6 Months Old

DSC_05606 Months!! How can she be 6 months old already?! She has done so much in the last month, its crazy.  She is “talking” all the time.  Her favorite things to say are “ya-ya-ya-ya” and “dadadada”. I keep trying to get her to say “mamamamamama”, but it hasn’t happened yet 😉

She has mastered the art of rolling over, and will roll everywhere if you don’t watch her.  She has also just recently started sitting up all by herself. She is still a bit wobbly so we aren’t too far from her when she’s sitting up.  She loves it, and loves to sit there and watch her brothers go crazy.

IMG_4379We tried some solid food with Harper a few weeks ago and she was not a fan.  She just spit it out and made a face like,  “what are you feeding me?!”. We’ll try again in a few more weeks, I just don’t think she was ready for it. She is still drinking the Elecare (which our insurance is finally covering, Praise The Lord! She was drinking about 4.5 – 5.0 oz until last week when we bumped her up to 6 ounces and she drinks the whole bottle. I think she just had a growth spurt and that’s when we bumped her up. Clothes that were too big for her 2 weeks ago are now almost too small.

DSC_0555Her reflux was doing great with the two medications that she was on.  But at the beginning of the year our insurance decided they weren’t going to pay for her Prevacid anymore, even with a letter from our pediatrician saying it was medically necessary.  So we had to have the generic medication compunded so she could take it…she HATES it and spits it out, so she only gets about half of what she should.  So since she’s not getting the meds, she’s having more pain and reflux.

Harper loves to be outside just like Hayden.  She loves to sit on my lap outside while we watch the boys run around and play.

IMG_4210For the most part Harper is sleeping through the night.  She is not consistent though, she’ll sleep for 9-12 hours some nights without getting up to eat, and other nights she’ll be up every 6.  Typically she is taking 2-3 naps during the day for 30 mins to 2 hours, depending on the day.  She still sleeps in her Woombie and I dread taking her out of that because she loves it so much.

DSC_0579Just for fun, I pulled up the boys’ photos from when they were 6 months to compare and boy…you can not deny these 3 are siblings.

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4 Months Old

DSC_0270Once again I am VERY late in posting this! Little bit is 4 months old and actually doing pretty good.  Other than her reflux bothering her, she is doing great.  Remember last month when we added the rice cereal to her bottles to help with the reflux?  Well, she did great on the rice cereal.  She stopped the screaming fits, she was happy again and was sleeping better…for about 2 weeks, then it all started again.  So I called the pediatrician again and they added another drug to her Prevacid and rice cereal.  She gets it 4 times a day 30 minutes before meals.  Do you know how hard it is to hold a hungry baby off from eating for 30 minutes?! Its horrible! So in order to control her reflux/tummy troubles and keep her from being in pain, this is what all she is on – Elecare formula (roughly $400 a month), Prevacid ($75 a month), Bethanachol ($35 a month) and then rice cereal in each bottle (very cheap!) and she also sleeps on 2 wedges under her mattress.  She’s an expensive diva, but worth every penny!

DSC_0212She loves looking at herself in the mirror now and loves her bath. When she is starting to get fussy or if we are trying to hold her off to eat because we just gave her the medicine, we give her a bath….then she’s as happy as a clam.

She is sleeping in her crib now and out of the Rock N Play sleeper.  She was starting to outgrow it, so it was time to make the switch.  She is also out of the miracle blanket when she sleeps and in this a blanket called the “wombie” its like a little cocoon that keeps her arms from flailing about when she sleeps, because let me tell you, this girl is crazy. She gets those arms going 90 to nothing.  She loves this thing and typically goes to sleep pretty soon after we zip it up. There have been a few times when I zip it up, put her paci in her mouth and she’s out!

Harper loves to sit up and be able see what everyone is doing.  This girl is going to be non stop! She has started rolling from side to side but hasn’t rolled over yet.  I’m sure it won’t be long though! IMG_3292

She is sleeping good at night and getting a little better for her naps during the day.  She will typically go to sleep around 630-700 and sleep until anywhere between 330-500, then go back to sleep until 730 or 800. She is sleeping better during the day but still only 30 mins or so at a time.  Every now and then she’ll take an hour nap.

