Oh Boy!

We are blessed to be having another boy!  I guess we are an equal opportunity family!  hehe
I won't lie... I was mentally prepared for Mattox to stay the only boy in the family.  I kind of liked the idea.  Some days I feel like boys are foreign objects in my house--- I don't know what to do with them!  I knew I would have at least 2 girls (since I was so used to my sister and me growing up) and I even dreamed I had triplet girls once.

But just goes to show you, that once again, you can plan all you want, but God has His own plan.

Saw the specialist that I love today.  I had a few expectations going into it.  I knew my age would play a factor (I'm the magical "advanced maternal age" now) and I knew that I have small babies (according to the doctors).  Sure enough, my age + baby measured a full week behind the already adjusted due date = red flags.   ALL of my babies have measured small the entire pregnancy, but came out "normal" at birth excluding Merritt.   Mati Claire was 7#, Mattox was 7#7oz, and Merritt was 5#2oz (which was big for her situation).

I had declined all genetic testing because it doesn't matter to me.  The baby's intestines were "glowing brighter than normal"  which meant that he wasn't passing the stuff as quickly as he should.  Could be a sign of his prematurity and small size, or could be a sign of some genetic issues (Cystic Fibrosis, etc).  He also would not cooperate and show us his face/profile, so they could not get any  measurements to show indicators of Down's Syndrome.  So because of the red flags + this intestinal issue = Dr. P highly recommended that I get the screening tests for all the genetic abnormalities.  But he thought it was probably due to the size measurement and not anything serious.  I didn't blame him, he was covering all his bases and doing his job to the full extent.  Why I love him.  Baby's heart and other organs looked good though.

10 day wait time…

Dr. P also thought I might have placenta previa, but after a vaginal ultrasound too, I don't.  Just an extremely low placenta.  Which rules out the bedrest that was on the tip of his tongue.  Yay!!!

The baby joker proudly showed off the family jewels this time around… but hid his face.  I was hoping to post some cute sonogram pics.  God obviously thinks we need more blue around here.  Help me, Jesus!

OVERALL, I would say he is HEALTHY at this point.  Things could change as usual, and I will be glad to get all my test results back soon.

On to names now...

Tallulah the TF

Yeah, I know I've been dragging on blogging lately.  Who knew being pregnant could make you absolutely physically exhausted? ;)  Plus I haven't been able to breathe or stop coughing since last week and I would really like to chop my head off right now.  I lost my voice a few days ago… do you know how hard it is to yell at your kids when you have no voice?  Or when one busts her lip and wants me to sing "our song" to her to make her feel better?

BUT to make yall feel better, I will reveal the gender of new baby to you … on MONDAY!  I have an appointment with the specialist so I would like to include his report in the announcement (health stats and all).  We are pretty sure we know what it is already, but Matt likes keeping everyone else in suspense (no FB posts allowed until Monday).
I'm waiting and praying to include the word "healthy" with the gender.  Some of yall would probably say I'm one "those" people… but seriously, you can be genetically and chromosomally normal and still not be considered healthy (i.e. Merritt).  It did not matter to me what the gender is, as long as its healthy!  So I'm almost 18 weeks now.  Its beginning to fly by now that the nausea has subsided.
And we're open to suggestions on more M names!  lol!  We have a few in mind, but we wouldn't want this one to feel left out now would we?  :)

My oldest is doing her job in making me feel old!  Lost her front teeth finally.  2 days before her school play in which she has a major speaking role.  Bless it… she can't talk well.  Here's a few pics (plus a few old ones) to make you laugh.  Tallulah, her Tooth Fairy, is very tired.  Not sure I'm just in love with age 7 right now.  She's always been pretty easy to deal with (except in eating) but the attitude has started.  Not to mention that I can NOT keep her well.  Since her birthday, she has experienced:  2 plantar warts on her toes that have taken months to heal and we are looking at surgery if its not totally gone, chiggers (yes I've never experienced those), 2 stomach bugs in less than a month, teeth falling out left and right, and an earring site infection (back to cleaning every day after we had gone weeks without having to).

Merritt is a typical terrible two year old.  Tantrums, yelling, throwing, spitting, hitting, biting, drawing on the walls, scratching, terrible two.

And Mattox?  Well I just can't keep him out of the dirt or sand.  He's up to 2 baths a day lately on some days.  He's 4 going on 10.