feeling good...

over the last week, i have been feeling sooooo much better. it feels so good to feel more like myself. i have a little bit of energy back. although i am exhausted at the end of the day. i am not as sleepy all day like i was for the first 14 weeks! and feeling better just gives me new life.

i am excited to finally be able to enjoy this pregnancy. it has been the hardest one so far. feeling sick all the time took a lot out of me.

i have been very emotional and i cry easily - very easily! i also loose my patience pretty quickly.

i have felt the baby move a little bit here and there - i love that!

i am about 15 1/2 weeks and everything with baby j is going smoothly! of course i am counting down the days until our ultrasound!! 20 days to go.

boy or girl...

i have been doing my "research" on gender prediction tests and old wives tales that predict gender.


I have been craving sweets (like crazy!!!) = girl

Unfortunately I have had a great deal of acne = girl

I have had more than my fair share of "Morning/All day" Sickness = girl

I am carrying high and all over = girl (yes i am showing already, gimme a break it is my fourth)

I do not feel like a glowing pregnant woman at all. My hair and complexion just look yucky = girl

Although, I have only heard it one time, Baby's heart rate is in the high 150s = girl

The Chinese Calendar says the baby is a boy, although my date of conception could vary by one day and that would put me in the next month which = a girl.

The Mayan tale - if the age and the year of conception are both even or both odd you are having a girl. If one of the numbers is even and one is odd - you are having a boy. Mine are both even which = a girl.

I did the ring on a string and the needle on a string test on myself and it was really heard to tell which way it was going. I think it was going in a circle. And then when I looked up what that meant, I found differing answers to that some sites said circle is a girl, some sites said circle is a boy -- so I have no clue?

all three of my kids and jamil all have the same instinct that this baby is a girl! sometimes. jordyn will say a boy. but lately she changed back to a girl. joshua has been saying for weeks i know it is a girl, i really want a boy, but God told me it was a girl. jamil really thinks it is a girl. he has had a dream about a baby girl, right before we found out we were pregnant. jesiah always has said girl or baby sister.

as for me, i am just not sure i trust my instinct, since i was wrong with jesiah. even though i was right with the other two. but my instinct says it is a girl. a girl would be easier as far as room arrangements. which really is a big deal. i just don't know how we would room three boys and a girl - i don't know what that would look like. but i know God has chosen us to be a family for this baby and He knows the plans. whichever he has chosen for us will be the family He made for us.

and as long as the baby cooperates we will know in 24 days if we will be having a boy or a girl. and then we can see if our instinct and the gender prediction tests were right or wrong!!!

only 24 days to go until.....

we have our ultrasound!! i saw my midwife for my 14 week appointment yesterday. everything is going really well. i heard the baby's heartbeat - i just love hearing it!!! it was beating strong and steady!! i was happy to report that i had been feeling better over the last few days (and have continued to!). on my way out of the appointment, we scheduled my ultrasound for may 19th! i am really excited to see the baby and find out if it is a boy or a girl. i think not knowing is driving me crazy! i feel like i can't prepare anything until i know.

i will be posting some of my answers to some of the gender prediction tests i have taken and old wive's tales very soon! in the meantime, the poll on my sidebar has expired and it looks like we have more votes for a baby girl!

who needs dinner when you have desert...

today was my dad's 60th birthday and mom asked me to bring a desert over for our cookout. i said no problem. i have been making soooo many deserts lately that it isn't even funny. last night, i made cream puffs - just for fun. the kid's helped make the filling! i only ate two. when i make a desert that i am craving, usually i just need a taste or two of it and then i am good - craving satisfied. good thing b/c i don't want to pack on the pounds too soon. today, i made a butter pecan crunch desert for the birthday celebration! i also took the leftover cream puffs. in the last few weeks i have made cupcakes, strawberry pies, chocolate pie, cinnamon rolls, and an angel lush cake. i have the ingredients on had to make a mud pie and a molten surprise cake! yum! i guess you can say i am craving sweets. but i am also building up my baking skills! too bad i can't figure out what is for dinner most nights - oh well, who needs dinner when you have desert!!

what are your gender prediction tests???

