baby bump.

With the normal day to day chaos of making meals, going to work, preschool, parks, quiet time, fort-building, coloring and a teeny tiny bit of relaxation I haven't had much time to focus on the one big event in my life. This newest little baby growing in my belly. 

With Carter we had all the time in the world to plan, research the latest baby gadgets and have a nursery completed before 24 weeks.

Lucy's nursery was ready around week 28; it took me a bit longer to make sure the right shade of pink was surrounding the room.

And this baby? Oh this sweet baby #3? Well, we'll probably set up a pack n'play about 2 weeks before my due date, get some diapers and pull out the hand me down sleepers...that should work just fine, right?

It's not that I haven't already fallen madly in love with this child, it's just that I have a million other things to do right now and have realized babies don't really need much. Knowing this is our last baby I'm trying to enjoy every single little moment of this pregnancy and worry about the baby phase once it gets here. 

You see, I absolutely LOVE being pregnant. I love how I feel, how I look, feeling the baby squirm, talking about pregnancy with others...all of it is just amazing. I was secretly hoping I would have a miserable pregnancy to really tell myself I'm done. But, thankfully I've been blessed with another wonderful period of time where I still have energy, an appetite and no physical discomforts to really slow me down.

Being that I'm already almost to the halfway point I felt I should probably document this growing baby. Next week we'll have our 20 week ultrasound. We've decided to keep the sex a surprise this time so it'll be more of a true anatomy scan than a gender reveal. I couldn't be more excited to wait. I thought for sure that as time got closer I'd just want to give in and find out. But there is something so exciting about waiting, we've never done it before with the other kids and it will make a truly magical day that much more special. Of course, I'm always willing to have some guesses and help with potential baby names!  (no really, we need help...we've got nothin'!)

 This pregnancy has been different because the kids are a little older and can really understand what's happening. I love their curiosity, questions and concern. I love how proud they are to tell others about their new baby. I love how we get to learn together all the changes that are happening around fetal development. I love how I get to share my passion for birth with them, at a kid level. It's so fun to let them experience this and I can't wait to see how they interact with the newest Vance baby once he/she is born.
So....introducing baby Vance #3 at 12 weeks gestation.

In another post I'll share my thoughts and excitement surrounding an out-of-hospital birth. As I plan and prepare for a birth center birth and working with my midwives I continue to be amazed with birth, our options as women and how lucky I am to have such good support surrounding me. Stay tuned!

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