BabyMill3 [24 Weeks]

It's exciting to reach this point in pregnancy... especially after our scare at 14 weeks! 24 weeks is considered "viability" week in pregnancy, so while of course we hope our baby stays put for many more weeks, it's comforting to know that my baby can live in the world safely at this point.

[Checking out BabyMill 3 and discovering we're having another girl!]

Sickness: I've felt good and no longer gag over Brielle's diaper which is a relief. I do have heartburn, as usual, but it hasn't been too awful yet.

Gender: We now know that this baby is a GIRL! I never felt very strongly either way, but I was leaning a little more toward girl when we had the ultrasound. We are excited about having three little girls and aren't disappointed in the least about not having a boy, which we consider a blessing since some people very honestly struggle with gender disappointment.

Movement: This baby is a mover and a kicker. I feel her lots! It's reassuring but also sometimes so weird to feel so much movement inside of you. I can see her kick from the outside now too

Weight Gain: I'm up 9 pounds now. Still wearing my regular clothes but I sometimes wear maternity shirts because I can :)

Other Discomforts: I never can complain about too much. I have had calf cramping quite a bit lately, but otherwise, I feel good.

[22 Weeks]

[Sophie loves doing this picture with me now]

BabyMill3 [18 Weeks]

I've been doing a poor job of blogging about my pregnancy with BabyMill3. To be fair, I had planned to do a blog post the night before I had the threatened miscarriage, and for whatever reason, it didn't happen. Then with the scare, I still felt like I was walking on pins and needles for a little while. I'm feeling comfortable and normal in my pregnancy again, so I think it's time to do an update!

Sickness: My sickness with this baby was so weird. I didn't feel sick AT ALL for so long. I thought it was great, but it was weird too since I have been sick with both girls. At first it convinced me that this one must be a boy, but then I read online that if you're breastfeeding, sometimes it takes away the morning sickness. And that must have been it because as soon as Brielle stopped breastfeeding, I started feeling more morning sickness (still not bad - and thankfully by then I was 11 weeks along, so I didn't have much of the first trimester left). I also could.not.handle gross smells. I couldn't change Brielle's diapers without gagging and throwing up. Thankfully, I am feeling mostly better now and am changing Brielle's diapers again! I've had a little bit of heartburn, but nothing too serious yet.

Movement: I didn't feel Sophie until 21 weeks and felt Brielle at 16 weeks. I felt this baby's first kick when I was in the E.R. and the lady was pushing hard on my stomach to do an ultrasound. At that point, I was 13 weeks. Around 15 weeks, I started to regularly feel the baby move. It sure is reassuring!

Weight Gain: I've gained 4.5 pounds (I lost some weight when I had all the bleeding). Basically, I think I'm growing the same as the other girls. I'm still in my regular clothes thus far. 

(7 weeks)

(10 weeks)

(14 weeks)

(18 weeks)

Brielle's Development [1 Year!]

This little girl is ONE!

What a great year it's been! She came into the world fairly easily (thank you, Baby!) and the transition from one to two was pretty easy for me. Brielle was an easy and sweet baby. She became more difficult from 6-9 months. I'm not sure if it was the move or if it was recognizing she had vocal chords but being unable to move (she always wanted Mommy!). Once she started crawling at 9 months, she became a happier baby.

It has been so fun to discover her personality. She likes attention, she is an instigator (Little Sister Syndrome?), she is a cautious daredevil (oxymoron?), she loves the outdoors and water, she is sensitive, and she loves people.

This past month she has learned to walk along furniture. She also stands for very short periods of times by letting go of something (the longest was about 15 seconds). She gets so proud of herself when she does so and starts giggling and bouncing which then results in falling :)

She claps her hands now and waves "bye bye".

She's been told "No" a lot more lately (pulling hair, playing with the toilet paper, playing in the toilet, playing with trash), and she usually cries immediately upon hearing the word.

Typical Schedule:
7:30am - Wake
8am - Banana, Toast, Bottle
10:30am- Nap (around 1 hour)
12pm - Lunch
2pm - Nap (usually 2 hours)
4pm - Snack
5:30pm - Supper
Sometimes still requires a night nap
7pm - Bottle
7:30pm - Bed

The Unexpected [BabyMill3]

Saturday morning I woke up and everything was normal. I was helping to host my sister-in-law, Katie's baby shower. I did recognize that I was a little short of breath, but sometimes I get like that while pregnant and when I'm running around and talking to a lot of people, so I didn't think too much about it.

Katie started opening presents a little after 11, and I went to the bathroom and realized I was bleeding. I was alarmed, but I decided to keep it cool until the end of the shower and then make a decision. When Katie finished opening gifts about 20 minutes later, I stood up to thank everyone for coming and felt blood gush down. I hurried to to the bathroom and knew that whatever was happening was not normal. I have never bled so much, so I was sure I was miscarrying. Ben was working, so I called him, and we decided to meet at the e.r. My mom drove me to meet him.

I continue to bleed quite a bit when we arrived at the hospital at 1:15. We never got taken to a room until 3, and once we were in the room, they did a bunch of procedures that told me nothing. They took my urine culture, left forever, took my blood, left forever, hooked me up to an IV to give me fluids, left forever, tried to find a heartbeat on a doppler but could't (I didn't expect them to- I was sure I had miscarried, and with all of the time to think about it and prepare myself, I was ready for the news). Honestly, as I think about my time in the hospital, I feel so thankful for the incredible amount of trust in the Lord I had. He filled me with a peace and I remained really calm and trusting the whole time. I knew this baby was a blessing and that I did not deserve it, and I knew that if I lost it that it would be hard but that God would sustain me. I also felt incredibly thankful for the two girls I have because thinking about going home to them was comforting.

