Luke Henry’s Birth

Hmmm. Should I even acknowledge the fact that I have not updated this blog in over a year?? Maybe a mini acknowledgement. I waver back and forth between meticulously documenting and just living. Many times I can’t seem to even seem to just live – it’s more like chasing, trying to catch up. Maybe one day I’ll actually believe the reality that life with kids is different than life without and there’s no turning back. (Not that I’d want to. Life with kids is amazing!!)….[segue]….Introducing Luke Henry!

So he’s 4 months old in this pic and he’s 6 months old now. Looking back at this blog just now, I noticed that I blogged on my first born’s birth at about 6 months, so there must be something to that. The first 6 months are all a blur. A wonderful blur.

I’ll be honest – I’m so darn meticulous that it totally bothers me to blog right now, because I missed documenting so much MAJOR stuff, but I’m choosing to press on. Soooo….

Back in May of 2013, we found out we were pregnant again – YAY!

9 months later, we were ready to welcome another bouncing boy to our family. Big brother was ready and excited to meet the baby we had talked so much about. (We got Cliff a baby boy doll, who quickly became known as “Baby Paul”, for him to practice loving and caring for. It worked like a charm!)

Here is Cliff baby wearing Baby Paul alongside me right after Luke was born. Cliff was a month shy of 2 years old when this picture was taken and he’s 2 1/2 now. He’s snuggling Baby Paul in his bed right now as I type.

Rewind to the weeks leading up to Luke’s birth. We were ALL READY (except the nursery was not #secondbornthing). I was hopeful [again] that the baby would come early and many at work predicted he would, but I knew he wouldn’t and I was right. I dilated a bit more and earlier (1 cm at 37 weeks and just under 2 by 39, I believe…but I’m a little hazy on the exact stats). I know I was WAY more effaced at that point, too – about 90% at 39 weeks. Dr. Dulaney was on me in the 3rd trimester for eating too many sweets because she predicted he was going to be big. She told me she would induce right away this time if I did not have him by my due date and I remember being happy to hear this! (Walking around 41 weeks pregnant was not fun with my first!) I was also relieved to hear that we did not have to go to the hospital the night before the induction, as we had with our first. So my parents were kind enough to come an pick up Cliff the night before we were admitted and Roy and I went on a date to Macaroni Grill, which has now become a tradition the night before I give birth. We got a great night’s sleep (I was not as nervous this time around). The next morning, we went in about 8:15 and they got me started by 8:30 am. The morning was pretty slow and uneventful. I could barely feel any contractions and they were easy, if I felt them at all. I remember thinking “Let’s get this party started!” The nurse told me I needed to wait 4 hours for this Strep B antibiotic to get in my blood and I remember thinking “That seems like forever”…but then before I knew it Dr. Dulaney came bouncing in like clockwork (Or maybe a little early) about 12:00 noon to break my water. After she left, the contractions hit me fast and hard. I remember texting my dear friend, Shelby, to come on up and by the time she got up, I was needing to take breaks in our conversation to breath through contractions. I enjoyed feeling them, but also looked forward to the epidural, which I ordered about 45 min later. When Shelby heard of the idea of needles, she high-tailed it out of there! Hehe. Glad I called for it sooner than later because the anesthesiologist had trouble getting the needle in, so he tried to discretely call for back up, although I knew something was up. A parade of 4 anesthesiologists came in and a man from Bosnia, who spoke with a thick accent, ended up showing the other guy how it was done. They all teased the first guy and it was kinda funny, after the fact. Then, I invited lots of family in and we had a big time. I got really sleepy and the the nurses who had my back) asked everyone but hubby to leave and I took a quick “labor nap” to rest a bit. (I was 6 cm before the nap.) Then they woke me up to check me and tell me I was 10 cm and it was time to push! It was roughly 5:20 pm. (I purposely gave no other time updates between 12:00 and 5:20 because it flew by and I really had no idea what time it was!) I pushed for about 15 minutes and he was here!!!

Luke Henry, Born at 5:43 pm on 1/30/14, 8 lbs, 12 oz, 21 1/2 in

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

Psalm 139:13-14 

 

 

*Photos taken at Luke’s birth by the amazing Melissa McMasters, http://www.melissamcmasters.com

Playtime with the Twins: Tiny Friendships in the Making

Cliff, Tamsie, and Evangelyn are bound to have years of memories together as good friends.  They kind of have to when their mamas are best friends!  It is sweet to see their little friendships unfold.  Here are Evie and Cliff the day he first met the twins. Shelby and I may have forced some hand holding…but can you blame us?

