Pregnancy - The Third Time Around

Being pregnant for the third time after 5 years has been quite an experience. At times I have thought this was the worst idea we ever had being pregnant during language school. The exhaustion, nausea and aching muscles just had to be ignored as I woke up at 5am every morning with Emma to put her on the bus and then the rest of us walked out the door to school at 7:15. We then spoke Spanish for about 5 hours straight (with idiotic pregnancy brain) to come home and shop, run errands, do homework, etc. The good side of this schedule is the time has gone by really fast. I have overall felt really good this pregnancy and can't complain about anything. No, I have no torso, so my baby belly always pops out pretty quickly. 

For a while I had a cute manageable little baby bump and my clothes felt good. Then I started getting hot...and we have no air conditioning in our house. This has been quite a challenge but I have every fan blowing on me in our house including one straight in our bed at night (poor Will). I can't use a lot of pillows because it's so stinkin hot. I have started to swell a bit because of the heat but that's to be expected with me (I retained LOTS of fluid during my pregnancy with Jack). And why in the world does sleep have to be such a challenge the third trimester??? I crave fruit and cereal and have found I can't eat in large quantities or I feel like I'm gonna pop! We walk everywhere so I'm definitely getting lots of exercise. This has kept my weight gain manageable...until I returned to the States. When I returned, my doctor asked what happened this past month with my weight gain (it went from gaining 2 pounds each month to 8 pounds in that one month!). Embarrassed, I told him I just went back to the States for a week and a half, and he said "yep, that's the answer". In the States we use so much salt, sugar and sauces and our food portions are twice the size as here. So I'm sure I ate more than I should have, but whatever. Hopefully now that I'm back it will all even out again. Oops.

16 weeks

20 weeks

24 weeks

Emma used to hang her mouth open just like that.

We found out at 20 weeks that we are having another girl! We are very excited and think a little girl will be a perfect addition to our family. Emma is already like a second mommy to Jack and she will be a great big sister. Jack prays for the baby at every meal and every night before he goes to bed. He's always asking how I'm feeling and how's the baby doing. They're both really sweet about it.  

Will thinks she has a big nose. Isn't she cute?

We decided to name her Ally Tatum Savell and call her Ally. Will's grandparents are named Mittie Alice (Ally) and Bert Tatum (Tatum). They were such a neat example of a Christian couple, living a simple life, loving their family, and serving others. And Costa Ricans can actually say her name and it doesn't sound bad (sounds more like "Olly", but I think it's cute).

This is my spot every day. Check out the horrible wooden desks! I can't believe I sat in that thing for months. In the end I could barely fit in it anymore.

I'll backtrack a little. When we found out we were having a girl we wanted to tell the kids in a fun way. We took them to a toy store in the mall and let them each pick out a toy for the plane ride home. After they did this, we videoed telling them that next they needed to go pick out the first toy for their new baby sister.

We thought there would be more of a reaction, but they simply ran off in different directions looking for "girl" things. They didn't seem surprised at all...it's funny when we expect certain reactions as parents. They were happy, but it was just whatever. Emma told us later that she has been a bit concerned that she is not daddy's only girl anymore. We thought this would happen. She is so over-the-top obsessed with her daddy that I thought that would cross her mind. She was even sad that she would now have to share her annual father/daughter date with Ally. Will said no, that they would have two of them, and he has been regularly reassuring her that their relationship and his love for her will never change. She has warmed up to the idea now and is really excited. Jack said that a stinky girl can't share his room, but he already thinks and cares for her so much that I don't think he will have any problems. If it was a boy, I think Jack would have felt a little threatened.

Anyway, the kids ended up picking out this crazy sheep to give her and it's already in her bed waiting for her. We're busy getting stuff together and making preparations, but we still have a few months left. We're going very simple this time around and I love that. Babies really don't need that much and it's so much less overwhelming not having tons of stuff junking up the house. I know we will accumulate as time goes on and that's okay. Right now we have a pack-n-play, diapers, wipes, stroller, car seat, diaper bag and clothes. We'll get more when the time draws near, but we're good for now.

Due date is still November 1st.

We can't wait to welcome baby Ally to our family!