Baby Froggy: 14 weeks

I guess it's safe to say that the blog has died. 3 months of no posts is pretty bad.  5 years of consistent blogging is really not too shabby. Especially for someone whose never kept up any hobby or journal for more than a couple weeks.  Success! 

I don't know how or where I am going to find the time to revive the blog, but I am determined to do it. Too many sweet memories documented here to completely abandon it.  Fingers crossed that I can bring it back to life! 

I partially blame the death of the blog on instagram...I am addicted now and it seems to satisfy my need to document random memories.

I also partially blame an exciting new development, who we affectionately refer to as Baby Froggy. 

Baby Froggy is 14 weeks along at this point; due July 20th.

 

It seems that it is true what they say about subsequent babies showing earlier. Yikes. Combine that with some holiday eating (yay for first trimester hunger coinciding with Thanksgiving and Christmas) and a little stress eating (post-miscarriage pregnancies are very stressful).  

I haven't weighed myself recently, but its safe to say that I am currently significantly ahead of my historical average of a pound a week from week 1.

I also think that this baby bump is much higher than my previous bumps. Even though the baby is still way tiny and obviously way down low, my Baby Bump starts way up at my ribcage.

Also new this pregnancy is the exhaustion. I remember being kind of tired with previous pregnancies, but this is a totally different beast. I have napped every day since about week 5, almost without exception. If I try not to skip a nap I simply fall asleep unwittingly....in the midst of typing an email, or even at the library in the midst of reading a picture book to the girls. 

Perhaps the reason for the exhaustion is that it seems this baby is a mover. We've had a fair number of ultrasounds and in every one Baby Froggy is nonstop moving....kicking, sucking his/her thumb, rolling over, holding his/her feet, looking around.  He/she has a tendency to disappear off the ultrasound screen altogether.  Neither Papillon nor Hibou moved much at all inside me. A sign of things to come??

Hibou officially gave Baby Froggy gave his/her nick name. We showed the girls one of the early ultrasounds. Papillon declared that it didn't look like a baby, and Hibou promptly declared it a "Froggy!".  It's a good nickname, and it's stuck. 

On a bit of a sidenote: I am very glad this Baby has a good nickname cause I find I don't like to think about or refer to this Baby as Baby R. #3. Cause he/she is really Baby R. #5. Which is something I can't/won't ever forget, but at the same time it feels weird and confusing to refer to him/her as Baby Risner #5.  So, Baby Froggy it is.  Our 5th tiny little blessing.

Both Big Sisters are very excited for Baby Froggy. Conveniently, we should find out Baby Froggy's gender right around Hibou's birthday. And Baby Froggy should make his/her appearance right around Papillon's birthday.  This makes it a little easier for the girls to put some kind of timeline on Baby's growth. 

God has been very good to us throughout this pregnancy.  He's given us so many little reassurances along the way - from the undeniable exhaustion, to the timing of ultrasounds (one of the early ultrasounds measured exactly 1 day past the official age of one of our miscarriages...oddly comforting!) 

I am relieved to be past the first trimester. Though I must confess, I still find myself quite anxious. I've had an appointment every 2 weeks since the beginning, but this time I have to wait the normal, 4 weeks. Which seems like forever and a day. How did I ever go 4 weeks between appointments??  But I am trying to remember that this Baby is in God's hands no matter what; and in general I feel very confident that God wants us to meet this Baby come July.