Cliff was a mere 1 week old and the twins were nearly 5 months. (Tamsie was having a rough night as I recall, so she was in the back with her dad.)

At their next interaction (in Louisville, KY, where the twins used to live), they spent most of their time together lying around and staring/smiling at each other.  Cliff was 5 weeks and the girls were 6 months.

I remember the girls were kicking their legs like crazy and rolling over and Cliff was just chillin’. (Tamsie’s on the last and Evie’s on the right).

(Evie’s on the left and Tamsie’s on the right.)

And then, Cliff and Evie shared some more smiles and inquisitive stares when they played together in a pack n’ play one time while the twins visited Memphis.  Cliff was 8 weeks and the girls were seven months.

Shelby and I often joke that Evie is Cliff’s girlfriend because so far she seems to pay him more attention than Tamsie does.  In fact, you’ll see what I mean in the photo below; she made a pass at him by grabbing his hand. This time, the hand holding was NOT staged and I happened to be there to snap the shot! Cliff’s facial expression is priceless.

Now that the twins have moved to Memphis, we get to see them a whole lot more!

They now…

…go to baseball games together…

…go on long walks together…

…and of course play together! Here they are yesterday, playing in the twins’ GIANT playpen:

Cliff is 10 months and the girls are 14 months. It’s was like a little soap opera in there.

Tamsie is doing this funny thing now where she has one item (of a matching trio of toys) in her mouth and one in each hand. She just walks around like she’s got a million things to do and she even tries to talk (mmm mmm uuuph!!) in an effort to provide her audience with important messages…about the toys, perhaps??  Regardless, Cliff and Evie were in their own separate worlds.

“Toys!!!!”

There were a few tears when Cliff grabbed the door Tamsie was playing with.  “Cliff, how could you??!”

But then seconds later, Tamsie was over it and was trying to impress Cliff with her abilities to crawl through the tunnel toy!

Just look at that proud Tamsie face!

Each baby always had her/his own agenda. Please note Cliff playing Peek-a-boo in the middle of the circle in the midst of all else that was going on!

Then Evie decided she was ready to join in with Cliff again.

Watch what Evie does with this box…

Yes, Evie did a headstand in the box!!  Accidental or planned?  We will never know.  But Cliff was quick to spot her.

Here’s to many more years of laughs and fun times for these 3 little friends!

…Brought together by these 2 friends!

Cliff’s 9th Month Recap, 1st Christmas, and a Blessed New Year Ahead

So it’s been a while!  [Sorry!] I am so very happy to announce that my whirlwind life recently slowed down a bit due to a tremendous blessing; As of Dec. 17, I am officially a part-time stay at home mommy and now a part-time (previously a full-time) employee at the same, not-for-profit ministry I have always loved!  Cliff just turned 10 months old the other day and so here is what he looks like now:

It’s time to recap his 9th month, especially because this month was filled with some of his biggest breakthroughs yet!

At 9 months and 1 week, he took his first steps: 3-4 in a row and then fell down. Repeat, repeat, repeat (times a million.) Then by 9 months and 3 weeks, he was walking like a semi-pro and by 10 months, a pro!

He also start waving at about 9 and a half months.  I took him shopping with me and he was literally showing off waving to every stranger who passed us by or person he noticed across the parking lot. The little guy has never met a stranger and I admire that about him. A Cliff wave involves an extended, striaght arm, a locked elbow, and the opening and closing of the hand with spread out starfish fingers.

Here are a few of his favorite words of the month:

• Bye bye (said when waving)
• Bye bye da da (sometimes when waving to his dad and other times just randomly)
• Birdy (because we have a pet bird, so clearly he is obsessed. This was his first word, actually!)
• Da da (his fav!!)
• Mama (not so much his fav…but he does happily say it occasionally and he definitely says it and cries it when he really needs something – so sweet that he knows I mean results.)
• Books (whispered like book-kssssss as he reaches toward his wall book rack, usually right after a bottle)
• What is? (said like whattisss)
• Christmas tree (said like kissmiss tee)
• Pretty (always whispered, said with arm reached out at a pretty thing, i.e. a light fixture, diamond, or one of my moms quilts. Once he reached toward my face and whispered “pretty” and, whether he meant it or not, it melted my heart.)
• Bottle/ba ba

Here are some highlights of his 9th month in pictures:

Grandma and I took Cliff to get his first pair of walking shoes at Stride Rite. (Note the shoeless feet – this is the before pic!)

Trying to decide….

And here is the after pic!  My dad and mom generously purchased Cliff’s first pair of real shoes because this is a tradition that my grandpa and grandma Nowak began and did with us when my brother and I were babies. So sweet.

