38 weeks — and it’s finally close enough for us to do the gender guessing game you all have been begging for. So, if you want to play along, leave a comment with your gender guess. I’ll be revealing the answer after the baby is born!
Highlights
I had another OB appointment and ultrasound on Thursday. Baby got another 8 out of 8 score and everything looks great! I’ve definitely dropped even more (though you can’t tell from my picture!) and I doubt I’ll drop anymore before the birth considering the pelvic pressure I’m experiencing!
Notable
I’m having more contractions this week — which I’m all, “Bring ‘em on!” Because it seems like all the contractions I have in the weeks leading up to the birth really have helped my births be so much faster and easier in the past.
I’m officially on Maternity Leave as of this weekend! The plan is for me to be on leave through the end of May.
I’ve never, ever had a Maternity Leave before (in fact, I’ve always been back to work within 24-36 hours of my births — something I do not recommend), so I’m not even sure how to do it, but I’m excited to have this opportunity to rest, recuperate, savor my babies, and just take time to recover slowly.
(In case you’re wondering, I’ll still be online a little bit — I’ll be around on instagram and I’ll be writing a few content posts on the blog each week. We also have quite a few content posts pre-scheduled — some from me and some that are guest posts. But the plan is for me to only work around 2 hours/day max — as I have time and energy — versus my usual 8+ hours/day.)
Okay, there’s my update for this week! What’s your gender guess? I can’t wait to hear — you’ve got a 50% chance of being right. 😉
By the way, a lot of people have been asking for pictures from previous pregnancies. I have almost zero of them because I rarely took photos back then and, if I did, I was rarely in them. But I did dig up this one from Kaitlynn’s pregnancy. I was 38 weeks here.
The girls learned how to cut Jesse’s hair this week — and ended up doing a GREAT job on it!
(Kathrynne — 2 1/2 — holding Kaitlynn when she was a brand-new baby.)
(Kathrynne — 4 1/2 — holding Silas the week he was born.)
Just shy of 11 years ago, I had a 4-year-old, 23-month-old, and a newborn. Jesse was just starting his law firm. I was working full-time from home. And life was overwhelming.
I loved being a mom, don’t get me wrong, but it was a LOT of work. Someone constantly needed me for something. I never got even close to enough sleep. I was hopelessly behind on laundry. There were always messes. And did I mention being tired?!
Fast forward to today when these three are now 15, almost 13, and almost 11 — and y’all, all those hard early years of motherhood have paid off in huge dividends.
These three need almost zero help from me… in fact, they are now the ones helping me! They’ve been doing a lot of the cooking, cleaning, and dishes + taking care of all their virtual schoolwork, changing diapers, feeding bottles, loving on Champ, and even staying up at night or getting up in the morning to take care of him so I can get enough sleep.
Not only are they huge helps and contributors to our family, but they are SO fun to hang out with! I can’t get enough of their sarcasm, humor, deep thoughts, great questions, and honest assessments of life.
Also, getting to watch your babes all grown up and taking care of another tiny human with such love and tenderness just might be one of the most rewarding things ever as a mom.
Mamas of littles: I know the days are long and the nights are short right now. It’s exhausting and you might sometimes wonder if it’s really worth all the effort and sacrifice.
I’m here to tell that it is EVERY BIT WORTH IT. Don’t give up!
