The biggest event would be finding out the gender of our baby 2ish months ago. I was thoroughly convinced a boy was on his way to conclude our family. I thought a boy on either end, with 3 girls in the middle, would be a perfect combination. Plus I thought the girls would be happy not having to share with any more siblings. When I was pregnant with B, we thought that if she was a boy Gordon would have been okay with our family being complete. Deep down I felt there was one more, so when we found out she was a girl, it was almost a relief, because I knew Gordon would want to try for a boy one more time. Personally I felt like boy or girl, number 5 would be it for me.
When, I went for the ultrasound, the baby was face down in a perfect child's pose. It was impossible to see the gender in that position, so the tech just assessed what she could, and then had me use the washroom to see if the baby would flip. They did flip around, but she decided to look at gender last. She had asked if I had any preferences, and I told her we were hoping for a boy. I have been to enough ultrasounds to have a fairly good idea of what they're looking at. And after a few minutes of her spending time looking at baby from all different angles, I could tell she was trying to see body parts that weren't there. I steeled myself to hear that my prediction was completely wrong, and she told me "well I think it's a girl". I managed to get to the van in a sort of stunned stupor, and then unexpectedly burst into tears. I wanted to be happy, I really did. But I was really overwhelmingly sad for Gordon and Isaac, because I also really didn't want to have another baby. I was perfectly satisfied with this being my last pregnancy and last baby. I spent the whole drive home trying to get my tears out before I got there. Thankfully I had a couple hours to compose myself before Gordon and the older kids were home, and I was getting ready for Isaac's party so that provided a needed distraction.
For the "reveal" we did a pumpkin volcano where I mixed baking soda with food colouring in the bottom of a pumpkin, and when we poured vinegar in, the appropriate colour of "lava" came out of his mouth. Gordon and Isaac both took it much better than I expected-better than me for sure. The girls would have been happy no matter what.
Now that the news has had time to settle, I am happy and excited for another girl. We all are. I have still experienced moments of grief-I went through Isaac's toddler clothes to pass along to my 2 nephews, and there was some ugly crying on the carpet-but I know I probably would have felt that way if I wasn't having another girl. I'm someone who is quite emotional and has a hard time with change and goodbyes, but I know it will pass eventually.
Baby girl is moving lots and finds 10pm the best time for a dance party. She moves the best when her little big sisters are sitting on my lap. Both Mia and Isaac have felt good kicks, and Mia hugs my belly and says goodnight to her baby sister on the daily.
I'm still trying to exercise 4-6 days a week, and have been able to keep my overall strength the same. My cardio workouts are much modified nowadays, but I'm still trying to do as much low impact routines as I can.
There was an unfortunate incident 2 weeks ago where a pizza stone fell off my shelf when I was pulling out another pizza pan, and crushed my big toe. I had a hard time wearing any close toed shoes for a week, and then still couldn't do anything to put pressure on my toe, so that made me get creative with my workouts. I still have a subungual hematoma (collection of blood underneath my nail), but I think it's probably around to stay for a while.
I've been able to manage the discomfort of my horrendous varicose veins or "old lady legs" as the kids refer to them, by wearing compression socks a couple times a week. My legs still look scary, but at least they don't bother me like they used to.
I'm finding that I'm not as hungry lately. If I eat breakfast too early or too soon after waking up, I still puke. I often just snack a bit around lunch time, and could probably stay satisfied until 7 or 8 at night. But not to worry, because the 25lbs I've gained so far are a testament to the fact that I'm not starving. My ligaments are also feeling the weight of my belly, as baby girl is still sitting quite low. The highest I ever feel any movement is right at my belly button, but I'm sure as she hits her last growth spurts, she'll be up in my ribs.
Sleep is beginning to be more of a struggle as I find it difficult to be comfortable in one position for very long, and my belly doesn't allow for stomach sleeping-which is my go to during restless nights.
I am planning on 6 more weeks of work or so, as long as nothing too crazy happens COVID wise. There have been a couple "scares" where we've discovered one of our patients was positive, when not in isolation, so I've resigned myself to wearing a full face shield along with my mask.
I'm looking forward to not being pregnant, almost as much as I'm looking forward to meeting this little one!
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