36 weeks and counting!

Baby Wags is movin and groovin these days! We’re 36 weeks and I swear there must be a dance party going on in my belly to celebrate. It’s still so amazing! Well, except when little feet get caught in my ribs. J But that’s ok I’m sure my ribs will recover. Baby Wag’s heart rate is strong at 150 bpm and our doctor said that baby is head down. Praise God! As we approach our expected due date (Jan 13^th) we’ve graduated to weekly doctor appointments now. So our next one is coming up on Thursday! Chad and I went on our birthing tour at Toledo Hospital yesterday. There were about 5 other couples participating. We must have looked pretty funny roaming the halls. I told Chad I felt like we were in a pregnancy parade (a bunch of pregnant ladies accompanied by husbands who were trying their best not to look overwhelmed)! So now we’ve got the lay of the land. It’s just so awesome to think that in a few short weeks we’ll be there for one of the biggest moments of our lives! In other news, physically I’m doing great! Chad kindly pointed out that my belly now sticks out “about a foot!” He always knows the right things to say…J. I went back to the ENT doctor to have my nose cauterized again because my nosebleeds started up regularly. Hopefully this will last the rest of my pregnancy. Sleep is quite interesting these days. Not only have I’ve turned into the Macgyver of pillow stacking to curb the late night heartburn but I also mimic the movement of a rotisserie chicken. Rotating each night from my right side, to my back, to my left side, then back to my right side and repeat. Thank goodness Chad is a heavy sleeper so he’s typically unfazed by new antics. All in all everything is just fantastic and our excitement is growing each and every day! To capture this special time my friend Sarah Kraft snapped some maternity photos for us. She’s a very gifted photographer and we look forward to sharing these with baby Wag’s.

Psalm 127:3 Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him.

So…an update is long overdue. So much has been going on and I have lots to share. For starters I did end up getting my nose cauterized a few weeks ago. I wouldn't put it on my top ten “fun things to do list” but it was tolerable. I've only had about 3 nose bleeds since which is a huge improvement…Yay!

Also a few weeks back I got the opportunity of a lifetime. My lovely Mom, step-Mom, Mother In-law and Sister In-law threw me the most amazing baby shower! The venue, food, cake and décor was just awesome! In addition to, that there were so many friends and family that came to celebrate our little miracle! These generous folks showered us with gifts upon gifts. I was seriously working up a sweat opening all these presents!  Baby Wags is already spoiled beyond measure!  I must admit the most amazing part of the day was looking around the room and thanking God for each and every one that was there and those that weren’t but wanted to be. Each person has played such an important role in our journey. The support, love, prayers and compassion is what has gotten us to where we are today. God uses others to provide His unconditional love and peace.  Philippians 4:19 “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus”.  We even had all 5 generations of ladies in attendance, my great grandmother (who’s 104), my grandmother (from FL), my mom, me and baby! It was so great to celebrate with everyone!

Baby movements are super strong now. I still can’t help but smile every time I see/feel a little arm or leg whoosh across my belly. We’re 33 weeks and counting…woohoo!!! Baby is growing healthy and bigger by the day. I have the belly and acid reflux to prove it! The reflux is worst at night. I’ve found that sleeping at an incline (instead of flat) is helpful. But regardless I’m happy to take any/all pregnancy symptoms that come my way. It’s defiantly worth it! I’m also pleased to report that the nursery is pretty much ready for baby Wag’s arrival! Check out the pics! We have our next doctor’s appointment this Friday. Looking forward to it!  

I’m happy to report that our first appointment with our new doctor went great! She’s terrific! She took time to get to know us, our background and shared her faith.  We felt totally comfortable and walked out of our appointment very happy.

So those pesky nosebleeds I mentioned in the last update seem to be making more cameos recently. I’m getting them about every other day now (sometimes multiple times in one day) and they are taking longer to clot. The additional exposure unfortunately is NOT making Chad any more comfortable with them. This week while attempting to “help” he actually physically gagged before he fled the scene. LOL! I think it’s safe to say that he’ll be seated near my head in the delivery room. J I have an appointment with an ENT doctor this Wednesday. I’m hoping they can just cauterize it. And don’t worry I’ll be going to my appt solo. We don’t need Chad passing out or anything.

