New Year Beginning

This new year is a special one for us. 

We are beginning it with a third member for our first time.  

Last year on New Year's Eve, the hubs and I debated whether I should take a pregnancy test.  He won the debate and we have been overjoyed, blessed and sometimes scared everyday since then.  It has been a roller coaster ride (please see previous posts), but one I would do again!

For Christmas, we bought Sweet P a little devotional that is a child's adaptation of "My Utmost For His Highest" by Oswald Chambers.  The child's version is called "Jesus Wants All Of Me" and goes day by day with the same scripture and similar lesson as the adult's version.  This morning, Sweet P and I sat down and started our devotionals for this year with a nice cup of tea! (I gave up coffee when I gave up cream - I put Almond Milk in my tea and it is yummy)

With the Hubs home to watch Sweet P, I was able to start a new knitting project today.

We also enjoyed one of our new traditions.  Let's see if you can guess

It involves these ingredients and a hot fire

Yup - You guessed it!  S'mores!!!  We roast the marshmallows in our fireplace and enjoy some in-house s'mores :)

It appeared as though our Lil Sweet P wanted some too.  

We do have some exciting things coming up this year, but we are not sharing *yet* (NO, we are not having another baby).   

We haven't made any new years resolutions.... We had so much on our plate in 2012 that we had to accomplish, I think we both need to just take every day as it comes.  And learning to be parents is a pretty big task in it's own.

What about you?  Any New Years Day fun? Do you have any resolutions?

Sweet P's 1st Christmas Highlights

Just a few photos from my lil Sweet P's first Christmas.

Our Lil Man LOVED the contrast of the colors.

Our lil reindeer greeting the morning

Having a Ball
We got Lil P this ball and he LOVES it!

Phalen's New Ride - an old school Walker!

He loves to stand and try to take steps, so we thought this would be better than a bouncer. 

Phalen got Daddy a pair of socks and a new tie! :)
(I figured he should get started right away with these stereotypical gifts!)

We also gave Phalen the book "The Story of Christmas" and "A Charlie Brown Christmas" movie.  We read him the book as soon as we were done opening gifts.  It tells the story of Jesus' birth and ends with "Happy Birthday Jesus".

After dinner (which was BBQ steak and shrimp - steak for the Hubs), we settled in to watch "A Charlie Brown Christmas".  (does anybody remember the name of the little red-haired girl in the yellow checked dress? we can't remember and couldn't find it online when we looked it up).  It was such a great way to end a beautiful day!

How was your day spent?

You're Invited!

Image Credit

Getting ready for church tonight, I greatly lacked a desire to go.  I know this sounds terrible, but I REALLY wanted to skip and have a relaxing Christmas Eve dinner at my in-law's then head home for a quiet night and to bed on time.

I am constantly praying that God will change my attitude real quick when I have negative thoughts.  Well, He certainly did that tonight!  Shortly after feeling a desire to skip, the thought occurred me

This isn't just another church service

This is a celebration of Jesus' Birth

This is Jesus' Birthday Celebration!

Jesus is my King!

Do you know what that means?!  

I was invited to attend the Birthday of a KING!

How could I not want to go?!  How could I not want to get dressed up?!  After all, I would be attending a King's birthday party!!!  

So quickly my attitude did change; I was actually excited to go.  And my selfish ideas were no longer what I had in mind; I couldn't wait to go to church!  I even wanted to bake a cake and write "Happy Birthday Jesus" on it (darn, I wish I'd had more time - perhaps a new tradition to start next year!)  

Needless to say, I made sure we left with plenty of time (accounting for possible traffic delays and/or snowfall); we arrived 45 minutes early, so we went for coffee/tea while we waited :)  HA- How is that for an attitude adjustment?! 

I am thankful for the Spirit's prick in my perspectives.  I pray that I will always be open to a change of perspective when I fail to see the magnitude of Who I turn to everyday, Who I serve, Who I seek, Who I long to spend time with: THE KING - Jesus Christ, my Savior.  

Here is your invitation to The King's birthday party!

From my family to yours-

Merry Christmas!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

...CHRISTMAS in my house.

I gotta confess, we always have intentions to get our Christmas decor up the weekend after Thanksgiving, and then we FAIL!   This year was no different. 

We finally got the tree up last weekend. 

I did a few more touches during the week between my little Sweet P's naps (which are two at 30 minutes each - he doesn't seem to like to sleep much). I eventually gave up and decided we would have it very simple this year.

