We had a totally packed week, with lots to report. The post for this week will be a little long, just to warn you! This week we had our gender/anatomy scan. We were so excited waiting for the appointment, and finally the day came.

Today (Thursday, the day of the appointment) was the most interesting day! Nick went to work, and the boys and I ran a few errands in the morning. I stopped at the local dollar store to get mints that said "It's a Boy" and "It's a Girl" for Nick to give away at his work once we found out which one we were having. My mother-in-law got to our house about a half hour before we had to leave and helped me get the boys and all their gear out the door.

Once we were on our way, literally 5 minutes down the road, J. starts grunting and trying to fill his diaper. This kid hates to go in his diaper. It is a real struggle for him, made even worse when he is strapped in a sitting position in his carseat. We had a 20 minute drive, and I didn't want to miss our appointment. So as J. grunted it out in the back seat, S. thought it was the funniest thing and began to laugh at the noises his brother was making, which in turn made my MIL and I laugh too. I hate that it was at J.'s expense, but it was one of those moments when it was just too funny to hold it in. [Hijacked by Dad] - "Okay, So S. I think got his sense of humor from me then. Just a little twisted but I like to think lots of fun. ;-)"

As soon as we made it to the OB's office, I took J. to the potty and everything was once again right. After that, we ended up waiting for over an hour, probably closer to 1 1/2 hours, to be seen. During that time I was asked to fill out an extensive questionnaire, which even though I went online to fill out the forms they wanted the day before, apparently they needed me to go through more than they had originally told me. During this time, I'd prepared our visit with plenty of snacks for the boys, plus there was other patients, my MIL, Nick, and a magazine rack which kept them happily occupied.

When we finally made it into the ultrasound room to be seen, it wasn't more than 3 minutes into my consultation with our OB (who, by the way, is a fabulous doctor) than J. fell forward while he was crawling and bit his lip, hard enough to start bleeding a lot. He took several seconds before letting out a big wail (that moment when the child sucks in so much wind, you know when they start crying it's going to be bad), that it scared my MIL and she was telling him to start breathing again. The OB was concerned and checked out J. on the spot to make sure he didn't bite all the way through his lip.

After J. was calmed down, we finished up the general questions, and began the ultrasound. Nick was able to catch it on video on his iPhone. The OB pointed out all the different parts, and showed us how healthy the baby was, and made sure to point out how strong the heart was beating. He mentioned that the baby is over a week ahead of my measurements for 22 weeks 6 days (baby is measuring 24 weeks 1 day), which is probably due to just a big baby. Both of our other boys measured right on their appropriate weeks, so to expect a slightly larger baby is a little daunting for me, I'll admit. [Hijacked by Dad] - "So this time you might actually look like your having a hard time with the birth? Seriously people, she would put any man to shame for her pain threshold."

After the ultrasound the nurse drew some blood to make sure everything is on track with my body as it should be, and we left the office. On the way home, J. began grunting...again! Poor kid. Twice in one day, plus a split lip, was not exactly turning out to be a good day for J.

 When we were only a mile or two from the house, we ran out of gas. It was on a very busy road. I felt terrible, as I had never let this happen before, and to have my MIL with us made it a bit more embarrassing for me. But since the van ran out of gas right next to a car dealership, my MIL asked if they had any gas for us to buy to get to the next station (which we were headed to, only 2 blocks up the road). Meanwhile, Nick was close enough behind us (planning to go back to work for a few hours) so when I texted him that we had run out of gas, he changed his route and pulled up behind us. 

Between my MIL, a guy from the dealership, and my husband, they pushed the van far enough off the road to get us in a slightly safer spot, where another dealership guy was able to put some gas in our tank. We paid them for the gas, started the van, and drove straight to the gas station to finish filling up the tank. As embarrassing as it was, I was glad to have my MIL along so I didn't need to unload the boys at all during this process. [Hijacked by Dad] - "I have the cramps to prove this whole pushing a van fiasco. I have to say they don't look that big but when loaded down the way ours is, man, thats a workout and we only had to push it about 20 or 30 yards."

When we got home, we said goodbye to my MIL and sent her off with thank-you's and hugs, and I got the boys into dry diapers and underwear. My phone was beginning to sound with several text messages, as a lot of people knew our ultrasound was scheduled for several hours before, and they were curious to what we had found out. I, however was starving, as it was now about 4:45p.m. and I hadn't grabbed any lunch before we went to our appointment. While I was making something to eat, Nick came in the door, as he had decided to not go back to work. Pushing the van in the heat had quickly worn him out.

As much as I wanted to start letting everyone know our news of the sex of our new baby, I still had a few soap orders that had to be put together and driven to the post office before it closed. That took me another hour, and on the way back from the PO, I had one more important stop to make.  

