We moved from Kingston to Calgary at the end of June. We spent most of July living at my parent's house and trying to decide where we wanted to live. We hadn't made any decisions previous to that because our house in Kingston only sold the last week we were there. Talk about cutting it down to the last moment! There was lots of fasting and prayers that went into that effort. We had some pretty sweet experiences with the kids and prayer. One time, while Tyler was at work and Lucy and Max were at school, Logan and I were hanging out. He suddenly put down his toys and said, 'I just had a great idea! We should pray right now for our house to sell. So we did. I have often said and thought, that for nothing more, having our house take a long time to sell was a blessing for that moment alone. Finally, we invited the kids to join us for fasting one Sunday in whatever way they could and the very next day we received an offer on our house. The only offer we ever got. Selling a house was stressful, and I'm glad it's done.
We had a lot of choices to make once we got here. After very tearful goodbyes in Kingston, we headed west. We are so grateful for such accommodating family that allowed us to squat for a whole month while we figured our lives out. Living on the farm. Renting . Buying. Calgary vs Cochrane. It was a lot to take in and Tyler and I were definitely feeling unsettled. We finally found a house in Cochrane and decided to buy a spec home. We moved in the beginning ofAugust and have spent the last two months unpacking and settling in. It's been an adjustment going from a much more affordable housing market to this one and sometimes I feel a bit cramped in this house, which seems ridiculous, but I am hopeful that I will love it like I did our previous house. And then I remind myself it's just a house and there are so many greater blessings in my life.
All 3 kids have started back to school. Lucy in Grade 4! Max in grade 2 and Logan is in preschool MWF mornings, which he loves. It was nerve wracking to start a new school again, but the kids are doing really well. Logan technically made the cut-off for kindergarten by about 2 weeks, but we decided to hold off for this year. We've observed that he seems to play better with kids younger than him, and we didn't want him to always be the youngest and smallest in his class. Plus, all of his primary friends won't be starting school until next year do this way he gets to stay with them. We've kind of made a decision that'll effect the rest of his school life, so I hope we made the right one. He seems to be functioning well with the small exposure to school and done continued mom and Logan time, so I still feel good about it.
Lucy has made friends quickly at school and has even switched groups once already. She's quick to ask to set up play dates and scans the neighbourhood for people her age. It also helps that we have begun Activity Days and there are 17 girls in the program with her. Max is quieter and doesn't say much about school. I know that sometimes he says he has no one to play with, and there was a boy Xander in his class that was giving him a hard time until the teacher moved desks around. I worry about him but don't really know how to help except to keep encouraging him. He would choose to spend his time with Lucy if she'd let him. But she doesn't. Our friends the Larocque's are moving here at the end of October and I'm hoping that will help him. Plus, when he turns 8 in March, he will join beavers and I'm hopeful for that too.
Now to the topic that this post is titled after. Pregnancy #4. It's beautiful, exciting, and exhausting. I don't know if this pregnancy is actually harder, or I'm just older, or I'm pregnant with 3 kids and a busier life than ever before, but it's been rough at times. It started with swelling legs. And it continues with swelling legs. We took a trip to Disneyland at the end of April, and the combination of the airplane ride, hear, and lots of walking resulted in muppet legs, a visit to the doctor when I got home and a prescription for compression stockings. They worked at first, but these days there's not much doing for these legs now except to wait and hope it goes away. (Please!!)
I have been quite blessed in the most recent months to be able to keep back pain at bay. I'm not sure if it's the hormones that are loosening everything up, or my daily 'yoga', or divine providence, but today is the first time in 3 months that I've had an issue. And for me that's pretty great.
Last, but not least, has been iron deficiency. I've been anemic for as long as I can remember. It always come up in my pregnancies, but more so this time. I've seen so many different doctors. Some have been concerned, some less so. I've been sent for countless appointments for bloodwork and tests. Eventually, it has come to light that I more than likely have celiac disease. Totally unrelated to pregnancy, but definitely affecting this little life. So basically, iron is just not getting anywhere. My levels are so low, doctors are surprised I'm walking. My levels are low enough that they think if I start to bleed too much in labour, I will need a blood transfusion. So, in an effort to avoid that, I got to go on a special trip to the doctor and get IV Iron for 3 hours today. This was it is directly pumped into my blood, rather than having to go through my digestive system. It was boring, uneventful, and crazy to coordinate. So I have 2-more weeks left and hopefully I've boosted my iron enough to make a difference. Either way, I've been moved from the low-risk maternity clinic to an obstetrician.
At the same time as all of this, we recently discovered that one of Logan's testicles is enflamed because if a hydrocele. Which basically means that as a baby, when his testicles descended, they come down a tube and that tube then closes. His didn't, and it has recently filled with fluid. He will have surgery on it on Monday. There is a risk of hernia, and it's a bit painful for him, hence the surgery. It makes me nervous, naturally, but I also want him to be better. And because we can't control the scheduling of his surgery, it just so happens to be one week before my due date. I've had a lot of contractions this past week and I just keep praying that this little one waits until after Monday to come.
That's the list. And life these days.
On a more positive note, here are some dets about this pregnancy:
Cravings:
Cold chocolate - I keep peanut butter cups in the fridge and eating them cold is just amazing!
Salt - as per usual
Aversions:
I've had to avoid dairy this whole pregnancy, which breaks my heart. I'm REALLY hoping it goes away.
Heartburn is a usual, so there are new things added to the list all the time.
Names:
Always Charlie. It's been my name since I was pregnant with Logan. His name was supposed to be Charlie, and then in the last few weeks it changed. It's happened again. Charlie forever and now...
Seth. Problem is I love that name too.
So we wait and see.
Excitement level:
High. I'm grateful to have this one. I'm looking forward to it. Nervous, of course. And it feels like forever! But that little one...toes and sweetness and newness again. Late night feelings and crying and anxiety...I avoid thinking about those things.
When we first announced to the kids that we were having a boy, we got very mixed reactions. Mostly tears. Lucy was devastated to know she'd have another brother. I think most days, she's come around to it. I reassure her that a baby is a baby and boy or girl, she will enjoy it. And maybe even love him. Plus , this way she doesn't have to share a room!
When we got home from Disneyland in May, I has a number of voicemails from my doctor. When I got in touch with her, she told me I had a positive blood screen for neuro-tube disorders and needed more bloodwork done and an ultrasound. We were at risk for this little guy having a neuro-tube disorder. After much fasting, prayer , and stress, we had our ultrasound and things look good. We opted not to go with the amnio because of the risks, and know that whatever comes , we will deal with it.
Now we wait. 2 more weeks. I think. They've changed my date a couple times, but at this point, most doctors have settled on October 8th. At one point it was October 14th. So we wait and see.
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