'S' is for... Sixteen Weeks - - Flock of... FIVE!!!

Dear Little "Tiebreaker,"

We found out about you on Father's Day, which, this year, also happened to be our 12th Anniversary.  I sort of knew you were already there, though couldn't really believe it.  I took a test on the Friday before and it was negative.  But, late that night, something told me to look at it again.  And, even though tests aren't supposed to be valid hours later, I could swear there was a faint hint of color where it had been blank earlier in the day.  Upon inspection in the morning, it looked blank again... and I was disappointed that my eyes were playing tricks on me.  I still thought it was wrong...  I felt pregnant.  So, I made a lame excuse to Daddy on Saturday evening when he got home from work and ran out to the store to buy milk and another test. 

I couldn't sleep after Daddy left for work Sunday morning.  Finally, just after 6am, I took the test and presto... within seconds a faint line appeared in the positive window.  And, just like that, I had the best Anniversary and Father's Day present for your Daddy!  YOU!!!

This is what I gave him after he opened all of his cards...

This is what he looked like when he realized what it was...

And this is what he said to me the next morning as we sat in the backyard with your sister and brother:
"I feel a bit more alive today."  His excitement about you made him feel more alive... sweetest thing he could have said. 

You were a long time in the making.  Granted, not compared to so many we know who struggled to have their babies, but knowing we wanted to expand our family for the last couple of years and not having it happen... and realizing it wasn't entirely in our control... was a bit of a rude awakening.  With your sister, it was so easy... almost too easy!  We decided, as I was looking for a job (um... okay... we can talk about timing and choices later), that I'd go off the pill and we'd be ready in 3-6 months to start trying.  Three weeks later I was pregnant.  With your brother, I had started a new job and your sister had gone into the early stages of heart failure, so we decided to not "see what happens" and I refilled my birth control prescription.  Before I even started them, I found out I was pregnant.   With you, it wasn't so easy.  We tried for nearly 18 months. 

Earlier this year, we discovered I was having some problems that required some procedures and an outpatient surgery that was done in March.  During all the diagnostic testing, we learned I have a small ovarian cyst (no biggie, really, just causing lots of discomfort) a blocked right fallopian tube and a narrowing in the left.  All of that, coupled with stress of the last fifteen months (and our life in general) and my age, were clearly culprits in our inability to easily conceive again.   As soon as everything was finally pieced together mid-May, we knew it would be difficult at best and resigned ourselves to the fact that it probably wasn't going to happen... that it just wasn't meant to be. We even shared this information with some friends and family.  And then... bam... there you were!   All three of you are proof that what we think is good timing isn't the timing that is meant to be.

So, when I called my doctor's office on the 20th of June, her staff was shocked.  In fact, I was told at my first appointment at 8 weeks that they'd actually figured the girl who scheduled my appointment made a mistake and, instead of calling me to confirm the reasons for my visit (initially it was a follow-up to my surgery... then I called to add the pregnancy visit), they would just wait until I came in and would confirm then.  My doctor walked into the exam room with her jaw dropped open and started to laugh.  She congratulated me and said, "It's really true!  I am floored!" 

You are growing perfectly, we are both healthy and all the testing done so far has yielded great numbers.  You (and the havoc you wreak on my hormones!) are causing me to crave lots of protein, lots of spice and lots of vinegary foods (picture the cliche pregnant lady eating pickles... and even sipping the juice with a spoon!).  A sandwich cannot have too many pepperoncinis (that juice tastes pretty darn good, too!) and there is no such thing as too much pepper on pretty much anything.  I am sure this won't last... the impending heartburn will have to push all these cravings to the curb... but for now, I am enjoying indulging in these cravings.  

If I had to guess whether you're a boy or a girl... I can't really.  By my cravings, I'd say boy... I am eating just like I did with Preston.  If I go by my complexion and hair (ugh!)... girl... just like Gracie. Like with both your sister and brother, my morning sickness was relatively mild compared to most people I know, yet different than each time before.  Since we know there is only one of you in there... I have no clue. 

Here is what mommy looked like at 13 weeks:

Here is what mommy looks like now, at 16 weeks:

I am so excited to get to know you more in the coming months - - as you start getting big enough to feel the rambunctiousness that I have witnessed in some of my ultrasounds.  You have already been caught doing leg lifts and somersaults galore.  Clearly, you're having fun in there... I am glad!  I am doing my best to make a comfy little place in there for you until late February.

Love,
Mommy