Little ironies

Yesterday we went to get shots for the kids. When we left, Jeffrey was the only one crying--not because he got a shot (he was the only one of the three that didn't)--but because he didn't get to finish watching the movie in the waiting room.


Today I was putting laundry away in the kids room while Jeffrey was doing starfall on the computer and Amri and Jacob were watching him. When I came out into the hallway, there was little Jacob, holding five socks against his chest as tightly as he could, toddling slowly down the hallway. It was so cute!!! My new littlest helper. I let him carry them down the hallway then lifted him up so he could put them in the sock drawer. I just couldn't believe at sixteen months he's already excited about doing laundry. A couple hours later when I was getting out another load from our washer/dryer, he came in and solemnly reached in and pulled things out to hand to me. It was a prefect system--I could fold the clothes at the exact same rate that he could pull them out, and it saved me from having to bend over (not easy during this pregnancy).


Speaking of this pregnancy, it's been really different in a lot of ways from the first three. I'm carrying this baby VERY low, and have been from the beginning. Because of the growth and the pressure so low in my abdomen from the very beginning, pants I normally could wear up to six months pregnant (mainly because they fit below my belly) were too tight at two months pregnant. Ridiculous. With each pregnancy I've felt less and less nauseated the first trimester, and so this time I don't remember really feeling nauseated at all--ever. I also felt the most energized during this pregnancy, probably because my thyroid hormones were off the first five months, which has never happened before.


However, I feel that with each pregnancy the symptoms of third trimester keep coming earlier. With Jeffrey, it seems like it became difficult to bend over at about 7 1/2 months. With this one (and again, it's partly because the baby is so low) it became difficult to bend over at about 5 1/2 months. I've also had some hip and low back problems since Jacob was born that never completely resolved, and it's caused some sciatic pain which I've never had. But all in all it hasn't been a bad pregnancy. I'll just be glad when it's over ;)


This baby also kicks MUCH more than Jacob and Jeffrey ever did (I felt Jacob move only about every other day), and I think more than Amri but I can't be sure. It's definitely a feisty one. It's funny how their movements in the womb has been very predictive of their personalities, at least for my first three. Jeffrey moved quite a bit, but it was mostly very slow and cautious as he'd push out, and more rarely quick little movements. Amri was definitely more quick to kick and flip around, and that's how she handles activities--quick to do them and quick to move on. Jacob, I hardly noticed him ever moving, and since his birth, he's been quite the same. It was often the case that I'd almost forget I had a third child between constantly feeding, entertaining, and cleaning up after the older two. Then I'd suddenly hear a little peep from wherever Jacob was and remember that I do indeed have three ;) It will be fun to see if this one matches his in-utero personality.