The kid absolutely loves bath time!

And now he is Curious Cliff, wanting to explore and get in to EVERYTHING!

“This wasn’t here yesterday…whattissss??”

“Seriously, y’all. There’s a TREE in our living room.”
LOVES this toy that used to belong to Sadie (our beloved, childhood and family pet who past away in March of this year. R.I.P. sweet Sadie.)

And here is the Christmas recap.  We had a wonderful 1st Christmas with Cliff!….we did have one big challenge, however.  We were sick, sick, SICK. Cliff got his first BAD cold the Thursday before Christmas and it kept up for about a week.  On Christmas, he was feeling just a little better and the fever was down, although Uncle David and Memaw diagnosed him with an ear infection and bronchitis and so I’m sure he wasn’t feeling 100%.  At this point, I was really starting to get sick and then Roy followed suit a few days later.  (A thought I kept thinking was, “how does one ever not get sick if his/her infant is sick?” I mean, seriously, is it possible??)  Yet, much fun was still had by all.  Because I did not feel well on Christmas day, I failed to take any pictures at my in-law’s house (although I did manage to take some great movie footage!)  Thankfully, Cliff’s Uncle Christopher emailed me these sweet pictures taken of the two of them at the party:

And here are some pics from the evening on Christmas Day at our house.

He conked out on the way home after skipping his afternoon nap because of all the fun and Christmas commotion!

Just waking up and a little out of it

“Okay, I’m ready to play now!”

“C’mon, mom! Let me go so I can eat this bow!”

These were not his…a present for me from Roy! But Cliff was serious about the packaging.

Poor little guy is really showing he is sick in this pic. Poor daddy doesn’t know he’s about to get it, too…

He was showered with some great gifts, but the bows were perhaps his favorite part?

Happy New Year!  Just a few things I’ve learned in 2012: 1.) The Lord is FAITHFUL, 2). He HEARS and ANSWERS our prayers.

Here I am at this time last year:

And here I am now:

Case and point.  Here’s to a blessed 2013 to you and yours!

The Last 7 Months

I am still so new at this. Motherhood, blogging, balancing my new life.  Wish I could have made several posts about baby milestones between his birth and today, but it just didn’t happen. But no regrets because I am doing the absolute best that I can trying to be the best mother, wife, friend, daughter I can while also working a full-time job at an organization that I am very passionate about. Have you ever noticed that the longer you wait to update something or someone, it can seem increasing more overwhelming to do it because time keeps compounding and moving forward? Yeah…. So for the sake of just bringing this blog up to date and since there is not time for lengthy explanations tonight, here is a quick recap of the last 7 months in picture alone.

Birthday!

One month old

Two months old

Three months old

Four months old

Five months old

Six months old

Seven months old

Yay, I just finished a blog post!!!! P.S. The date on this post say Sept, but I’m really finishing it it today, in Oct – whatevs!

His Birth – Documented at long last!

So my baby’s 6 month mark is quickly approaching and I am just now getting the time (or should I say taking the time) to blog about it.  Oftentimes, laundry, chores, phone talking, napping, eating, showering, etc. get in the way of blogging during the window of time I get while baby is sleeping…  Also I’m back at work full-time now and have been for 3 months, so a lot of time, I’m just not here.  But that’s another story for another day.  For some reason blogging seems last on my list when I think of all the other things I could be doing, even though I enjoy blogging very much.  But one big thing I’m learning, now that I have become a mommy is that it’s okay to not have it all together all the time.  It’s a daily struggle to let go and consider my best try at X, Y or Z to be good enough.  I literally have to battle my perfectionistic and OCD tendencies every day and try to remember that only God is perfect and that I am merely a work in progress, continually being molded in the hands of God.  Anyway, the point is that my best is good enough today.  There are dishes to be done right now, but oh well – I want to blog!  Baby and hubby are sleeping and I need to post some sweet pics of his birth that happened nearly 6 months ago before this gets ridiculous!  I would love to “catch up” so I can start writing about things that happened only a week ago or even things that happened yesterday!!!  So without further adieu…

