Thoughts on Thursday: 16 Weeks with Baby #5!

Hi!! Happy Thursday!!

Has this week gone by fast for you?? It has for us....and I am not complaining :)  I really do love EVERY day...but who am I kidding...we kind of live for the weekend!! No schedules and places we HAVE to be for 2 days straight!?!?....YES PLEASE :)

Anyway...a couple of you have sweetly asked about an update on how my pregnancy is going so far- and I thought I would share a little bit today about that!

(And if pregnancy updates are a complete snooze to you- PLEASE feel free to click the red "X" in the upper left hand corner :)

So- I am 16 weeks pregnant with baby number five:)

I have been incredibly nauseous since about my 6th week of pregnancy.  I have never thrown up with any of my pregnancies and this has stayed the same this time around.  I have honestly felt so horrible at times that I wish I could throw up- in hopes it might make me feel better...but no such luck.

With all of my pregnancies, minus Cora, my "turning point" for feeling almost 100% has been 16 weeks.  I started feeling better with Cora at 13 weeks.  Since I just "turned" 16 weeks yesterday- I might be speaking prematurely- but I am feeling SO much better! The biggest thing for me is that food becomes such an ENEMY.  I get the WEIRDEST cravings, I can hardly stomach eating anything and it is just really hard to eat in general.  Well...just in the past few days more and more foods have started sounding much less repulsive- which is a great sign! HA!  Anyway- while being nauseous is not fun at all...it could be so much worse.  I know so many women who struggle with getting sick all day long, some who have to be hospitalized because they can't keep any food or liquid down...so for me to feel like I am permanently hung over for a couple months is really NOTHING.

Despite feeling pretty yucky, I have forced myself to keep going to the gym at least 4-5 days a week and while the beginning of my workouts are never fun- I am always SO glad I powered through them! Working out, actually, has temporarily helped with my nausea, obviously has helped keep my weight gain in a normal range and most importantly- it helps me feel like ME!  There are SO many changes that happen during pregnancy...some that can make you feel so not like yourself.  I am all about doing anything I can to make myself feel "normal." Does that make sense??

And speaking of normal...let's talk about a few things that are so NOT normal right now.

1) For about the first 9-10 weeks my mood was like WHOA.  Totally a hormonal freak. You would think by our 5th pregnancy my husband would be used to me acting like a lunatic...but nope.  I can't tell you how many times he would just look at me like I was completely nuts. HA!  Thankfully my mood has totally evened out and I am back to my sweet, lovely self :) HA!

2) I hate even saying this because it is SUCH a cliche'- but man do I have pregnancy brain- BAD.  My poor husband has been going to the store pretty much everyday, if not multiple times a day, because I have forgotten something I need for dinner or for one of the kids.  Normally, I have an INSANE memory and forget nothing. Um yeah. Not right now. I am writing down anything and everything...and still forgetting things- HA!

3) I become a complete klutz when I am pregnant. I can't tell you how many times I have almost fallen down our stairs (which is actually a little frightening- thank goodness we have a rail) or just plain and simple tripped over my own (big) feet while I am walking.  If there is any sort of a bump or difference in height on a sidewalk...you can bet I am tripping over it.  Just a couple of days ago, my foot got "caught" on the entrance of the doorway walking into my daughters' school.  Can you say HOT MESS?? HA!

4) I am THAT pregnant woman who gets a craving at 8:32 pm and makes her husband run to the store to get it.  He doesn't even flinch any more- he just gets up and starts walking to the door. He will always say, "text me if you think of ANYTHING else you MIGHT want." :)

He's a keeper :)

 And because I know a pregnancy update isn't complete without a "bump" picture...here's a look at my already very protruding tummy :) This is pretty much how you will always find me...wrangling my precious 16 month old James from trying to sneak out the sliding glass door or from eating the toilet paper he unraveled in the bathroom :)

Minus "normal" pregnancy symptoms- all in all- I really do feel great. Even when I want to collapse from exhaustion (which happens quite a bit :), I can't help but feel so overwhelmed with gratefulness that I get to be pregnant for a FIFTH time. 

What a privilege and complete JOY!

And I had to include a picture with my amazing photographer!! Cora Maye was HYSTERICAL when she was taking my picture!! She would tell me to "move my curls over" and "breath out more so she could see my tummy better."  I was pretty much dying laughing the whole entire time we tried to snap one semi-decent picture!! Love this precious girl so very much!!

Hope you have a wonderful day today!!

Linking up with Annie and Natalie today!