My Baby Is Growing Up...

Yes, Abby, our 5 year old has seemed to grow up overnight! The last couple of weeks, she has been doing a really good job of getting up on her own (without Mommy having to wake her up) & getting dressed immediately without me having to keep at her about it. Yesterday & today, Abby has gotten up and gotten dressed (for church yesterday & school today), fixed her own hair, gotten her own breakfast, then brushed her teeth...all without me having to tell her each step or helping her with them. It's amazing to me how this all seemed to happen overnight. It's a wonderful sound to hear first thing in the morning as I listen to her climb out of her top bunk and start getting ready. She normally wakes Ally up in the process, but then will also help her get dressed and then tries to help Ally fix her hair, too. Then, this morning when I heard her pouring her own cereal & milk, I really couldn't believe my baby had gotten that big already. Now, believe me, I'm not as emotionally sad about it as you might think. I'm actually excited about how God is developing Abby to be a very independent little girl and a great helper. This really couldn't have happened at a more perfect time...when I am weeks away from delivering our 4th child and have really had to slow down within the last week because of having contractions. Her independence will be a huge help to me as we have this 4th baby & will to focus my attention more on the baby & Aidan. Ally has always been a great helper, and I'm sure will continue to be as well. She is also growing up fast and able to get dressed by herself now, for the most part.

Update on Baby #4

Yesterday, I had my 3rd ultrasound & another doctor's appointment for our precious baby boy. In a previous posting, I had mentioned his enlarged kidneys. This was the reason for more ultrasounds. I am glad to say, we are seeing progress. The baby's kidney's have gone down in size...from each being 0.5 cm to being 0.3 & 0.2 cm. Although these measurements are the same as my ultrasound 4 weeks ago & still not where the doctor's would like to see them, I have been assured by the ultrasound tech, who has been doing this for a very long time, & my doctor, that this is nothing to worry about. They are larger than normal, but not over the 0.6 cm mark where something more serious could be wrong. I will continue to have ultrasounds until the baby is born & then once he is born, he will have an ultrasound done & my doctor is certain that his kidney's will then be normal size. For this, we are thankful.

In addition, to the baby's kidney size, the baby is also in the breech position. The ultrasound tech told me that the baby still has a little room to move, but the doctor said she would have liked to see him turn by now. I will go again in 4 weeks for another ultrasound where we will check and see the position of the baby. If the baby is still breech, my doctor says I'm the perfect candidate for an external version, which is when the doctor will manually turn the baby, because I've had 3 natural, non-complicated births previously. I have heard this is a pretty painful process, so we are praying hard that the baby will turn within the next 4 weeks. This is our focus now. If not, then we'll go from there. I've also wondered if this could be why I've been so oddly uncomfortable...because his feet are kicking so low, rather than his head being low!

We appreciate all your prayers & concern! Thank you all!