Pregnancy Q & A

I get several of the same questions when it comes to this pregnancy so I thought that I’d answer some of them plus a few extra. I still can’t believe that I’m pregnant. I’ve known for 3 weeks and it doesn’t feel real yet. I’m so incredibly excited and that excitement intensifies each day. 

Q: Is this really our last baby? 

A lot of people don’t believe me when I say that we are done but we are 110% done having biological children. I prayed for years to have peace when that day came and I have a beautiful peace over this being my last pregnancy. God actually sent me that peace months before this baby was conceived. Brian and I had decided that if I didn’t get pregnant this Spring (so that I’d be due in the Winter like I’ve always wanted) we wouldn’t be trying to get pregnant any longer. We have been having unprotected sex since I had Eilee and had losses in those two years. He would be getting fixed if we didn’t get pregnant this spring and I felt content with that. In fact, I honestly believed that was God’s plan. That Eilee was our last child to birth and that He sent me peace for that reason. I had even told my mom that I couldn’t believe how okay I was with not having more kids. I never in a billion years expected to be fine with being done. This baby is the flawless conclusion to our family and I’m so so excited about watching us grow together as a complete family in that next stage of life. I am excited to cherish every single moment of this pregnancy and baby hood. It’s going to be wonderful. 

Q: Do we know the sex? Why do we keep calling the baby Wayne? 

We call the baby Wayne because that was my papa’s middle and regardless of the sex the baby’s name will include Wayne. 

Q: Are we finding out the gender? 

Yes, we will know the gender in roughly 3 weeks via blood test. However, we aren’t revealing the gender. 

Q: Do I have a gut feeling on what the gender is? 

I have assumed for years that I’d have another girl if we ever had another child but I think that this baby is a boy. 

Q: What are we naming the baby? 

Waynslee Perry Claud Lane if it’s a girl. Granger Wayne Claud Lane if it’s a boy. Waynie and Gray for short. Yes, we are doing double middle names again. We do not care at all about popularity or flow. We care about importance and uniqueness. 

Q:  Am I doing a home birth? 

I’m excited to say that we have hired a nurse midwife and are planning a home birth. She’s a doll and has actually delivered two of my friends babies. We are still being seen by my regular OB in partnership with my midwife though to help monitor my issues. My midwife felt that it was best to have that reinforcement there just in case I go into preterm labor again or have a threatened miscarriage situation. I get my next ultrasound on May 7th and will begin injections to help prevent any preterm labor issues. I adore how I’m able to have a team to have my back in both situations. I have zero doubts that I’ll have a beautiful and successful home birth in the birth pool that will be perfectly staged right in front of my Christmas tree. Speaking of Christmas....

Q: What’s our plan to prepare for the holiday since I’m due on Christmas Day? 

My plan is to be done Christmas shopping, gift wrapping, and decorating by mid-late October. I have full blown intentions of enjoying all of November and December chilling with my family and celebrating the season just as we always do. I’m going to get my holiday stuff done way early to avoid any added stress. I refuse to take away from my kids holiday because I’m big pregnant or have just given birth. It will all work out wonderfully. I know that. 

Q: Were you trying?

Yes. As I mentioned above we were trying and had been for almost two years. I had roughly three months this spring to get pregnant to be due when I wanted to be. We had lost a baby on the cycle prior to the one that I conceived this baby plus we lost two before that Baby. I felt really defeated and the day that I took a test this time I had actually told myself that there’s no way that I’m pregnant. I was spotting. I was cramping. I wanted it so badly that I just knew that it wouldn’t happen. Not to mention what would be the odds that I got pregnant on a cycle that leaves me due on Christmas? I just felt like there was no way. I was shocked. Shaking. Crying. Freaking out. Shocked. Zero chill, shocked. 

Q: Why would I want a Christmas time baby? Wouldn’t that be hard to make things fair or financially with the holiday being so close? 

I have always wanted a Christmas time baby because it’s hands down the most wonderful time of the year. Everything about it screams love and homey. It is my family’s favorite and is so fulfilling to us. All feels peaceful in a Christmas atmosphere. Why wouldn’t we want a baby to be born during all of that perfection ha?! As far as fair or finances goes, we are great about making our kids birthday’s special without going over board. That day is about them. They pick out their gift, their cake, and what they want for dinner. We wake them up singing and dedicate the whole day to just them. Christmas time won’t change that nor will it break us. Even if this child is born on he/she’s due date (which most likely won’t happen with my history), we can still make that day special for them and about them. We will still have parties just for them on the weekend closest to their birthday. There is balance to be found and we will do great at finding it. I have zero concerns. Their birthday will be special. Some people want to get rid of any signs of Christmas around their kids birthdays but not me. I will embrace the season as apart of this baby’s birthday. After all, that’s why I wanted a baby due in December. The party theme ideas are already running rampant in my mind. Winter ONEderland will be their first birthday theme and it will be focused on all things Christmas. I get cheesy excited when I think about it. I will not let Christmas over shadow this baby’s birthday. I’m great about making things special and to me being surrounded by the atmosphere of Christmas just makes a birthday even more special. If this child doesn’t like it as they grow, I’ll accommodate their wishes but i highly doubt that will be the case. 