She is eating 4- 5 ounces every 4 hours during the day – which is 4 to 5 bottles a day depending on when she eats in the morning.

We are getting her doc band within the next month and she’ll probably wear it 6-8 weeks and then have a beautifully rounded head.

Hayden and Ian continue to love on their sister and are always checking on her to make sure she is ok.  She is actually starting to respond to them and will smile when they talk to her.  harper4moAll these years, my mom has kept the dress that I as dedicated in and gave it to me a while back.  Before Harper outgrew it, I had to put it on her and get a picture just for sentimental reasons.  She is getting dedicated next month, hopefully, but I don’t think it will fit her then.  It would have been awesome to have her dedicated in the same dress.

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Rory Myers Children’s Adventure Garden

We have a family member ship to the Dallas Arboretum and have always loved going and taking the boys to run around and I especially love it because its a great place to get pictures! This year the new children’s adventure garden opened and it is awesome!  We have only gone once and were only there a short time so we only saw a very small part of the garden.  There is so much more to see and plan to go back soon.

The garden is divided up into 2 areas. To the right is for older kids and what I’ve heard is pretty hands on and a great learning experience, while the left side is more for toddler/preschool aged kids.  Here are some of the pictures from our short time there:

DSC_0526 DSC_0535 DSC_0546
DSC_0543enjoying the view during our picnic lunch

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Playing in the hay maze

While we were there we attempted to get some photos of the kids and the kids with us. I say attempted because the boys weren’t into taking pictures and would rather look at all the pumpkins. We got a few good ones but not a whole lot.  We are going to have to go back to get their annual birthday pictures with the pumpkins.

kids

boys boys2harper-ian

Me and my crazies
Daddy and the kids

There are so many things for the kids to do that is interactive and they did an amazing job on this garden.  I think we will be getting an annual family membership for a few years to come simply because of this garden.

2 months old

 

2 months old

2 months old

2monthcollageLittle missy is 2 months old.  She has grown so much in the last month but I don’t have her current stats because we don’t go for her 2 month check up until next week. She definitely has gained some weight and length in the last few weeks.  I just had to put away the majority of her newborn clothes because they were getting too short and I couldn’t button them.

She has had quite a difficult time during the first 2 months of her life, with her reflux and milk protein intolerance.  She has pretty bad reflux and is on Prevacid twice a day to control that.  She still has some bad days but over all her reflux is doing much better on the meds.

We did see the GI doctor in the last month and he confirmed her milk intolerance and reflux and gave us some things to watch for.  If we see any of these symptoms we will go back and see him, other wise we keep doing what we are doing and hope she outgrows the milk issues.  We can’t truly say its a milk allergy because we haven’t had her tested for it, so they are just calling it an intolerance.  The GI doc did add a probiotic for her to take daily and we switched her formula from Neocate to Elecare, which is the other amino-acid based formula.  I asked him if we could switch to the Elecare because she broke out in a rash all over her face and neck.  The rash started about a day or two after starting the Neocate and just continued to get worse.  Within a week of switching to the Elecare, the rash was completely gone.  It could have been a coincidence, but I think it was something in the Neocate that she was reacting to.

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her horrible rash – the pictures don’t look as bad as it did in person

She is eating 4.5 ounces every 4 hours now and then we give her a 5 ounce bottle at night before she goes down for the night.  She’s just like her brothers and likes her milk.  It doesn’t matter if her reflux is bothering her and she’s hurting….she will continue to eat in between episodes of crying.  This usually doesn’t happen often, but it will occasionally.

month2(2)As far as sleeping goes, we never know what to expect out of Harper at night.  Because of this, we really don’t have a set schedule for her, which I really don’t like. She will generally go down anywhere between 800-1000, sometimes later depending on when she eats last and then will sleep, on average, 5-6 hours then wake up to eat again and go right back to sleep.  She has had a few nights where she went 7-8 hours and one night she even went 10 hours!

month2(3)After the newborn sleepiness wore off she really hadn’t really been a good sleeper during the day and would sleep for 30 mins here and there but never really a good nap.  We started doing more tummy time in the last few weeks and when we would put her on her tummy she would fall asleep, every time! She has turned into a tummy sleeper for sure.  She can sleep or 2-3 hours on her stomach, but we only let her do it during the day and that’s because she is in the pack n play in the living room where we are or in her crib when I’m in there, and we can watch her.  At night she still sleeps on her back and will until she can roll over on her own.  Then at that point, we can’t do anything about it.

