Holy Hugeness!

Well we have come to the night before we will meet baby girl. I am getting induced tomorrow morning! I am not that excited about having to be induced, but I am, on the other hand REALLY REALLY excited to finally have her on the outside! To finally meet her and hold her! To see who she is going to look like.

These last few weeks (I admit) I have been miserable. Thank the Lord Ann and Liz have been here and have been so helpful. I could not have done it without them. I have been more sore, slept less, been more irritable, and lacked motivation. It has been hard waiting for this little girl! Especially since we all thought she would be early. I am NOT a fan of this overdue thing! 

I am a little nervous about tomorrow. It just doesn't make sense that she hasn't come out on her own. I have been dilated for at least 3 weeks, had my membranes stripped twice, gone on LONG (5 miles last week) walks, went to Zumba and had good and painful contractions and even some back labor. By the pictures below... As you will see I am Significantly bigger then my other two pregnancies. Liz and I were laughing as we compared the pics. I just hope she's not 10 lbs! 

                                             41 weeks with baby # 3!                 38 weeks with Ehan 

                                                                                        (a few days before he was born)

           

 40 weeks and 2 days with Bella

I'll keep you all posted as much as I can. Please be praying for a smooth and successful delivery... But most of all a healthy baby girl. Thanks so much!

Pregnancy Update!

                                                         32 Weeks                             37 Weeks

Ann and Liz took a few pictures of us the other night. I truly cannot believe that this baby is not here yet.   I was dilated to a 2 and 25% effaced last Tuesday for my 38 week appointment... and with all the contractions, discomfort and pressure, I thought she would have made an appearance by now! I was hoping she would come while my parents were here visiting... but I guess she had another plan.  Every night, I go to bed thinking... this has to be the night... for some reason I have some good/painful contractions at night. But, then every morning, we wake up and Ben asks me how I am feeling... and I wish I could say something other then 'good'. I have another appointment tomorrow, so we will see what the dr says. 

Visitors in our new Homeland!

My parent came to visit us on the way back from a European trip they were on. Bella sure was excited to see some familiar faces when Papa Don and Grandma arrived. It was fun being able to show them around our new home. We moved into our house the day before they came, so things were a little out of sorts... but it was great visiting with them. Thanks foe stopping by Mom and Dad. Looking forward to your next visit. Sorry baby girl didn't make an appearance while you were here. 

Headed out to dinner at this fabulous Italian restaurant just a few minutes walk from where we live. 

Mimi and Auntie Liz also arrived for their visit! I sure am glad to have all the help! Don't know what I would do without a supportive family... Probably go CRAZY!

The best gelato place in our village... Cant wait to go back!

It's a GIRL!

Isabella and Ethan are excited to announce...

They are going to have a baby sister!

For a second there I thought this baby just might be a boy... But for the record I posted on Facebook the day before our ultrasound that I thought we were having a girl. The tech asked us too... Ben chose boy, I think he said that just because I said girl. But really... they are all just guesses anyway!
I am super duper excited that Isabella is going to have a little sister. Now she won't have to wish for a sister everytime she blows out her birthday candles every year like I did!
And another good thing is this baby will have plenty of clothes in her future! 

We cannot wait for this little girl to be born and come into our family. She will be the perfect addition.
We are so blessed!

Hello Mommy... Hello Baby!

As you will see this baby has all of a sudden made a very noticeable appearance. I definitely feel pregnant now. My uterus is still and inch below my belly button, but it feels like everything is being pushed upwards in my belly. And I did manage to gain 8 lbs from my last appointment. Yikes. Starting to rethink... baby just might be a boy!!! 

I was going to move all the shoes and tidy up before this picture was taken... and then Ben said, "that is just what happens when you have two kids, leave them!" And he sure is right... Messes are a normal occurrence at the Shaub household!
14 weeks Pregnant

 17 weeks and 2 days

Last Friday night as I was laying in bed, baby decided to start kicking. It was so strong that I could actually feel him/her on the outside of my belly. Up until that point, I had just felt the 'is that the baby' flutters in my belly. I love being able to feel the baby move... and it sure is reassuring! 

Up until this point I haven't had to bust out the maternity clothes, but I did get out my favorite maternity jeans today to wear on our trip. There is nothing more uncomfortable then wearing a pair of jeans that just fit and then having to sit in them for a whole day of traveling. 

For those of you who don't already know... Ben and I are off to Hawaii ALL BY OURSELVES for 8 days! We will miss the kids, but we know they are is great hand with MiMi and Grandma. 

Thanks so much Ann and Mom for staying with Bella and Ethan while we are away. It is much appreciated! We love you! 

