Baby Lowery #3: 31 Weeks

I promise we are alive! It has been a crazy two months since I updated last. Sorry sweet baby #3!

Since my last update:

* we survived another Rhea Lana season! The Lord continues to sustain and provide and we keep marching forward trying to build this business. This was my smoothest and best event to date--all the praise hands! They told me when we initially bought the franchise that it would take (at minimum) 2 years before you feel like you start to turn the corner and they were exactly right. We were THRILLED to have met that first milestone in working/owning a small business!  It takes 3-5 years (with any small business) before you start becoming "successful" and we feel like we are on track with that timeline. We continue to be thankful for this company, the women I get to work with, and the opportunity to minister and serve other mamas as we are all on this journey called motherhood. We are also thankful for our INCREDIBLE support system that help make my events possible--my in-laws (and usually several friends and our church family) lovingly and graciously help my husband hold down the fort at home and take care of the kids while my parents drive all the way over and help me run the event (my Mom usually stays with me the entire 2 weeks). We know there is no way we could make this work without their help! We are excited for what's to come with the future of this business!

* when I got back home from Rhea Lana, Holt went on his first field trip! They went on Thursday so Daniel and I both got to go and experience the Wild Things Farm pumpkin patch with him and it was a blast!

*the kids and I took one last trip to Conway before baby comes. During my RL event, my sweet, precious Leadership Team surprised me with a baby shower and my mom gave me a prenatal massage as a gift--the trick being I had to go to Conway. Hallelujah! We drove down, I had my massage and we got to spend some quality time with my grandparents too before driving back home. From this point on, I'll be staying pretty close to home so I'm thankful we had the opportunity to go!

*Holt finished his soccer season playing with the green team

* we had our annual Fall Festival with our church on Halloween night. As usual it was chaotic and full of chili and hot dogs and way too much candy! Next year we will have another little Lowery with us to celebrate!

* this past weekend (as in yesterday), my parents took Holt and Evie to the Razorback game in Fayetteville and Daniel and I spent the day painting the nursery. The room has basically been white since we moved into this house 2.5 years ago and that was my one big project I wanted to complete before baby comes. We chose Sea Salt by Sherwin Williams as the paint color and I LOVE it! It's more of a light blue color with some green and gray undertones, depending on the light in the room. Perfect gender neutral color! All that's left is re-painting the trim and then decorating and getting it ready for sweet baby #3---we better hurry since we basically have about 2 months before he or she gets here!

Starting this week, I have doctor's appointments every 2 weeks which is exciting! We are in the home stretch and when I think about all the fun things we have going on over the next two months I know it's going to go so fast! I plan to decorate for Christmas soon so I don't have to stress over it and we can just enjoy the Holidays. My last appointment a couple of weeks ago I had another ultrasound to check on a couple things they couldn't see well at our anatomy scan. Everything checked out great!

This baby is seemingly much more chill and doesn't seem to move as often as my others. I'm hoping that means he or she will be really laid back and "go-with-the-flow"! Holt moved CONSTANTLY and still does outside the womb; Evie had specific patterns where she would be active for a bit and then slow down which is the same for her too. This one, I sometimes have to go lay down and count kicks just to be sure everything is ok. Although, usually at night it seems to wake up every so often and ROLL everywhere, which kind of tickles (I have an anterior placenta this time so I have quite a bit of cushion). We are so excited and getting anxious to meet this little one--and find out whether we are adding a sweet boy or girl to our family!

How far along: 31 weeks
Sleep: Still sleeping relatively well. I wake up every so often and have to switch to my other side but all in all I can't complain
Aches/Pains: My lower back--particularly my right SI joint--has been giving me issues the last several weeks. I am seeing a chiropractor this pregnancy which has helped tremendously and my husband has been helping massage it. I'm also trying to stretch more but goodness!
Food aversions: none really but more often than not, food just doesn't sound good and I have to make myself eat
Food cravings: Would you believe I'm drinking coffee?? CRAZY. I don't know if it's the cold weather or what, but I'm WANTING coffee. So strange because I didn't want it at all with my other two. I also go back and forth between craving salty foods and sweet foods--anything from sandwiches and mac-n-cheese to brownies and donuts. Not helping me figure out whether this baby is a boy or girl!
Gender prediction: I can honestly say I don't have a clue--100%. I'll admit, I was a bit prideful before getting pregnant. I mean, I've already had one boy and one girl and those pregnancies were vastly different so I just KNEW I would know, even though we weren't officially finding out the gender. But this baby has kept me on my toes! I have had things happen from BOTH my other pregnancies so it is totally throwing me off--which I secretly love because I truly love surprises and I think this will be one of the best ones I ever have! Not much longer and we will find out!