IMG_1786She’s starting to like to lay on her activity mat and watch it or lay in the pack n play and look at herself in the mirror.  Just in the last week, she has started to watch the mobile over her crib.

IMG_2126 playmatHarper is definitely a cuddle bug.  She loves to be held, and held close to you.  I ordered a carrier for her when I was pregnant and was just waiting for her to be big enough to put her in it.  It has proven to be a wise investment.  She loves it! She can be held close to momma and usually falls asleep while she’s in it.  I have worn it several times just around the house when she is fussy.  We will definitely use it this fall when we go to the arboretum because taking a stroller through the new children’s garden is quite cumbersome (more on that later).

IMG_1600A few weeks ago all the cousins on Jonathan’s side got together and for the first time we were able to get a photo of all 3 baby girls that were born around the same time.  We didn’t get a good picture of the babies, just of us holding them.

cousinsHarper has actually started smiling in response to something now.  She loves it when I smack my lips and she’ll usually start smiling at that – if she’s in the mood.

month2smileI am so happy that our sweet baby girl is finally feeling much better since finding the right “cocktail” of meds, probiotics and the best formula.  Since going through all of this with the boys we knew what was going on and were able to get a jump on things before she had to live with the pain too long.  Our pediatrician has been great too and together we got her back to our happy baby again. I love you sweet girl, can’t wait to see what you’ll be doing in another month!

 

 

 

Big Brothers

Wow, I’ve got a lot of posts to catch up on since baby girl was born.  Lets start with the big brothers!

So, remember way back when, in January or so when we posted this picture…

boys-promotion1

Here is a much better, much more recent picture of that…

siblingsoh my…I can’t believe how much older the boys look here.  They don’t look like babies anymore.

We decided to keep the boys home the day Harper was born and the next morning my mom and Jonathan’s mom brought them up to the hospital to meet their new little sister.  We had no clue how they were going to respond to this and it was fun to see their reactions.  Jonathan met our moms and brought the boys in the room so it was just us in their when they came in to meet her.

IMG_1149The instantly walked over to see her in the bassinet….well, after I insisted they give me a hug first 😉

IMG_1156I think this is when it hit them that this baby Harper we’ve been talking is an actual being and real. Hayden was interested in meeting her but that interest wore off pretty fast and he was ready to move on.  He liked her, but I think he may have been scared of her or scared that he would hurt her or something…I don’t know.  He wasn’t too interested in holding her like Ian was.  I got a quick picture of him holding her but right after I snapped the photo, he was done.

Hayden holding Harper

Hayden holding Harper

Honestly, I was very surprised at how much Ian loved her and wanted to kiss her and hold her.

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Ian holding Harper

Ian holding Harper

We gave the boys a “goodie bag” as a gift from Harper to them.  They were Curious George backpacks that they can use for school and filled with books, coloring books and crayons, cars, little trucks, some snacks, etc.  It kept the busy for a little while at the hospital before they went back home with our moms.

IMG_1169I wish I got some better photos of them but I was taking pictures from the bed and I was still in A LOT of pain from the c-section.

Ian wanted to sit on the bed with me and Harper and his expression pretty much sums up how he felt meeting his sister….I love this picture.

IMG_1189Coming home was no exception, Ian wanted to hold her and check on her all the time. Hayden would look at her and then go on with his business, but I did catch him going over and patting her head to see how she was doing.  Hayden is always concerned about where Harper is. If he doesn’t see her, he’ll say “oh no, baby Harper gone”.  Ian is very concerned with her whereabouts as well ;).  Yesterday she was in Jonathan’s office with him and when he walked in the living room and she wasn’t there, he got concerned.  I told him that we took her back to the hospital and he got rather upset… “noooo, baby Harper stay home”.  I quickly told him I was just kidding and we would never take her back, he was fine after that.

Hayden checking on Harper

Hayden checking on Harper

Ian holding Harper

Ian holding Harper

Ian checking on Harper

Ian checking on Harper

Having 3 kids has been a little crazy, but I wouldn’t change it for anything…

me and my 3 munchkins

me and my 3 munchkins

 

 

Harper’s Birthday in pictures

I finally got around to getting all the photos off Jonathan’s camera and putting them on my computer.  Here is Harper’s big day in photos.