And the best part of this, THREE stockings :)  All of us have the same style stockings (as do Hub's sisters, bro-in-law, and nephew).  A personalized stocking is the gift from my Ma-In-Law when you enter the family.

Our dining area is ready for guests.  Just in time too.  We hosted a dinner guest on the 20th.  And what better day; if the Mayans were right (bahahaha), best to spend the evening breaking bread in fellowship with a dear friend.

A new ornament for our tree:  A depiction of our biggest gift this year.

An ornament given to Phalen from MeMe (g-ma) on the day of his dedication: December 2nd, 2012
Also a wonderful reminder for everyday (I will probably hang this in his room after Christmas).

And some Christmas fun MeMe and I were having while decorating her house.

 All the presents are wrapped, stockings are stuffed, and we're ready (just in time).

Christmas Eve (tomorrow night), we will be going here (church), to enjoy what is sure to be another great sermon.   Afterwards, we will have a small dinner celebration and gift exchange with my In-Laws  (and I'm almost certain there will be a game of Farkle).  This has become our Christmas Eve tradition :) It feels great to have traditions, but even better that Sweet P has grandparents here to spend the holidays with.  

What do you do for Christmas Eve?

Roller Coasters 7 & 8: A Birth Story

Continued from the "Life Since Then" post,  are Roller Coasters 7 & 8.  This is our Birthing Story and the following week.

Roller Coaster 7
We left for the hospital very early in the morning (5:30 am) to be <heavy breath> induced.  Not at all apart of my <cough cough> birthing plan, but according to my doctor, necessary (as you read on Roller Coaster 6).   God blessed us by having a wonderful friend give us a surprise meeting at the hospital entrance to pray over our labor & delivery and for our precious little one.

Once I was connected and receiving Pitocin, we settled in for a long day.  (The nurse had a difficult time finding a vein for the IV, and after a 3rd attempt, brought in a different nurse - needless to say, I looked as though I was a 'user'.)

I had a very good friend, a Doula (in training) and my husband there to keep my company.  A few other friends stopped by and covered us in prayer.  Around noon, the contractions started getting stronger, but I had only dilated to 2.  I used the birthing ball, walked around, etc, trying to dilate more. Around 5:30pm, I finally dilated to 3.  I got excited that we were finally going to be 'moving along'.  But that did not happen.

Holding/Seeing my son for the first time.

I was checked multiple times throughout the night, but did not dilate past a 3.  Into the morning we went and still nothing past a 3.  I am one of those unfortunate people that Epidural does not seem to work on.  So, while I had the spinal and Epidural administered, it worked for only 20 minutes and not again.  My contractions were horrid, as the Pitocin was turned up in hopes that I would dilate more. My son's heartbeat kept dropping and that was scary enough.  Now my heartbeat was dropping.  The nurses administered Ephedrine to get my heart rate up and hoping to up my son's.  Then the oxygen mask came out.  I looked at my husband and he his eyes were starting to turn glossy.  My Doula was praying over me.  My husband was praying over me.  And then my fever spiked.

I am allergic to many many things.  We didn't know what antibiotic I could have, but they needed to give me something.   I remembered having Amoxicillin as a child and being ok, so the Dr decided to give me another form of cillin (that I cannot remember the name of).  Yay- no bad reaction.  (in the past, I had been given an antibiotic I had a bad reaction to and it was not a good experience).

Around 3:00 am, I was checked again.  My son was in the birth canal but I was still not dilated past 3. :(  His heartbeat continued to drop and I could see on the nurses face that she was very concerned.  I asked her to come over to me (had I been able to, I would have grabbed her shirt and pulled her to me to be almost touching noses) and I said

"it seems this situation is getting pretty severe.  I don't care what you have to do or how you have to do it, but GET MY SON OUT OF ME. The next words I want to hear 'Healthy Baby Boy'".  

The nurse replied, "I'm going to go call the Dr." 

My lil man.
Phalen James
7 lb 7 oz 20 in long

I poured my heart out to God.  Very loudly (to my own ears) I begged him to not take another baby from me, but to deliver this one healthy and happy.  

