24 weeks | Baby #4

Viability day, achieved! Which doesn't mean anyone is ready for this baby to be born, but it's still an awesome milestone to hit. You're getting so big in there, buddy.





This was the week that I can tell I'm slowing down a little bit. I get out of breath pretty easily with any physical activity and I'm grunting when I have to grab something from the floor. Grunting already? I know.

But nighttime belly is not a joke.


I've been forcing myself to walk on the treadmill or do my exercise DVD more regularly because I feel fantastically energetic after I get moving. I'm able to eat like a 500 pound man and really need to chill out on the appetite, and exercise seems to help that little issue, too. I still love food with a passion and if it weren't for my old blog posts, I'd be worried that this would continue forever. Alas, it seems like a few more weeks of being ravenous then my love affair with food dies off a little bit. Trail mix, potato chips, and La Croix are my faves for now. Also handfuls of M&Ms rock my world. Oh, I could go on about food but I'll stop there.

I'm also more tired overall, feeling like I could sleep forever at night and I never feel fully rested in the morning. If I wake up in the middle of the night (ahem, Porter) I have a hard time falling back to sleep about 50% of the time. The other 50% of the night wake ups mean that I just feel drugged in the morning, like I can barely force my eyelids to open. I cannot lay on my back anymore because I feel like I'm drowning, so laying on either side is fine, I guess. Rolling over takes a lot of effort, just like bending over....fourth time mom in me knows this is SUPER EARLY to feel like a whale!



I mean, I don't feel gigantic but I'm feeling the changes in my body like woah. I'm so tired and slow. That about covers it when people ask me, 'So how are you feeling?' This is the most popular question in my life right now, and usually I just say, 'Still feeling good! Still in the sweet spot of pregnancy.' But now I've added, 'I can tell I'm slowing down a little bit.' Most of the time people also say, 'You aren't even showing yet,' but let it be known that this phrase is uttered when my winter coat is covering the bump. I mean, I'm absolutely showing but winter coats are quite forgiving, people.

Friday was a super busy day for me and this baby: I worked my five hours in the office, rushed back to school to conduct Truman's St. Patty's Day party in his class, then sat catatonic for an hour at home (so.much.screaming), picked up our sitters, and went to dinner with Nate for a date night. After that we went to the neighbor's house for game night and I managed to stay out until almost midnight. That obviously did me in and I  napped like a boss on Saturday. But although I feel tired and slow, I suppose I can still gather up the energy to survive a long day here and there. Not sure how much longer I'll be able to do it!

My buddy was so excited. Our Shamrock Man craft was a hit, as was the Lucky Charm bag of 'Leprechaun Bait.'


The leprechaun visited our house this year for the first time and these kiddos were pretty out of their mind in the morning. So much green! Green toilet water, green footprints, green streamers, green Tic Tacs....he really outdid himself, that Lucky.


Also, I 'had' to make these for the party. No chemicals at all, no sugar, all natural. Wink wink.


Porter, Cecelia, and Truman were all named by 24 weeks. Quatro remains unnamed, poor guy. Also he doesn't have a fancy nursery all painted and decorated and probably won't until several months AFTER he is born. The horror!! We are making a lot of progress with our architect however, and I can't wait to move forward and get to the ground-breaking stage. I'm holding tight to the dream of a fifth bedroom, but also realize going from three to four bedrooms will be excellent, too. A fifth would be such a massive bonus though. And let's not forget a master bathroom---seriously, can't imagine the glory!

Somewhat related to this: I took an entire van-full of diaper boxes to Goodwill on Saturday. What did they contain, you ask? Kid clothes, adult clothes, random kitchen items we've had stored in our attic since 2012. When I say that I took a 'van-full', I mean that I literally hauled away 25 diaper boxes, three big storage boxes, and four large garbage bags to donate. It felt SO good to finally go through those boxes (again, since I compiled them in the fall), and purge them out of our house. I pulled out plenty of baby boy clothes that I will actually use again but for the most part, I'm all about downsizing. There is still a boatload of work to be done in the attic, which is our main storage area right now, but this was a giant push towards getting it cleaned out for the new roof and addition. YES.

Not even all of it:


Those who know the spacious trunk of a Honda Odyssey understand that this is impressive:


Baby boy is active and kicking in there more often than not, and he seems to get hiccups a few times each day. What a surreal feeling, both the hiccups and the kicks. I love it! It's also surreal to look at my current belly and know it's going to get SO much bigger. I can't quite imagine it yet, and I can't wrap my head around another little boy in this family---one that we haven't met and one with his own personality and story. I'm not sure it will feel real until he is in my arms, which is something I've said every time now.

All four times at 24 weeks. Love these comparisons, so different each time!


So 24 weeks, viability day, basically six months pregnant, and feeling mostly good. Time is flying!