Baby Lowery #3: 23 Weeks

Quite a bit has happened since I last updated about a month ago.

The kids and I stayed with my parents the first week of August while Daniel was on a mission trip to Alaska. We celebrated Holt's 5th birthday with family and my parents took him on a surprise birthday trip to the Ark Encounter in Kentucky. They had a blast!

We all made it back home and had our 20 week ultrasound and doctor's appointment. We took the kids so they could see their new brother or sister. Everything checked out really good which we are so thankful for and no, we didn't even peek at the gender!

The next week, our A/C unit started having issues---with it being 115 degrees outside. One night we had a guy here fixing it until 10:30pm and then three days later it completely died. Absolutely no reviving it. I will say, it was 21 years old so we knew when we bought this house that we would be buying a new A/C unit at some point. Ugh. Adulting. We ended up staying with our best friends for four days (bless their sweet souls) while we tried to figure out which company and unit we should go with (way more complicated than we thought it would be by the way). We finally got our new unit installed and we were so thankful for cool air!

In the middle of the A/C saga, Holt started Pre-K at his new school, Grace Academy! Grace Academy operates as a classroom setting to help and come alongside homeschool families. They have classes Pre-K 3 all the way up to seniors in high school. They run a schedule of hosting school classes at Grace Academy on Tuesday and Thursday and then you homeschool the other days of the week. We are still undecided where we will put Holt for Kindergarten next year, but so far we have loved Grace Academy and his new teacher, Mrs. Chronister.

And now, Rhea Lana season is officially here and our life will be a little crazy for the next month or so. This will be my 4th event (crazy) and I am really excited about this one! We have had some changes happen since the Spring Event (due to the federal DC Circuit Court ruling back in June) which is adding a little more to my plate, but I think overall it's going to go really well!

How far along: 23 weeks
Sleep: I am still sleeping really well at night. Only having to get up for the bathroom occasionally and trying to soak that up since I know it's bound to change in the future.
food aversions: Not near as many! I'll actually drink a tiny bit of coffee now and food is actually starting to sound good
food cravings: Nothing super specific yet. At this point I'm just thankful that I'm actually getting hungry and food is starting to sound good. I usually have PB & banana toast or a protein bar for breakfast, usually a toasted ham & cheese sandwich (with extra pickles) for lunch and I'm doing better with cooking dinner again. I"m also loving dessert (and poptarts for a snack in the afternoon). I still just prefer to eat out at a restaurant, butttt since we just bought a new A/C unit, we are having to be pretty strict with the budget.
gender prediction: The last month or so I have really been thinking girl. But now I might be changing my mind again and thinking boy. haha! It's kind of comical because we truly have no idea. And when people ask us what we are having, we tell them we are going to be surprised, and the reactions are pretty funny!

Baby Lowery #3: 18 Weeks

Here we are at 18 weeks! Crazy to think we are almost halfway! Quite a bit has happened since our last update:

When I was 14.5 weeks I went to see my friend, Amy, who is an ultrasound tech. I hadn't had an ultrasound in about 6 weeks and I was dying to see my little one before our beach trip. ((P.S. it's SUPER FUN to have a friend who does ultrasounds)) I was in baby heaven for 20 minutes that day! We saw the baby move EVERYWHERE (and I was already feeling it), we saw the baby yawn, fold it's hands and cross it's legs. She measured everything and it all added up to our exact due date (way to go baby!) which is great news. We listened to the heartbeat and overall it was just the best 20 minutes of my day.

A couple of days later, our family loaded up and made the trek down to Florida for our annual beach vacation. My mom and dad take us and my sister and brother-in-law every summer and we all look forward to it! This year was by far our best trip yet. Holt and Evie LOVED it. We had to drag them off the beach to go eat lunch, they took awesome naps, stayed out late for dinner and had great attitudes (for the most part) the whole week. It was a lot of fun! Plus we celebrated 15 weeks with our sweet babe while we were there. As always, the week went way too fast and Holt asked on the way home if we could turn around and go back---I wish baby!

