Patience

Well, we are still playing the waiting game with our new little one. Apparently, he/she is just too warm and cozy in Mama's belly to wanna come out and meet us! But the Lord is faithful to provide, and we know this baby will be here in His perfect timing.

Here is an update of my weekend:

At my 40 wk prenatal appt on Friday, my iron level was showing to be quite low. It's been something I've known about and have been working on, but we thought for sure it would've come up by now. So, I've been taking blackstrap molasses (yuck!), more Hematinic (iron supplement), chlorophyll, and upping my intake of spinach, red meat, and greens to get my iron up quickly. For those of you that aren't aware, when your iron level is low you have more of a tendency to bleed more, so this can prove to be dangerous during labor. With my levels being so low, I am really glad the baby has decided to hang out a little longer until I can get everything up. I know that God is doing something great in this process. I am so glad that He knows what is going on and is always in control! **update* today I went to see my midwife to check on my levels again, and they are steadily going up. yay! So, just have to keep working hard on it!**

Saturday my wonderful sister came over and helped me get a few things done and clean around the apartment. I truly enjoyed her company and we were able to be pretty productive. What a blessing!

But yesterday proved to be yet another test for me. My skin has flared up, yet again, and I have just come off of oral steroids and antibiotics. The relief I was finally able to feel while taking it was short lived to say the least. As usual, almost the minute I came off of it, I started to break out again. I almost feel sunburned because my skin is so dry, itchy, and inflamed.

So, yesterday I woke up feeling ok (minus the skin issues). I didn't have time for breakfast because we were running late for church. So all I had was some apple juice on the go. By the time lunch came, I was with my parents at a local restaurant, and I was feeling pretty crappy. My symptoms: achy, feverish, mild headache, earache, and my spirits were just a little down. My back was hurting and my ab muscles were tense, and I didn't know what to do. I thought it might be from not eating all morning but I couldn't put a finger on it.

Then came the emotions...oh boy! I have to say that I am an emotional person to say the least. It doesn't have to be "that time of the month" or a sign of pregnancy for me to have a good cry about something. It's just the way I release I guess. However, during pregnancy those emotions are always heightened from good ole' hormones. (yay)

So when my mom asked me if everything was okay, I had a minor meltdown. We were just about finished with lunch so I excused myself to the car to wait on them to pay. I felt like such a baby, as I always do, but I know I wasn't being one.

So I visited with my parents at their house all day since J was at work. I didn't want to go home and I welcomed the help with the kids while I was feeling this way. As the day pressed on, the kids took a nap (major victory as they never sleep anywhere but home!) and I tried to take one too. But I never fully got the rest I needed. I kept waking up and just never got comfortable. At one point, I was going to get up but just couldn't move because I was so exhausted. But my mind was totally alert. Hate that! My parents were awesome though. They fed us and let the kids watch tv and Mom even took me grocery shopping. I went to bed with my whole body aching and another headache and prayed that the baby would just come on already! ha!

But this morning, I felt better. Not 100%, but most of the symptoms were gone. Hmmm...don't know what it was, but I'm hoping it means the end is sooner rather than later! ha!

I know that God is teaching me patience and His timing through all of this. I know from experience that once the baby is here, my skin will at least improve a little and I will have some relief, so in a way I am anxious for him/her to make their appearance. But in another way, I am really trying to savor every extra moment I have with just Rebekah and Noah. They are both doing things lately that never cease to amaze me and make me proud of them. They are growing up so fast!

Rebekah's birthday is this Thursday...that's right - my baby girl will be 3 on April 1st. Where has the time gone? Seriously. We have still yet to make plans because we thought that we'd already have had baby #3 here, so it's hard to know how to plan when everything is contingent on baby's arrival. We have such a small space that it would be near impossible to have a party here. Even with just family, it makes for a big party. So, we shall see what we can come up with to celebrate our girl.

Also, for those that are wondering - I have a biophysical profile (basically a high tech sonogram) scheduled for Thursday this week to check on baby if he/she hasn't come yet. This will just check to make sure baby is still healthy and comfy with fluid levels, etc. and it will let us know that we can still play the waiting game or what to do next. I am praying we won't get to Thursday! ha! But, if everything is okay, then we will wait til next Tuesday (two weeks past due) to discuss further options.

