Category: pregnancy

Caught Off-Guard: part 2

So now I was okay internally, with a new baby.  Externally, however, I was still scared…

Scared because while I had peace about this pregnancy, I knew that not everyone else would understand my peace and what God was doing in my life.  I don’t even understand all that God is doing in my life–Ha!  There is no simple explanation; no clear cut answer to the flood of comments and invasive questions I was about to receive.  People talk—all the time and often too freely.  My biggest concern was my response to the questions and comments.  Even though I did not ask for them, preparation was required.  As one who claims to be reppin’ Jesus, I needed to be appropriate regardless of their impropriety. 

Well, when I was pregnant with baby #3, the comments were a steady flow.  Everything from “going for the boy now?” to “are you stopping after this?” and then some.  You know—things that are not their business.  While I tried to shrug it off, I did find that most of these questions were tiptoeing heavily on the line of rude.  And if that’s how they felt about three, I knew not much would change with #4.

This fear held me back for the longest time.  I avoided announcing this pregnancy publicly, choosing to let the *bump* speak for itself.  And while the questions did come, I did the ‘smile-and-nod’ bit for the most part.  Because I was filled with God’s peace, I was okay with not having a response to the pointed questions.  It took me weeks to get to this point, mind you.  So, while my outer reaction is to be kind, my inner reaction is to pray that these people would experience God in a different way too. 

Now for the fun stuff:

Baby is due in early January 2014.  (I have like 14.5 weeks left—squeeeee!)  I’ll need a new car seat and diaper bag for sure.

Yes, we need a van!!!  Our faithful, God-piloted 5-seater car cannot nor will not hold an extra person.  Since my promise-keeping God has promised to provide, I know that the van is coming.  It won’t hurt to be specific and ask you all to pray for us.  We have our eye on a Honda Odyssey.  (We will take whatever vehicle works, but it doesn’t hurt to dream, right?)  The only reason we’ve gone this long without is because we don’t have room for a car payment.  However, the imminent need of a van has skyrocketed exponentially.  And we’re on a deadline now.

My girls are all excited to be big sisters.  They come to appointments with me and *help* the doctor listen to the heartbeat.  They can’t wait until January and are looking forward to holding their new sibling.

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Gender?  We know it.  And you’ll find out in January.  **big cheesy grin**  Yes, watching you all in suspense has been great fun for us.  Lots of friendly wagers are happening around me as my friends and extended family try to break me or guess what the baby is.  Our lips are sealed….

This experience is another faith-builder in my life.  God’s up to something huge, y’all!

Caught Off-Guard

Thank you everyone, for all the kind comments, well-wishes and particularly, your prayers, regarding this pregnancy.  The shock is wearing off more and more as each day goes by.  I thought I should share a bit more about why I was caught off-guard.

My consistent and specific prayer this year has been to eliminate debt. Annihilate it so that we can save.  With three girls and the looming thoughts of post-secondary education in their future– we don’t need debt.  My other prayer has been for a bigger family vehicle.  We currently drive a 2000 Nissan Maxima.  Purchased second-hand, it was a great purchase for our needs at the time, back in 2004.  Our idea was that this car would need to do for us and one child.  Three children later, we’re still in the same car…even though we do not fit well in it.

As I’m praying for these requests, I watched God arrange a few opportunities around me to earn some extra income. We were in a comfortable groove.  But count on God to not let me settle in one spot. There is something much more important than my desires– my willingness to trust Him with everything!!

Back towards end of April/beginning of May, I found myself feeling quite exhausted. Between a virtual assistant position I’d just prayerfully started, homeschooling, babysitting, church volunteer work, and home life, I figured I was stretching myself too thin. Time to re-examine my schedule and trim out all the little extras I was selfishly clinging too (aka season finales of fave tv shows, too much online time, etc).

My changes didn’t do much to help with the fatigue.  Then my appetite began to change.  I’d want a certain food, yet only eat a small tiny portion if the dish.  I’m talking barely a few bites.  Nothing was appetizing.  The idea of food made my stomach start to churn.  Perhaps I needed to find ways to increase my low iron levels (normal for me).   But healthy food was nowhere near my radar.