SIDE NOTE: Mom and Ann, please don't spoil our kids too much while we are gone... Please remember all the 'rules'... I know your conscience will help you out with that when you are saying "Natalie won't know" to each other... LOL!

 When we get home, we want to keep Grandma detox to a minimum!

A Surprise Hello

I had an ultrasound today... Random and a little silly for the doctor ordering it, but surprisingly we were able to see our sweet # 3. The ultrasound tech was the same lady who did our 20 week ultrasounds with Bella and Ethan. Technically, she wasn't supposed to show or tell me anything about the ultrasound. But she was so nice and not only talked about it, but brought Ben and the kids in to see the baby. At 14 week, its a little too early to tell the sex of the baby. But we sure did see everything else. The ultrasound was so clear (my bladder was nice and full) and we could see baby so well. Just for the record, I think we are having another GIRL!

But then again my track record may speak for itself... Wrong both previous times. So who really knows.

Here is a list of things that are the same/different about this pregnancy compared to the others:

• Have more zits, pimples and blemished= Same as Bella
• Facial hair growth is BAD (I know... pleasant, tweezers are my best friend!)= same as Bella
• Hardly gained any weight= Same as Bella (3 lbs to be exact... before I got sick, and then I lost 2 1/2 pounds, haven't weighed myself since my doc apt last monday, so who knows I could be up 5! With Ethan I think I had already gained 15lbs at this point and was showing by 8 weeks. Can't tell I'm pregnant at this point!
• We have a girl name picked out already... If Bella was going to be a girl, we knew her name would be Isabella, we struggled with a boy name up until the last minute... if she had been a boy, we would have had to decide on a name in the hospital. With #2, we always knew he would be an Ethan. We struggled with a girl name and finally decided upon Sophia Maire (glad he wasn't a girl... because I'm not a huge fan of that name now). We really haven't discussed boy names, but at this point I know we would have a hard time with it. Ben's input: Schmeagle and Schmitzy... honey!
• Bella calls baby a girl and her sister all the time (I think she's right)
• I did spot with this pregnancy= same as Ethan
• No mornings sickness= same as both
• I have had CRAZY MUST HAVE NOW cravings with this pregnancy= I remember having some cravings with Bella but not nearly this bad... don't remember having any cravings with Ethan
• Been able to keep teaching my spin classes= same as both

So there you have it... My mom was right both times and she thinks this baby is a girl... But then again, Steve Ben's Dad was right both times too and he thinks baby is a boy! I still think we are going to find out the sex at this point... Only 6 more weeks until we will know. How exciting! I just loved seeing this little baby and can't wait for her to join our family in September. Who will baby look like? What will her personality be like? Regardless, we will love this baby just the way God makes her and the way we love Bella and Ethan. It sure will be crazy... 3 kids in 3 years and 3 months!

Here are a few pics the tech gave us.

Debuting this Fall!

Most of you have probably seen our new side bar and or my Facebook status post about our new addition. CRAZY! I am so thankful that we can trust and know that God is in control and that this baby was planned and that the Lord already knows everything about this little one. What a comforting feeling. This was taken a month ago at our ultrasound... I don't think I was so excited to see a baby and a heartbeat on the screen, as I had quite a bit of bleeding and spotting (before we actually knew we were pregnant) and were even told by the base doctor that he thought we were having a miscarriage. But there he or she was... as big as a raisin with a heartbeat! What a miracle! Only the Creator could come up with something- someone so amazing.

We are now almost 12 weeks along and I feel great. A little tired, but I think that can be attributed to the kids being sick and not sleeping well. Afternoon siestas have been my favorite thing... and I have been taking full advantage when the kids sleep at the same time (which they do on most days).

I have had the weirdest cravings this pregnancy... different then either one before. Here is what I have been craving:

• BMT subs from Subway on Italian herb and cheese. I can down a foot long no problem!
• Apricot jam... can't get enough. I have two pieces of toast with (sugar free) apricot jam every morning. I literally could eat them for every meal.
• Rotisserie chicken. Yummm!
• Orzo pasta salad (anything). One day it was greek orzo salad, and the other day for lunch it was orzo pasta with chicken, spring greens, grapes, craisins, and pecans.
• And my new secret love JOE.... A cup of Joe that is. My mother in law is so proud! Every morning Ben leaves what is left of this coffee (still in the coffee pot) and I have about a half a cup mixed in with my hazelnut cafe mix ( so really I'm cheating... but at least its a step)... and Boy does it get things moving... if you know what I mean.
• Chobani yogurt with walnuts!
• And now that Easter candy is here... Those darn Cadbury mini eggs.