I was nearly 41 weeks pregnant and everywhere I went, well-intentioned people kept asking me when I was due and suddenly it wasn’t so much fun to talk about his due date anymore!  Spicy food, lots of walking, sex – we tried it all and still no baby.  So my Doc wanted to induce me on March 1st, one week past my due date of February 23, but there was just one problem: all the slots at the hospital were filled, probably because some people opted not to have a leap day baby.  Doc asked us “How do you feel about having a leap day baby?” “Cool!,” we said.  And so they had us come in to the hospital at 8:00 pm on Tuesday, 2/28.  We were to spend the night, while they gave me Cervadyl, to help me dilate, in preparation for a morning induction.  Since I would have to fast after midnight, we decided to get a big, yummy dinner at Macaroni Grill.  I hardly had an appetite though – I guess I was nervous.  So I just shoveled down the salad, pasta, and bread, knowing I would be thankful I did. In the morning, I had not dilated much more, but they said everything had softened up nicely.  They gave me Pitocin at 9:00 am and BAM – felt a little contraction or two, then a bigger one, then OUCH!!!!!  Fast forward 9.5 hours and it was time to push.  (Sorry to FF, but my details are not that interesting, just a normal labor story.)  I wanted to feel the labor pains to know what they felt like and I wanted to tough it out a while (even though my nurse probably thought I was crazy), because they are many parallels between this and the cross, so I thought it was the least I could do.  Plus, there’s a lot of hype in movies about what labor is like.  You can’t describe it – you just have to live it.  But God, through man, has also provided good pain management drugs.  I had an epidural, as part of my birth plan, after about 4-5 hours and I’m so glad I did.  I was able to take a nap and then watch some of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” with Roy.  Haha.)  I seriously thought I would labor for at least 24 hours because my mom labored for 32 with me.  Then, at about 6:00 pm, a nurse checked me and, to my surprise, I was 10 cm!  She was like, I’ll call the Dr. and you can start pushing soon.  “WHAT!?  Already???  There’s still like 20 min left in our movie…”  I think I asked the nurse if we could finish it and she was like “Um, no.”  I had THE BEST coaches (my actual OB/GYN, a nurse named Patrice, and my sweet husband) as I pushed.

26 minutes later, this little guy was born…. We named him Cliff because we just plain liked the name.  No big story here!  It means dashing. We chose his middle name, Carpenter, for 3 reasons: 1.) Jesus’ profession – Just think of the awesome parallels: While on earth, Jesus took scraps and made them beautiful, functional, whole…as he still does with us each day. 2.) Family name – My great grandmother’s maiden name and my grandfather’s middle name.  There is a street in Athen’s, OH named accordingly after my mom’s side of the family.  3.) Cardinal’s pitcher, Chris Carpenter – He was pitching when Cards won the world series, while Cliff was in my tummy and his daddy was just a little excited about that…  (Okay, so there may or may not have been a bet involved as well!  I won – and it helped that I could also pull out a sport’s significance!)

Our first family photo…. I will never forget these sweet little eyes looking up at me…

7 lbs, 12.5 oz and just a little traumatized after being birthed….

What a little miracle.  I love him.

And I cannot believe baby boy is still sleeping after this long-awaited blogging session! Maybe if I hurry I can do a few dishes now!!!

My Pregnancy: 3rd Trimester, Part 2

When I had a routine ultrasound at 28 weeks, my doctor told me my baby was breech, but not to worry because there was plenty of time and room for him to flip before it became a concern.  I did the exercises she showed me and I even laid head down at a slant on an ironing board that I propped up on the couch (she told me I could do this!) a few times.  No flippage.  So at my 35 week ultrasound, she told me we needed to get a bit more serious.  So I kid you not – she asked me to go do flips in a pool for 20 minutes a few times within the next 5 days.  This would hopefully make him float to the top in there and coax him to flip on his own.  If he didn’t flip by the 5th day, I would need to have a procedure done in the hospital where my doc would try to flip him by pressing her hands on different places on my belly – OUCH – I heard this procedure would hurt a ton, but that it was over 90% successful in flipping babies…so I was prepared to do it.  I tried not to be nervous, but I was crazy nervous.  I did not want to have a C-section because of this!  That was not my birth plan!!  I was not going to throw in the towel, so I went to an indoor pool near our house and flipped around for 20 minutes as directed.  Roy stood on the sidelines and cheered me on.  SO many people were staring at me like “What is that pregnant woman doing??”  I just kept on flippin’.  At one point, my belly hurt and I thought I pulled a muscle from bending back too far while doing some crazy handstands.  I had to take a 5 minute break and then it miraculously felt better so I flipped some more.  The next day after work, I asked permission to flip in the pool during an Ai Chi water class (since I wasn’t allowed to swim in there by myself where I work for liability reasons).  Once again, I looked like a crazy pregnant lady as I unintentionally disrupted the class with my splashes!  One more important detail – we prayed a TON.  And I had everyone I knew praying a ton, too.  I told pretty much everyone I saw that the baby was breech and to please pray.  The next day, I went to my Dr’s appt for the ultrasound.  I broke the sad news to my doc that I didn’t feel him flip (supposed to be really painful and I was told “you will know”) and that he was probably still breech and so she started explaining the hospital procedure details as she started the ultrasound.  Then she said “You did good, mama!”  My mind was racing…. “What?” “He’s head down!”  Oh sweet relief.