Suddenly it clicked–I had to be pregnant!

Huh?!  What?!?!  Me?!?!  How does this work?  My prayers were for financial repair and a new vehicle.  With the impending arrival of a new baby, a new vehicle suddenly jumped higher on the list.  And the finances??  Huh?!  What was going on exactly?  I was clueless because I couldn’t see the full picture.

I was so stunned by the pregnancy test results that I made myself take three tests, just to be sure! I didn’t even have to wait the instructed two minutes for the results–that second line appeared immediately, before the test line did!  I sat on my shock for days, taking nearly a week to tell my husband. He was equally floored.  And then I copped out and give him the *pleasure* of sharing this news with our immediate family, and especially my mother. 

Both my husband and I walked around in a foggy state for days.  We were in no way mad or upset. Just shocked and overwhelmed.  What was God’s plan for us, exactly?

I still don’t have an answer for that.  God has shown me that I just need to let Him be in charge and to trust Him.  He is the only Creator that has the power and ability to give life despite circumstances. He’s not about chaos or confusion.  This bombshell of a new baby for our family means that He’s up to something B-I-G!  Even though He hasn’t yet clued me in as to how all this is going to work, His Word has promised that He’s in control and that “every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good” (Rom. 8:28, The Message).

So now I was okay internally, with a new baby.  Externally, however, I was still scared…

The One Where Daddy Droops

Yes, he really did faint.  Not the sudden “thud” kind, but more of the gentle drooping type of fainting.  Third time in the delivery room and he faints.  But wait—it’s not what you think.  It wasn’t the scents or sight of blood or fluids or even nerves that had him fainting.  That would’ve been too easy.    
It was lack of food.  Yes, the big guy needs more than a few onion rings to fill him up.  Here are the details.
So, in birth story part 1, you remember that he played chauffeur the morning of January 20.  He, however, neglected to eat breakfast.  Then after dropping the girls & I home, he went straight to work, not stopping to eat and bypassed all food places as he went.  He was very busy at work, and quickly stopped for some onion rings.  He worked a bit longer than usual, then went grocery shopping after work.  When he came home, it was straight to the girls’ bedtime routines and tucking them in.  Please note that he still has not yet eaten… 
My water broke at 9 pm, so he quickly changed and we went to the hospital.  I did pack Jono a bag full of granola bars, chips and water.  The major food groups were covered—salty & sweet.  Again, we bypassed all sorts of eating places, though I did keep telling him that he could and should get something to eat.  There was a coffee shop still open when we arrived at the hospital at 9:40 pm—I encouraged him again to get something.  And again, he declined, wanting to see me settled first. 
By the time I got a room (I was in triage first) and “settled” in, it was after midnight.  And FINALLY he went and got something to eat.  He was a bit worried to leave me because he didn’t want to miss the baby’s birth.  (Jhyelle was born soon after I’d arrived at the hospital.)  I couldn’t blame him.  How do you explain that??  Sorry, honey, Daddy was there but was too hungry to hang around while you were being born??  He came back as quickly as he could, relieved to not have missed any action. 
Just before the pushing started, I noticed he was wearing a fleece sweater over his shirt.  I asked him if he wanted to take off his sweater, to be more comfortable.  No, he’s fine, he says.  I ask if he’s sure.  Yes, he says.  (This is key!)
Baby comes out and out of the corner of my eye, I see him bending towards me.  I thought he was going to kiss my forehead.  Then I hear the Doctor call out “Oh, Dad’s down!”
Ummm, WHAT?!?!?! 
I was immediately worried.  He’s never passed out!  Ever!!  I knew it wasn’t the delivery room or anything.  Now I’m worrying that he’s suddenly sick.  And remember from part 2 of the birth story, how there were a number of people in the room?  Well, why did the Doctor have to order somebody to help Jono?  Seriously!  “Somebody! Help! Dad!!” were her exact words.  Like hello, ladies, I certainly was in no position to do anything.  And the Doctor was a wee bit busy tending to me.  The resident was closest to him and just stared as though this was her first night in the delivery room.  My nurse had to come from the other side of the room to help him out.  Their next panic was for his head.  They thought he had hit it because of their viewpoint when he fell.  So, they’re also examining him for blood and bruising.  (He did not hit his head.)  They managed to get him sitting up before he awoke.
Then I hear Jono ask “what’s going on?”  They tell him he passed out, and began bombarding him about his head injury.  He kept saying he was fine, and they sort of helped him up from the floor and into a chair.  (He’s like 6’3 and they were all about 5’5; not too much help from them either here).  Then there was talk of his going to the ER because they all swore he’d hit his head, despite his assurance that his head was unscathed in this adventure.
After my Doctor got me all stitched up and the baby was tended to and the extra players left the scene, my Doctor came back in with some apple juice.  All those people, and the second busiest person in the room was the only one to do something productive. 
My version is definitely much more descriptive and accurate.  Jono’s version is this:
He was getting hot, and started to lean forward a bit as he was taking off his sweater.  Next thing he knows, he’s sitting on the floor, with a few strangers standing over top asking him if he’s alright.
This dramatic event still makes us laugh.  Our family nearly fell over from laughing so hard.  I’m glad he’s okay. Needless to say that I’m always making sure that he’s been eating and drinking water regularly.

