It’s hard to believe I’ve only got 4 weeks to go! Faith took a few maternity pictures for me last night, and I wanted to write down a little to document this pregnancy before it’s over and we’re on to all the baby stages 🙂

Just like with Kaden & Alia, my first trimester was probably the worst. The nausea is so unpleasant. Worth it, but still difficult. Plus this time it felt like I was in my first trimester nearly all of last year, since we had a miscarriage in the spring and then I was pregnant again in the fall. I’ve not really found anything that helps with it, although I’ve tried just about everything I’ve heard of. Drinking rooibos tea was what helped the most for me though.

My biggest challenge overall has been my iron. I’ve been taking floradix twice a day, and doing beef liver, nettle tea, and a tablespoon of molasses daily. We’re rechecking it at my next appointment & I’m hoping it’s up, or else it sounds like I’ll be going in for iron infusions (and I’d really prefer to avoid that.)

One thing that has been a huge help & I haven’t used before has been a maternity support band (I got this one from Amazon.) I was having a lot of discomfort but since I started using it a couple months ago I’ve hardly had any lower back or round ligament pain (which I was having a lot of before.) I don’t wear it all day, but do some every day and it helps a lot. I’m seeing a chiropractor too, which I think makes a big difference as well. Baby is in a good position, head down, and he or she likes to keep their body on my left side, and push their little feet out on the right. I like to grab at them, it makes me feel so excited that I’ll be seeing and holding them on the outside in just a few weeks.

Keeping an eye on K&A while we shot. He was happily climbing a fallen tree, and she was fussing to go home the whole time because she saw a bee on a flower when we first got there.

Something that’s been really different this time is not knowing if we’re having a boy or a girl. I can’t visualize what my life will look like the way I did when I was pregnant with Kaden & Alia, or shop for baby as much (maybe that’s a good thing 😉 But the anticipation is really fun. I’m so looking forward to when he or she is finally born and we get to know! And I like to feel like I’m getting to experience the way women have had babies for thousands of years, when they gave birth and found out it’s a boy or it’s a girl. I think that will be fun.

We get to have our midwife who delivered Kaden & Alia this time as well, and she is so wonderful, I’m so grateful to have someone I know and trust so much. We are planning a home birth again, now that I’ve had one I wouldn’t want to do it any other way. Birth is intense no matter what, but being at home for the whole thing when Alia was born really was a great experience.

Kaden & Alia are super excited for the baby to be born. They keep coming up with ideas of how they can help out afterwards (folding diapers, unloading the dishwasher…) I hope their enthusiasm holds up when the time comes 🙂