PRAISE GOD.

Doc said he must of flipped when I thought I pulled that muscle.  Wow!

Getting ready for Christmas, 29 weeks

After my boy listened to his mama, quit being stubborn, and flipped – it was pretty smooth sailing, other than a few aches and pains and some tough days.  I had three amazing baby showers during that time, when I was on the home stretch.  When I was 35 weeks, there was the tea party baby shower, hosted by my dear friend Heather.  Did you know that the first baby showers were tea parties?  This was her inspiration and it helped that she collected beautiful china, tea sets, candlesticks, and antiques!  The amazing tea party pics below were taken by the lovely and talented Melissa McMasters, who also helped out with the party! (We all were asked to dress in old-fashioned, “feminine and frilly” attire, which explains the fascinators!) Here is me with the “hostess with the mostess” by the dessert table. (Sorry it’s s blinking shot of you, Heather…had to use it anyway because it’s the only one with just the two of us!) Love love LOVE these petit fours from La Baguette! Here is the whole gang after we shared a wonderful afternoon together!

The next shower was on the following Wednesday evening, when I was one day away from being 36 weeks.  It was hosted by my sweet Sunday school class for two of us that were pregnant at the same time.  Unfortunately, I don’t have any pictures from that shower!  I’m not really sure why I dropped the ball on that one…probably because I rushed to the shower after a long day at work. It was a wonderful evening of fellowship and fun games though.

The last shower was hosted by my sweet mother in law at her home.  It was amazing as well.  Roy’s Aunt Laura and Uncle Larry helped tremendously with the shower as well!  Aunt Laura outdid herself by making these amazing centerpieces made of diapers.

It was SO hard to take them apart after our boy was born because they looked so darn cute in the baby room!  But when we did, we were in for a wonderful surprise – over 80 diapers inside!

Here is a pic of two of them in the nursery, that we had recently finished.

My friend Shelby also made a surprise visit at this shower, which was double surprising considering the fact that she and her hubby made a long trip with their two twin babies that were only 4 months old at the time! (My mom has some great pics from this shower, but for sake of time, I am going to need to just post this one without them.)

Here is me at 37 weeks.  The funny thing is – I didn’t feel like my preggo belly was THIS big at the time.  Looking at it now, I do!  Now I understand why random people kept staring and making comments about how big I was everywhere I went…

In the 3nd Trimester….

I felt…

• Anxious about the baby needing to flip
• Anxious about not having the house ready/clean enough (I cleaned and organized incessantly!)
• Intensified aches and pains
• Hungry all the time
• Overjoyed to have a miracle baby inside me!
• Excited about meeting our little man and finally knowing what his personality would be like/who he looks like
• Just plain happy

I craved…

• Pepperoni pizza from the Trolley Stop
• Fudge brownies, peanut butter cookies, and blueberry donuts from Cafe Eclectic
• Grapefruit
• Granny smith apples
• Just food in general – everything good and rich!

My Pregnancy Story: 3rd Trimester, Part 1

Overall, the 3rd trimester was better than people told me it would be.  It was surprisingly comfortable and fun!  …until I hit about 36 weeks, when I began to feel the classic symptoms of feeling stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey.  Somewhere around that time, the belly seemed to have doubled overnight.  I remember noticing it was harder to stand up after sitting down and I felt like a beached whale in the bed at night.

But even then, life was still so good.  I knew God was creating a sweet little boy inside of me and I remember feeling emotionally high throughout the entire pregnancy, 3rd trimester included, which was probably a combination of the hormones and the pure awe of God’s awesomeness.  Highs were HIGH and lows were LOW.  Everything is more dramatic when your pregnant.  I’m so blessed to have a husband that stuck by me and gave me tons of shoulder and foot massages, even when I wasn’t so fun to be around!

I forgot to mention pregnant mood swings in the other posts, so I will comment on them here – I totally get all the hype now!  The best way I can explain them is: One time in the 2nd trimester, I started crying while shopping at Fresh Market.  The only reason for my tears was that I was overwhelmed and happy that they had so many amazing items to choose from in the yogurt/dairy section.  [Yikes.]

