Baby #3 Is Soon To Be!

We are thrilled to announce that we are expecting our third baby in the beginning of June!  I am over nine weeks pregnant now; and although I got my positive over six weeks ago, it still feels surreal.  Just like our other two, this pregnancy was also planned.  I'm sure there are people who are baffled by our decision to have three children 3 years of age and younger just as there were when we decided to have two children only 12 months apart.  But my Joshie and I truly do make the most amazing team; and if there is any couple who can handle it, it is us!  With that being said, worry not, my friends.  Another Breaux is on the way and we are overjoyed!

Joshua and I have been talking about trying to conceive another baby for months before we actually decided that we were going to go for it, and we finally made the decision around the second week of September which was already a week into my cycle.  We were cuddling on the couch, discussing whether or not it would be the month when we decided that we would give it a go for just September.  Our plan was to try just during that one month, and I believe our exact words were "Whatever happens is what is meant to be.  If we're meant to have another child right now then it will happen this month."  The next morning I began charting just as I had every other time we tried to conceive so that I would know the exact date of ovulation, and therefore know for sure when to expect my period.  Once I got into the two week wait (the weeks following ovulation), I began feeling like I really wanted to be pregnant, and I started thinking that maybe I would try to convince Joshie that we should try for one more month if it didn't happen.  Hehe! 

A week into the two week wait, I decided that I wasn't going to wait until my missed period to test so I made a stop at The Dollar Tree and picked up five pregnancy tests so I could start testing right away without wasting more than $5.  I had only one FRER (expensive test) so that would be the one that I would use after my missed period.  Soooooo the next morning on September 26, 2011 at only 8 days past ovulation which was 6 days before my missed period, I tested on a dollar store test and got an immediate positive!  I was in so much disbelief that I had to test again using my FRER that I trusted more.  Again, an immediate and pretty darn dark positive for only 8dpo showed up!  I was in shock but nothing could wipe the smile off of my face.  I took a picture of the test and emailed it to Joshua at work.  Then I phoned my four closest friends who were so happy to share in the excitement!  Not long after the email was sent to Joshua, I got a call from him.  It was kind of funny because he was sitting in his desk surrounded by other Marines and didn't want anyone to hear so he was talking a bit like robot, trying to be calm.  LOL. 

At the time I was only three weeks pregnant so we were planning to wait until my actual missed period to share the news with our parents, buuuuuuut of course, we couldn't hold out.  It was just a day or so later when we skyped with Joshua's parents and created a sign that read "Baby #3 is on His/Her way!" to put in front of the camera.  The sign took up the whole camera view so it was the only thing they could see.  Donna was sitting in front of their camera while Gene stood in the background.  As Donna read the sign, her jaw dropped and I ended up getting a picture of her mega huge smile.  They were definitely in shock!  After that skype session, we skyped with Joshua's Aunt & her family, Doug, Tori, Whit & Judah.  Everyone but Doug was sitting right in front of their camera, and as they read the sign, all three of their jaws dropped at the same time!  I really wish I could have gotten a picture of that!!  I made plans to skype with my mom and Huey the following day but because of some health problems, my mom ended up thinking she would have to go to the hospital so I gave her a call instead.  She sounded very excited, but it wasn't the same as seeing her face.  :(

As the days went on, my symptoms grew.  Had I not already tested, I would have known I was pregnant without even needing to test!  Before I even missed my period, I was experiencing terrible lower back pain, horrible headaches, breakouts, bloating and extremely sore breasts that I never had with any other pregnancy.  Sore breasts was actually my very first symptom.  A lot of people think you can't have symptoms until after implantation which is generally 6-12 days past ovulation, but I am totally not a believer in that.  The morning after I ovulated, I woke up well before my temp time which was 5am (when I checked my temperature for my chart), and my boobies were killiiiiiing me, they hurt so bad!  I remember thinking, "Yay!  I finally ovulated!"  I haven't had sore breasts in over three years so I was thinking pretty positive that morning.  Sure enough when 5am rolled around and I took my temp, it was sky high so I knew for sure that I did indeed ovulate the day before.  My second early symptom was cramping at 2 and 3 days past ovulation.  Like most women, I never cramp until the day before or the day of my period so again, I was feeling like something was going on.  The breakouts and headaches also started before my positive pregnancy test.  And still, with all of this, I was shocked to see two lines!  I think there's just something about knowing that there is life growing inside you that is just unbelievable... even for me who has done it two times before. 