Within 30 minutes (and while I still prayed), the nurse rushed in with several other nurses following.  I knew the situation was going to get real intense.  And when I started to open my mouth, she said 

"We're prepping for cesarean"

At 4:28am, my son was born.  It was not "healthy baby boy" that was said.  His heart was not beating.  I remember I started to panic and the anesthesiologist started very firmly telling me to calm down.  I don't know how much time passed before they got his heart beating, but they had to take him to the NICU.  I did not get to see my son.  I sent Justin with them; I was so afraid of leaving our little one without one of us.

They wheeled me into the recovery room and about an hour later, they brought my little boy in.

Roller Coaster 8

We found out after delivery that during my labor with William, he passed an antibody to me that fights my husbands blood type.  Since all children we have will carry half of his blood, this will cause problems for all future children we have.  

Needless to say, in birth, I passed the antibody to Phalen in a form similar to a virus.  (We praise God everyday that it was passed in birth, if he had been created with the antibody as part of his make-up, he wouldn't be here with us.)  The day after labor/delivery, I was holding Phalen and noticed his coloring didn't look normal.  I mentioned it to the nurse who assured me he looks normal and it must be the lighting.

My precious babe under the "blue light"

Well, she must've just been wanting to keep us calm because shortly after, a nurse came in with the pediatrician and took him to the NICU to have his blood drawn.  The pediatrician came back, sat down and started to explain to us what happened, what could happen and what we were going to do about it now in hopes to rid our precious babe of this "virus" before it gets worse (and worse is brain damage and/or fatality).

Since we caught it early, we started attacking with the blue light for jaundice babies.  We weren't allowed to hold our new little one except to feed.  The problem is, he wouldn't feed because he was sick.

The doctor told us the fastest way to get this through his system is for him to poop.  He can only poop if he eats.  So, we would wake Phalen every hour and a half and feed him.  If we did not wake him to eat, he wouldn't wake up at all.  I pumped Colostrum and fed it to him through a syringe.  And since that was the only time we could hold him, I would undo the top of my gown, lay him on my chest and take a few extra minutes to get what I feel is much needed bonding time.

Bonding with my little gift

I don't think there has ever been a time, or will ever been a time, that either of us have been soo expectant and excited for poop.  But we, and the nurses as well, practically had a party every time he pooped!

We were completely beside ourselves.  We just kept praying.  I was recovering from a cesarean and couldn't do much.  Justin was wonderful during the entire time, changing his diapers, bringing him to me to feed, etc.  AND Justin had an interview for a promotion that was scheduled pre-labor.  So, he had to do the interview over the phone, in the hospital room with uncertainty looming over us (he got the position). 

Phalen holding Justin's finger.
This was the most we could do except
when we were feeding.  

It took three and a half days for the antibody to be depleted from his system.  He had to have his blood drawn every 8 hours.  His little wrists and heels had marks for a week after we returned home from the needles.

Today, Phalen is almost 4 months old.  He is Healthy Baby Boy who is now weighing in at 15 lbs, 8 oz.  We co-sleep with him;  I can't bear to leave him in his room, in the big crib, by himself yet.  I don't like to put him down, and I don't like to hear him cry.  Many don't agree with us on this, but many have not walked our path.   

Our little blessing has such personality.  He laughs, he screeches when he's excited, he is so strong willed and has no problem letting us know when he doesn't like something.  He loves when I sing to him (and is the only one who likes that).  And he loves music in general.  We have dance party together and I wake him up every morning with classical music playing over him.  He smiles at me when I say "Good Morning Baby" and he stares in awe at the colorful elephant mobile above his changing table (that friends brought him from a mission trip to Cambodia).  

Our little man is such a delight and we thank God for blessing us with such a BIG gift in that little package.

"[We] prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted [us] what [we] have asked of him."
1 Samuel 1:27

Life since then...

Well, it has been some time since my last post. Since then, we have been on a roller coaster ride so to speak.  Well maybe a few/several/many (eight) different rides; like when you go to six flags, they are all lined up and have their own loops and twirlies and ups and downs?!  Yes, that has been our life and home the past several months.

Starting in May, roller coaster one:
We had to build an extra room in our home for our pending Little Blessing's arrival.  We live in an association and are not permitted to change the outside structure of our home.  So, we had to find the space inside our home to build a room into........Master bedroom took the fall.

Our master was a bit oversized if the real intent of a bedroom is to sleep.  So, we moved everything from our bedroom into our living room and started the renovation. We had a mattress on the living room floor that we slept on.  Being 5 months pregnant and growing, it was challenging, but I knew in the end would be worth it!

