If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll already be well up to date on the fact that i’m expecting my 5th baby due Oct 2020! If you’re not following me on Instagram yet, what are you waiting for? Get all the updates on my family at @LILLYATHOME

My husband and I were completely surprised by the news that I was pregnant, but after the shock died down, we were just so excited to be blessed with another child! I grew up in a big family household and am part of a blended family. With my parents having 3 kids together, and then adding 8 (yes, 8!) siblings through both of my parents remarrying, I’ve always had brothers and sisters around me and I honestly LOVED it. As a kid, it can be annoying at times to have that many siblings to have to share with, take turns with or be patient with. But as we grew together, our love for one another just grew and continues to grow! I already have a ton of nieces and nephews and only 3 of my siblings have kids so far. So imagine In a few years what our family gatherings will be like! With that being said, I am not disappointed that we are making our own big family and can only imagine how great our dynamic will continue to be as they age.

PREGNANT DURING COVID-19

SO, as of today, I am 28 weeks and 5 days! And these last 28 weeks have been quite interesting to say the least. I found out I was pregnant in Jan 2020 and as we all know, a few weeks after that, the entire world shut down due to Covid-19. For the world around us, immediate panic and chaos set in. In Quebec, Canada, where I live, the shut down, quarantine, social distancing measures became enforced as of March 2020. By this time, I had only seen my doctor once, at 7 or 8 weeks pregnant. Shortly after that, my doctor called me to inform me that my prenatal care was essentially cancelled and he’d see me only after 36 weeks or just see me at the hospital when it was time to give birth.

I was completely heartbroken by the fact that I wouldn’t getting any prenatal care because if anything went wrong with me or my baby, who would know? During this time, I still did manage to go for regularly scheduled blood tests and ultrasounds, but other than that, I honestly was praying that God would give me peace of mind because it is so easy for fear and anxiety to set in. Is my baby ok? Why don’t I feel baby moving? What if baby’s in distress? I had so many concerns and was on the verge of buying a baby doppler so that I could at least check the baby’s heart rate myself and know that they’re still alive! My amazing neighbour who also happens to be an RN, so happened to have a baby doppler which saved me some $$$ and saved my sanity! Baby was great!

FIRST TRIMESTER

It seems in my case, with each child, the pregnancies get harder on my body. It could be due to the number of babies I’ve had, or it could be due to the frequency in which I’ve had them. They are all almost exactly 2 years apart which means for the last 9 years, I’ve gone from being pregnant to breastfeeding, straight into getting pregnant again and then breastfeeding again until I get pregnant with the next child. Essentially, there has been no break for my body in between each child. My body has not stopped being in use to house and feed my children. This is not a complaint by any means! But I feel like maybe the fact that this has been how we’ve chosen to grow our family has taken a toll on my body.

My morning sickness was out of this world unmanageable. My blood pressure was such a concern as it would drop extremely low leaving me feeling weak, dizzy, shaky, short of breath, unable to concentrate etc. My iron levels were abnormally low which also contributed to my malaise. That, with the added factor of trying to tend to my 4 kids and homeschooling them while my husband was at work was not a good mix. I felt so dysfunctional and weak and unable to get through it on my own. I spent many days in bed, ordering food for my kids because I couldn’t manage to cook, homeschooling in my bed with the kids surrounding me and the house turning completely upside down with mess and clutter everywhere because I just could not deal! I even had an incident happen more than once where my blood pressure was so low that I lost conciousness. So scary to deal with while not being seen by doc and too afraid to go to the hospital to be around the possibly C-19 infected people.

THANKFULLY, I made it through all of that, and around week 16, my body started to have mercy on me. Almost all of those symptoms completely went away as I moved into my second trimester and boy was I thankful.

SECOND TRIMESTER

Shortly before my second trimester ended, my husband was temporarily laid off, along with millions of people around the globe due to the corona virus. We weren’t concerned about the lay off situation because we knew God would take care of our family during the madness and he totally did. We didn’t stress about making ends meet or hated the thought of being “trapped” at home with our family as so many people have expressed. We soaked up all the time together with joy and whenever hubby or I needed a break from our wild bunch of kiddos, we would take turns going out for a drive here and there. PLUS, I have to admit, I was glad that my husband was home for the last few months to help with the kids while I felt like was dying from this pregnancy! He was and still is such a huge help to me and I don’t know how I would have managed without him being home. Temporary lay off was certainly a blessing in disguise. The second trimester wasn’t all cupcakes and fairy tales but it was WAY better than the first. I felt a relief in my body, I had a higher level of energy and as things started to ease up with covid-19, my doctor called me to resume my prenatal care which I was so happy about! Oh, and we found out we are having another BOY!!! I have aches and pains, feel exhausted all the time but still was so glad with how my second trimester went overall.

ENTERING MY THIRD TRIMESTER

Now that i’m in my third trimester, I’m getting excited that baby will be here soon! I have the urge to completely redecorate and reorganize my entire home. I am ready to start washing and preparing baby boy’s clothes, checking and double checking that I have purchased all the necessary things. But I am sort of dreading the thought of giving birth to a baby during a pandemic. My hospital in particular was very strict for quite some time and would not allow the father of the child or any support person to accompany the mother giving birth. We were to be dropped off alone, labor alone, give birth alone, go through postpartum care alone and leave the hospital alone. Although, I understand that the intent was to keep everyone safe from catching the virus, I felt it was very extreme and unnecessary given the actual statistics of the virus (and no, i’m not about to get into a debate with anyone about their views on this pandemic

And I selfishly just wanted to have my hubby, who is my support system, there with me. Not just for the sake of allowing him to witness the birth of his child, but I really feel like he’s my peace and my anchor when I’m going through the pain of labor. I know many women have gone through it alone just fine, but I didn’t want that to be my fate. Thankfully, the hospital has eased up on their rules and are now allowing 1 support person to accompany the mom, with strict guidelines. I am SOOOO glad that I dodged that bullet. If it wasn’t too late in my pregnancy, I would have just found a midwife and gladly given birth at home. As you may know from reading my past blog posts, I gave birth to our last baby at home anyways so whats one more?!?

Other than that, unfortunately i’ve temporarily been put on bed rest due to the fact that i’m having intense braxton hicks contractions and they’re coming quite frequently. I am scheduled to go for an ultrasound very soon in order to check on my cervix which will confirm if I’m at risk for preterm labor or not. If everything is okay, then I can be taken off bed rest and resume my daily activities with the little bit of energy that I have. Or alternatively, I will need to stay on bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy to make sure baby boy stays put for as long as possible!

Now, if you’ve read through this entire post, you deserve a trophy! I know i’ve said a mouthful! But I had so much to update you on! In the coming weeks, you’ll get all the exciting updates as we approach “labor” day and although this baby is due Oct 4, 2020. My guess is that he’ll be here in September. September 20th to be exact! my last 2 kids were both born at around 38 weeks so I feel like this little guy will follow suit. What is your guess for my due date? I’d love to know what you think!

Until Next Time, Hugs & Love ❤,

Lilly