16 Weeks...

It seems like just yesterday that we found out we were expecting Baby #3. The time has just flown by so fast!

Although it's hard to believe, I will be 17 weeks as of tomorrow! Three more weeks until the halfway point is what I keep telling myself. So far it's been easy - - and I don't feel any different than when I was in my "non-pregnant" state. I know that will change soon though.

With my first and second pregnancies, I routinely visited BabyCenter.com and all of the other "week by week" pregnancy calendar sites, eager to find out how big the baby was and how things were progressing.

This time around, I have a very vague idea of the growth progress. It's not that I'm not interested or curious... but rather that I don't have the time to follow it so closely. It's just different this time around... with fewer worries because it feels so routine now. (Okay, just out of curiosity, I looked it up and the baby is now 5 inches long.)

In any case, I figured I'd better start documenting things pretty quickly or I'll have NO RECORD of this special time!!

16 weeks

It has been fun to share the experience with the girls, especially Amanda, who constantly asks questions about the new baby. (Lately she is most concerned with the number of days I will be in the hospital... and making sure that we have clothes for the new baby to wear!)

She is really hoping for a baby brother, and has chosen the name "Daniel" if it's a boy. If it's a girl, she has requested that we name it "Kara." (I told her we would take that under advisement.) Eva, being only 2 years old, has a very limited understanding of things, but does seem to grasp the concept that she'll be a big sister soon.

One night during our nightly bedtime stories, Amanda asked if the baby could hear us talking. I said yes, it could. Amanda decided to tell a bedtime story to the new baby. She ended it with,"I love you, baby" and kissed my tummy.

Another night, during StoryTime again, Eva was sitting on my lap leaning against me while Amanda sat next to me. While we were all talking, I felt a very sudden and distinct movement in my belly, almost as if the baby was trying to participate in the conversation in some way. That was a pretty special moment because it felt like all three children were "there" with me.

Now when Amanda draws pictures of the family, she sometimes includes the new baby in the picture... so she's already making the transition in her head.

A few days ago, she asked if we could write a letter to the new baby. She wrote the first part and I then I took over, writing verbatim. I'm sure the baby will appreciate this someday.

(Click the image to enlarge if you'd like to read it.)

Notice the artwork at the bottom. There are SIX family members in her family, not FIVE. When I asked her about this, she said two of them are "the new baby." Maybe she knows something we don't???

Although I have been feeling the baby move for several weeks now, you still can't feel it from the outside. I am looking forward to the near future when that becomes possible, so the whole family can be included in the joy and anticipation.

The girls are trying to feel the baby move... but it's too early for that.

I have a Level 2 Ultrasound scheduled for next Wednesday, so it will be exciting to see what's going on in there. Hopefully they'll send us home with a few good photos!