4 Months Old!

Lukey J is 4 months old today!!! Where in the world have these past 4 months gone?! I realize this is only my second post for Luke, but that's not because of lack of material, so let's get to it and get caught up on all the awesomeness that is Luke :)

- He is the happiest and sweetest baby ever. He smiles all the time and when he sees someone he loves, he smiles and shrugs up his shoulders like he just can't take it. He is always content and is only unhappy when he is either hungry or tired. He is very easy going with all of the car trips we need to take and will contently sit at gymnastics, tball, soccer and swim to watch J&M.
-He is doing a really good job of grabbing on to toys and is really interested in them. He works hard to try and grab his pacifier when held in front of him. He loves both of his bouncy seats, and is sitting up in the bumbo here and there. He first rolled from tummy to back the end of June and then back to tummy followed a few weeks after that. The rolling is starting to pick up - last night i laid him down on our bed 3 or 4 times and he immediately rolled onto his tummy every time. When he is on his tummy, he is starting to almost inchworm towards the toy he wants, or the edge of the blanket so he can put it in his mouth. He's a smart boy - you can see the focus in his eyes when he's trying to figure something out.
- He LOVES watching his brother and sister, but especially his brother. Jack can get the best smiles out of him and Luke will track him all around the room. Sometimes he looks at Madelyn like she's crazy, and she is, so he's actually pretty intuitive :) Both kids are really good and sweet with him. They are always concerned about him if he's upset and always want to give him hugs and kisses good night. Andrew took the kids to the river the weekend after July 4th and Luke and I stayed back. When they got home from the weekend away, no one cared about me and they were all about holding and talking to Luke.
- Luke is obsessed with his hands. He has been drooling a bunch over the past month or so, and his hands are constantly wet from him chewing on them. no signs of a toothie yet, but the past couple of nights he's had some issues at night settling down and we think it might be teething related.
-Speaking of sleep, for the  most part he is a really good sleeper. He is down for the night anywhere between 8-9 and will wake up between 6-7am. Bed time currently takes a bit longer than I would like. He will pass out after he eats and we'll rock for a bit before I swaddle him up, but then about 5-10 minutes after I leave, he'll start crying and we'll have to repeat the process. And some times we have to repeat it more than once. He is still swaddled at night, though we are trying to work our way to no swaddle. He has successfully slept all night once with both arms out, but that has not happened in almost a week. He breaks out of his swaddle constantly, but just can't seem to completely settle down once he's out. We'll get there, we're close. But man, is he a good snuggler. He is my chest/shoulder snuggle baby. that is our sweet spot :)
- Weight stats coming soon as we are headed to the doc tomorrow for our 4 month check up. He currently eats 5 times a day - 3 5oz bottles during the day and then nurses with me twice.
-We've had some skin issues that we can't quite figure out yet. Red blotchy spots on his cheeks, chest and tummy. Could be a cows milk allergy, could be eczema, could be teething, not sure. Hoping for some answers at the doc tomorrow. We've had a long month of a few visits to the doc with green poops and skin issues, but he is happy and not bothered by any of it!

LOVE this baby. He is always a ray of sunshine every day. I can't get enough of him!

"I'll eat you up, I love you so" my Luke!!! 

Luke James Noble

On Saturday, April 8th at 5:33am we welcomed a beautiful, healthy baby boy into the world - Luke James Noble!

Friday night, April 7th after the kids went to bed, Andrew was suuuper excited that I agreed to watch some of "The Force Awakens." Throughout the movie, they are talking about a map that leads to the secret location on Luke Skywalker - foreshadowing much?! We watched about an hour and went to bed around 11.

Right as we were going to bed, I started having a few contractions. Nothing out of the ordinary, because I had been having contractions off and on throughout the day for months. I felt a few, felt the baby doing a ton of moving around, and fell asleep. Around 1am I woke up and the contractions were still there and very consistent. At this point, I am thinking it could be go time. I went downstairs and downloaded a contraction app so that I could time them - which was pretty pointless because they were coming pretty much right on top of each other. They were fairly strong, but the intensity wasn't really picking up - yet. For some reason, I was trying to talk myself out of this being the real deal. Maybe it's because the past 2 times I was told I wasn't contracting when I got to the hospital (though I was) or because it was 2am and I didn't want to wake up my doc it this was a false alarm...I don't know. But just before 2, I decide it's time to wake Andrew and tell him what's going on. I then called Dr. Bush who said that at my exam earlier in the day I was "pretty ripe" and instructed me to head to the hospital. So, called P, calmed her down, and then waited.

