours creating, but she is the first child whose life we are not risking by sleeping her in an old hand me down crib. We finally broke down and bought a new crib, lucky girl. I did purchase two outfits for her, some new socks, new bottles and a new hat as well. But her closet is literally bursting with Kate's hand me downs as you can see. That picture of the closet is clothing to 12-18 months plus all the storage bins in the changing table. There are two totes full of clothes beyond that for future sizes. Seriously, I guess I didn't realize how much a kid gets in four years.

So now all we have to do is wait. I have bags packed, and am trying to maintain a clean house. We really have 14 more days. That seems so long when you can't move. But I guess and end is in sight. I can't wait to not be pregnant. Even more we can't wait to meet our new family member.

You'll Want to Tune in For This.

35 minutes of measuring and ultrasound-ing has determined
we are having one healthy baby
{GIRL}



Kate is happy and says Jesus heard her say she wanted a baby sister and listened.
Now we feel like we can get organized around here.
We are excited- knowing what we are having makes everything feel more real and like there is an end for this pregnancy in sight!

Really Ready!

If there is one thing I have learned about pregnancy and babies is that you can't really plan anything. But it sure would be a nice day to have a baby. I feel prepared and ready today. Everything is in order at our house. My car even has a full tank of gas. I couldn't be more ready. My body doesn't want to grow one more inch, and I am mostly sure that I will stop throwing up once I am not pregnant anymore, although after 38 weeks of throwing up sometimes I think it is a normal part of life. ugggg.


The nursery is all put together. It turned out rather cute if I don't say so myself. Jake says it is too much red for a boys room- because red is a girl color- strange ideas. I had received a few quilts and blankets all blue and red, then I found a bunch of red and blue stripped pillows and baskets on sale at Wal-mart of all places. They even had sheets that matched for super cheap- which I sewed into coordinating curtains. This nursery took a lot less time and money than Kate's- and I think that was a wise choice. I remember staying up until 2:00 am one night anxious to finish sewing all the curtains, pillows and blankets for her room.
We have stocked a closet full of boys clothes. Goodbye to everything pink and purple with flowers and butterflies, hello to reds, blues, yellows, robots, monkeys and dogs. It is a fun change.
The changing table has a months worth of diapers, wipes, lotions, as well as more blue hats, socks and t-shirts.
Our bags are packed- sitting in our room. I actually packed last week when I had some false labor, since we have taken things out, but they could easily be replaced in a moments notice. The bags are still sitting in the corner of our room. Kate's bag even has an hour by hour schedule for whomever ends up watching her. Several friends are on alert awaiting our middle of the night call.
My house has been deep cleaned and at the moment as you can see if rather spotless. There is not even one piece of laundry to be done. I just know when I go into labor, I will not want to leave the house until it is at least reasonably looking. Silly, but it will just make coming home that much easier.

All we need now is to settle on a name and get me walking up a mountain for a spicy food picnic. With my luck, it will happen another day, when I haven't showered yet, my house is a mess, and I have piles of laundry to be done and no bags packed.

Oh Boy!

Our first family photo of our family of four.

I'm at about 23 weeks now- over half way I keep telling myself. This week we got to go and get our ultrasound done. Kate and Jake came of course to find that we will be adding a little baby boy to Team Freeman in February. I was sure it was a girl too- so it was a fun surprise. We will be an even four some now. The doctors did find a small problem with his kidneys. They said not to get to0 worried yet-(do they know pregnant women at all?) and we would do another ultrasound in a few weeks to see if the problem is still there. Obviously we are a little concerned about the problem- but excited we get to have some extra ultrasounds in the weeks to come and more pictures to share. We actually have a lot more boy names than girl names- so that is a bonus. I did go through all of Kate's clothes and try to find all the gender neutral things to start putting in the new babies room- Sadly it turns out that most everything she has is pink, so I guess we will be just packing away a closet full of clothes. Last night we decided to move Kate into her big girl bed and get her used to not having the crib before we are even more desperate for sleep. She seemed very excited about it until we left her there- she kept getting up and crying. I'm not sure what I expected but I did not think it would take her an hour and a half to figure it out. She did sleep through the night in it though then this morning I heard her wake up and she came right to our room.
When it was warm Kate and I would go to the park everyday. Now that the weather has changed she is apparently missing the slides. At her Grandma's the other day she discovered how this steep grassy hill in their yard doubles and sliding fun. She would roll a little too much even and fall. She thought it was fun and she looked really cute doing it.

