Evelyn!

Introducing 

Evelyn Rose

born Friday August 1, 2014

10:28 am

8 lbs. 4 oz., 20 1/4 in.

Eight Months already!

Here we are in the home stretch-- this pregnancy has absolutely flown by.  This is baby 5 at 35.5 weeks at the Deterding family vacation in Lewes, DE.  As I post this I'm 36 weeks 3 days, and we're trying to wrap our minds around the fact that we'll have a baby in 3-4 weeks!  I'm generally uncomfortable, tired, and experiencing Braxton-Hicks contractions most of the day (some days they've come every 5 minutes for hours and hours on end), so that means we'd better finish making room for baby around the house.  

We've settled on a girl name ~ Evelyn.  Benjamin is, of course, still our boy name of choice but we honestly think of the baby as a girl!

I guess I need to post the baby due date poll?!  I'm hoping for a delivery on July 30, which is the tenth anniversary of the day Steve asked me to be his wife!

Ten years and five kids later!

Compare 8-month baby bellies here, here, here, and here.

Seven Months

Time keeps passing quickly here on the Deterding homestead.  We're gearing up to leave on a week-long road trip through Georgia and Alabama (pray for us!) but I wanted to sit down and give a quick update on the baby and the rest of the family before another week speeds by.

This is baby and me at 32 weeks.  Babycenter.com tells me that the baby is a little over 3 lbs and the size of a jicama-- I don't know about you, but using a jicama as a reference is not helpful to me at all.  I feel more watermelon-like.

I'm not really craving anything in particular.  Kind of strange.  I passed my 3-hour glucose test and am thankful that there is no gestational diabetes to contend with.  And remember all that talk about baking soaked whole wheat bread and fermenting kefir and kraut and taking cod liver oil?  Not happening.  I've baked the occasional loaf and remember to make kefir smoothies every now and then, but I've also bought lots of cereal and even got some frozen fish sticks last week.  We all knew that was going to happen, didn't we? :)

Off to do some yoga (maybe),

Heather

Compare baby bellies here, here, here, and here

Six-ish Months

Here we are at 28 weeks~

Last week, the persistent Braxton-Hicks contractions reintroduced themselves.  Earlier than expected, and they are not welcome.  Every 5-8 minutes for a few hours on Wednesday.  The conundrum is-- do I recognize that they are most likely false labor and try to ignore them, or do I act like a responsible pregnant lady and go in to the hospital to be monitored (which is recommended if you get more than 4 contractions in an hour before 37 weeks).  After my experience with Jane (lots of false labor and 3 longs stays in hospital triage for monitoring) I tend to go for the first option.

Worst of all, I just got the results back from my glucose test, and my blood sugar levels were a mere  4 points higher than the maximum, meaning that I win the prize of sitting though a 3-hour follow-up glucose test, including several blood draws, sometime next week.  Ugh.

Besides the distracting contractions I'm feeling well, and Grace especially is enjoying my patting and talking to my "huge belly". I'm not craving anything in particular and am feeling lots of baby movement all day and all evening long!

House projects are slowly but surely getting done-- next on the list is to finish our garden beds, get plants in the ground, and finish the Great Bedroom Switch here in the house.

Compare six-month baby bellies here, here (same shirt!), here, and here!

Five Months With Number Five

I just got home from a wonderful, restful, mostly sedentary weekend women's retreat and the Hyatt Regency in Cambridge, MD.  Mom and April joined me and it was really a much-needed getaway for me.  Not only was I recovering from a month-long bout of asthma and sickness, but Nancy Guthrie was the speaker and there was so much good Truth presented for us to soak in.  

We're grateful that our family is emerging from a short but draining season of illness (double ear infections, two cases of Strep, asthma attacks, sinusitis, and croup between the six of us) and I'm praying for the blessing of being able to be more active and focused on building up and taking care of this baby-making body of mine as spring weather arrives.  We are so thankful for God's care for us through the month of sickness as many friends delivered meals and family members did some laundry and extra childcare for us.  And many more prayed!  Thank you!

And so here we are at 23 weeks!

Grace, Leah, Avery, and Jane at the same age:  here, here, here, and here.

"Well, no, actually…"

Today it happened for the first time, for this pregnancy.

I was strolling around Charming Charlie at the mall, waiting for Steve to order me a grande vanilla macchiato at the Starbuck's across the way (great way to spend a morning, by the way), when I turned around in front of a nice saleslady.

"OH, I didn't see that cute baby belly at first!  How many weeks are you? [20]  Is this your first?"

"Well, no, actually, it's my fifth!"

I have to admit, it's so funny to see people process this bit of information.

Baby 5's Little Face

That's our girl!  Well, I guess it could be our boy, too, but I think we have another girl.

Did I startle you just now?  Take a deep breath… the gender is still a surprise!  

Sorry.

No, not really.  Here's to August 1st!  Or maybe July 30th.  The baby measured at 19 weeks 0 days, which would bump the due date up a bit.  Whether or not my OB decides to change it, he or she is measuring right on target and is estimated to be 10 oz.  The baby was flipping and twisting and kept putting hands and arms over the face, so it was hard to get a good profile shot.  I'm a little disappointed in the sonogram pictures we got, but the one I shared here is the best.  There will be plenty of pictures after the baby arrives to make up for it!  

