Pregnancy Update- First Doctor Visit

2-8-12
So yesterday was my first doctor appointment for this pregnancy.  It was a lot of fun.  My favorite part was that I didn't have to take any of my clothes off!  Dr. Thackeray always smiles as he walks in the room when we come back in for a new pregnancy.  This time I said, "We're back!"  He said he was excited when he saw our name on the register for the day's appointments.  It's kind of funny that he knows us so well, but I guess that's what happens after you have a doctor deliver 5 of your 6 kids.  He asked if this was a good thing :)  We smiled and said, "yeah!"  I had told him a few months ago at my exam that we were thinking of getting pregnant again, so I was surprised he asked that, but whatever.  So he asked how I was feeling, then we all went to the ultrasound room!  I was so excited to have an ultrasound.  Dr. Thackeray must have really thought we were having twins because he disappointedly said, "Well, there's just one baby." When he first got the ultrasound going.  Kinda funny.  He's done that a few times.  I don't know why he does that.  We got to see our baby's heartbeat, and see the little one moving around!  So fun!!!  It's super cute when they are so tiny in there, just free to move around, not crowded like they get later on.  Always makes me tear up.  I love that part.  When he measured the baby, he came to the conclusion that my due date would be September 1st.  That made me happy at first, considering I thought it was going to be more like the 8th, but then I realized that this would put the birth date right on the first day of school.  So we'll have to figure something else out with that.  I'm not having a baby on the first day of school.  Or even the day after :).  We'll see how it goes.  Maybe I'm overthinking this, and it will work out better.  I guess the first week of school is when there isn't much homework, and little responsibility, maybe this is good.....  Either way, having this baby will be a blessing, we're excited!
My blood pressure was 110/60, which is normal for me.
And my weight was.... too much :) (you didn't think I'd actually put it did you?) BUT I did weigh a pound less than my last visit :).  Silly that I find that a good thing, but I was really trying to lose weight for a while there!  So yeah, it was a good thing :).
I read somewhere that my baby is around the length of a lime :)  So cute!  10 weeks down!

Not a care in the world....

Yesterday while I was blow-drying my hair in the girls' room (here's a fun fact for ya: our bathroom does not have an outlet compatible with the kind of plug that hair dryers have.  In fact, our bathroom only has ONE outlet!  This is an old house.  So that's why our hair dryer is in the girls' room.... kinda strange, but you do what ya gotta do. ), I looked over and there was Erika.  She was laying on her back, on her cute little toddler bed, feet up in the air, doll in her arms, just staring up at the ceiling and she had the biggest smile on her face!  She started jabbering a little (I'm not sure what she was saying, I could just see her mouth moving).  It looked SO peaceful and relaxing!  It really made me stop and think.  I had been rushing around all morning, hurriedly trying to get everyone ready and out the door by a certain time.  And in my rush, may have missed out on this sweet little moment.  Sometimes I hate that life has to be so busy.  That we have to have appointments and schedules. Sometimes I wish we could just lay around in our pj's and enjoy each other's company.  Because when there's things that need to be done, even simple things, I get all stressy.  I get rushed, and I get distracted.  I need to focus on not letting this happen I think.  Try to stop and smell the roses a little more often.  I know I have to be an adult and live my life and that things can't be for me, the way that they apparently are for Erika :).... but I could at least act that way :).  Anyway.  Just made me smile too.... to think of what this little girl has ahead of her.  To think of what she may have been thinking at that moment.  When they're babies I assume they're looking at the angels, when they look up at nothing and smile, so who's to say she wasn't doing that :).  I love the position I hold.  I love wondering about my Heavenly Father's plan.  I love having my sweet little examples to watch and learn from everyday.  They make life so worth it.