Birth Story–Part 1

Who ever would’ve thought I’d be retelling the birth of my third child?  A third daughter, no less…

Jonathon took the morning of January 20 off work in order to drive me around.  I thought he would’ve just stayed home with the girls while I went to my appointments.  But, he decided that I was in no physical condition to drive.

I first saw my OB.  She informed me that I was two centimeters dilated so far.  The contractions I’d been having since about 11:30 pm the night before were clearly doing something.  For formality’s sake, I had to make an appointment for the following week, but I think we were both sure I wouldn’t be making that one.

After the OB, I had an appointment to get my WinRho injection because it was my due date and baby hadn’t yet arrived.  If I would give birth in the next few days following this shot, I wouldn’t require any extra treatment for this in hospital, post partum.  If the baby took longer to arrive, then I’d need another dose of this treatment.  Following this appointment, we went home.

My contractions were still sporadic and slightly uncomfortable, but no real pattern to them yet.  At about 2 pm, my mom called me from work, asking if anything was happening.  I told her about my random contractions and she planned to leave work shortly.  The plan was for her to come and stay with Jamayia & Jhyelle while I was in the hospital and stay a few days to help me out once I got home.  She also knew that because I had tested positive for Group B Strep, I would need to head to the hospital fairly early in my labour to receive treatment.  I told her not to rush and that Jonathon had driven to work that day and was just a phone call away.

Since I had an idea of when my mom was coming, I sprung into action.  Nice time for the nesting instinct to kick in.  I stripped the sheets off my bed and Jamayia’s bed, and remade both of them.  I washed those sheets too.  Then I grabbed and changed all the towels and washed those after the sheets.  I did some other minor cleaning too.  Even though my Mom was coming to help me, I didn’t want to just dump everything on her.  Plus, I realized that moving around seemed to stop the contractions, or at least make them less painful.

At 9 pm, just after tucking the girls into bed, I was standing on the stairs, talking to Mom & Jonathon when I felt a small gush of water.  I looked down and was very, very glad to see that there was no leakage on the carpet.  I went to my bathroom and changed my clothes.  I finished gathering the last minute items in my hospital bag, and also packed some snacks for Jonathon.  Turns out that he hadn’t eaten all day long.  He’d skipped breakfast, grabbed some onion rings quickly in the afternoon and hadn’t really had the chance for anything else all day.  On the way to the hospital, I kept asking if he didn’t want to stop in at a drive thru somewhere, but he kept refusing.  Even when we arrived at the hospital, Tim Horton’s was still open, but he wanted to see me settled in first.

I got to the hospital at 9:45 pm.  Contractions were more regular, about 15 minutes apart.  It was nice to go through the brief registration procedure without constant pain.  It was also great arriving there late at night.  It was nice and quiet and not a lot of people around.  My main goals were to get a private hospital room and also an epidural.

