Surprise!!

Wow, has it been a long time since I've been in here!  Sure, I visit the blog every now and then to show the girls pictures of when they were younger and videos and what-not.  But it's been ages since I've actually posted to this blog.

So, what, might you ask, prompted this post?  Well, there's definitely value to blogging and being able to go back to previous posts and see what Sweet Pea was doing when she was Sugar Plum's age or how old the girls were when they first did this or that or to see how I was feeling when I was X weeks along with Sweet Pea compared to Sugar Plum and now compared to...

A-ha!  And there you have it.  I'm back because, although we thought we would be a family of four, God had other plans and we're going to be a family of five! 

So, without further ado, allow me to introduce you to Tres Bean!

First, let me explain the nickname.  Obviously since we had Jellybean and Sugar Bean, we had to have another Bean.  So, Tres Bean it is!  It's supposed to be a play on words.  Instead of 'tres bien' (French for 'very good'), it's 'tres bean'.  But it also works because 'tres' is 'three' in Spanish and this is our third child.  However, since we're in Texas, we have to Texanize it up!  So, when you pronounce it, it's pronounced as 'trace bean'.

I have a different doctor and, at my first appointment, I made it clear that I absolutely didn't want to be induced this time around.  Then, depending on her response, I'd decide whether or not I needed to find another doctor.  Thankfully, she said that she was of the mind that as long as both baby and mommy are handling things well, they'd wait another day.  I really like my doctor - for a number of reasons!

My first doctor's appointment was on 7/9/15 when I was 6 weeks and 5 days along based on my LMP.  However, Tres Bean was measuring at 7 weeks, 1 day.  My doctor said we'd use LMP to base my due date since that's the later of the two.  So, based on LMP, my due date is 2/27/16.  Oh, I also got an ultrasound at my first appointment!  That's the picture above.

At my next doctor's appointment on 8/4/15, I was 10 weeks and 3 days along based on my LMP, but Tres Bean was measuring at 11 weeks, 3 days.  A full week's difference!  But my doctor said that we're still going to stick with the 2/27/16 due date to give us more wiggle room to avoid induction.  AND, I got yet another ultrasound on my second visit!  I certainly wasn't complaining, because here I was told that I'd only get 2 ultrasounds total, including the big one between 18-20 weeks and there I was at the second visit already getting another ultrasound!

Then, at my most recent doctor's appointment last week, I got a third ultrasound!  Like I said - I really like my doctor!

So, about this pregnancy - boy, the morning sickness is rough!!!  I mean, really rough!  I've been nauseous/vomiting since the week we found out I was pregnant and it's still ongoing even though I'm already in my 2nd trimester now.  Not that I'm complaining, of course.  I tell myself that it's a good thing because that's how I know that everything's progressing along normally.  I think with all the other stress factors going on in my life right now, if I didn't have morning sickness, that'd just be another thing for me to stress about.  So, when I get sick, I am assured that Tres Bean is still doing A-Okay!

Speaking of morning sickness, get this: I've eaten far less this pregnancy and have thrown up far more than I did when I was pregnant with Sugar Plum, but yet, when I checked back on my blog, I had only gained 1 pound with Sugar Plum at this point in pregnancy, and I've already gained 6 pounds with Tres Bean!  How on earth is that possible?!?!!!

And also, with this pregnancy, I want spicy food and tart, sour drinks.  I cannot stand water - literally, I throw up the water if I drink it plain.  So I started adding limes to my water.  Then, that stopped working and someone told me about grapefruit juice.  So, I drank grapefruit juice with seltzer water and that helped for a few weeks, but now it doesn't work anymore.  So, I started drinking cranberry juice and that's working for now.  Cranberry juice and orange juice.  I know I still need water because I get headaches, but I'll deal with the headaches for now until this morning sickness goes away and then I'll go back to drinking copious amounts of water, like my body is normally accustomed to.

I forgot to mention, at my first appointment I asked my doctor if it was okay to take my allergy bombs (lemon/peppermint/lavender combo) because I knew now that we were back from FL, that it was bound to be a necessity.  She said that was okay.  Of course, when I started to make the bomb, the scent was too strong and I had to make a quick trip to the rest room, so I decided I'd wait awhile until I absolutely, positively needed to take them.  Well, that day finally came yesterday.  Thankfully, making the allergy bombs (1 for Papa Bear, too) didn't necessitate a trip to the rest room and they're really helping me out, too.  Poor Papa Bear has been miserable without his daily allergy bombs.  His nasal spray just isn't as effective as the bomb, but I don't feel too bad about it because I told him how to make them - he just chose not to.

My next appointment is in 4 more weeks and she'll schedule the big ultrasound at that appointment.  So, in the next 5-6 weeks, we'll hopefully get to find out if Tres Bean is a girl or boy!  Papa Bear (along with everyone else) seems to believe that we're having a boy this time around.  The girls both hope that Tres Bean is a boy, but honestly, they're really just more excited about getting to be big sister's than anything else!