              

Baby Room walls up, needing new carpet and paint 

Roller coaster number two:

The room was completed in July and in the meantime we decided to redo our floors.  We had a month and a half until our due date and felt the floors should be done prior to our little one's arrival.  We moved all of our belongings into the garage (super excited that everything we have fits into our garage!) and checked into a hotel for several days while our house received new carpet throughout the living space and bedrooms, the dining area received an engineered wood.   Previously, we had a cream colored carpet throughout, including the dining area, and we chose a multi-colored carpet that is made of corn fibers so the VOC is as low as wool (without the price tag!).

Dining Room and Living Room before new flooring

                                         Dining and Living Rooms after new flooring

Roller coaster number three:
Moving back into our home five weeks before our due date, we decided to tackle the redo of our bathroom.   This included new paint, new flooring (from vinyl to a granite composite tile), and change the vanity.  In order to save money, we decided to sand and stain the vanity from a light oak to a nice black.  We bought the rustoleum counter top transformation kit for a white counter top........well, that didn't turn out so well (user errors, I'm sure).  In light of time (a week and a half from due date), we decided to purchase a new counter top.  This proved to be a much better option in the end.  This project was completed days before we delivered our little one (and I am still decorating it).

No pictures for this yet as we are still decorating it.

Roller coaster number four:
We were fortunate enough to have many friends give, or lend, us the items necessary to care for our pending arrival.  We also hit a lot of yard sales over the summer to find necessary items and clothing.  This was such a blessing and helped us out tremendously!!!  Due to receiving an amazing hodgepodge of items, we decided to paint all furniture items white in order to match.  While my husband was hard at work doing that, I "mod podged" paper onto shelving and the back of a bookcase to better fit the colors I wanted to showcase in the baby room.  (we are still working on painting the bookcase)  We had the crib, rocking chair, and changing table ready for the baby's arrival.

I will post more pictures, once we have the bookcase done, of the entire room.  In the meantime, the below picture is the changing table (a quasi picture of it before is in the top photo of the bedroom).  

We also painted the diaper pail (beside on left) orange. 

Orange is my primary accent color for the room.

Roller coaster number five:
I quit my job!  Yup, to be a stay at home mommy.  After 10 years working with this company, we decided it was best for our family if I "stayed home".  It was an interesting day.  My last day was the day after my birthday.  I took my birthday off (had it scheduled in January, before I knew what day I'd be quitting) and when I came to work on my last day, my desk was decorated in a "Happy Birthday/Congratulations for Baby/Happy Retirement" theme.  It was sweet!  (and since then, my husband has received a new position in the company - so two major "job" changes for us in a month and a half!)

And because I love Rainbows....

Roller coaster number six:
The last several Dr appts I had, they were having a difficult time finding the baby's heartbeat.  In the sonograms the baby was always sleeping and the Dr would jolt my stomach to have him move or have me get up or roll around.  This would also cause the heartbeat to go up.  My last appt before the due date, the Dr had an extra hard time finding the heartbeat, even rolling around and poking didn't deliver a strong heartbeat.  The Dr measured the fluid in the placenta and determined that it was too low and said we would need to induce.

This was crushing to me.  I so desperately wanted to 'go into labor'.  I wanted to be sitting somewhere and randomly have contractions start, or my water break.  After our experience with William, I really wanted to have a normal delivery and at the end hear "healthy baby boy".

My husband, on the other hand, who is a planner, was ecstatic to have a schedule!

The night before we induced.  

Roller Coasters number seven and eight are the delivery story and directly afterwards...they are their own long stories so I will share them on a future post.  I'm sure this one has been long enough!

I will not keep you guessing though....Our baby boy was born, and is HEALTHY!!!

And through all of these Roller Coaster Rides, Jesus has been holding my hand and keeping me pretty even keeled and leaning on Him... even being 5+ months pregnant and riding rides that are ranging from the kiddie coaster to the topsy turvy!  Praise Jesus!

Our "Little" Blessing - part Two

Mother's Day 2012

24.5 wks 

I have struggled for most of my life with allergies to many medicines, chemicals, preservatives, etc, as well as a few different foods.  I discover new allergies every year, YAY!!