now that we are getting closer to finding out the sex of the baby, i have been thinking a lot about it. is the baby a girl or a boy?? jamil is sure of what the gender is. i on the other hand am not sure i have a feeling but i think i am a little afraid to go with it. with our first, i knew he was a boy - we decided not to have an ultrasound and waited to D-day!! with our second, i knew she was a girl - we did have an ultrasound to reveal my prediction was right! with our third, i thought it was a girl , when the ultrasound said he was a boy, i was shocked. that is why i am afraid to trust my instinct this time. although, jamil said he knew he was a boy. jamil has been right three out of three times. i tend to trust his instinct on this one. plus, he did have a dream the week before i found out i was pregnant, with a baby of a specific sex in it. i am not going to reveal what he thinks it is or what i think it is until closer to the ultrasound.

even though we still have a few weeks to go until our ultrasound, i have been working on a list of answers (boy or girl) to a list of questions of old wive's tales and different gender prediction activities. i have looked at a lot of different ones online. i would love to hear what are some of the gender prediction tests you have heard about or used. if you would leave me a comment to this post - i would love it! and then i can add what you have heard/tried/used in my post!!
there are so many crazy things out there - but it is so much fun anyway!!!

gender, squirms, and maternity clothing...

this week i have felt pretty yucky - although the last day or so i have felt better!! just yucky indigestion stuff.

this week, jamil and i spent sometime online researching baby names!! fun fun!! we have gathered a list, mainly for one sex - b/c jamil is convinced that is what the baby is!! although, i do have a little list for the other sex started. we still have a few more weeks until our ultrasound. this week i started doing the old wive's tale tests. i have created a list of what the tests reveal which i will eventually post. i will say the tests are all confirming jamil's prediction.

next week i will have my 14 week midwife appointment. i always love going to these appointments. hopefully, we will get to hear the heartbeat since we only saw it last time.

i have felt a few little squirms and little movements - all the books say it is way too early to feel anything but again this is my fourth pregnancy and i am sure it is possibly to feel the baby earlier, plus i know what i am feeling by this time around!

my sister and i went to target today. i have nothing to wear - i am too big for regular clothes and too small for maternity clothes. i really don't look good in tents - which is what most clothing was made to look like. i can still easily get by with some more fitted type stuff - i am not ashamed to have my little belly sticking out a little!! so i was thinking i could find something that would work for this odd stage - but i had little luck. i did acquire 2 shirts and 1 pair of capris. but that wont get me by for long. anyway, so if anyone has any clothing suggestions for this stage - i am open. or if you know any brands of maternity (not expensive please) clothes that work well let me know!

13 weeks, 2 days...

i have been feeling better over the last few days. i can slowly but surely see the light at the end of the tunnel. i have even had some spurts of energy here and there. and i have even started to feel more like "myself" - whoever that is!

this afternoon, i took a nap and was hungry when i woke up. i have a really really hard time eating. nothing ever sounds good. especially nothing we have in the house. i thought hummus and pita bread sounded good - but we don't have any. then i started thinking that a salad sounded good. rarely do i crave a salad. so i fixed a salad, ate it and now 45 minutes later - it is not treating me very well. i feel really sick. so frustrating. i had a list of things to accomplish this afternoon and i am too sick to move off the couch - for the fear of throwing up. gross, i know.

i guess this week i enter the second trimester - wow. this pregnancy is going super fast. although, i must say i will not be sad to leave behind the yuckiness of the first trimester. i have been the sickest with this baby. i have been very emotional too. i easily cry. easily get angry. easily run out of patience. easily snap and say not nice things. i don't like feeling this bad. so i welcome the second trimester and pray that i will be cured of the yuckiness.

i really want to enjoy every second of this pregnancy, but so far i haven't because of being sick. don't get me wrong it could be way worse. i am ready to feel good and enjoy this life inside of my belly - which is really showing. well, it is my fourth.

no fair....

after running a few errands today, we went through the wendy's drive thru. i was beginning to feel sick and it was past lunchtime. a chicken sandwich sounded so good to me. as we sat at the light near the wendy's ... i watched the drive thru and it sat empty until my light turned green and i had to circle the building to get in the line and by that time i was the 6th vehicle in line. and then we got our food, my chicken sandwhich was sooooooo overcooked it was not good at all. it was too crunchy and the chicken was so dried out. i wanted to cry. so much for my craving being fulfilled.