So now, we just wait. I am trying to get more stuff (neverending laundry, dishes, cleaning and organizing) done around here to keep me busy and I'm enjoying this great weather we've been having! Thanks for your continued prayers for us with everything that is going on!

And thanks for sticking with me through this very long post!

Happy Monday!

Pink or Blue?

Well, I'm still here! What do YOU think I'm having? Cast your vote in the poll on the right sidebar and/or comment right here on this post! And if you're feeling extra knowing, let me know WHEN you think he/she is coming too! I was due Tuesday, the 23rd. Rebekah was a week early and Noah was 4 days late. We shall see with this one! :)

Lots to Update and Gender Poll

Wow! So much has happened since my last post! I can't believe I am so far behind, and I am just going to stop promising to be better because it's been so hard to keep up! ha! Hopefully there are some readers still out there!

Well, I thought I needed to post on here, seeing as how my due date is TOMORROW! Where did the time go? How did that happen? Who knows! In a way, this is good to me. I haven't been anxious about labor and haven't been feeling totally DONE when it wasn't time. On the flipside, I just recently started the nesting process last week! This is something that with the other kids happened a few times before the end but not so much at the last minute! lol! Since we haven't found out the gender yet, we are still sort of solidifying names too, which has stressed me out as well!

Anyway, I haven't talked much about this pregnancy on here, and I think most of it is because we have been super preoccupied with other things going on in life right now. I would really like to document in detail on here about everything, but I will give ya'll the short(ER) version for now. :)

About a third of the way into this pregnancy I decided to get an allergy test done. I was curious to start on the road of getting answers again for why my asthma and eczema were so bad recently. Now, for those of you that know me, you know that I have lived with severe asthma, eczema, and allergies for ever and was always in and out of the hospital for asthma until high school and a few times even recently. So, getting answers has not been easy. However I started seeing a chiropractor a few years ago when I was pregnant with Rebekah. Since then, I have really been striving to do things more naturally and find ways to go around being on medicine all the time. I thought that taking the allergy test might be a little more conclusive since I hadn't had one in years.

After finding that I am, in fact, allergic to almost everything they tested me for, I sought out a nutritionist thinking I needed to have a diet plan since I was pregnant and nursing at the time. I knew if I had to stay away from most everything it would be hard to get the vitamins and nutrients that I need for my babies! Little did I know that the nutritionist I would meet would be what she was!

Here is where I will condense the last several months and say that after meeting with Dr. Perkins, I found the most hope from any "doctor" that I've had EVER. We talked about my symptoms and what I was experiencing, and I went back that week to have a full nutritional exam done. She let me know that our bodies are made to heal themselves from the inside out. We sometimes just have to encourage them! The general root of all the problems I am having boils down to toxicity, immune, and digestive issues. The idea is that if we can treat all of that, then my body will start learning how to function the way it was designed to do and the symptoms of skin and allergy stuff will go awaway!

So, I have been seeing Dr. P on a weekly basis for the most part and I've been taking whole food supplements and staying away from Gluten, Dairy, Wheat, Nuts, and Corn. And let me just say that it is one of the hardest things I've ever done! Food is such a comfort thing to me and it's just been really hard to stay on task - and it was esp hard during Thanksgiving and Christmas! However, I know that it works because I've seen results. Slow and steady, but real results! It's also been a challenge because things have gotten worse before they've gotten better. And it's a cycle that keeps happening and probably will keep happening until my body figures it all out. I went to the ER with a crazy skin infection (bacterial AND viral) and had to be treated for a few hours there to get it back under control. And just this past week it's been trying to come back, so I've been on medication again. It's nice to have medicine when I need it, but so frustrating when I am trying to come off of it! Please pray for patience as I know that for now, I have such confirmation that this is going to be the answer I've been looking for and need to stick with!

I will try to keep ya'll updated, but it is so neat because doctors have told me all of my life that there is no "cure" for everything I have going on and that I'll have to be on medication all my life to combat my symptoms. Now I know that they've been WRONG! Frustrating and exciting all at the same time! :)

Another thing going on is J's recent career change. He's always had a love for anything military related. We have had several on and off discussions about him going into the military over the 5 years we've been married, but nothing has ever been seriously decided on about it....until now. :) For the past several months, lots of praying, researching, talking to other people who have served in the military, and more praying has been done on the matter. And after careful consideration we decided that J would join the Army. He swore in a few weeks ago, and is now waiting to go to basic training soon. So, we have been getting our hearts and minds (and the apartment!) ready for what's to come. I have a feeling things are going to be moving fast and furious before we know it! But God is faithful and has provided lots of peace and reassurance about His will and provision over us.