During the 3rd trimester, the baby’s movements changed from cute little kicks in one area to huge body-wave movements that took my breath away on occasion.  He moved a ton when I drove home from work, watched TV in the evening with Roy, and lied down to go to sleep.  He never kept me up at night, which I hear is rare!  The little man really started revealing his personality to us at this point in the pregnancy and he was completely comfortable being breech (More on this in Part 2).

Here are some highlights from the first part of the last trimester:

On December 3, when I was 28 weeks, my 2 fall semester pre-ballet classes did their sweet little Christmas recital.  As usual, my mom made the tutus and I made the tutu bows.  (The pics without tutus are from the dress rehearsal and the ones with tutus are from the real deal!)

My mother in law helped me tell the Christmas story through candy while my father in law and Roy sat in the audience with the rest of the parents of the girls.

To my surprise, over 45 people were in attendance and there was standing room only in the back because I didn’t order enough chairs!

Dec. 7- 11, when I was 29 weeks, Roy and I made a “last hurrah” trip to NYC and New Jersey to visit my dear friend Micalagh and her husband Josh.  Also, Roy got to see the city for the very first time and I got to get my fix again.  I know it’s cliche, but I ❤ NY!  Roy, Micalagh and I saw Times Square, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the Macy’s and Sak’s windows, Rockefeller Center, and “Billy Elliot” on Broadway.  NYC was absolutely electric at Christmas and the buzz of the city energized me to the point that I overdid it and paid for it (really sore legs and feet) for the next two days.  It was SO worth it!

Then we spent some time at the Beckwith’s NJ home spent the rest of the weekend at their lake house at Green Pond, which was amazing and relaxing!

Here are a few Christmas maternity pics, taken by Melissa McMasters when I was 30 weeks.

And here are a couple pics we took at 31 weeks on Christmas morning.

To be continued…

My Pregnancy Story: 2nd Trimester

Just as everyone promised it would be, my second trimester was the best one of all.  I finally started really showing and I just loved my basketball belly.  Plus, all the hormones made me feel literally better pregnant than not pregnant!  The 2nd trimester was the best of both worlds — big, but not so big that mobility was limited, emotional, but not so emotional that life insurance commercials brought me to tears, and tidy, but not so tidy that I had to organize and reorganize everything in my path, including the attic.  (All of the extremes would later take place within the 3rd trimester.)

I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the attention and friendly smiles I got from strangers in the grocery store and pretty much everywhere I went.  Being pregnant is truly like nothing else, isn’t it?  For one thing, it’s a small, yet noteworthy, symbol of the cross.  Jesus sacrificed his body so that we might have life.  And He designed women’s bodies to be sacrificed (it will never be quite the same again, I am told), so that one might have new life, through God.  And there are many more parallels if you delve into it.  I found myself getting lost in the holiness of pregnancy and the excitement that comes along with knowing that God was knitting together a miracle within my womb.  “For You created my innermost being: You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body.”  How cool is that?!  God did and does just that, whether the mother is a believer or not, every single time a baby is born.

My maternity clothes fit me well in this trimester (which cannot be said about the 1st or 3rd trimester) and maternity jeans became my best friend (and they still are by the way – who doesn’t love a stretchy waistband? Besides the high comfort level, it reminds me of my stretchy, stirrup pants days of the 80s and that makes me happy.)

Here I am beginning the 2nd trimester, at 12 weeks pregnant

14 weeks

Here I am with my best friend, Shelby, when I was 15 weeks and she was 24 weeks, I believe.  Roy and I drove to Louisville to visit them over Labor Day weekend…Ha!–Get it?  I remember feeling one of her twins, Tamsie, kick my hand while we were out on a shopping trip.  At this point, my little boy’s movements were just beginning to feel like butterfly wings, which was so amazing and special. 16 weeks

Ah the infamous 18 weeks — Here I am at the doctor’s office right before we found out the gender…

…And here’s the Roy boy smiling as he wonders if it will be baseballs or ballet shoes for us!

Taken just after our sweet Dr. told us “It’s a boy!”

I’m almost embarrassed to say we thought we wanted a girl first.  I thought I would be a better “girl mom” and Roy has 3 brothers and wanted to have a girl first to experience something very different from what he’s known.  What were we thinking!?  Thank God He had other plans because now we KNOW we were supposed to have our sweet baby boy.  There’s a great country song, “Sometimes I thank God…for unanswered prayers…”  AMEN BROTHA!

So I went home and finished my “reveal cake”

I would have done a blue cake, but I literally forgot before putting the cake in the oven (Ha! Chalk another one up to baby brain, I guess..)  And so I decided to do a secret middle layer of blue frosting instead.  The orange frosting thing on top is a question mark, by the way.