Once I hit 4 weeks, the dreaded nausea began.  With my first two babies, it didn't start until about 6 weeks.  This time it started of slowly.  It was very mild at 4 weeks, just a lot of queasiness.  Then then next week I thought it was getting really bad, and I remember telling Joshua that I was scared for week 6 because that was when it really started for me the first two times.  Well what I thought was really bad in week 5 was nothing compared to what I ended up going through.  Finally, in week 7 I couldn't fight it anymore and I ended up throwing up... just for one day though!  It was my first time ever throwing up from pregnancy, and I'm pretty sure it will not be happening again.  And even though I threw up at 7 weeks, it wasn't even my worst week.  8 weeks was hooooooorrible!!  I was so sick that I literally could not turn my head because I just knew I would throw up if I did.  Thankfully, this week has been so much better.  I'm in week 10 right now and although there are moments of extreme nausea, I feel pretty good most of the day.  I am so hoping this week is the start of the end of morning sickness.  There are quite a few things I tried out of desperation to fight the nausea this time that I never had to before.  First, I heard a lot of great things about Sea Bands and they actually worked well for me for a few days, and then I don't know what happened.  I still wear them daily and it has been a few weeks now.  Second, I tried the ginger gum that is made for nausea.  This stuff actually works but only until the flavor runs out which is usually after about 2 minutes.  So yeah.  Finally, Halloween brought to my attention that York Peppermint Patties immediately kill my nausea!  Once I learned this, I tried sucking on peppermints for the same minty effect, but it just didn't cut it.  Peppermints would bring my nausea down to mild but wouldn't diminish it all together so now York Peppermint Patties it is.  And I am super lucky that this happens to be my favorite candy!  I eat the bite size ones, and I just try to limit myself to two a day.

Beckham was one of the first people that I told I was pregnant to.  He was really cute, and didn't find it strange at all that there was a baby growing in Mommy's belly.  He told me, "I'm going to look for it through this hole..." and tried looking through my belly button.  When he couldn't find it there, he tried lifting the rest of my shirt to look for it somewhere else.  Eventually I had to explain to him that he would not be able to see the actual baby until it grew to be big and came out of my belly.  I then showed him pictures of an embryo growing into a fetus and then into a baby, and he was totally amazed.  For the next couple of days he just wanted to keep looking at pictures of the growing baby.  He has really been so sweet through it all.  He tries very hard to be careful around my belly and he even tries to take care of me when I'm sick.  When I would be really sick and stuck on the couch, I would tell him, "Beckham, Mommy's sick and I need you to take care of me." and he would drop what he was doing and say "Ok!" and come cuddle with me.  This past Monday night, I was feeling really sick in the car and I turned to Beckham and told him that I needed him to take care of me, and he replied "But there's no couch in here."  My sweet baby! 

We took the boys to our 7 1/2 week ultrasound with us, and Becks got to see our little baby.  The boys did really well in the office, and I was just relieved to be seeing a civilian doctor.  Because of our move to Cali, I won't be using the same doctor that took care of me during my previous pregnancies in New Orleans, but I am so happy with my new doctor.  Joshua and I went through so much and talked to so many people in order to make it happen, and I ended up needing to change my insurance around to be able to go off the military base.  It won't be totally free anymore, but I will definitely be sleeping better at night knowing that I'm in good hands.  At the appointment, the baby measured a week ahead according to the doctor's calculations, but he said that the measurements can be off by up to two weeks.  And since I was charting and sure of my ovulation date, he isn't planning on changing my due date for now.  So as of now, Baby Breaux #3 is due on June 10, 2012, buuuut I have a feeling he/she will come in May!

Now I know, belly pic posts have been some of my most popular so I will not disappoint.  I do not plan to nor have I been taking belly pics every week for this pregnancy like I did for Beckham, but I do plan to take them every 3-4 weeks.  From my experience with my pregnancy for Everett, I have learned that weekly belly pics are unrealistic when you are already a mother.  I won't even bother putting myself through the stress of trying to keep up with that again.  Soooo here ya go... weeks 4 and 7.  I wasn't planning to take my second one until week 8, but I took one a week early to show my momma. 

I'll be updating soon with Halloween pics!!  :))