By the time P arrived, I was super uncomfortable. I kissed her goodbye and went to wait for Andrew in the car...but he didn't come. apparently he had no idea I was ready to go and was just chatting away with my mom in the kitchen, while I was swearing at him waiting for him in the car. Once we got on the same page and were on our way, I started freaking out. The contractions were super painful and nonstop, so I kept telling him to hurry and instructed him to do a few illegal moves on the road in order to get us there faster.

Once we got checked into the hospital room, a nurse checked me and told me I was at 5cm and said we would be staying (duh). I then had to sit through what felt like 2 hours of questions from the nurse while I tried to get through the contractions. I may have asked about 5 times when I could get the epidural. I was just reeeeally nervous things were happening too fast and I would run out of time to get one. And based on how painful the contractions were, I honestly didn't think I'd make it without one! My sweet nurse, Felicia, sensed my panic and put a rush order on my blood work so that my knight and shining armor could come and administer the goods. Oh, sweet Jesus. I've said it 2 other times and I will say it any chance I get before I die, but epidurals are literally the greatest thing on this Earth.

By the time I got the epidural, it was about 4:15. Thought I'd close my eyes and get a nap in, but right after that Dr. Bush came in the check things out. He said I was complete, but that bc I was getting antibiotics, we needed to wait on things. So he just had me do a practice push...which resulted in a crazy loud "pop" as my water literally exploded over everything, including Dr. Bush's face! So so embarrassing. Thank God Andrew wasn't looking to see that happen either.

Shortly after 5am it was time to start pushing. I thought the pushing process would happen faster than it did, considering that Madelyn took about 3 pushes to come out, but this time was a bit slower. All in all, I think it took about 20-25 mins of pushing and out came our BOY, Luke James at 5:33am, clocking in at 7lb 7oz and 19.5inches long. He looks a lot like his Daddy, especially with his eyes open, and has the SWEETEST baby head I've ever felt. I seriously wish  I could make a mold of it...and I just might be crazy enough to do so :)

We are now a family of 5, wow! Lukey is a sweet baby - he loves to be held in order to nap and loves to eat. The big kids are totally in love with him and have adjusted so well. They have both become so much more independent and have yet to get upset that I or Andrew can't do something with them because we have Luke at that given moment. I am really, really proud of them. And, I'm thankful that Andrew got on board with my bananas idea to have another baby. It's not easy, and it will never be easy, but I really feel that we were destined to be a family of 5, and I am so happy we were able to bring Luke into our family. I cannot wait to see his personality develop and see how his relationship with his brother and sister evolves in the months and years to come. 

Locked and Loaded

Just got back from my 36 week appointment, and my head is still spinning a bit!

Major takeaways are as follows:

1. Baby is closer to head down!! At my last appointment at 32 weeks, baby was transverse. I could feel the head on my upper right side all the time. But the past couple of days, I wasn't able to and thought maybe this little one was headed in the right direction (get it?) I did NOT want a c-section, so this is great news!

2. I could have gotten 1 more progesterone shot, but doc said it was fine to stop now so I am dunzo!

3. She checked me and said I am dilated 1 cm but that my cervix is "very, very soft." She then dropped the bomb that she "expects me to go some time next week." Whaaaaaaaaa?! I literally yelled back at her "NOO?!" I think she was a bit surprised by my reaction and then said "yes, it is quite possible."

We will obviously just see how this all shakes out, but in any case it just gets us to make sure we are locked and loaded at home and mentally ready to welcome this new nugget! I feel that we are mostly there, but I do need to finish up stuff for my hospital bag, car seat needs to be put in, pack n play put up...minor things. Eeek! Can't believe we are so close!

Earlier in the week, we went to Key Lime Cove in Gurnee...it was good and the kids were great and had a lot of fun. Even though I didn't do much physically at all, I was exhausted the entire time. But now that I know my body is getting ready for baby, I'll use that as my excuse :)

I managed to take a 36 week pic while we were there. I have had some anxious thoughts about my belly size bc of all the comments I get about how "small my belly is, especially for a third baby" but Andrew reassured me I look the same, if not bigger, than with the other 2. Judging on the below comparison, he is clearly correct. There is nothing small about this bump!

37 weeks Mads

36 weeks BN3

Showing some Love

We've tried countless times, but every time I have Jack put his hand on my belly to feel the baby, he doesn't feel it. He's usually watching tv so completely distracted or moving a bunch himself so he hasn't been able to feel. BUT, last night was different and he felt a ton of movements!  Jack sat with his hand on my belly for a good 15 minutes and every time he would feel something he would look at me and say "I felt that!" And then when we were reading books a bit later the baby had hiccups so I had him feel again. And Mads felt last night too, but I think it slightly freaked her out because she promptly removed her hand and didn't put it back.