This time I don’t think Jonathan was as nervous as he was the day the boys were born.  I know I wasn’t, I was just anxious to finally meet our little girl.

Being monitored and waiting for the c-section

I have to add this funny part.  As I am laying there in the bed with the contraction and fetal heart rate monitor on me, the nurse looks at me and asks, “so how long have you been having these contractions?” They were about every 3 or 4 minutes apart according to the monitor.  I just looked at her and laughed a little…I said “oh, since about 20 weeks.”  She just looked at me, “oh!” I did proceed to tell her that the intensity and frequency had picked up the last day or two, but it was funny to watch her face.

Getting started…I love all the warm blankets they put on you, its FREEZING in the OR.

At this point, I was just trying to breathe.  The epidural took a little too well and actually numbed me higher than I think it was supposed to.  I was having some trouble breathing throughout the entire c-section and couldn’t even talk much because I couldn’t feel like I could get enough air to speak.

She’s here! 1:55 PM

Since you can’t see anything, you have no clue whats going on when. The only way I knew she was out was to hear that glorious cry! It doesn’t look like she enjoyed that exit too much, huh?!

6 pounds, 15 ounces & 19.5 inches of cuteness

Harper is a full 2 pounds heavier than both the boys were but she is still soo tiny.  The boys just looked like (cute) little old men – ha.  She isn’t just tiny, she’s so petite, her little nose and mouth are petite and its all so proportionate.

so tiny

so tiny

 

daddy putting her first diaper on in the OR

daddy putting her first diaper on in the OR

Just like with the boys, Jonathan got to put her first diaper on while we were still in the OR.

 

mommy time in the OR

mommy time in the OR

At this point Harper was having some problems breathing and keeping her oxygen saturation where they wanted it so they were giving her some supplemental oxygen and her saturation level would go up.  They would take it away and it would go down….then she finally kept it where they wanted for a short period of time so they let Jonathan bring her over to me to see her and have some “mommy time”….which later the nurse told me she did on purpose because she knew that would help with her oxygen/breathing issues.  Sure enough it did and she was stable enough to then come with me to the recovery room.

on our way to recovery

on our way to recovery

But not before a quick photo shoot with mommy and daddy and Dr. Monti.

with mommy and daddy

with mommy and daddy

daddy, mommy and Dr. Monti

daddy, mommy and Dr. Monti

 

Harper and Dr. Monti

Harper and Dr. Monti

Once we got to the recovery room our parents and family started to come back a few at a time to see the newest addition to the family.

Grammy and Grandma admiring their new granddaughter

Grammy and Grandma admiring their new granddaughter

Papa and Grandaddy meeting Harper

Papa and Grandaddy meeting Harper

feeding Harper for the first time - she ate all 2 ounces at once!!

feeding Harper for the first time – she ate all 2 ounces at once!!

one proud daddy

one proud daddy

After a few hours in the recovery room we were taken to my room up on the post-partum floor.  Once we got there the pediatrician check Harper out and said everything looked good except she was a little jaundiced and she was still having a little trouble with her breathing.  Because of her breathing she gave us the option to either do more skin to skin or “kangaroo care” with Harper or send her to the nursery so she can stay under the heat lamps.  We chose to keep her with us and do skin to skin care.  I got to do it for an hour or two and then Jonathan got his turn at it for about an hour.

doing skin to skin care

doing skin to skin care

Later that evening her breathing got a lot better and her grunting started to disappear, and by the next day her breathing problems had resolved completely.  She was still jaundiced but it got better over time and now has gone away too.

Harper had a lot of visitors come see her in the hospital and I tried to get a photo with all of them, but I wasn’t able to get a photo of the birthday girls together, Stephanie and Harper.  Brian and Stephanie were there the day she was born but because of her breathing issues, no one was able to hold her except me and Jonathan until the next day.

harpers visitorsThis hospital stay was a lot less stressful than the previous one with the boys. We didn’t have to divide our time with one baby in our room and another one in the NICU and then worry about spending time with visitors as well.  We got to spend a lot of quality time with just the two of us and Harper, getting to know her and bond with her.  It was great!

all ready to go home

all ready to go home

After 3 days in the hospital we were ready to go home and start our lives as a family of 5.