Baby movements have been pretty strong until the past few days. It seems like within the last 48 hours kicks and jabs are less intense then they were. They also seem to be much lower then what I’ve been used to. I’m trying not to be overly concerned as I’m sure our little one has just decided to change positions. But I must admit I’ve had some weak moments where I’ve had to talk myself off the ledge and remind myself that everything is just fine. I just have to keep reminding myself…Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see". Ok I’ve gotta run…no joke my nose just started bleeding…LOL!

Pregnancy Symptoms...Yes please!

Praise God we’re 27 weeks!!!  And there is a lot to catch up on. For starters I've been blessed with some mild pregnancy symptoms (and I sincerely mean blessed).  I have some friends who have/had some severe morning sickness and other things. Yikes! I am so grateful that I haven’t had to endure that. I have had some really fun leg cramping in my sleep and some random nose bleeds. Both are apparently somewhat common with pregnancy so I’m fully embracing them! I will say that the nose bleeds seem to arrive at the most inconvenient of times. When you ask…oh you know, while out to dinner at Outback (yum right?). Another time it was in the middle of my shower. Yep I’m all lathered up in the middle of shaving and tad dah! I learned a valuable lesson on that one though. Chad needs some serious training on how to handle nose bleeds. I’m not sure if it’s due to his inexperience in this dept (he’s apparently never had one before…which is crazy to me!) or if it was the combination of the water from the shower and the trickling blood falling from my nose that seemed to create a vision that you’d expect to see in a crime scene but Chad’s level of assistance consisted of handing me some paper towels, a bath towel before he bolted out of the room yelling “Oh it’s making me sick to my stomach!” LOL! Hilarious! I can’t wait to tell our little one about that story. J Last week I got to take my glucose test. It really wasn't bad at all.  I got to chug down a super sugary drink in less than 5 minutes, wait an hour & then get my blood taken. I’m happy to report that my level was 103 which is in the normal range. Yay! Yet another blessing! This week we’re looking forward to our first appointment with a new doctor. Our previous doctor was nice but unfortunately just didn’t have the consistency we are looking for which ended up in some frustrating appointments. Our new doctor is a strong believer which is what attracted us to her.  So I’m really excited to meet her and trust that God has led us to her intentionally. Here is an updated photo of my growing belly! Speaking of I’m pretty sure there is a dance party going on in there these days. I can’t help but smile every time he/she moves! So awesome!

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

My cup overflows!

Wow…what a week. So many things to celebrate! We had a house full of family. All of our Florida fam came to visit and celebrate a very special birthday.  My great grandmother Frances turned 104 years old! No I’m not kidding 104…really! She’s an amazing lady that has certainly influenced my life in many ways over the years but most of all spiritually. In addition to quality time with the family and a rockin party with Gram we also hit some pregnancy milestones.

If you remember from my prior blog entries the last week of Sept has been a one of mixed emotions over the past couple of years. It was around that time that we had miscarried our previous two pregnancies. Needless to say, when we found out we were scheduled for our level 2 ultrasound on Sept 26^th some deep breaths were in order. Leading up to the appointment the adversary tried everything to put fear into our hearts. A week or so before the appointment Chad and I attended church service where we experienced a very emotional testimony.  An amazing couple had shared their story of getting pregnant only to find out that their baby had severe complications and would likely only live minutes or hours after birth. This couple chose to go forward with their pregnancy and had less than an hour with their baby before the Lord called their child to His kingdom in heaven. The strength, faith in the Lord and hope for the future this couple displayed was beyond inspiring. On the drive home from church Chad said that he kind of wished we would have skipped service that week (I must admit the thought had crossed my mind as well). Until that testimony, he said he wasn’t really fearful of our upcoming appointment but now he was feeling a little anxious.  He asked how I felt. I told him that despite the inspirational message, it was difficult to hear but reminded me that our past experiences (as heartbreaking as they were) could have been even harder. We went on with our evening and continued to have very open discussions about each other’s concerns. We agreed that we needed to speak words of hope and faith leaving no room for fear in our hearts. And the upcoming ultrasound was a test of our faith and the timing was our opportunity to put the heartbreak behind us and celebrate the hope in our future! We decided that no matter what happened from that day forward God would get us through it. As we chatted, our fears diminished and our vulnerability with one another brought an amazing new element to our relationship. (As silly as it might sound up until this point we hadn’t really talked about our concerns even though we both knew they existed. I think we were just trying to be strong for each other).  By the end of the night it was totally obvious that we were meant to hear that message at church and God used it to encourage us to talk to one another and rely on HIM instead of ourselves. 