With every life change that happens to us, we celebrate with sparking grape juice. Neither Nick or I like the taste of wine, and in my pregnant or nursing condition I've been in for 2/3 of our married life, alcoholic beverages are not an option for us. So, I stopped to pick up the sparkling grape juice to celebrate the day we found out our baby's sex, and finally was able to head home. So, to get on with the moment you've all been waiting for...

How Far Along: 22 weeks 6 days

Braxton Hicks Contractions: Only a normal amount.

Food Cravings: Vanilla ice cream with homemade gingersnaps, and homemade caramel sauce. The ice cream and gingersnaps were perfect,but the caramel sauce didn't turn out the way I remembered it. 

It was grainy, but was still good, just not the texture or flavor I was looking for. 

Midwife/Doctor Appointment: We had our consultation and our anatomy/gender scan this week. We've been waiting for this appointment for so long! Not So Fun Pregnancy Stuff: Started having a little heartburn last week. Thankfully I only get heartburn when I'm pregnant, so I know this will all go away in a few months.

What I Did This Week To Prepare for Baby's Arrival: Having our 3rd baby in three years means we can still use the carseat we've used for our first and second children. I took apart our infant car seat that our second son recently outgrew, and washed all the parts. The padding was pretty dingy looking. 

Word to new parents: don't buy seats with fleece fabric, especially cream colored fleece fabric. The fleece is hot in summer, it catches lint and gets dirty easily, and the light color got stained early on when we used it with our first son. But, with some good scrubbing on the washboard side of our laundry tub, and using our Coffee Scrub soap, I was able to bring new life and a nice clean look back to the seat. All ready for Baby's first car ride!

Also, the birth supplies I ordered last week came in the mail. Cord clamps (2, just in case one breaks), tinctures (herbal substances) for in-case-of hemorrhage, and for afterbirth pains, and comfrey root for postpartum healing. 

I've used the comfrey root for both of my past pregnancies, and it was very healing and soothing. 

I've never needed the Shepherd's Purse tincture for hemorrhage before, thank God, but good to have on hand just in case. And I'm excited to try out the After Ease tincture. After my second birth, the afterpains were so bad that it made me writhe in extreme pain for 2 1/2 days, especially whenever the baby would latch on to nurse. I understand that the afterpains are to help my uterus get back to a normal size, and the nursing would help to cause my uterus to contract, but it was worse than childbirth itself. I was advised by my midwife to take some Tylenol right after the birth to help with the afterbirth pains (she knew what was coming), and I did, for the first few hours, but it was still bad. I didn't want to take it for very long because I didn't want it to affect the baby in any way, so I only took it when the afterpains were unbearable. I'm hoping this tincture adds a little more comfort. If it doesn't, I know that I can get through the first few days, no matter how painful.

Boy or Girl: Drumroll please..... We are having.....a BOY!!!  With S. and J., that makes three little boys. What a fun life! If you made a guess in this post or on Facebook, then we will be contacting the winners to get them their free soap soon!

Total Weight Gain So Far: 12 lbs. Yes, up two pounds from last week. I've now hit the weight I used to be in high school. Glad I don't carry around this extra weight on a regular basis anymore.

Regular or Pregnancy Clothes: Both. Although, I had to finally pack away about half of my pants and skirts. What fit me last week, suddenly became impossible to button or zip up this week. This is a hard time dressing myself, because I don't fit into regular clothes, but a lot of clothes are still too big when I try on maternity clothes. Thankfully, I attended a Hanes Brands community sale that is held once a year here in Winston Salem, and I found 4 skirts of varying lengths, and one pair of soft, long, loose pants. These will be perfect to use now, and will also be stretchy enough to grow with me in the next few months. 

Starting to Show: Totally. My belly suddenly "popped". I'm not sure if the baby had a growth spurt this week or what, but I went from having a little bump, to a very noticeable bump. And it wasn't only noticeable to us. I had two people notice my baby bump in public this week! There's no hiding it now. Baby Movement: Yes, and a good amount. Baby wakes up just after I do, and I can feel him (so nice to now say "him"!) kicking me at a bunch of times throughout the day too. He especially kicks just after I eat something sweet. He's still switching a lot from one side to the next.

Size of Baby #3: A spaghetti squash. And now weighs about 1 pound.

Pregnancy Thoughts This Week: BOY or GIRL??? It was so hard to wait! But so worth it.  

So, what do you think? Were you one of the correct guessers, that we'd be having a boy?

To read the previous Pregnancy Week posts:
-Pregnancy Week 14: Baby #3
-Pregnancy Week 15: Baby #3
-Pregnancy Week 16: Baby #3
-Pregnancy Week 17: Baby #3
-Pregnancy Week 18: Baby #3
-Pregnancy Week 19: Baby #3
-Pregnancy Week 20: Baby #3
-Pregnancy Week 21: Baby #3