poor neglected third child

This poor baby is already getting the shaft. We have less pictures, less information written down, and now even less blog posts! I can guarantee, however, that the one thing there is NOT less of, is love. The kids are obsessed with the baby and are constantly giving my rapidly expanding belly hugs and kisses. Josie, in particular, is attached to the idea of her baby. We didn't find out what we're having (as with Gabe and Josie) but Josie says she knows it is a girl. She talks often about what her baby is thinking and saying inside my belly, she gets extra lollipops for her baby, offers me food for the baby, asks if the baby is having a good day, and will become a little teary about how long she has to wait for her baby to come out.

I, on the other hand, am hysterically clinging to every day of this pregnancy and wishing for time to slow down. I'm 22 weeks and so incredibly aware of how quickly time is passing and that this will likely be my last pregnancy. The first trimester was a horror show, but these days I feel mostly well. The nausea is only sporadic (only if I touch sugar, which is a curse for a pregnant woman), my sciatica is tolerable, my patience is still here, I'm looking rounded and pregnant enough for a stranger to be able to tell, and my hair and skin are fabulous. Honestly, I've never had hair like this in my life, all lustrous and shiny and full. Best of all, the baby moves all the time and I'm struck with such awe and amazement that this little person is growing inside of me and I get to experience this again.

I feel gigantic, though, enormous, humongous, quite large. This is definitely my biggest pregnancy and the wealth is spread all over my body. My thighs, butt, belly and boobs are all growing excessively. I'm a bit panicked to tell you the truth, but there isn't much I can do besides eating reasonably and trying to keep walking and moving. I just worry what the end of this pregnancy will look like if there are 18 weeks to go. At our 18 week ultrasound, the baby was measuring almost twice as big as he or she was supposed to be, which explains the crazy gymnastics we can see from the outside. Everyone- Josh, the kids, my mom- have felt and seen the kicks from the outside. I suspect that although I ordered a calm shy baby this time around, I'm destined for another active character.