So, please keep us in your prayers. J will get a few weeks off to be with me as soon as I have this precious baby of ours and then will only work a little while longer before training starts. Please pray for this transition for our family as well as for our overall health. As a sidenote, Rebekah has been dealing a little with some asthma-like symptoms over the past few months and we are desparately praying that she would be healed from it! Also please be praying that labor and delivery with baby #3 would go smoothly and that my team of people (as well as J and I) will have wisdom and know exactly what to do during the entire thing! I am so excited about it, and I just know there will be a great story to tell!

I am going to put a poll up to see if you can guess what we're having! Bekah has gotten tired of us asking what she thinks but for a long time has said she thinks it's a girl. J and I are voting girl but don't really care either way and the majority of the family are voting boy (except my sister and maybe one or two others!) Both Nana (my mom) and Granna (J's mom) think boy.

What do you think?

Hopefully my next post will be the reveal! :)

Happy Birthday to Noah! A Birth Story

Well I've done it again! I have neglected my blog and I really don't like it! I would love to be able to sit and write on here every day but it just has gotten so busy and hectic around here. When I have down time I try to catch up on cleaning and Noah is such a mama's boy right now and hates it when I get on the computer! ha! Oh well. I'm back. I think. :)

Today is Noah's FIRST birthday! Yes, it's been a whole year since I labored and had our precious son. What a blessing it has been to have him around. We are going to have a party tonight to celebrate the big event so maybe pictures will follow soon if I can get them on here fast enough. :) I haven't taken any pics of the kids lately, so that will be something I'll have to make sure and do tonight!

I figured that since I never posted my labor story about Noah, that today would be the perfect day to do so!

Here we go!

On December 2nd, before I went to bed, I noticed that I lost my mucous plug (I hadn't done this with Rebekah so I assumed this was a great sign). So I made sure all our stuff was ready (you never know how fast it will go) and decided to head to bed. All throughout the night I felt like something was different, and I had to pee all night. But no contractions. I know it's a weird detail to share, but all I knew was that something was different and I was hoping it would go fast. Little did I know what was in store for us!

So, I woke up on Decemeber 3rd and started having mild contractions. J was called by a friend for help with a flat tire, and we wanted to help. However I didn't want him to leave me at home, just in case this was it (she didn't live close). So we got ready, loaded the car, and headed over to help her. When we were done, I decided to call and let my midwife, Ann, know what was going on. At this point I was pretty uncomfortable but I knew it was not time.

We decided to eat at Chick fil a and walk around the mall to pass the time and hopefully stir up some heavier labor! :) It seemed to help some. My appt with Ann also happened to be on this day, so we headed over to see her, hoping that I had made some progress. Turned out I was only dilated to a 1 I think. We were supposed to go to our family lifegroup that night, but decided to just go home and get some rest. That evening and into the night, contractions came and went. They always tell you that you know it's "real" labor when contractions are "longer, stronger and closer together". But it's still hard when you are going through it to understand what your body is doing. At some point I called Ann again because I was anxious and in pain and didn't know what to make of it. I was so worried that this baby would surprise us and just come really fast. I found out at this point that she had TWO other mamas in labor at the same time! So I was encouraged to take a hot bath, relax and take it easy. (For those that don't know, this is supposed to help your body to what it needs to do. If it is real labor, nothing will slow it down - but if it isn't you will be able to relax and sleep). Jason's mom came over to help with Bekah in case things started progressing.

My friend and chiropractor, Cindy, came over and checked me and I was still only at maybe a 2. I was so frustrated. By this time I had thrown up a few times, and contractions were stronger and I really felt like things were moving along. I just kept wondering what was making my labor so hard if nothing was really happening.

