2012 has been a good looking year thus far! In March I was adamant that we take some family portraits before becoming a family of five. Matt thought that was a strange choice, but I 1) wanted some pictures of my final baby belly, 2) wanted some pictures in a local flower field that only stays pretty for about 4 weeks out of the year and 3) wanted to capture our final time as a family of four! I also knew that it would likely be fall before we'd take family portraits again (gotta get together and smile for Christmas card pics), so we jumped on it. My sweet friend, Kristen of Kaptured by Kristen Photography, came down and captured our growing family. Love!
Digging on Will's handsome haircut? Yeah, he's a charmer. And my sweet Katie with her Rapunzel-esque blonde hair... my, my, my. If only I had hair to match. I do have a confession to make about these photos, though. My little man had been quite busy the week prior to our session bumping his head into anything and everything he could. No, seriously. It was a wreck. He ran into the edge of a chair one day, the edge of a side table at gma and gpa's the next day, then proceeded to dive headfirst from a chair in the kitchen; all of which led to two, parallel horizontal line bruises across his forehead, as well as one, big, mack-daddy goose egg bruise smack in the middle of his forehead. Sooo, being the good parent I am, I photoshopped those mamajamas right out of our family portraits. Wouldn't you? I wouldn't want a purple bruise detracting from that perfect dimple on his right cheek (see it? It matches his daddy's, whom, he got it from, and his big sister's... swoon!).
That was early in March... I think? I can't remember exactly, but I was pretty darn pregnant. I do feel like I never got massive with this pregnancy, though. Kate was due on November 11th, but held out for a full week past her due date and was still less than 8 pounds (7 pounds, 14 ounces to be precise). Will was born the day before his due date and was my big baby- 8 pounds, 8 ounces. He was the one I was a big fatfatty with. I was the size of a house. Just a big, round mess of mama. That's not to say I didn't enjoy my pregnancy with him- I did. But this third time around, I was much more compact than previous times. People even commented that I didn't look as far along as I was (which very well could've just been to make me feel better about myself)... I didn't think so either, though. So, I suspected that baby girl would be our peanut.
It still amazes me how different each pregnancy can be. I really did love being pregnant. Each time was this crazy, amazing journey that made me feel like such a cool creation. As a woman, it made me feel empowered. As a child of God, it made me feel so connected to our Creator. Knowing that God was knitting together this perfect little creation within me was a feeling that cannot compare to anything else. I was one of the fortunate ones: I didn't experience terrible morning sickness- the third pregnancy was the worst in that case, but never unmanageable. The most difficult part of #3 was toward the end, as I became bigger and heavier- it was hard to chase Kate and Will! Going to the grocery store was exhausting some days. Walking up and down the stairs became a serious form of exercise... so chasing K&W up and down them was intense! I felt a lot more Braxton Hicks contractions this time around. All in all, I had a great, healthy pregnancy. We have been so blessed to make it through three pregnancies with no complications and full term deliveries.
We really struggled with a name this time! Kate was so easy to name- we knew our first girl would be Kathryn; we liked it, it has family history and we agreed immediately. Done. Will was harder, but we had a couple of names we really liked, so we just had to narrow them down. This time... ugh. This time was a battle. We talked it about it often, but would quickly give up and stop talking about it because we'd find ourselves stuck. We spent two different date nights brainstorming names over our dinner. It was so hard!
Throughout the first 8 months of this pregnancy, I was fairly content with being pregnant as long as possible. The idea of three kids was daunting. I was terrified of what life with three would be like, and so unsure what it would be like to be outnumbered. The people I knew with three assured me that everything would be fine, but that it would definitely be crazy. And exhausting. But wonderful!... but chaotic. Phew! What's a mama supposed to think?! So, I was scared. With my first pregnancy, I was scared of not knowing what I was doing. With my second, I was scared I wouldn't be able to love another child as much as I adored my first baby. With my third, I felt confident in what I was doing... I had no question that my heart would adore her as much as my other two; I was just afraid of how I would deal with being outnumbered! I suppose that just like each pregnancy is different, the fears that come along with having a new baby are different each time.
Baby girl's due date was April 1st. As March was coming to a close, I was getting fairly anxious. I think Kate was, too. She'd ask me every night before bed if the baby was coming out that night. How do you explain to a 4 year old that we really have no idea! We had moved Will into a crib in her room, so they are sharing a room now. It actually works out great- they sleep just fine and get along so well! So that eliminated some stress as we prepared for our newest addition! With April approaching, we were wondering what the next couple of weeks would look like. At my 39 week appointment, I was 3cm dilated, but nothing too exciting other than that. Would I still be pregnant on Easter (April 8th)? Would I have to be induced again? When would she be here?!
That, I think, it a question for another post! Stay tuned for the birth story!
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