Hey Baby!

I thought I would share some more about the new baby news since my only post thus far was mostly a complaint. Jake, Kate and I are going to become a family a four on or around ( and hopeful this time before) February 24, 2008. Making me about 16 weeks along or so. We are excited and most of all surprised. Shocked, completely caught of guard and a little slow.
The first week of April or so I was really sick. I kept telling Jake I was so sick it felt like I was pregnant. He told me it was probably just the flu but if I felt pregnant I should stop just talking about it and go get a test- how practical of him. So I did, it came up neg, and shortly there after Jake came down with a flu and thus ended our thoughts that I was pregnant.
A few weeks later, late May say, I felt the same way again. This time more sure I was just sick, plus I had been a little stressed maybe that was part of the reason I kept getting the flu. Not to mention getting pregnant with Kate took around 18 months longer than planned, several Dr's, tests, drugs, and lots of frustration and tears, the chance that I was accidentally pregnant seemed uber unlikely. The icky feeling stuck around, week after week, and was just too familiar to how I had spent six month of 2006. I just kept thinking, why am I so sick, maybe I am pregnant this time, but I don't want to be silly like last time and spend twenty dollars on a test just to tell me that I am really sick, plus if I am not pregnant, than I am really sick. Maybe I should go see a Dr. Kate had her 15 month appointment while Jake was at scout camp. While there I had a consult with the gen practitioner. We decided to take a blood test, to test for babies, low iron and other abnormalities that could be causing me to vomit, faint and be exhausted. He called later to tell me my blood showed a baby in the works.
At this point I had been sick for two months, but I was still surprised. I had to wait three days to tell Jake, when he got home from Scout Camp (this years scout camp blessing I guess). Till then just Kate and I shared the secret. We waited a few weeks and started sharing the news. Of course I was about 9 weeks pregnant when I finally figured it out.
So now we are counting down the weeks until February. Kate and baby #2 will be about 22 months apart. We really think we are just too young to have two kids, and think it is hilarious almost how easily this baby came. The thought of adding to our family had not crossed our minds seeing as how my body only had one month off between nursing Kate and being pregnant again. But what more could be want than another Kate in our lives! The summer months of pregnancy were daunting to me, to be so sick and care for Kate, but with the cooler weather has come some relief and I am only throwing up once or twice a day now, which seems much more manageable.
We don't have our ultrasound till a little late- Oct 17, but I just can't wait to see a healthy baby boy or girl and start going through all of Kate's old clothes organizing and such.

10 Signs the Freeman's have Big News!

10. I am managing to sleep up to 15 hours a day on the weekends and am still exhausted.
9. The only thing I can eat before 11:00 am is the broth from the Creamy Chicken Cup of Noodles, but after 6:00 pm I can easily consume an entire box of Cheez-its.
8. Did you know that you can throw up out of your mouth, nose and eyes? Serious vomiting happening here people.
7. I find it completely reasonable that my husband should wake up with Kate each morning, go to work for 9 hours, come home make dinner, put Kate to bed and rub my feet for an hour.
6. I can't remember what it is like to breath out of my nose. ( I am so congested)
5. Though I managed to get back down to my pre pregnant 110lbs for a whole two months, I am already 10 lbs on my way to my most pregnant 168lb and have considered bringing back the all velor suit as an appropriate outfit to wear out to eat.
4. My mouth and all water tastes like metal, and I am therefore using a bottle of mouthwash a week and only drinking Rootbeer, Diet Coke and Orange Juice.
3. My house looks like we were in a hurricane, Jake even felt like the bathrooms needed to be cleaned and proceeded to clean one without being asked.
2. I have actually gone to Wendy's and McDonalds to purchase a spicy chicken sandwich two weeks in a row doubling the amount of fast food I have eaten this year.
1. The doc says to expect to meet #2 in about 24 weeks.

So I thought this was just a funny way to break the news to the blog. A lot of family and friends already know, and if they don't it is probably because they are too polite to ask me why i have gained ten lbs in the past two weeks. The 10 things has a negative tone, but really we couldn't be more delighted about having baby #2. I have lots more to say on the subject ( like "I'm pregnant???) and I am sure you do to so I will be over blogging about it for the next several months so I will just leave you with this for now.