As soon as we got back, we had VBS at our church. A fun week for sure, but goodness we were all VBS tired (and I was also pregnant tired)! We are so thankful for our church and how well they love and serve our kiddos!

I also had a doctor appointment and it went wonderfully. Baby's heartbeat was 130 and everything measured right where it should. We scheduled the anatomy scan for our next appointment on August 21st and plan to take the kids with us then so they can see the baby---and yes, we will hold strong and NOT FIND OUT the gender, even during the ultrasound!

My 30th birthday was last Saturday, August 3rd, and my sweet husband planned a surprise party full of all the people I love. It was wonderful and a great way to enter a new decade!

Daniel left with a group from our church for a mission trip to Alaska on Monday, so the kids and I drove down to Conway to spend time with family, have one last summer trip before school and routines start back and we celebrated Holt's 5th birthday!

And here we are, 18 weeks along with this sweet babe in my belly and now we are gearing up for back to school and Rhea Lana's!

I was still nauseous for a lot of the day, which got really frustrating. The week we were at the beach I felt GREAT (so I guess I just need to be there 24/7) but since we have been back it has been a little rough. Food just doesn't sound good to me and I was having to force myself to eat. Blah. Maybe it's because this is my 3rd baby so I'm just naturally more tired than I was before? I don't know. But I'm just thankful to be feeling better in this 18th week and for a healthy baby so far!

how far along: 18 weeks 4 days
maternity clothes: absolutely! I have to say, it's nice to actually look pregnant earlier this time around!
sleep: going pretty well. some nights I sleep really hard and others I toss and turn all night. but i really can't complain!
food aversions: yes. no coffee. still kind of iffy on meat.
food cravings: well since most food in general just doesn't sound good, not really. But I prefer foods that aren't super heavy. last week we had greek chicken, lots of cucumbers and tomatoes, and I made a green goddess gazpacho soup which was delicious. I will still eat a cheeseburger, but even that isn't really doing much for me. I did have a DP every night of VBS to help me though!
started showing: I really am excited to be showing so early this time and actually looking pregnant instead of just looking like I ate too much!
gender prediction: lately I've been thinking more girl--especially since I'm still nauseous and not feeling super good. but honestly, I've had symptoms from both my other pregnancies so it's making it really hard to pinpoint one way or the other! Which really is fun because that means we will be 100% surprised at delivery!

Baby Lowery #3: 13 Weeks

Welcome to the second trimester! Yay!

Last week I started feeling a little better, but this week I'm feeling bad again. although, I'm trying to get off Diclegis now so I think that may have something to do with it. with my other two, I think it was week 14 before I could really tell a big difference. we will see! fingers crossed because we have plans with family this weekend and I would really like to feel better.

I went to see my doctor last Thursday (6/27) and I am praising God for a good report. I heard the heartbeat this time, although it took him probably a full 60 seconds before he found it. I was starting to get anxious, trying to breathe as he kept searching for it. FINALLY after what seemed like forever, we heard that sweet little sound. he told me he thinks baby is moving all over the place so that's why it took a minute to find it. another huge praise! I go back the week after we get back from the beach in July. my doctor is now the chief of staff at Mercy(he got promoted in the last year or two), so I really wasn't sure if he would keep me as a pregnancy patient or if he would pass me off to another OB in his practice (this was what we had discussed before my miscarriage). So far, he hasn't given any indication of passing me off and I'm continuing to pray for that. Not that I don't trust the other doctors in the practice, but Dr. Riche has been through two full-term pregnancies with me (and delivered both) plus my miscarriage and I just trust him wholeheartedly with this pregnancy even though I still get anxious.

Would you continue to pray with us for a healthy baby, healthy pregnancy, and healthy mama? On top of being a little anxious this pregnancy, this is also my first time to be a working mom (outside the home). I know God will give me the strength and time to accomplish what I need to, but I still worry about work/life balance and making sure everything gets done but that I also spend enough time with my family. Working on giving that to the Lord and trusting He already knows all of that and He has equipped me to handle it.