Our new family of 5

Our new family of 5

 

Happy Birthday Harper

Harper Elizabeth Blundell

Harper Elizabeth Blundell

We welcomed Harper Elizabeth Blundell into our family on July 24, 2013.  She joined her big brothers, Hayden and Ian to make us the most blessed parents around! ;)  She was a planned C-Section so that morning we got ready and headed to the hospital around lunch time.  No labor drama or anything like that.  The boys stayed at home that day because I didn’t think they needed to be at the hospital and especially since I will have just had major surgery, I didn’t want them to see me.

The surgery was right on time and at 1:55 PM Miss Harper arrived and greeted us with the sweetest little raspy cry, which was the most awesome thing to hear at that moment.  She weighed 6 pounds 15 ounces and 19.5 inches long.  I guessed she would be 6 pounds 14 ounces, so I was 1 ounce off! She has a lot of dark and long hair, just like her momma when she was born….except I had a little more than she did.

As they were finishing putting me back together (I’ll spare you the gory details) they were cleaning her up and doing everything with her.  I could hear her breathe and knew she was having a little bit of trouble, but not a lot…she was grunting a little and you don’t want to hear that in a baby because it means they are having difficulty breathing.  They did have some problems with  keeping her oxygen saturation where it needed to without oxygen so they had to give her some.  After what seemed like forever, they were able to keep her oxygen saturation where they wanted it without the oxygen…Jonathan says she got better because of her “mommy time” with me in the OR.  When the surgery was all done, we were all (including Harper) able to go to the recovery room together.  This was different than with the boys because both boys had to go straight to the nursery to be observed for breathing problems.  When we got to up to the floor and the pediatrician examined Harper, she was still grunting some and having a little bit of trouble so we did some skin to skin therapy (both Jonathan and I got to do this) or as some call, it kangaroo care.  Skin to skin therapy is basically just what it sounds like, you lay the baby stomach down on your bare chest and the contact just does wonders for babies.  Studies have shown that it improves oxygen levels, helps regulate a newborns body temperature, promotes bonding with the parents/baby, stabilizes the heart rate and improves breathing patterns.

The pediatrician said that Harper had what is called Transient Tachypnea of the Newborn or TTN.  It is basically where the lungs don’t get rid of the fluid that is in them during pregnancy. Some refer to it as “wet lungs”.  It usually happens during the first few hours of birth and happens more frequently in c-section babies because they don’t get that initial “squeeze” before being born.  This is very similar to what Ian had, if not the same thing, when he was born.  After several hours of skin to skin therapy she started to improve and as of now it is resolved.

Harper also had a little bit of jaundice but it is starting to resolve on its own and they will check it again tonight to make sure it is still doing well.  We kept the blinds open today and had her in the sun as much as possible as this helps improve jaundice in infants.

Harper is just the sweetest little baby (other than her 2 brothers of course) and from what we can tell in all of 3 days is that her temperment is very much like the boys were as babies.  Very content, happy babies.

I’ll post some photos of her birthday soon.

39 weeks

As of tomorrow I am officially done with this pregnancy! I hit 39 weeks today and tomorrow is the c-section and the day we will finally meet Ms. Harper!!  The last week has been very hard for me and no matter what position I get in, I just can’t get comfortable, and I’m not sleeping much at all, even with Ambien.

Here is the last pregnancy survey:

Due date: July 30 – C-section is on July 24
How far along:   39 weeks
Gender:  It’s a GIRL
Total weight gain/loss:  about 17, give or take
Exercise: I’m not allowed to exercise
Stretch marks: the ones I got from the boys and then some more from her!
Swelling: a little more in my hands and feet this week, but still not a whole lot
Maternity clothes:  yes, and I’m so tired of them…I’ve outgrown a lot of them
Belly button:  It is definitely an outie
Sleep: sleep – what’s that?!
Food cravings:  Cream soda
Symptoms:  contractions that are getting stronger and more frequent – all day long, heartburn and pain from her using my intestines as a punching bag
Movement:  All. The. Time. She likes to push her butt up in my ribcage and then stretch her (apparently long) legs out and kick me in the other side of my ribcage or hip bone.  The girl has to take after her big brother, Ian…he moved like crazy just like she does – and has never stopped moving since!
Labor signs: a lot of contractions, but not sure if they are actually doing anything
What I miss: not having to go the bathroom all day long, sleep and being able to sit comfortably
What I’m loving:  This pregnancy is about over!!
What I’m looking forward to:  meeting her tomorrow
Best moment this week:  Knowing we will get to finally see her tomorrow!
Milestones: being full term and her arrival.

