We know that we need to change the way we update our family records because the blog isn't working very well anymore. It just isn't my season for writing large update on here. I have to ignore my kids to get a post up and we don't love that. Aaron and I have talked about a few things we just haven't decided on one yet.
Tomorrow we will be learning the gender of our 3rd child and when I woke up this morning I realized that I haven't written anything about this pregnancy. I really want to get something down for our memory before everything changes like decorating the nursery, picking out names, ect. So I'll be writing a brief summary of the last 6 months and how we ended up on this path and what's happening now.
I do quickly talk about some girly problems so if that bugs you, don't read anymore.
At the beginning of August of last year Aaron and I felt like we needed to get away just the two of us. With the help of Grandma Nec and Aunt Rachael I was able to kiss my sweet babes goodbye and tag along on one of Aaron's business trips. We spent an extended weekend in San Francisco and a couple of days in San Jose. We went Sight Seeing and exploring every day we were there. A boat tour around the Bay, Morning runs along the coast, eating delicious food and Aaron even took me to see the Muir Woods because he knew seeing a Redwood Forest was on my Bucket List. Why yes, I have a bucket list and it's full of random things but I love when I can check something off that list. This trip gave us lots of time to talk and be together. We discussed having more children and both of us were just so happy and comfortable with the little respite we were having with our two children (who are fairly independent at this point) we didn't feel like having more kids was in our future. We also didn't really want to have 3 children for fear of someone being left out. I was raised in a family of 3 and my brother and I were so mean to our little baby sister. The truth of the matter however is that with my C-sections in the past we knew I could only have 1 more baby via C-Section safely. We could fight for a 4th with my doctor, but with my anatomy she feels strongly that a 4th would be a risk. C-sections are hard enough to recover from and they get harder with each one Aaron felt strongly that I shouldn't have a 4th anyways. We both agree with my doctor. That left us with, "Let's start saving up for adoption 5+ years down the road." We felt right about our family and moving forward with the status quo with adopting siblings from an out of country orphanage much later in life being our expansion plan. Being together on this trip was bliss and we came home refreshed.
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| Waiting to fly home and excited to see our children |
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| Photos of my Grandma Lynda |
About a month after our trip I was with all of the Maxfield women at Squaw Camp for a weekend retreat. About halfway through the trip my little sister asked me about having more children. She then shared a conversation she had with her boyfriend Thomas. Thomas is the younger of 2 brothers in his family, his older brother has Autism and he had shared with Baylee how he often wanted another sibling. The moment my sister brought up more children I had an overwhelming feeling that my Heavenly Father was reaching out to me through my sister, since I hadn't been receptive to messages He had been sending to me. I had an IUD migrate on me (a painful experience) and an early pregnancy lose as a result, looking back everything was preparing me to be ready for a pregnancy. I just wasn't listening. But I sat down and listened to my sister and knew, "Three will work for us! Three is RIGHT!" It makes sense that three siblings would be nice when one of those children has a disability. Everyone will always have a friend because Porter will always be a friend. The other 2 will have each other for support as they go through their role of being a sibling to a child with special needs, which isn't uncommon but at the same time it's unique. The thought consumed my mind and I was in the perfect place to hash it out. I was with a whole bunch of Mother's and a handful of Mom's to 3. I quickly found the comfort I needed in these incredible women to know that three totally works, but that we needed to have another baby ASAP so the youngest wasn't too far away in age from Porter and Priya. I left completely blown away that my heart could be changed in an instant. I also knew Aaron would of course need to feel the same way. I cornered him the morning after getting home and told him about my weekend full of excitement and anxiety. I told him he need to hear me out and then we could discuss it. I finished my speech with, "What do you think, should we have a baby?" He hugs me tight with a big grin and agreed that it was the right thing. We laughed and hugs and were full of joy at the thought of a baby.
I found it ironic we had change our minds about another baby because my sister-in-law had hinted that she'd like us to have another baby so her baby would have a cousin close in age. Aaron and I both greatly protested that it just wasn't time for our family. As things have played out there will in fact be 3 Gelter siblings welcoming babies to their families this year. (Rach in March, Karli in May and Aaron in June) Craziness, but of the best kind!
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| Meg, Rach and Tyler running the Electric Run together while Aaron missed out due to a trip to China |
We continued with life. Aaron traveled to China for a lengthy business trip. I kept training for, another Bucket List item, Running a Half Marathon and our kids started school. I completed my first marathon and it was a fantastic experience. I still don't know what my time was because for me it was all about finishing but it felt like a good race to me. Aaron insisted I didn't run fast enough because I still had energy after finishing.
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| Meg completing the SOJO Half Marathon |
A few days after my race I started to get nauseous and started to wonder. I finally felt sick enough I was positive I was expecting so I ignored the warning on the box about testing for pregnancy early and took one anyways. It just happened to be Halloween and I wasn't able to sleep because I wanted to know so I got a positive test at like 4 a.m. in the morning. I left a note for Aaron on the mirror that said, "Happy Halloween 2013 peekaBOO!" He was elated, we've never had our pregnancy hopes fulfilled so quickly.