Pregnancy Journal

2-6-12

So I think I've reached a new low this last week.  I feel like I'm running out of motivation and energy.  Well, I don't even know why I say, "running out" it's completely GONE!  I am starting to feel that cloud.  The cloud of gray that covers my mind when I am pregnant.  I was hoping I had somehow skipped out on that part or something, but no, it's here.  I guess I'm almost 10 weeks and man, it feels like 30 is a long ways away.  I try to stay positive.  I always feel like I offend my unborn child when I complain about it and make it sound so miserable.  Right now though, it's tricky to be positive.  I'm sore already, my back hurts, I am nauseated all. the. time.  It doesn't let up at all.  So I try to eat small meals, but it takes so long to get up the courage to eat anything, that I am starving and sick by the time I do.... then eating is just miserable.  I am really looking forward to my doctor appointment this Wednesday.  I think that will be a little ray of sunshine.  I hope everything is going okay... seems to be normal... for the most part.  I guess I should be more comfortable with this seeing as how it's my 7th pregnancy, but really.... I still worry, I am still anxious, and there are still new symptoms that I have never experienced with any of the others.  Kinda bizarre.  I guess one thing I've learned from my experience though, is that most things are "normal".  There are very few things that should really draw any real concern, and even those.... are normal.  I'm sure for some people this is different, but for me, everything is "normal".  I was feel all cool about having a 7th c-section and wondered if we were coming close to like a record of some kind, but then I looked it up.  The record is ELEVEN!!!  Holy moly!  I don't think we'll try to beat that record.  That's a lot of kids!  Seven is a lot of kid.  So anyway.  I did find out that the record for the most children born by one mother is 69 though!!  By some Russian back in the 1700's.  She had several sets of twins, triplets, even quadruplets I think.  Talk about fertile!  And holy moly.  How in the world you give birth that many times is beyond me!!  I couldn't even do it once!~  ha.  I'm kidding.  Yeah, crazy though.  Kinda makes me laugh about all the people who say that it's bad on your body or that your body isn't meant to carry that many pregnancies and whatever.  And granted, we have no idea what kind of shape she was in before or after, but if someone can handle 69 deliveries.... our bodies can do more than we think!!!  I do have to find ways away from all the criticism I hear regarding large families.  It can get to me sometimes.  

So anyway.  I'm feeling it.  This is getting hard.  But just like we learned in Sharing Tim yesterday, "I can do hard things!"  Makes me feel like I can do it!

Lukey's Big Day!

Luke was really cute the day before his birthday, wanting to make sure we got the sign done and the streamers up.  So we decided to put his mind at ease and just let him help with it all :).  The other kids got to help with the sign as well.  It was fun.  I should have mentioned that we have been counting down til his big day since Noah's!  It's been a LONG wait for some of us ;).  He was very aware of how many days there were and would remind me every morning.  Near the end, he realized he could pull a chair over and change the countdown on the white board himself :).  Funny kid.

So anyway, his day started bright and early with the request to open his gifts.

Once he was all ready for school (along with everyone else), we let him open the gifts from the family.  This is a rare privilege that only occurs when Nate is home in the mornings on birthdays.  Nate decided it was a worthy cause to take work off, so he got leave for Luke's birthday.  That was nice.  And Luke didn't have to wait to open his presents as a result :).  

SO the kids all showered him with their gifts.

It's fun to see what they all picked out (since I was oblivious at the store :)), and how Luke reacted to it all.

We searched all over for this Perplexes EPIC ball (it's the second one in a series that we started on Christmas), finally found it at Three Little Monkeys, and even though it cost a teensy bit more there, this smile made it all worth it :).

Bradley was so proud of his gift.  He knew exactly what Luke likes :).

When he opened Kelly's gift, I don't think he even stopped to look at it before dashing into his room to hide the stash!  She got him mostly treats :).  It was cute to see his face light up with each one!  It's nice to know that with Luke, it won't get gobbled up right away.  He does know how to make it last, I think.

She also got him this stadium horn.... that was funny.  Luke's not a big fan of loud noises, but he was slightly entertained by this one.

