Announcing for probably the last time...

I've decided that though I'm not posting this on facebook yet, I wanted to add this bit of news to my blog. This then, I guess, is my announcement into the ranks of the the pregnant multitudes due this summer/fall. I think at last count I knew something like 13 or 14 people due this year, including myself. Baby #4 is due August 8th, the day after Lili turns 2. That puts me today at 19w4d.

We had an ultrasound last Friday which revealed the baby is...drum roll please....undisclosed. That's right, baby wouldn't spread its' legs for anything. We tried for an hour. Best guess is a girl, simply because we couldn't find anything else. But the lack of spreadage guarantees nothing. I was going to start on baby's blanket after we found out what it was, so I could do appropriate colors. But alas, neutral colors will have to do. We didn't want to know what Lili was, and this time, baby didn't want _us_ to know.

The kids are all very excited. Lili likes to lay her head on my belly and kiss the baby. Logan rubs my stomach, and he wants little brother so bad. Kaetlynn, I think, just wants someone else to boss around. Doug is building a loft for Kaety so we can put Logan in the girls' room for a while and let the baby have the little room to itself. Ecstatic isn't even the right word for the excitement about the new beds.

As for me, I was really sick for the first 15 weeks or so. I knew right away when I got pregnant. I had been temp charting in anticipation of when we were going to try again, but this baby decided to come sooner than we had planned. Still, I know exactly what day I got pregnant. Even so, I was in slight denial when it came time to take the test. I was 3 days or so late before I took one, even though I knew what the result would be. I took a second test a few days later to confirm, but the second line showed up pretty much instantly. I was showing by the time I was 8 weeks. And now at almost 20, I have one pair of pants that fit without any kind of help. Most shirts are too short. I bought some belly bands that help with both of the above issues. I wear pj pants most of the time when I'm at home not going anywhere.

I've been sick the past week with the cold the kids have been passing back and forth, but the past 2 days I've had something resembling the flu. As a result I couldn't keep any food down for a good 24 hours and the baby was NOT happy with me. I was seriously dehydrated and so miserable. Now on day 3 I still don't feel great, but I'm much more functional and I can eat some actual food again, more than soup and jello.

I've been having a lot of braxton-hicks contractions over the past month and with my history of pre-term labor the doctor is concerned. I really have to make sure I drink enough water. Being sick and throwing up everything has made that hard.

Doug got to feel the baby move for the first time last night. That was really cool. We were in bed watching the remake of Fright Night with Collin Ferrell and David Tennant and baby was going nuts. Even though I've done this before and it's nothing new, feeling the baby like that is still pretty much the coolest thing ever.

Anyway I guess that's all for now, I need to go eat something and open some windows, since it's so nice outside. If anyone reads this, please don't say anything on facebook just yet. I'll announce it there eventually. I've just had some negative comments on the idea of having another baby, when frankly if my husband and I decide that we're ready for another one, it's no one else's business. I won't say the idea of 4 children doesn't terrify me at times. But that doesn't mean anyone else has the right to tell me that that I shouldn't.

On that note, I will post another update later, when there's more to tell. Half way done already, it's going faster than I remember!