baby #4

It took a long time to make such an important decision.  3 feels like a good number for our family and it’s so exciting to watch the girls transition into the next phase of growing up.  I love being with them and sharing those moments.  Having another baby would be starting over in so many ways and would now mean juggling a much wider age range and accompanying schedules and interests.  We debated all our concerns, even the seemingly shallow ones.  I worried about finances, time, stress and good parenting.  But in the end, none of it was enough to temper wanting another child.

Decision made, we met with the doc.  He considered my history and reminded us it could take awhile, to not get discouraged or impatient.  And with that, we went on our anniversary trip.

And brought home a little souvenir. 

I realized the possibility as I was getting ready to leave for an out-of-town race.  Shocked that it happened so fast, I took a test.  Despite my delight and excitement, I couldn’t tell anyone! Husband was camping with the scouts and I wouldn’t see him until after my race weekend.  So I tucked my secret away and left for the race.  It was a fantastic weekend, one of my all time top three favorite races.  As soon as I got home, I hurried to meet husband.  I told him I brought him a shirt (which I often do after a race weekend), and then gave him a baby onesie with the Ragnar logo.

We met with doc to confirm the results and scheduled an ultrasound.  We shared our news with family during our Pioneer Day barbecue.  We used wooden letters to spell out our family name; husband, myself and the three girls held the first five letters while the sixth and last letter had a tag that read “due March 2016”.  We sent a picture out to family and friends and celebrated.  And now that the girls know, they tell everyone!

During the ultrasound appointment, I got to hear baby’s strong heartbeat (155/minute) and see that wonderful tiny jellybean on the screen.  Our due date is March 26, same as L (who showed up a few days late where this one will likely be induced early).

So far I feel…ok.  Not sick as often as with the girls and yet, struggle with a more constant, unreletting feeling of being unwell.  I get sore more easily (and have had to drop some of my planned races) and am always hungry for something I can’t identify.  But so excited for our sweet little miracle number 4.