I’d had an epidural for Jamayia’s birth and missed it with Jhyelle.  I figured I had arrived early enough to not miss it again this time…

(Part 2 to come soon)

Something’s Up

It’s appointment day today.  I have 2 appointments, back to back.  First up–OB appointment.  We’ll see what, if anything is going on.  I’ve been quite uncomfy and having sporadic contractions since about 11:30 pm last night, so we’ll soon find out.  The second appointment is to get my WinRho shot.  The Hubby took the morning off to chauffeur me around too.  I guess I’m finally too pregnant to drive??

It Just Slipped Out

Today’s my “official” due date, according to my doctor.  (I’ve always said the 20th, just because I prefer the even number.  No rhyme or reason behind it though.)

So, during my prayer time this morning, I finally had a thought as to this baby’s gender.

Girl.

I was praying for my girls by name; Jamayia, Jhyelle and then “hidden girl’s name” just slipped right on out after I said her sisters’ names. Woah–I didn’t expect that.  Up until this point, I had no feeling either way, gender-wise. Everyone I know is assuming that it’s a boy.  They’re assuming that we want a boy.  (There have been a lot of assumptions from all sorts of people who aren’t involved in this pregnancy, but that’s another post.)  I’ve had people come and rub my tummy, talking to the boy they predict I’m having.  My sister-in-law even bought me a little onesie that says “handsome, just like daddy”.  She’s quite confident it’s a boy.

But suddenly, today, I feel it’s a girl.  The name just flowed out.  I didn’t even think about it.  Up until this point, when praying for my unborn by name, I’ve always called both girl’s & boy’s names.  Not today.  That’s changed.

I have an OB appointment tomorrow.  We’ll soon find out.

No Progress Yet

This baby isn’t yet ready to make his/her appearance.  I saw a Dr today (mine was on vacation, but I saw her colleague) and he checked for dilation.  He did ask if I wanted my membranes swept if I was dilated.  It may bring on labour within the next few days.  No thanks, I told him.  Personally, I’m not too keen on um, aiding labour along.  Things will start when they’re ready, I say.  Yes, I’m uncomfy and all, but not feeling any need to rush things along.

Plus, there’s the biggie–I have my hair appointment tomorrow, which I fully intend to keep.  I don’t know when next I’ll be able to get my hair done and cut, so this appointment is crucial.  I’d last gone in October, so it’s been awhile.  I was not missing this appointment.
Glad I had my heart set on no.  I’m only about 0.5 cm dilated.  Yes, half a centimeter. 
Keep on waiting, folks.

Perhaps I Had My Signals Crossed?

After this post, from back in May, about a *ahem* “clear message”, I’m still kinda laughing.  I thought I was on a role with helping in the Kindergarten class at church.  But hello Baby3!  Maybe it’s just as well that I didn’t know about the pregnancy at the time of the meeting. I may have backed down from helping out or lightened my load in some way, shape or form.

I’m still on board for helping…for a short amount of time.  Come January, things will change for me.  And that’s okay to.  It just goes to show that my own control over life is very limited.

If only a minivan would arrive in as much of a surprising manner as Baby3….

1+1 = 5…..Who Knew?!

So, following up from this post…

I was feeling horrendous for awhile and couldn’t figure out just why.  I at first thought that maybe I was waiting too long to eat brekkie in the mornings or that I was exercising too hard.  (Some days I was able to do a 30 day shred workout, and then a walk in the evenings).  Then I thought I was just eating wrongly.  But then, that was followed by exhaustion.  I was tired before I even awoke in the mornings.  I’d be falling asleep watching tv with Jamayia in the afternoons.  For the life of me, I had NO clue what was happening.  My tolerance level for nonsense was also shortened immensely! 

At the time I was reading a novel with a female character in the lead.  She started feeling ill herself and when she visited her doctor her options were either tumour or pregnancy.  Then it clicked.  I’d better test myself because I’d rather be pregnant versus tumourous.

**drumroll please**

I’m pregnant!!!!!!!!  **still blinking**

The shock is slowly wearing off.  I think I’m due sometime in January 2011.  Listen to me–I “think” I’m due… 

LOL….well, three kids. 

Woah!