We have my inlaws over for chicken and dumplings and we made them wait the ENTIRE meal until they could cut the cake and see what we were having.  Some would call it mean, but I call it building suspense.  When they saw the blue frosting, they were like “A boy!  We know how to handle boys!  We have a little experience…)

18 weeks — This is around the time that I felt his first big kicks as I was laying down to sleep one night.  It was so surreal and special to feel his kicks and punches–yet another big highlight of the 2nd trimester!

Here he is waving when I was 18 weeks and 1 day–A-mazing!

I remember being so amazed by the development of his spinal column, which had taken place between my 18 week ultrasound and the one prior

21 weeks –There’s that basketball I loved to hug on!

23 weeks — Seemed to have developed a somewhat pointy belly in just 2 weeks!

In the 2nd Trimester….

I felt…

• Anxious before knowing the gender
• Excited and at peace after knowing the gender
• Energized
• A little achy in my lower back, booty, and backs of the legs from time-to-time
• Hungry all the time
• Ever so happy

I craved…

• Pepperoni pizza from the Trolley Stop
• Meat
• Breaded shrimp
• Crab legs (even though I couldn’t eat them!)
• Grapefruit
• Granny smith apples
• Shockers sour candies
• Other misc. items that were salty, sour, or rich!

My Pregnancy Story: 1st Trimester

The first trimester of my very first pregnancy was full of mixed emotions – excitement, joy, and fear to name a few.  I’m sure many other women can relate to this contrast of emotions because the pregnancy is so new and fragile in the first trimester.  I remember feeling like one wrong move could hurt the baby, so I would catch myself moving rigidly, standing up very straight, and even lowering my waistbands just a tad so as not to “put pressure on the baby.”  Of course all those things seem so silly now and they didn’t help or hurt at all.  They just reveal that my initial feelings of fear and vulnerability from just knowing I was pregnant literally changed the way I moved.  Of course Roy and I were over the moon and we wanted to scream our news from the rooftops, but we were also uneasy because we had to wait for what seemed like forever to confirm the pregnancy.  “What do you mean confirm the pregnancy?  How long until you know?”, I remember asking.  I went in to get back to back blood drawn.  I still remember where I was when I got the phone call from the nurse days later.  I stepped into the hallway of Hutchison School while praying and the nurse said “Your HCG levels doubled within 24 hours – that’s exactly what we like to see.”  “So…I’m really pregnant?,” I asked.  “Oh yes.”  Fireworks.

Then we got to go in for an ultrasound around week 7, I believe.  The nurse was quiet for again what seemed like forever and then she said, “There is ONE baby in there” to which Roy replied “Thank God [there’s only one.]  Don’t get me wrong, the man wanted a baby and he has nothing against twins…but he was relieved that we would be getting only one baby right now.  We saw and heard the heartbeat and I remember it sounded like a train and looked like a ball beating out of it’s chest.  We. were. in. love.

There was a scare around week 8 when I had a little spotting.  We prayed and prayed and relied solely on God because He was and IS the only one in control and we praise Him that it stopped after a couple days and never returned.

The next time we saw the baby, he looked like a gummy bear with tiny arm and leg buds.  He was wigling around! My heart melted more.

The weeks dragged by and I yearned to be reach 12 weeks, so the risks would go way down and we really could start telling people.

I had a strong urge to tell my mom, but I also wanted to wait until I saw her in person in just a few short days (for Roy’s surprise 30th b-day party I was planning).  After thinking about it and having her on my heart all day, I decided to tell her on the phone and when I called, to my surprise she already knew I had big news.  (My mom has feelings about people she loves that come true later.  She believes they’re from God and they’re not physic powers or anything crazy like that.  Perhaps I’ll do a whole post on this at some point down the road…)  Before I could tell her, she said, “Honey, what is it you have to tell me?  I’ve had this intense urge to call you all day, but I figured you would call me when you were ready.”

I remember thinking that everyone knew I was pregnant by just looking at me, but of course I wasn’t showing yet and no one could tell…except for Roy’s Aunt Katherine who later disclosed that she thought I had a glow and a tiny bump when she saw me at Roy’s surprise party at 9 weeks preggo.  Wow – skills!  At 10 weeks, I looked as if I had just slammed 3 cheeseburgers and was a little bloated, but that was only if you looked really closely and/or I pulled my clothes tight.

Finally, 12 weeks came and went and I was no longer in the first trimester.  I couldn’t wait to get a big baby bump and start looking pregnant and get out of that “Is-she-pregnant-or-just-bloated?” awkward phase.