The doctor came back in and did a pelvic exam. He said it was closed (which was good) but that it looked like it could be opening (which was not good). Finally, the ultrasound tech came in around 6pm, and she did an abdominal ultrasound with the screen facing away from me. At one point I thought she played the baby's heartbeat, but I told myself not to get my hopes up.  I was sure it was just my heartbeat. Then she pushed really hard and I thought I felt a little kick, but my stomach was doing all kinds of crazy things that day that I didn't trust anything I felt. Finally after about 15 minutes of doing the ultrasound without saying anything, the tech said, "So have you been feeling a lot of movement?" The question was odd to me and I was completely unsure of how to respond. I said, "No... I mean, not before today. Should I?... I mean, is there a heartbeat?" And she said YES! I was so completely shocked. For seven hours, I was sure I had lost our baby, so to hear that there was a living baby inside of me was a complete shock. She told me the baby was really active. I asked her why I was bleeding so much, and she didn't know.

After she left, the doctor came back in and said that they call it a "threatened miscarriage" but really couldn't tell me anything more. He told me to see my midwife on Monday. And then we left. I called my midwife in Missouri on Sunday because I didn't like the lack of info from the e.r. doctor, and she said it is called a placenta abruption. She told me to take it really easy and gave me a list of vitamins to take. She said that it is serious, but that if I follow her recommendations, I should be able to carry to full term and have a healthy baby.

Yesterday (Monday), I went to my midwife's office in Indiana, and they found the heartbeat on the doppler (it was 175), and the baby was active and kicking the doppler. I will go back next thursday for an ultrasound, and if all looks good, I will be cleared to resume normal activities.

I'm no longer allowed to deliver at the birth center which is a huge bummer for me. After having two completely normal pregnancies, it's frustrating to have my body fail me in this way this time. But overall, we are praising God for a living baby. We are reminded to never take this baby for granted, and we are reminded that God is the giver and taker of life and that he has been good to us to give us this life.

Sophie's Development [2 years, 9 months]

This little girl is getting big... let me show you what I mean... here are pictures from all 3 of her Christmases... look how she's grown!

Words: She says some fun new words like telescope and terrific. She also is good at explaining things now when I don't understand a word she says. One day we were sitting on the couch and I was using my arm to block Brielle from crawling off. Sophie said, "Are you like a...?" I couldn't figure out what word she was saying and kept guessing things. Finally, in frustration, she exclaimed, "Like on Dora!! Dora opens the gate!" Ohhhh, a gate! I was so proud of her for thinking of how to explain it to me. She's also done this when I couldn't understand the word brush (she combed her hands through her hair) and star (Grama asked her what she wanted for Christmas and thought she said car, but she was saying star. She started to sing Twinkle Twinkle so understood).

Sleep: Sophie goes to bed well at night but likes to have a  little light so she can sleep. She typically goes to bed at 8:30pm and sleeps until 7am. She takes a nap for around 2 hours every day.

Funny Things: 

- While hitting her belly with her hand: "My hand jumps on my trampoline belly."

- Sophie was crying from falling. Grama: "Sorry, are you getting tired?" Sophie: "No, I just grumpy!"

- Me: "Sophie, can you count them?" (there were 4). Sophie: "Yeah! One...two... three... and another one!"

- "Mommy, I have an idea! When I get big, I will do a flip!" (after watching a Curious George episode about gymnastics)

- One day she showed me her bellybutton and called it a tummy box.

- After stopping to visit friends and they weren't home (Jill, it was you!), Sophie asked, "Did God make them die?" She's been really big into asking if God made things or caused things to happen lately.

Sweet Things:

-"Mommy, I love you. You're a good mommy."

- Pretending to read (she had a coupon): "You are very precious to God."

Bible Knowledge: With it being the Christmas season, Sophie has learned all about baby Jesus. We've read stories and sang songs and seen and colored pictures. It's been fun to teach her about Jesus coming as a baby!

Foods: Raisins, capri suns, pineapple, pretzels. She still really likes all things cheese and milk, but we've been cutting back lately after she's had a month of stomach issues. 

Likes: Trampolines, playing pretend, playing hide and seek, reading books, watching shows, baby dolls and stuffed animals, going to class, singing, animals

Dislikes: Messiness, getting in trouble, sharing, carousel 

 BFF Addie

 Teacher: Miss Bethany (aka Miss Button)

Brielle's Development [11 Months]

This little girl is getting big! People always say, "Just enjoy it when they're not moving because then they can't get into anything." But you know what I decided? I LOVE when babies start crawling and walking. It's so cute and fun, and Brielle is so happy that she can move now! She's crawling everywhere, and she can't walk yet, but she pulls up on everything (she loves being on her legs!) and has just started to move along furniture a little. In this past month, her legs have gotten really strong! She is so excited about her new strength too- she tries to stand without her hands, but she's not that strong yet.

She got one more top tooth - so 6 total.

She's also learned other new fun things in this past month: how to play peek-a-boo, how to sign "more" (finally!!!), and she gives those cute, slobbery open-mouth kisses!

She also says "Nana" for "food." I think she calls food this because bananas are her favorite food, and she first used it with a banana.

She loves food just as much as always. We've also switched to formula this past month. It was sad for me, but pregnancy caused my supply to drop so she needed more to drink.

Typical Schedule:
6:30/7am- Bottle
Back to sleep until 8
8am- Banana and Cheerios
10am- Nap (for about an hour)
12pm- Bottle and lunch
1/1:30pm- Nap (about 2 hours)
4:30pm- Bottle
5pm- Supper
Sometimes takes a night nap for about an hour before bed
7pm- Bottle
7:30pm- Bed

Loves: Food, baths, bouncing, crawling, pulling up, sleeping

Dislikes: Having her hands held, being left alone