P.S. if you missed the story of our miscarriage, you can read it HERE


how far along:  13 weeks 1 day
maternity clothes: About 90% of the time
sleep: Still pretty good. I had a terrible time of insomnia last night for some reason and couldn't fall asleep until almost 2am. Thankfully that's an exception and not normal.
food aversions: Oh yeah. Still coffee and raw meat and most smells. Blah.
food cravings: anything sour. this week I picked up raspberry sorbet and it is HEAVEN. Still no major cravings, but cheeseburgers sit well. And obviously, Dr. Pepper.
started showing: oh yeah
gender prediction: Still think boy at this point.

Baby Lowery #3: 11 Weeks

Baby Lowery #3, our precious rainbow baby, is set to make his or her debut right after the New Year---our official due date is January 5, 2020. After going through a miscarriage at the end of February, our plan was to wait until later this summer to start "trying" for another baby to add to our family. Imagine our surprise when we were in Florida visiting my sister and bro-in-law in May and found out we were pregnant again!

*side note---it's very un-like us to have a surprise pregnancy. we are crazy planners and my other 3 pregnancies were planned pretty well. But it also makes this rainbow baby that much sweeter.

We plan to wait and find out baby's gender at delivery, which we have never done before and we are really excited for that experience! Our kids are CRAZY excited to add another sibling to our family. Holt is convinced it's a boy and Evie says it's a girl, but we are telling them that we will be happy either way ;) They talk about the baby almost every day and they ask to look at the app on my phone with all the videos on what the baby looks like this week. I'm going to be an absolute puddle once this baby is here and I see them with their new brother or sister. They are going to do so well!

I haven't been feeling the best so far this pregnancy, which honestly I am so THANKFUL for. Losing a baby changes your perspective on the first trimester morning sickness. I do ok in the mornings, I usually take a nap when Evie naps (and Holt has quiet time) but the afternoons are KILLING ME. It's been pretty rough. I actually started taking Diclegis a couple of weeks ago which is helping some. The key for me this time is keeping something on my stomach and Dr. Pepper (I swear it's the Magic Juice of pregnancy). Bless my sweet husband--he has picked up the slack without complaining! He comes home from work, cooks dinner, feeds the kids and puts them to bed. He's pretty much amazing.

I won't lie. after finding out we were pregnant again, we were excited but it was a very CAUTIOUS excitement. I walked around the first few weeks almost holding my breath because I was afraid of what that first ultrasound would show. When I started feeling nauseous I was so thankful, but I had that last time too so that didn't necessarily ease my mind. I didn't see my doctor until I was 8 weeks pregnant. Thankfully, we have a sweet friend at our church who is an ultrasound tech at a local clinic and she offered for me to come in and have a quick scan. We initially went in at 6 weeks and we could see the baby but it was too tiny to see if the heart was fluttering. We went back one week later and the whole time I just prayed. She started scanning me, we saw the baby, and IMMEDIATELY saw it's little heart just fluttering away. PRAISE GOD FROM WHOM ALL BLESSINGS FLOW. I cried. Tears of joy. Tears of relief. Tears of sadness for my other baby that I didn't get to see her heartbeat. Tears of thankfulness.

I saw my doctor at 8 weeks and we took the kids with us to our first appointment (the day after Memorial Day, during the Flood of 2019). We told them right before we left where we were going and the surprise and excitement on their faces is a moment I will never forget. We saw the baby on ultrasound again, saw the heartbeat, everything measured right on track for my estimated due date. It was a great day. I go back next week on June 26th and we continue to pray for a healthy report.

how far along:  11 weeks 2 days
maternity clothes: some. belly has most DEFINITELY popped out already.
stretch marks: I got a couple small stretch marks with Evie, and I'll be interested to see if I get any this time--especially since the belly is already out.
sleep: I've been sleeping pretty well. I usually nap when Evie goes down and then I'm still tired and sleeping all night. I'm ready for my energy to come back!
food aversions: ugh. most things. especially meat. gross. and no coffee again this go round.
food cravings: not necessarily a craving, but the only thing I have found that sticks with me is a cheeseburger with french fries. I have literally had Braum's for lunch every single day during the last week.
started showing: Yup. Embracing it, wearing some maternity clothes and honestly a little glad I already look pregnant instead of just looking like I ate too much
gender prediction: At this point, my initial thought is a boy. Just based off of the food that somewhat sounds good to me and the fact that I'm not crazy sick all day long like I was with Evie. But, who knows? I'll be interested to see if my prediction changes throughout this pregnancy!