Q: How am I feeling?

Aside from extreme fatigue, major bloat, and sensitive nipples when Eilee nurses, I feel great. I get pukey every now and then but nothing horrible. I’m 6 weeks and with my pregnancies that I had severe all day sickness I was super sick by now so I’m thinking that this baby won’t be like those pregnancies. With Andlee and Hudson I hardly ever felt sick. 

Q: What room will be the baby’s? 

If it’s a boy he will share a room with Hudson until we move him to his crib at night. At that point we will move Hudson’s room to the loft and Granger’s room will be Hudson’s current room. If it’s a girl her room will be upstairs and Char’s twin bed will go to Eilee’s room with side rails added to it. Char never ever uses her room. She sleeps in Andlee’s room on the top bunk so for now that room is perfect to be the nursery again. By the time that Char will want her own space Eilee and Waynslee can share a room. As for why not just make Charlee’s room the nursery for a boy too, We don’t want to repaint it so it won’t work for a boy’s room. 

There will also be a cute nursery area in our master for the early months before we transition baby into he or she’s room. 

Q: Do I have nursery themes picked? 

I do but I’m not sharing those ideas or finished spaces until the baby is born. I will share the nursery area in our master though because it will be light, airy, and totally neutral to match our master. I will honestly most likely have that space finished and prepped with in a month. What can I say? I am excited. 

Q: Am I starting over with baby items? 

I have Eilee’s nice play pen, nursing covers, baby wearing gear, and some baby clothes for both sexes but other than that I am starting over. I sold most of our baby stuff after Eilee outgrew it because I didn’t know when or if we’d be able to have another. 

Q: What are my must have essentials?

-A Moses basket

-A dock a tot (not an off brand as they aren’t tested for safety)

-Another 4 moms mamaroo swing

-Lots of cozy sleepers and warm blankets/outfits

-Another chicco infant seat 

I also have a lot of non necessities that I’ll be getting. 

Q: Am I planning to keep breastfeeding Eilee during my pregnancy?

Yes. I do not have any intentions of weaning her by force. If she self weans, that’s one thing though I hope that she doesn’t but I will not make her wean. It’s a dream of mine to tandem nurse so that’s the ultimate goal. 

I think that’s all that I’ve got for now. I will be doing monthly pregnancy updates like I did with Eilee so stay tuned for months 1-2. 

Happy Birthday to Hudson & I

Written on April 25th:

(You can read Hudson’s birth story by searching ‘birth stories’ in my search bar) 

Six years ago we welcomed our son into the world. His labor and delivery was my hardest yet but our lives were forever changed for the better. Hudson is wild, smart, onry, tough, and as ‘boy’ as it possibly gets. He is his daddy’s best friend and my weakness. I can’t hardly handle getting on to him and if his feelings are hurt, I feel sorry for whoever hurt them because I’m brutal. It’s a no no from me. I absolutely love having a son and the relationship that we have together as well as the relationship that Brian has with Hudson. We are so blessed and thankful. Hudson and I went on a lunch date today and I took him to pick out his cake and gifts. This is a tradition for us. One on one dates to eat then pick out their cakes and presents. They also pick what they want in me to make for dinner. The entire day is all about the birthday kid. We have family parties too on the weekend closest to their birthdays. Hudson picked a fish tank and glo fish for his room. He is so proud of them and excited about them. He named them all ‘Shark bait’ 😂😅

Written today:

My birthday follows Hudson’s and this year Brian went over board on me. Like, way way over board. He got my a new XL dryer to match my XL washer. He had us a new driveway built because our old one was long and so bumpy which I hated. He had our entry way built which is huge, beautiful, and a dream for me that I’ve talked about for two years. Until now we’ve been opening a gate every time that we leave and Brian didn’t want me to have to do that big pregnant in the winter. He also was concerned with me driving a super bumpy road pregnant so he went all out and took care of it all. He sent me to get my nails and eye lashes done. But my favorite of all HE GOT ME A MAILBOX! That probably seems dumb to most of you but we’ve lived in our house for going on two years and haven’t had a mailbox. We’ve gotten our mail at our parents houses. We didn’t want to put a mailbox in until we knew exactly where our entry way would end up. I have whined about how we aren’t even an official home without a mailbox. I just want the luxury of the UPS and Swaun’s men coming to my house to bring me nice things hahaha. But really, it was special to me to get a box. I ordered vinyl to customize our box and I will post the finished product of it and the entry way by Wednesday this week. We got one coat of paint on it all and will do one more tonight. I want to plant rose bushes on both sides before I share it with you all too. For now, here’s a in the process picture:

I feel super spoiled and blessed. My family had me a birthday party to make me feel special. My kids cleaned their play room and bedrooms plus made me cards. My loved ones got me hanging baskets and cards. My friends took me out last weekend. I’m just all in all extremely grateful and emotional about how blessed I am. Not to mention God’s big surprise to us, baby #5. Ugh. I can’t 😭😭😭

For Hudson’s birthday we had family over to play and ended the day going for a little swim in our creek. We love having something so fun and peaceful in our land. When we were dozing the new road we had the guy doze out an area on our creek where we can put picnic tables and a fire pit for entertaining. We just sprayed it all down yesterday and put out tick granules so we will be able to move the tables there this weekend and built the pit. It’s such a pretty area that’s shaded and comfortable. I say it all of the time but i am obsessed with our homestead. I couldn’t be more smitten and thankful! 