We went to our appointment and it was the most peaceful, stress free, and exciting part of our pregnancy so far! I swear it was like we could feel the Holy Spirit surrounding us (and yes I know that might make me sound nutty but I really don’t care). We got an amazing report. Baby and I are measuring great/healthy and we got to see our little miracle moving around in 3D! Praise God! Also I have to share…at church this week that same couple that gave the testimony a few weeks ago… is pregnant again! God is so good!

Psalm 23: 5-6 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Stuff, stuff and more stuff

21 weeks! We’re over the halfway mark and we’re beyond excited! We got the genetic screen results back and praise God, they’re all negative! It’s starting to become more real. Chad and I looked at each other the other day and said “Wow, we’re actually having a baby!”. As if it were the first time we’d been privy to the amazing news. I’m sure that sounds crazy to most “normal” people, since that generally is recognized the first moment a couple finds out their pregnant. But for us (not so normal folks) well let’s just say it’s taken a while to sink in. We of course were thrilled from the beginning but I must admit that we have guarded our hearts and still do to some degree. That’s just our human nature I suppose. But the more we allow ourselves to let our guard down (and trust God) the more fun things become. We’ve started purchasing adorable things for the nursery and looking at things that we’ll need for our miracle. We’ve quickly discovered a couple things…

1.       Selecting a color or theme for a nursery is much more difficult than one would expect. (Especially a general neutral nursery…yes we’re still holding strong at this point and haven’t found out the sex.) Admittedly, I’m a slight Pintrest addict which seems to only be adding to the confusion. Chad has officially refused to look at any more “inspirational nursery” images. I suppose a man can only take so much. J

2.       We really have no idea what the heck we need for a baby. There are so many gadgets out there that it’s hard to know what is a “need to have” vs. a “nice to have”, oh and we can’t forget the “who in the world really needs that thing” category. So me being the planner and organizer that I am sought out some expert advice. Where did I turn for assistance? Google of course…yep I searched “checklists for a new baby” and at least got a outline of the basics. However moms feel free to share you're motherly wisdom. We're certainly all ears!

3.       MOST IMPORTANT DISCOVERY…The “stuff” doesn’t really matter at all. We know that part of the reason for Chad and I’s journey over the past several years has been to teach us what is truly important in life…God and then our family/friends (in that order).

It’s so easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of excitement that comes with a new baby. Planning the nursery, picking out new things, organizing the shower but at the end of the day we can’t lose sight of what’s really the priority. Now don’t get me wrong I’m all about fun and there is plenty to celebrate but we can’t forget who provides the life we’re so eagerly awaiting for thisJanuary. The possessions we buy will eventually fade away (or end up in a garage sale) and all that’s left will be God and our family/friends. Those are so much more important than any fancy crib bedding, Britex travel system or expensive pair of maternity jeans (which I can’t bring myself to buy even though they’re so comfortable..ugh!). All that being said I will have to refer back to this blog entry to remind myself of this point countless times going forward but it’s summed up best in Matthew.

Matthew 6:19-21

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Long overdue...

So I'm going to fast forward a bit, okay maybe a lot...We're currently 19 weeks pregnant and thanking God each and every day! So why has it taken me 19 whole weeks to post on my blog? Well, I could easily say that my delay was due to the general sleepiness that comes with pregnancy and the hectic work schedule I've been keeping up lately. However, I must admit that in addition to those facts I think I let a little bit of fear creep in and was unsure if I should share my blog in the event that the unspeakable were to happen again. But I've decided that I'm not going to allow fear to run the show. Instead, I'm going to trust that this baby is growing healthy and will make his or her miraculous debut in early January just as God has planned. 

So let me bring you all up to speed. I'm feeling great. Now that I'm into the second trimester my energy is back up. I'm proudly sporting a belly (and loving it). I have to say that I'm even excited to step on the scale and see that I've gained 12 lbs so far. Wow! I never thought I'd say that. All of our doctors visits have been terrific. Baby is measuring properly and we are just so grateful. As if all of this amazing news isn't enough...I'm actually starting to feel the baby move! It's the coolest thing ever! I intend to keep up on my blog from here on out so stay tuned more updates. 

2 Timothy 1:7
“For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”