As I mentioned I was sick right away. We were hoping to keep it private information but our families were suspicious and I was too sick to hide my symptoms so we let our families in on the news. We were given a huge amount of support. It's amazing how you can be completely overwhelmed with joy that you're going to have a baby and so utterly miserable from the morning sickness. I have never experience morning sickness to the extreme I have this time. I lived in the bathroom for the first 15 weeks. It was not an easy time in our household. I was put on meds for the sickness because it was so severe but they only helped a little. My Mother later picked up on the fact that the medication was making me experience depression. I really was down, sad and not functioning at all. I wasn't myself. We decided I'd stop taking the medicine and just make it through the sickness. A clear head and positive attitude made all the difference. I lost weight as a result of the sickness after going off the meds but not enough to be concerned. I am still sick a few mornings a week but not all day long. I feel much better then I have prior to this point. YAY!!!
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| I was sick this morning and Priya brought me her blanket to make me feel better |
We've been on two vacations while I've been expecting. We went to California with Aaron's family for Thanksgiving. It was a lot of fun for Aaron and the kids. I enjoyed the family and had some good moments. I was at the height of my sickness and still on the meds so I wasn't at my best. The thought of being so far from home at that point terrified me and it was hard on me. I am grateful for Aaron helping me through it all with love, support and forgiveness.
At the beginning of February we went Disneyland, a trip I'd been planning for over a year. I researched and studied anything I could find about taking children with special needs. My parents and sister Baylee decided to join us on this trip and were a tremendous help with the kids. It went as well as we could have hoped and I cried as we left. If you're interested in hearing more about our trip please ask to see our Disneyland vacation book.
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| Best Friends at Disneyland |
The last thing I'll share about this pregnancy is how conflicting my feelings are at times. I feel like a crazy person for having a baby when my current kids are already pushing me to my limits. I am TERRIFIED of having another C-Section, I didn't realize this would be a fear of mine until I started reliving my previous 2 surgeries in my dreams. At least this time we shouldn't have an emergency C-Section like I did with my other kids. Since my babies come early and it's best if I don't experience labor my doctor is going to schedule a C-Section at 38 weeks. I'm nervous about having a baby, we're out of baby mode. I know that is a lot like riding a bike it comes back quickly. The truth that this is exactly what we're suppose to be doing fills me with joy and excitement. Feeling this baby kick reminds me that we're going to have a BABY and babies are so special! We look forward with faith knowing that this part of our lives maybe a little bumpy and some of the bonus items we've gotten used to having completed in our lives just might have to wait for a season. We know that loving this baby is easy and that he or she is already a part of our family. The kids will love the baby and get used to the change with time. We know how this goes we will all get used to each other and we'll be happy with our family of 5.
In a phrase: We are scared but so excited!
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| 19 weeks- halfway |
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We had these photos taken and at that time I was suspecting 2 months of misery as my largest baby to date settled in for the last legs of this pregnancy. Contractions are pretty common-place for me so while I was having them I wasn't concerned. The next morning I woke up and our girl had dropped, which was in my mind too early. Hello, freak out number one. She hadn't dropped all the way so I figured we'd be alright. But it was enough to start causing regular contractions which turned into early labor with the passing of a few weeks. We ended up in the hospital where the staff hooked me up after a not so pleasant IV experience, and pumped me full of fluids. They ran a bunch of tests and kept a close eye on our baby, who by the way is a CHAMP, nothing has stressed her out yet. After a few hours my labor had slowed down, my labs were good and they sent us on our way. 48 hours later I was back in labor. I refused to go back to the hospital and waited out the night before I headed into see my doctor. My doctor basically concluded that my Uterus just hates me; she used more medical jargon but that's what I got out of it. I was sent on my way with a prescription to help calm my body down and prevent labor to make sure the baby makes it a good solid 35+ weeks and the hope was that the drugs would calm my system down enough that labor would hold off once I stopped taking the meds. Fast forward to last night when our girl decided to make it even more clear she was ready to come by making her final drop which lead to a MAJOR midnight freak out by ME. I have known and been warmed this entire pregnancy that this baby would probably come early because Porter was 37 weeks and Priya was 37.5 weeks, but I never thought I'd be going into preterm labor at 34 weeks. Then to have her settle in along with a handful of other tell tell signs that labor is eminent just shocked me and left me feeling completely unprepared. Today we've spent the day making peace with the idea that once I stop these meds in a few days (taking them past 35 weeks isn't encouraged) we may have a baby shortly thereafter. Of course we're worried about having a baby come that early, but statistics are great concerning infants born in that window and we've been blessed with a comfort that she'll come exactly when she needs to and exactly when I need her to. I packed our hospital bag this morning and spent the afternoon buying enough food and supplies to keep things functioning for several weeks to make things a little less stressful as I recover from my C-Section. .jpg)
