surprise is RIGHT! for everyone. yep.. this baby, while we are OVER THE MOON, was quite a shock to Jordan and I. the other kids were all planned very well, to an extent. Baker was also a surprise but we had been trying for nearly a year (10 months) on Clomid and after two failed cycles and two miscarriages we were not expecting to get our rainbow baby Baker when we did. after I didn’t follow through with the planned tubal ligation after Brady, our family was always open to welcoming a 5th baby. Jordan and I had decided together that we would wait until Brady was 2 years old before we took that thought into serious consideration.

after I stopped nursing Brady my cycle came back the very next month, to which I was relieved given my history with PCOS. shortly after that, though, my cycles became intermittent.. some lasting much longer than others and I just felt “off”.  PCOS doesn’t go away, its just “managed” and the best management for me has been regular exercise. during that time my workouts were hit or miss because of the holidays and just not feeling that motivated to make it to bootcamp and I could tell a huge difference in the way I felt both physically and hormonally. so I called my OB to make an appointment to see how balanced I actually was.  about 4 months after my cycles returned, I had my hormones checked (progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone) and thankfully everything came back within normal range- putting my mind at ease a bit. during my worst times dealing with symptoms of PCOS and infertility these numbers were abnormally low.

regardless of PCOS affecting my ability to get pregnant, it takes a terrible toll on my body, so it has become really important to me to find and keep that balance. people think I’m crazy for waking up so early to hit a 5am bootcamp, but if it means I can keep symptoms of PCOS in check, so be it.

shortly after that appointment I began working hard to stick to my regular workout routine. feeling great and a little more “normal”, March and April came and went without my even really realizing how fast. life was busy! May comes and so does the summer heat! I started to feel very dizzy during my morning bootcamps. like, the walls-closing-in kind of dizzy.. which prompted me to buy a pregnancy test.  I had been tracking myself with ovulation kits since I was not on birth control (for reasons related to PCOS) and I was convinced it was still “too early” if I was, but I took one anyway.

my only first trimester symptom with Parker, Jolie, and Baker was dizziness and I needed to reassure myself that it was just the Texas temps that was making me dizzy and not a tiny baby!

it was positive.  SURPRISE! apparently I ovulated a week earlier and my surge wasn’t picked up by the kit.   it took us a minute to let the earth shattering news soak in.. because HOLY CRAP. 5 kids is a lot of kids. but, you guys, we are brought to our knees with thanks for this 5th baby. many women with PCOS may never have the opportunity to carry children or become pregnant, so we are taking this as such a huge blessing! we got to see our sweet little cutie pie this morning with a visit to the perinatologist and he/she is perfect. measuring exactly 12 weeks and 2 days, kicking and rolling around the entire time- we even got to see it stretch its little hand wide- five tiny fingers.

a few things about the first 12 weeks..

I haven’t eaten peanut butter in about 12 weeks. most foods completely repulse me, and peanut butter (and bananas) are one of them. I don’t even know who I am right now..

I am craving a few things.. hot Italian sub sandwiches, sno cones, and bbq chips.

I am still going to bootcamp about 3-4 days a week. now that I’m out of my first trimester I’ll start modifying some of the workouts, but up to this point I’ve been able to keep up pretty well.

I’m sick as a dog usually by mid-morning and into the evening. I’ve never had nausea like this with any other pregnancy and its kicking my butt. I’ve been mostly eating eggs, chicken sausage, guacamole, and grilled chicken. mostly protein since I’m still going to bootcamp, but I have been known to lay in bed with a box of cheese-its before going to sleep 🙂

the headaches are almost unbearable and I’ve been taking Tylenol a couple times a day so I can see straight.

yes, we are finding out the gender. we entertained the idea of keeping the gender a surprise until birth for all of about 3 minutes. we do blood tests for genetic abnormalities which also tests for gender and we should have those results back in the next couple weeks!

we talk about wanting a baby boy for Brady to rough house and grow up with so close in age (this baby and Brady will be exactly the same distance apart as Baker and Brady- about 20 months) Jordan always wanted a brother! but he and I also agree that there is nothing like the sweetness of putting a tiny bow on another beautiful baby girl. we really are ecstatic about either gender.

I’m due in January! I will be having my fourth c-section at 39 weeks. my OB was very supportive of this possibility after my third cesarean with Brady, hence my (literal) last minute decision to put a stop to the tubal ligation.

the biggest concern/risk with this pregnancy is my placental position related to the risk of its attachment to scarring from my past c-sections.. after my appointment today, it “looks” like the placenta will be towards the back, like my past three pregnancies, so thats great news! we wont really be able to confirm its placement  for sure until around 18 weeks, but I was glad to hear the perinatologist’s opinion today.

polyhydramnios (high amniotic fluid) is on the radar for my OB and we’re going to be keeping a close eye on it with weekly OB appointments and sonograms starting earlier than normal.. around 28 weeks. poly has occurred in all my pregnancies so my OB is just taking the proper precautions and I appreciate that!

you have been able to “tell” I was pregnant since I was about 8 weeks. post-Brady I developed an umbilical hernia, so thats not helping anything, but maternity jeans came out early this time.

I’m hanging up these (non-maternity) overalls for the rest of this pregnancy. I love them, but was SO uncomfortable by the end of the day. Baker Bree is baby CRAZY and so so SO excited for this baby! she squealed in joy after seeing our tiny one bounce all over the sonogram screen today. she gets to be a big sister again and she is the most excited- I cant wait for her to meet he/she! after our announcement my Instagram and email was flooded with kind messages of encouragement and excitement. I cannot thank you all enough for being so AWESOME and sharing this joy with us.