the story of our sweet baby lowery #3

one week ago, our world stopped in a haze of grief and sadness. what we thought would be a doctor's appointment full of joy, turned out to be one of sorrow.

the week of Valentine's Day, we found out we were pregnant with Baby Lowery #3 and we were so excited. I went in the following week to check my HCG levels and they were great---measuring at 30,000. We scheduled our first appointment for Tuesday, February 26 at 9:30am. We went in and my doctor wheeled in the little ultrasound machine. We got the first look at our sweet baby. After a few minutes, my doctor said, "I am so sorry to tell you this, but I am not seeing a heartbeat." It didn't really register in my brain what that meant until a few minutes later.

my doctor is truly amazing. I am so grateful for him. He left the room to give us a few minutes to process what was happening and then came back in to discuss some things with us. He was very sensitive to what was happening, and the first thing he told me was that it wasn't my fault. He gave us three options:

1) wait and let my body miscarry naturally--although we had no idea the timeframe that would take
2) he could give me some meds to jumpstart the process and let my body miscarry naturally
3) we could schedule a D&C

we walked out of the doctor's office numb and in a fog. We drove home and just sat in silence, crying for a good while. I called my Mom to tell her the news---she had no idea we were pregnant yet. That was a hard conversation. She called me back 10 minutes later to say she was packing and heading up here.

the rest of that day was a haze. Daniel picked the kids up from "school", brought them home and we all cried together as we told them the news. Evie was just crying because the rest of us were crying. Holt fully understood though. He cried and cried. And then he stopped and prayed, "God, please let my mama have another baby in her belly so I can have a brother or a sister." *cue more tears. GAH*

I decided I wanted the D&C. I don't believe there is one right option to do---to each their own. But for me, this is what I wanted. I had a lot coming up on the calendar with Rhea Lana's and I didn't want something to happen then. I didn't want to have this looming over my head and just wondering when it would happen. And honestly, I didn't want to feel pregnant anymore.

the hospital was able to squeeze me in the next day for my procedure. Wednesday, February 27th at noon. My mom arrived and was a huge help with the kids. We decided to go to dinner Tuesday night because I wasn't up for cooking. We had the most amazing waitress and someone ended up blessing us and paying for our meal. Whoever you are, if you're reading this, that meant more than you know.

Wednesday morning, we took the kids to my best friend's house---she honestly is more like a sister to me than anything and the fact she was willing to watch my kids most of the day was just the sweetest.  I dropped them off and we cried (more like sobbed) together at the loss of our baby. I arrived to the hospital, checked in, and the waiting game began. I'll be honest, I was a little nervous. I haven't had any kind of surgery since I was 3 years old. But everyone was so kind and helpful and put me at ease. I was wheeled back at 12:15pm, Dr. Riche was speaking to my mom and husband after surgery at 12:30pm and at 1:00pm they were waking me up in recovery.

we got home about 2:00pm and I slept for a few hours. My mom was a huge help taking care of the kids and making sure I was resting. Overall, my physical recovery was great. I never had nausea or cramping or anything. Emotionally, we are still recovering and I know that will continue for a while.

while we don't understand why this happened, we know the Lord is still good and He has not abandoned us. Walking through this grieving process has been difficult, but the amount of love and prayer and support poured out on us has been amazing.

they say miscarriage is very common and it's normal for most women to experience at least one. But you never think it will happen to you. To anyone else out there who has experienced this heartbreak, I am so sorry and I am here for you. One of my friends who messaged me told me this: "this club is one you never want to be part of, but you'll find it to be one of the most encouraging and supportive groups ever." I am finding that to be true.

one of the ways we have decided to help with our grief is to name our baby. We will never officially know the gender because it was so early but we decided to name our baby, Hope. Hope has a lot of meaning for us---we have a confident hope that this baby is in the arms of Jesus and that one day we will see her in heaven. We also have hope that the Lord will restore our loss in the future with a healthy baby. Hope is a powerful thing.

Sweet baby Hope will always have a place in our hearts. And for that I am thankful.