We are PREGNANT!

First things first — we hope that you all had a wonderful Easter. We spent it with our families, as usual and are so thankful for God’s sacrifice for us so that we can have eternal salvation. He is good. Always. Even when times are bad, I’m reminded that he is still good. 

Now on to why you’re reading this post: we are having another baby!!!! 

So much has happened since we last spoke and you guys are hearing it before my social media accounts (You’re welcome!) but I’m thrilled to share this news with you. I’ll be sharing it with everyone else in a funny themed announcement this week on my birthday 🎉

Just over Two months ago I found out that my best friend and I were pregnant together (hints the last blog where I said that I’d be announcing some things in April). We were due the same day basically but sadly for me I had a chemical pregnancy. That baby was due on November 6th. I was so excited for that journey and that Baby. I made this cute fall themed announcement and everything. 

We had a few chemical pregnancies prior to that baby as well though. It’s been stressful and emotional. I’ve never hid that I wanted another baby but no one really knows the battle that it’s been to get there. We haven’t been preventing pregnancy since our youngest was born almost 2 years ago. I deeply debated waiting until after our first ultrasound (May 7th) to announce this pregnancy but ultimately I felt like being so hesitant to celebrate this life and living in fear again was having a negative effect on me and my pregnancy. I felt like maybe that’s where I’ve been going wrong in the past. I’ve been going into pregnancy expecting it to fail. I don’t want to do that this time. I am full heartedly embracing everything about this baby. I also know from experience that miscarriage is hard no matter what. Period. Whether you had announced it or not, the pain is equally as devastating. For me that’s the case, anyways. With that being said, Baby Lane is due ON Christmas!

C H R I S T M A S! 

Literally!

December 25th!  

I will never get used to the magnitude of that.

If you’ve been around for awhile you know how huge this is for us — for me! My entire adult life I have openly dreamt of having a Christmas time baby (like, I have had a Pinterest board dedicated to my some day ‘Santa Baby’ since I joined it many years ago) and before we had Eilee we got pregnant with a December due baby. To some that may seem insignificant but for us it was so hard to come by. I never had regular cycles because of PCOS as well as uterine fibroids. We tried for over 2 years to get pregnant with Charlee and were doing fertility treatments when we did finally conceive her. Andlee and Hudson were both conceived a few weeks post partum from Char and Annie’s after birth cycles. With Eilee we tried for years and suffered loss along the way. Specifically planning a pregnancy in detail is nearly impossible when you only have 1-2 cycles a year and never know when you’re ovulating. The fact that I happened to have a cycle that year that also lined up with being due the week of Christmas was a freak deal in itself but the fact that I actually got pregnant that cycle was unbelievable. I was shocked to be pregnant. However, I was even more shocked when it ended in a loss. To have something work out the way that you’ve always wanted it to despite the odds just to have it taken away was nearly unbearable. I couldn’t imagine how God’s plan for me would be better than the perfect plan that I had for myself. It was though, of course. We became foster parents the following year to two incredible boys and eventually went on to have Eilee. Life was wonderful. All was redeemed. The book was closed.... 

Or so we thought!

Fast forward to now and my cycles have been more often. I’ve had 7 in the last 12 months. The last one started on March 20th and I was so surprised. That would make me due on Christmas. It felt way to good to be true and despite us trying hard that cycle, i knew in my gut that i wouldn’t get pregnant. I prepared myself for that. I was shocked when i took the test and it was positive. Shockedddddd. It was a obvious positive and my period wasn’t even due for 6 days. 

you can imagine how overwhelmingly honored we feel that this ended up being our fate. I truly felt like we couldn’t be more blessed! It’s undeniably a full circle moment that still amazes me and feels very unreal. The amount of joy and awe that we feel is out of this world. Just when I think that my life as a mother couldn’t be any more rewarding God shows up in a hard time and says, ‘SURPRISE! I wasn’t done yet!’. Through the losses and the struggles — it has always been so worth it when I look at my children. Words can not express how grateful we are. I seriously can’t believe that this is my life. I can not believe that my story is such a fulfilling fairytale. I am not worthy 😭

How I told Brian 💙💗 

He is so cute. Shortly after we found out he came home with a big bag of ice and said, “Look, I brought you a surprise!”. I craved ice obsessively with all of my other pregnancies and I’m not craving it yet of course but i still thought that it was so adorable. He brought ice cream too 🤷🏻‍♀️😍

Since finding out that we are expecting the tests have gotten darker which means that things are progressing as they should. 

I will be sharing the video of me finding out that I’m pregnant on my instagram next week so stay tuned for that. Warning: I’m bawling like a baby.