We stayed up a little while and then I took a Benadryl (per midwife recommendation) and tried to sleep. I kept waking up for each contraction, and I couldn't get comfortable. As a crazy sidenote, this was also the night that an apartment building in our complex decided to catch fire. Jason is the courtesy officer at our apts so he had to go check on it. I was so irritated that of all the nights, this had to be the one where a stinking FIRE had to start. ::sigh::

So, we all (somewhat) slept for a while. The next morning, December 4th, was the same stuff. I was throwing up more (something I was grateful that Jason's mom was there for because J hates it) and I was just so exhausted and tired of being in labor. Jason was also tired of not having support, so I texted my midwife and chiropractor and then we finally decided to meet at the birth center/chiro office to get adjusted and checked.

They tell you not to come too early to the birth center because you might get turned away if it isn't real labor. The state has a crazy law that if you don't progress within a certain amount of time then you have to be transported to the hospital. We were trying to avoid this, which is the reason I hadn't gone up there yet. However, we got the go ahead to see what was going on.

So, I got adjusted which was which SO awesome and then it was time to see what was going on with baby.
(Contractions were seriously crazy at this point. I couldn't stand up or move when they came. And one side of my belly hurt like crazy - you could see a huge bulge on that side every time a one came!)

When Ann checked me, I wasn't dilated very much more. I must have been like a 3 or 4. I can't remember. This is when it was determined that Noah was asynclintic. Basically, his head was turned a little to the side. I will spare you most of the other details, but I've heard (and experienced) that this makes labor longer and more difficult than it would normally be. My body was trying to progress and couldn't because of his position. So, Ann let me know that we were going to try and do everything possible to get him to move and get me to progress, but to also be prepared to possibly go to the hospital if it didn't happen.

Then came walking stairs (Oh. my. word. This was painful), walked around outside, labored on the toilet (weird, I know, but works!). I got adjusted often (I have THE BEST chiropractors and they both worked on me during labor), took homeopathic pills, and did whatever the heck they told me to. I was so determined to not have to go to the hospital. Our family showed up in the waiting area. My parents brought us dinner. I DID NOT want to eat, but was told that I needed to if I wanted things to keep moving. So, Chick fil a chicken soup and Sprite it was. :)

Finally, baby turned the right way, (after more walking, laboring on a birthing ball, on the toilet more, and in the tub) and I was dilated to an 8! Woohoo!

The rest is kind of fuzzy for me. But I remember when my water broke and shortly thereafter got situated in the tub to get ready for his arrival. He was born not too long after that. Maybe a few hours. I pushed for 19 minutes in the tub (the most wonderful and pain relieving thing ever!), and got to walk to my bed, baby in hand right after! Jason actually caught Noah himself and got to cut the umbilical cord when it was time, too. Noah weighed 6lbs 14oz.

I had the MOST AMAZING team working with me and I know for sure that I wouldn't want to have done it with any one of them being gone. Although it was probably the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, it was definitely the most rewarding and one of my best accomplishments. :) I wouldn't change any of it for anything.

I also found out later that there had been another lady with an asynclitic baby a few months prior to me that had to be transported and that there was talk about how great I was doing for persevering, even when it got hard and I thought I was done. Thank the Lord I didn't know this while I was going through it. I kept telling myself I was being a baby and that all women have it hard. (Which is basically true) But I didn't have a clue that mine was harder than usual and that was good or I think I'd be begging to go to the hospital! haha! Also, my bleeding afterward was better than expected (as in, less), and I didn't even tear! Everything about this labor was blessed - and I didn't even have so much as a tylenol for the pain!

For those of you that don't know, Rebekah was born in the hospital. Another story for another time, but suffice to say that this experience blew my labor experience with her out of the water! What a difference having a midwife and team of supporters that love me made!

And now, one year later, we have the most precious, handsome, and funny boy around. God has provided us with the most amazing kids and I love them more than life itself!

Happy Birthday Noah!

And happy Friday to ya'll!

Update

Okay, so it's been almost a month since my last blog post! It has been such a crazy time for us! When I can find the words and the time, I want to share details about what all has been going on but for now, just know that things are going great with the Reese's and that I believe that God is leading me down a road of physical and spiritual healing. He is so good and He is providing in ways that we never even imagined. So, just wanted ya'll to know that we are alive and kicking and busier than ever! And I am halfway DONE with this pregnancy already! Where has the time gone? Be back soon!