A Rash of Fevers

We are experiencing a rash of fevers at our house. Joey spent the weekend (from Fri night thru Sat) running fevers of 101-104.5. Sunday he was feeling better, but we couldn't take him to church since he had a fever in within 24 hours. He did have a soar throat. He knows what the uvula is, and so his excuse for everything was that his uvula hurts. "It hurts my uvula to chew that." I asked him to bring me a couple dishes off the table. His response? "That will hurt my uvula." Nice try, Bub!

Ethan ended the day yesterday with a fever. He had the best night sleep in awhile and woke up feeling fine, although he was a bit less exuberant than usual. He woke up from his nap with another fever.

Nick also seemed to catch the fever bug this afternoon. After three or four attempts to get his temperature with the thermometer under the tongue, we reverted back to the underarm method, resulting in a temp of 101.7.

Nick is still working like crazy and neither of us can wait for his vacation in June. We both need a break from the long hours.

I'm doing well, except for being exhausted. Andrew is moving around quite a bit, which is lots of fun. By the time we come down next month, he will be more easily felt by other people, so I'm expecting lots of belly rubs.

Hopefully the fevers will leave us in the next day or so. I'm just thankful that there is nothing else paired with them. (I don't do pukies!)

Slight Spill

I took a little spill down the stairs this morning. Just a couple stairs, but I still have an owie.
We have a gate on the bottom stair to help corral the boys to a manageable area in the house. As I was stepping over the gate, Nick grabbed hold of my other leg and started pulling me down. I tried to shake him off, but he wouldn't budge. As fate would have it, I shook too hard and sent him flying, right into the wall behind me. In my haste to get to him, I missed the stair, didn't have the leg length to reach the floor, got caught on the gate and fell. I landed on my left thigh on the folded Pack 'N Play, hit my head on the wall, and fell on top of Nick.
I have a small bruise on the back of my right ankle from the gate, and a huge bruise on my left thigh, which makes it difficult to move or sit.

Another Big Baby

Each of my kids have been over 8 pounds at birth. This is not huge, by any means, but I would love to experience a nice, average 7.5 pound baby for once. It's not likely to happen.
According to what is "average" the baby's crown to rump length is 18 cm or 7 inches and weighs about 300-350 grams or 10.5-12.3 ounces at this point.
According to the ultrasound, the baby is weighing in at about a pound already...four ounces more than the high end of "average."
Oh well.

Growing Up

It is hard to imagine, but Joey just turned six years old a couple of days ago. I remember the day he was born so clearly...at least parts of it. There was a time when I was so exhausted after the long hours of contractions, but for the most part I remember.
I remember waking up about 6am, when Nick's alarm went off so he could get ready for work. I knew that I was experiencing some uncomfortable pains, but not having had a child before, I wasn't sure if it was actual labor. Nick wondered if he should call in to work, but I assured him he could go; not that he had a choice, he had the work truck at home and needed to get it back. I had a dr. appt that morning anyway.
When I got to the office for my appt., the nurse came in, took one look at me, and said, "You're in labor." So they hooked me up to the monitor and found that my contractions were only three minutes apart. So they called ahead to the hospital to book me a room. Of course, although I had my bag packed, I didn't have them in the car. So I had to go all the way home (past the hospital) and load the car and wait for my husband to make the hour drive back home.
There are so many other details that I remember about that day. I remember that at one point, my husband thought that I was nearly passing out from pain, when in fact I was trying to doze in the two minutes between contractions. I remember how I asked my mom to time my contractions because I couldn't concentrate on the mental activity. When she told me there was about two minutes between contractions, I told her she had to be lying, because it sure felt one on top of the other to me. (She obviously didn't understand what I was going through.)
I remember how I felt when I held Joey for the first time, how I was so proud to show him off, how the nurse suggested I have him taken to the nursery so I could sleep but I wouldn't hear of it.
And now I look over at him, he hardly fits on my ever decreasing lap(as the baby increases)and he is reading! Where did the time go? How did this happen? Was I here, watching? It doesn't seem like it.
Joey had his check up this afternoon. He was 43 1/4 inches tall and 41 3/4 pounds. All looks well, and he promised the Dr. that he wore his helmet every time he rode his bike or scooter. He showed the doctor the bruise and scrape he got when he fell off the scooter. The Dr. said his legs look like a boys' leg should look if he was active enough. (It's nice to hear that rather than a suspicion of abuse for all the bruises.)
It always amazes me how much the kids grow right before my eyes. I don't seem to notice as its happening, until one day it hits me all at once. Could somebody just hit pause or slow motion or something? I feel I need some more time.

Mouth Movement

At the very end of this clip, you will see Andrew open and close his mouth. What a miracle to know that a new life is growing and developing inside me, and what an amazing thing to be able to witness a bit of it through technology!

Beating Heart

Here is a great view of Andrew's heart beating. They measured his heartbeats at about 139 per minute; which is in the normal, healthy range.

More Ultrasound Pictures

Here are his feet, one on top of the other.

A profile picture, showing how he liked to keep his arm by his head.

Here's the alien view of the face; eyes, nose, mouth.

Andrew is waving to you.

Here is another profile picture; cute nose.

It's A Boy

Yes, God has blessed us with yet another boy. Andrew Kyle will arrive in mid-September. Everybody's first question is "am I alright?" Of course. I am blessed to be expecting another child, and according to the ultrasound, one that is healthy and growing as he should.
However, this being our last child, I am also experiencing a great loss; a loss of a dream I have loved since I was a little girl. Loss and joy. Two conflicting emotions, but two completely different reasons. Do I feel loss because I'm having a boy? Absolutely NOT. I feel loss because I'm not having a girl. I feel only joy and excitement waiting for Andrew's arrival.
As I have said before, it helps to have his name picked out because I can start to bond with him as an indiviual, and not some nebulous idea of him. By the time he is born, I will want no baby other than him.
Here are some pictures of the ultrasound.

A great view of the spine.

The left arm kept up by the head.

The four chambers of the heart.

This should be obvious to anyone; but in case it isn't....what you are seeing here are two legs and what is between them. Yes, we are definitely having a boy. It's hard to mistake that.

Here are his legs, with his feet off to the left side of the picture.
I have a few more pictures and a couple videos to add.

Cute Talk

Nick said a couple cute things today.
First, it was about 6am when Ethan and Nick joined Nick and I in bed this morning. Ethan was between us, so I bundled Nick up at the foot of the bed. After awhile, Ethan crawled down to be with Nick. Nick was so sweet with him and covered him up and gave him loves. Then Ethan pointed up to the ceiling fan and said something around his pacifier.
Nick asked, "Do you want the fan off?" Ethan obviously did not want the fan off, but I couldn't understand what he was jabbering about. Then Nick said, "Why does the fan spin? Oh, that's how the air comes out."
Ethan was satisfied enough with that. It was so cute listening to my three year old explain the operation of a fan to my toddler.
In the afternoon, Nick took Nick with him to do the grocery shopping. On the way home, they had to stop at work to open the office for someone. Nick asked his Daddy why they had to go to work. Daddy said, "I have to meet a lady at work."
Nick didn't like this, and in a show of loyalty one can only dream of from a son, he said, "Why do you have to meet another lady? Mommy's at home!"
What a little love.