I just love this face.  Totally Luke.

We went out on a limb and got Luke a pogo stick.  We had been wanting something different, something active.... this seemed like a fun idea.  Luke seemed intrigued by it.  It will be a while before he will attempt it on his own, I think, but Luke's always good for a challenge.  I think it will end up being a lot of fun for him.

Luke's birthday was also 100 day at school this year!  What a fun day he had!  They got to play and eat junk food all day!  He made this cute little hat, and got the star glasses and a sticker (darn, I didn't get that in the picture!) for his birthday.  It was so much fun!!  He had requested that we bring in donuts for his class, so a sugary donut to top off all of the other crap they ate that day!  I'm sure the parents loved us.

It was our day to drive, so Carter came home with us and we decided that since it was Luke's birthday we could take a break in our wii fast and let them play a little before Carter had to go home.

Once he left, we drove up to Build-A-Bear and let Lukey make his beloved kitty.  I was surprised he wanted to go there, since he had been talking about Boondocks, or Blastzone, but I love that store so I wasn't about to talk him out of it!  I think the fact that this activity could be done "today" was the most appealing.  The other activities would have had to happen on another day.  

So anyway, he made an orange kitty, got him a Broncos football uniform, and named him "Cutie".....  So funny!  

I love the soft side of my little Luke.  He's a sweetie.

I spent most of the day while Luke was at school and playing wii, making his cake.  It was a lot of fun, though I hate doing this ON the birthday.  I wish I could figure out a way to make a fresh cake, but have no work the day of.  Anyway.  I had a little help from Nate, so that helped.

Of course.... Mario :)

I think the thing that made the hard work all worth it on this cake, was seeing Lukey's face light up when he came in the room and saw the Mario I had just molded.  He was so excited!  It was so much fun!!  Felt like I'd just won!  I know I've given up on pretending like I do these JUST for my kids, but I have to admit, it's just SO MUCH MORE FUN when they are excited about it too.  His face was priceless :)

I thought we had a good turn out at his party.  It's always nice to have lots there to celebrate.  Lukey was super cute opening his presents, just one right after the other, so quickly :).  I had mentioned manners as far as presents go, and I think I just made him nervous about how he should react :).  But anyway, he was at least polite.

He's fun with presents because he really does cherish the things he's given.  Even the stuff he doesn't really care about, he will take really good care of.  I like that about Luke.

This was probably my favorite!  He had been asking for Mario Galaxy 2 for.... well, forever, and I have THE HARDEST TIME spending 50 bucks on a wii game!  Especially because they are so easy to ruin!!  I had almost gotten him the Mario Galaxy, but Nate and I both just didn't want to get another wii game.  So of course when Grandpa Hatch asked what he wanted and I told him the situation... he was all over that.  I gave in.  Luke was SO HAPPY THOUGH!!  Look at this face!  He was praising Grandpa all night long.... yep, we let him play it for about an hour that night as soon as the party was over.

Grandma Ruthie gave him the cutest book!  I love the books she finds!  I wish I knew where she got them all.

party guests.  actually smiling ones this time :)

this is what our party guests usually look like.

I'm pretty sure Luke had a fun day.  He was so happy and so fun all day.  It's been a while since we had a pleasant birthday boy :).  I shouldn't say that, but really, some times things get out of control and I don't know if it's the overstimulation or what, but sometimes they just aren't their happy little selves.  He was a fun boy though, and I totally loved his day.  

That night once the speakers and blue ray were all set up, we watched Real Steel on our new tv, with the surround sound.  It was SO COOL!!!  The kids all loved it! 

Family time is the best :)

Luke turned SIX!

We love our Lukey.  

Our family would really be lacking, in more areas than one without this little guy.  I can't believe he's six!  He's turning into such a fun, outgoing, smart little boy.  It's fun to see what he sets out to accomplish.  

Happy Birthday Little Monkey!