rambling...

i have been feeling ok the last two days. not great, but not horrible. i have had a few waves of nausea throughout the day and a lot of yucky indigestion/heart burn - which is worse at night. i can not get rid of that nasty taste in my mouth that makes me feel so yucky. it annoys me in the worse way. i brush my teeth like 10 times a day. and if i am not near my toothbrush, i am chewing on gum (orbit - maui melon mint - yum!). it's funny, because i am not a gum person usually but i have to have it now! it really helps the taste/texture in my mouth. i am also gagging a lot, which is annoying and no fun.

i haven't had any strong cravings over the last couple of days. i have had a hard time eating just anything, but yet i can never get a strong sense of what i want to eat. tonight, jamil brought me a bacon cheeseburger from five guys!!! that was yummy! i have been really wanting to eat sweets but the things i want haven't been settling well - like ice cream and fruit - no fair!

i have had a busy beginning of the week - so i am really really tired. in fact i took a little snooze on the couch today and didn't even hear joshua, who was sitting right beside of me, call my dad and hold a conversation.

i have begun making a few lists and taking some inventory of what we will need for baby j. we really don't have a lot of baby gear left because - what we did have we bought in 2000 (8 years old) and has been through 3 babies, so we consigned and donated almost all of it. we kept a few pieces around (bouncy seat, pack n play, exersaucer) for when my friend chelsea would come over with baby anderson. chels and i were just joking yesterday day about how the bouncy seat has no bounce left in it. in addition to anderson using it, i think each of our older children numerous toys and babydolls sat in it too - so it is nearly flat.

i do have most all of our baby clothes (boy and girl) left. most of the clothing has been through my babies and atleast 2 other babies!! i love to share our clothes, it is so fun to see the cute baby clothes we have on my friend's babies!!! so who knows what we can use depending on size, shape, and the shape it may be in after being handed down and all around!

i am excited to start looking for some deals on some new gear and clothing!! although, i will probably wait to make final decisions and purchases until we find out if we are having a girl or a boy. on my side bar, you can vote if you think we are having a boy or a girl. i will have to post on what i think and what the old wive's tale say - i will save that for later and then you can vote unless you have a feeling now!!!

afternoon sickness...

around my 7th week of pregnancy i began to feel really sick. i was queasy all day most every day for a few weeks. it wasn't much fun. at my 10 week appointment my wonderful midwife prescribed zofran for me. i began taking it the next day. i was able to stretch the 10 day, very expensive drug to 2 weeks. yesterday, i took my last dose.

over the last week, the afternoons and parts of the evenings have been the time when i feel the most sick. the zofran really did help a lot. i certainly was not as sick as i was without it. but unfortunately the meds have some yucky side effects like headaches, dizziness and constipation - yuck. so i took the lesser of the two evils and took the zofran.

since i am now 12 weeks and 3 days pregnant - quickly approaching the second trimester, i decided to see what i feel like without the zofran. so today is the first day without it. i have been a little bit queasy this afternoon, extremely hungry (nothing new!) and fighting off a little acid reflux (also nothing new). so we shall see if i can do it without the meds! if i start feeling sick again - i am back on the zofran.

i am not one who really likes to take a lot of medication, especially when i am pregnant. but with 3 kids and one on the way, i decided to take the zofran - being all about survival. but zofran isn't the only thing i have had to take. i have also had to take tylenol here and there for the headaches, zantac for the acid reflux/indigestion - the tums just were not cutting it, and colace (a stool softener - i know t.m.i.) in addition to my prenatal vitamins. wow!

i am hoping that i can cut out the zofran, which will cut out the tylenol and the colace. i am certain i will continue on zantac, that is a staple in my prego diet!!

i will trade all day sickness for a little afternoon sickness any day!!!

welcome to our blog!

my j crew is expecting baby #4!!! our blog will contain posts and pictures from our family about our newest addition soon to be arriving in october 2008! this will be more details about the pregnancy and the baby as he or she develops. on the date of this first post, we are 12 weeks and 1 day pregnant! heading quickly towards the second trimester. we hope you will enjoy this glimpse into our lives as we prepare to receive our new little blessing!!