Here I am at 10 weeks

Here he is at 11 wks and 5 days (Of course we didn’t know he was a he at this point though).

In the 1st Trimester….

I felt…

• Soooooo tired
• Sluggish
• Hungry all the time

I craved…

• Cheeseburgers and fries
• Hand battered chicken tenders with homemade ranch
• Fried pickles with homemade ranch
• Fruit
• Sour patch kids
• Anything salty, sour, or rich!

The Journey Begins

Last summer, I silently prayed “God, if it’s not your will now, I’m okay with that.  I desire whatever your will is for me today.”  This time, I did not let myself get my hopes up like I had done in previous months.  I braced myself for the negative result I knew all too well and made a decision that I would not to end up in bed with the covers over my head crying in just a few short minutes.  This time would be different because I had given it to God.  In fact, I felt peace like I had never quite felt it before.  I took a deep breath…and peed on a stick.

TWO pink lines?  Some of my initial thoughts were: “I am seeing things…  Count ’em – one.  two.  ONE.  TWO.  Can’t be right…  Must be right!  What?  Seriously?!!  Oh my gosh, there is a baby growing inside me.  How should I tell my husband?  …I know how! – make him a special, baby-themed dinner, like on Full House, like I always planned to do! Whoops, almost forgot – Thank you, Lord Jesus!  Sorry it took me so long to realize this was You moving in my life and not just some random coincidence!”

So I immediately ventured out into the yard where my hubby, Roy, was doing one of his favorite tasks – yard work.  I played it off like a normal day and mentioned that I was headed off to the store to pick up the things for dinner.  (We had previously planned to have tacos and guacamole, which I later learned that Roy was especially excited about.)  It seemed like he would be out there for a while, so I figured I had plenty of time to weave an intricate tapestry of surprise-dinner-goodness.  Of course I decided to change up the entire dinner menu as part of the surprise and I planned out the following menu: Baby Back Ribs, Baby Corn, and Baby Carrots.  I even decided to pick up some Baby’s Breath to garnish the table!  (For all of you non-Full House junkies, this is the way Aunt Becky shared her preggo news with Uncle Jesse.  I had always hoped that I would have enough composure and finesse to do the same if ever given the opportunity!)

So I set out for Kroger (for the corn, carrots, and flowers), then to Walgreens (to buy not one buy TWO more pregnancy tests – perhaps I thought they would be more effective if purchased at a pharmacy?? – can’t quite recall my logic for needing to get them there…), and lastly to Corky’s BBQ (to pick up some of the best ribs in town of course.  This is Memphis – we don’t play.  Actually Rendezvous is my personal favorite, but I knew driving downtown would be a bit extreme.)

Well, I wish I could tell you that my special dinner went off without a hitch, but my plan kinda back-fired…  I guess I was gone for a few too many hours, which felt like minutes to me because I was floating on air!  A concerned Roy called me on my way home from Corky’s and asked “Where have you been?  Are you okay?!”  I was like “[Insert a bunch of fluff]” and when I got home he was extremely annoyed that I had been gone for so long while he had been waiting at home hungry and, what’s even worse, that I had not even picked up the things for tacos and guac.  I tried to explain that it was a surprise dinner and to “just trust me” but he kept trying to figure out what on earth could be worth my deviating from the Mexican food plan he had been dreaming of as he did hours of strenuous yard work.  He started guessing foods and then he smelled the ribs….and was like “You drove all the way to Corky’s???”  ….And then there were some tears on my part, mostly due to my pregnant-emotional state and my realization that I could not successfully implement my Full House-inspired dinner…and there was a very confused Roy who wanted an explanation for my seemingly bizarre shenanigans.

So when I realized my surprise dinner was not going to come to fruition, I broke down and told him of the surprise dinner items and that I was PREGNANT!  He was like “You’re joking.  …Seriously?  That’s great!!!  …Ooooooh, I’m sorry about the dinner, honey.”  I smiled through my tears and we both knew right then that this would be a story we would always laugh about for years to come.

So what came of the surprise dinner items?  We ate the ribs with cold, crispy carrots for dinner that night, but I later took back the baby corn (because who wants to eat canned baby corn for no reason if it’s not in stir fry?) and the baby’s breath (because the smell was giving me a headache due to my new pregnant state!)

Morals of the story:

• Do not mess with a man who is hungry for Mexican cuisine.
• We were pregnant at last and that’s all that mattered!
• Attempting to live out Full House episodes in real life is encouraged, even though it didn’t work out for us in this instance.
• We’ve got a great “I’m pregnant” story to tell and laugh about forever.
• God answers prayers – May all glory go to Him alone!