one size fits all

When it comes to family, how big is too big?  Or what do you consider a small family? One size fits all definitely doesn’t relate to a family size. Every family is different.  Every couple has to decide on their own what they want for their family, how big do they want it. How many kids to they consider to be a big family?

Since we have announced the addition of our 3rd baby (which we are very excited, yet very nervous about!) I have had several people say, in response, “oh you want a big family!” Really, 3 kids is what people consider a big family? I can see how a person who only had 1 child would consider it a “big family.”  But for me and Jonathan who both grew up in a family with 3 kids, its normal.  Its a normal sized family, not big, not small. I personally consider a family big when it has 4 or more kids.

I think Jonathan and I would both agree that we would love to have a “big family” but since we have been given the experience of expanding our family by 1 child at a time this time we will see how it goes with #3 before deciding on another one.  We would both love to adopt, so if we go for #4 (in the far distant future) that may be the route we take.  You know, since I LOVE being pregnant and all (just imagine a sarcastic undertone with that).

Anyway, like I said, we both grew up with a family of 3 kids and love it. He has 2 sisters, I had 2 brothers.  Luckily, we all grew up and love each other.  There isn’t any family hate, or turmoil between any of us and we sincerely enjoy spending time together.  Its funny that as you get older, you actually become friends with your siblings.  And, I love that we get along well with each others siblings.  I can honestly say that Jonathan’s sister has become one of my best friends, and I love it!

When it comes to bigger families, I think I would be more likely to say lets go for it, rather than Jonathan.  Simply because I did get a little taste of what its like to have a bigger family growing up.  All growing up we had a family friends (the Medlins) that were just as much family as my “real” family, they were just an extension of our family.  For 35 or so years our families have lived by eachother, moved where the other family moved, went on vacations together, spent holidays together.  Some of my favorite memories growing up were when all 5 of us “siblings” got together.  We would play games, sing Bohemian Rhapsody aloud in the living room, joke with our moms (mainly the brothers did this) and laugh at our dads.  Even to this day, I always look forward to times when we can all get together. The majority of us have kids now and its fun watching a new generation become friends, its a little different though because the ages are a little off and none of them will go to the same schools or live int he same neighborhood like we did.  But its still fun and I look forward to what the future holds.

No matter what size our family becomes, whether we stop at 3 or go for #5 (hahaha, just kidding!!) My prayer and hope for our children is that they grow up loving each other and truly enjoy spending time with one another. I hope they grow to lean on each other and be there for their brother/sister – wishful thinking that #3 is a girl 😉 -  in times of need . I also hope that they grow up and love spending time with their cousins, because really they have no choice, they will be spending a lot of time with them either way! So far they love them all, so I think we’re good!

So what about you, what do you consider a “big family?”

Adding on to Casa de Blundell

We have decided to make some additions to our home.  There will be some renovations going on in the next 6 months, some not so pleasant, but definitely worth it in the end! The majority of these renovations will mostly affect 1 person of this family, but I’m sure everyone will feel the repercussions of these renovations.

This add-on will be taking part in 3 phases throughout the next several months.  The first phase is just about complete and we may (fingers crossed) have a relatively easy phase coming up.  The first phase has been rough so far, there’s been a lot of headaches, sleeplessness and fatigue, mixed with a little nausea.  The last phase will be the roughest of all, we will all be uncomfortable and inpatient while we wait for the completion of the project.  We’ll be checking in with the project leader a lot in the end they will ultimately decide when the end date will come.

Here is a sneak peak at our new addition…

Coming in July, we will be welcoming a new addition to our family…we are so excited to be welcoming our 3rd baby and can’t wait to finally meet him or her! More to come later…