They have also both talked to the baby. Jack just says "Hi, I'm Jack. How are you baby? I'm fine" and then Madelyn just copies what Jack does...but then she'll end with a "oh, I yuv you" too :)

They are going to be great with their new brother or sister. Madelyn tells me all the time how she will hold, feed, rock, play with and love the baby. I just hope all this love and help actually comes to fruition come April :) 

Bump it Up

Hard keeping up with weekly pics this go around, but doing our best! Actually, not really doing great but whatever. Don't worry New Baby - as a fellow 3rd baby I promise there will be plenty of pics from your childhood :)

Week 19 - Baby Tomato

Week 21 - Baby Carrot

Week 25 - Baby Rutabaga

Week 27 - Baby Cauliflower Head. Bouts of hiccups have started pretty regularly now. This baby seems to really have a pattern to his/her movements at certain times of the day. Keep that up, Baby! We'll need you to be good at following schedules :) 

Curious to see how this bump is comparing to the other 2. Certainly looks like I am spreading things out all over this time...oh dear. Top is JHN, bottom MLN

Hello Little One

I felt my first nudges from this baby on Halloween, which was 15w 6d. Now at 19 weeks, I am feeling kicks and bumps many times a day (including right now :)). One night last week when Andrew was out of town, I swear this baby was moving around for a good 45 minutes or so. I told Andrew it was a bummer he was missing it, but that I was confident he would feel the baby once he got home. Sure enough, Sunday night once we got into bed I started feeling some movements and Andrew got to feel too :)

Noble: Party of 5!

We're having another baby! Baby Noble #3 is coming in just 5 short months, eeeeeeek! It honestly still doesn't seem real to me. Once we had Jack, Andrew and I had many talks that we would have 1 more baby and then be done, but since Madelyn was born (and even when I was still pregnant with her), I wasn't quite sure if I was done. So I got Andrew on board, and here is where we find ourselves :)

We found out on August 11th, though I knew by the 8th that I was pregnant. Due to previous circumstances, we decided to wait as long as possible to test, even though every day when I still didn't get my period, I knew I was pregnant. But finally when I couldn't take it anymore, I quietly went upstairs to test while Andrew was watching the Olympics. Once that double line came through, I just walked downstairs and set the test next to him. And then we went through the usual "No way! Holy shit! We're doing this again?!" moments, and then went back to watching the Olympics :)

The kids are super excited about the "New Baby." Madelyn already loves babies and has told me she is going to "hug and kiss" the new baby. I don't believe she gets that the baby is in my tummy yet and doesn't understand when or where the new baby is coming. She says she has a baby in her "Templeton tummy." And Jack is always asking me how big the baby is and if I've felt kicks yet. He's ready to feel some kicks himself. When we first decided we were going to go for this baby, we had 1 brief conversation with him in Jan and asked him if would want another baby around. He said yes, we explained that Madelyn would move into his room, etc and that was the end of it. Nobody talked about it at all after that. And then once I was pregnant, he started mentioning having another baby on his own. One morning he said to Andrew "You know what I really want, Daddy? A new baby." and another time he made a comment at my parents' house when I was hugging them both hello about how it would be even better to hug 3 nuggets. It's crazy, but I feel like he has this sixth sense about it.

I am currently 18 weeks, and feeling good. The beginning was a bit rough, I was definitely more nauseous this time than with the either 2. I don't know if that is just because I'm older and every pregnancy gets a bit rougher for me, or if it means this baby is a girl, or what. But thankfully, the nausea passed around week 12 and everything has been good since. I am definitely in maternity pants full time for the past 10 days or so, and still able to make non maternity shirts work for now. I've had 2 ultrasounds so far and baby is looking good, and I started the progesterone shots last week to keep baby cooking full time. We go back on December 7th for the anatomy scan but we will continue with tradition and be surprised 1 more time on D day :)

Week 14 - Baby Lemon

Week 15 - Baby Apple

Week 16 - Baby Avocado

Mads likes to get in on the action - Week 15

Week 16 :)

Ummm, we've fallen behind a bit on weekly pics, but I can say with certainty that there is a BIG difference from week 16 to where we are now at 18. Will update this weekend.

We are certainly nervous about adding another little person to the mix, but I could not be happier to have another little person to love and for our big kids to love on a new brother or sister. I have high hopes that they will really embrace the new baby and their role as helpers, and that the transition will be easy peasy (right:)). Can't wait for newborn snuggles and smells and completing our family come April 18th!!!