Girl names?  Claire is in the top spot for now, although Avery told us this morning that the baby should be named Belle, like a Princess.  

Four Months

This little one is now 17 weeks + 5 days old, and I am feeling…. round.

Other 4-month old baby bellies here, here, here, and here.

3 Months

Here we are at (give or take) 3 months pregnant.  I'm 15 weeks + 2 days.

Nausea and extreme fatigue have gone away, although Steve and I both find ourselves worn out by the children's bedtime of 8pm.  That would probably be the case whether I was pregnant or not!   I'm trying to stay really focused on keeping myself well-nourished and well-rested; five pregnancies in 7 years has  depleted me, I'm sure, and I felt like I wasn't fully recovered from carrying Jane when we found out baby 5 was on the way.  I had been researching a traditional diet (pastured animal products, fermented food to keep a healthy gut and support immunity, soaked or sprouted grains, not being afraid of healthy fats, etc) and am putting some of what I've learned into practice to be sure I'm giving myself and little baby plenty of the good stuff.  Without becoming a complete Traditional Foods Hippie/Nutcase, this is what I've been trying to fill us up with:

-- homemeade soaked whole wheat bread (easier to digest and more nutritious… but let's be real, I was on a roll before the first trimester knocked me off my feet and I've baked bread like 2 times in the last 3 months.)   Also soaked granola.

-- fermented cod liver oil.  Yes, yes we do.  Everyone but Steve who is a complete sissy.

-- kefir, aka fermented milk (yum!)  Are you all still with me here?  I haven't made these since baby made his/her presence known, but it's my second trimester goal to get back to it.

-- Grass-fed, organic beef and whole milk from my favorite dairy, Prigel Family Creamery!  Such a blessing!

-- homemade bone broth (chicken stock).  Grace loves to drink this hot from a mug.

-- Kerrygold butter from happy Irish grass-fed cows, which Traditional Foodies declare to be a "health food".  I choose to believe them with my whole heart.

-- 1 or 2 eggs every day for me.  Hopefully from Jimmy and Laura's chickens when they start to lay again!

-- Homemade pregnancy tea for me.  Red raspberry leaf, stinging nettle leaf, and rose hips.  1-2 cups a day for the second trimester and more during the third trimester.

-- lots of water, fruits, and veggies, and limited amounts of WaWa subs (had one at 9:30 last night, thanks hubby for running out to get me one!  True love!), Cafe Rio burritos, baked goods, and Dunkin Donuts munchkins which my parents bring every time they come to get the girls.


Also, I found some fabulous prenatal yoga videos on YouTube that I try to do for at least 10 minutes a day.  The bonus is that the instructor is British and some of my new favorite people are British :)

Compare 3-month baby bellies here, here, here, [missed that month for Jane!]

And then there were SEVEN

There was a new stocking in the row on Christmas morning!  At first the girls thought it was for Dorothy the goldfish.  Nope!

Surprise!  Or maybe we shouldn't be so surprised at this point, haha.

Once again, God in His wisdom has overruled our own plans for our family and has blessed us with another growing baby… a little sooner than we might have expected.  He or she (let's be real here, it's gotta be a "she"!) is due to join us on August 1st, right before Leah's sixth birthday.

I will admit it.  The positive pregnancy test, at first, made us feel overwhelmed.  After all, what will everyday life look like when there are five children ages 7 and under to take care of?  Lots of families do it, but it seemed like a lot to put on my particular plate.  Will these little girlies ever know what it's like to have a mother that isn't tired and in need of naps because she's pregnant or taking care of a newborn?  Can I rework my grocery budget again?  Will private school remain in our future?  Can I manage to be more organized and intentional in the way that I keep my home and minister to so many individual needs and personalities?  But, thankfully, the surprise wears off and Truth seeps in to take the place of worry~

The great comfort is, in the midst of all my human "can'ts", there is unfailing and limitless grace and provision in Christ.  He's the author of this family and He's the sustainer of it, too.  We have SO MUCH to look forward to raising in our five children.  We have been blessed with another reason to trust and to rejoice.  We can laugh, with confidence, at the days to come (Proverbs 31:25).

We tucked the 8-week sonogram picture in the seventh stocking.

We will take hold of that which is truly life, being generous with what we've been given and living with a heavenly perspective (1 Timothy 6:19).

We will seek His Kingdom and His righteousness, not worrying about the future (Matthew 6:34).  His promises are as good as accomplished and He has already proven that He abundantly provides! Too many things to list here.

We have many arrows in our quiver, making us blessed with a wonderful heritage from the Lord (Psalm 127:3-5).  I supposed it's no coincidence that this passage was the basis of the charge at our wedding eight years ago.  Pastor Don had some kind of premonition, I'm thinking.

Leah trying to decipher the odd-looking sonogram picture.  Is it a baby?!

Today, at 10.5 weeks, I heard the heartbeat for the first time and laughed with the doctor and nurse about the impossibility of fitting three carseats and two booster seats in our still-awesome Odyssey mini van.  It was a great morning.  I even got dinner in the crockpot and put away breakfast dishes.  I'm on a roll!  

Here's to the Deterding family of seven, loved by God and secure in His hands.