About a year after having William, I got very sick.  After going to a general practitioner, I was referred to an internal specialist.  When the specialist tried to diagnose me with first Crohn's Disease,  then Ulcerus Colitus, I realized I needed to go to a doctor who thinks outside of the box.  My new doctor discovered I have a type of anemia where my red blood cells attack Vitamin B12.  I also have a sensitivity to Vitamin C, Iron and Calcium.

When I get my nutrient levels checked, it seems I am always deficient in something.  Between my allergies and deficiencies, it seems I'm always struggling to just be "healthy" so-to-speak.

December 30th, 2011, I came home with a new wine to try for our New Years Eve celebration.   When I got home, I realized I was five days late for my monthly cycle.  Since I wasn't having any weird symptoms, I just assumed my cycle was shifting since I work with so many women.

I let my husband know I was late and here is how the subsequent conversation went:

Hubs:   Is this normal?
Me:   Um, could be
Hubs:   How often are you typically late?
Me:   hmm, maybe once or twice a year
Hubs:   Are you ever 5 days late?
Me:   Uhm, I don't think so
Hubs:   Do you think you should take a pregnancy test?
Me:   Bahaha, uh, NO
Hubs:   Why not?
Me:    Why would I?
Hubs:    I think you should take a test
Me:    Naw, I don't think it's necessary, I'm sure I'll be back to normal soon
Hubs:    Ok, here's the deal, take the test, have a glass of wine....don't take the test, no wine.
Me:    Serious?!  <giggling> We know it's gonna be negative....
Hubs:    Well, then you can have a glass of wine.
Me:    FINE!  <laughing>  I'll take a test and waste money.

About 10 minutes later....... me running downstairs to 'Justin-ville' (man cave) screaming "We're gonna have a BA-BEEE, We're gonna have a BA-BEEE" and waving my lil stick in the air.

The Hubs, who just heard frantic screaming came out of 'Justin-ville' and said "what?! what?! calm down, calm down".  Realizing what I was screaming and waving around he then said:

"Did you pee on that thing and now you're waving it in the air possibly flinging that pee around?!"

So, after laughing hysterically at his comment, then staring at the stick FOR-EVER, we realized:

We're gonna have a baby!!

So, let's back up a few months....In August, I felt that I had a little 'prompting' to stop taking all my supplements.  After a few weeks of feeling this prompt, I did.  I quit taking all my supplements.  I did not consult a doctor.  I did not share this with anyone, I just decided to follow what I believed God was saying.  

A few weeks later, I ended up at a Chiropractic office (for the first time ever) speaking with Dr. Jessica!  I was not happy about this, but I literally couldn't move, my back was completely out.  After spending a few months getting my body back on track, and finding out my hips and pelvis have been completely off track (due to a shortened right leg) causing so many problems in my spine and overall health, I was feeling great!  I found out my Chiropractor's specialty is infertility, pregnancies women and children...Huh?!  So, in December, I made an appt with her, to begin in January, processes to determine if I'm possibly unable to get pregnant.

Also in December (19th to be exact), I had my annual exam with my ob-gyn.  I asked him to run a full panel of nutrient and hormone levels.  I really wanted to know how deficient I have become since August without supplements (even though I was feeling great!).  

On the 26th, my results came back.....I was perfect!!  For the first time in my life, I wasn't deficient in ANYTHING!  ALL my levels were exactly where they should be!  Even my glucose levels!  (which I have been hypoglycemic my whole life and was recently labeled as pre-diabetic - grandparents had Type I).  Praise God - He is my Healer!

So, after the "Wine Conversation" with my husband a week later, I was able to go to my Chiropractic appt in January and let her know our plans/appt reasons would be changing because

I have been given a Blessing!!

So, there's the short of our story of "Our 'Little' Blessing"!   It has been quite a journey since that first moment finding out.  I thought I would be a nervous, terrified wreck my entire pregnancy, but I'm not.  God's mercies are new everyday and He feels me with such strength and peace in Him!  He has been my Sustainer in health, and in mind, and in heart.  

 "Walking for William Ryan"

25.5 weeks at the March of Dimes

May 17th, 2012

I praise God daily for the medical professionals that He has given the want, the will, the minds and the knowledge to help us healthily carry babies.  I consider them more blessings to count.   Despite any difficulties I may have or have had, God has helped me keep perspective in the gift I've been given!  

Praising Him in every moment;  through the good, the bad, or the incredible, my Hope is in Jesus Christ!

What little (or HUGE) blessings have you been given lately?