baby #4...21 weeks

well hello there. 

my first blog post of 2014...on january 10th. not off to a great start. i am going to really try to be better about this little blog of mine. 

promise.

well baby 4 and i made it through the holiday season. we are well into the 2nd trimester and getting to know each other a little more every day. for example this little one loves when i lay down at night. this is his/her cue to start movin' and groovin'. i have been feeling this little babe kick and jab for awhile now but the movements are finally getting big enough for dan to feel. the girls cannot wait to feel the kicks for themselves. hopefully they'll become consistent enough for them to feel in the coming weeks. 

baby kicks are, hands down, my favorite part of pregnancy. 

we went in for our 21 week ultrasound yesterday to take a peek in there and make sure baby is growing like it should be. everything checked out perfectly. baby is right on track with his/her due date. which is may, 19th (in case i forgot to mention that in my last baby post)  

the big question on everyone's mind...no, we did not find out! hey, i told you we weren't going too. it's a good thing too because the nurse said she couldn't get a good look anyway. baby was wiggling like crazy. (probably because i was laying down...during the day...imagine that!) every time she checked anything in that vicinity the legs were crossed. so there you go, you can blame the baby now instead of dan & i for not finding out!

this little one is right on track with it's big sisters measuring in at the 24th percentile. right now baby is just two ounces shy of one pound! not to worry baby, you will be in good company if you continue to stay on the lower end of the scale. the nurse assured us that everything she was looking for looked absolutely perfect so now we just hang out and put on weight. 

the both of us. 

sigh. 

the dreaded weight gain. my least favorite party of pregnancy. i have yet to look at the scale at any of my appointments. i have also told my doc there is no need to tell me any numbers unless something is out of the ordinary. i just don't care to know this time around. i feel good...i don't feel huge just yet so i am ok with where i'm at. however, i am officially showing now...i've hit the stranger stage. the other day at the car wash, with all 3 girls, out of the blue a stranger asked me if i was having a boy. (everyone's 1st question when they find out i'm preg) when a stranger has the nerve to ask that's the tell tale sign that the belly has popped. i do love this phase though...you can dress up the bump and you don't feel like a whale quite yet. i am going to bask in this for the time being. 

i forgot to mention in my last baby post about my cravings. with the other girls i never really had any super bad cravings. with ryan, i remember i ate a lot of peaches in the beginning. with may i always wanted cherry snocones. i don't remember any major cravings with lil. however, this baby wants strawberries. 

all. the. time. 

i am not exaggerating when i tell you i can easily go through a 2lb carton of strawberries in one day. i cannot get enough of them. if this baby comes out a red head then we'll all know why. i know it could be worse...i mean, it's not like i'm craving cheeseburgers but at $10 a pop at schnucks those little berries are killing my grocery bill! (baby is picky about the berries too. i bought some from aldi's...much cheaper...but they just weren't as good. he/she has to have the $9.99 driscoll's from schnucks. high maintenance already)

apples are starting to creep up the craving list as well...jazz apples to be exact. i have been eating at least 2 of those a day for the last week or so. other than that there isn't much i have to have. i am trying my very best to eat healthy. of course i give in to my occasional desire for deliciously salty french fries here and there but nothing crazy. this baby seems to prefer sweet to savory...which is not the norm for me. i am usually a salty girl. 

dan and i have started the name discussion. it's going better than i thought it would. we actually have a couple  names we agree on. nothing set in stone yet and nothing we are sharing. i know...we suck. we don't find out the sex, don't tell our names. no fun. no fun at all. i promise we will share the baby's gender and name as soon as we meet him/her. we will not make you wait. 

let's see, what else do you want to know? 

my carpal tunnel has not gotten any worse which is awesome. my skin has started itching like crazy this last week...but i think that is more from this crazy weather than the baby. other than that i am feeling really great. i am sleeping well and have energy to get through the day. no more cat naps for the time being.

i would leave you with an ultrasound picture but to be honest the baby wouldn't sit still long enough for us to get a good one. if you come by the house i'm sure ryan will show you the pictures...she insisted on taking them to school to show her teacher and all her friends. girlfriend is just a little excited about this baby!

we'll update you all again soon....