It's a Small World

Are you singing the song?  It's a small world after all....??

If you weren't, you are now ;)

Well, since you're singing that song, feel free to watch this video.  If you haven't seen the Muppet movie, it's super cute.  Nolan LOVES this song that they sing at the beginning....and it was super cute.  Until he sang it every day, all hours of the day, for the last 3 days.

May it now be stuck in your head :)

Answered Prayers

I know that some of you may be sick of pregnancy/delivery posts and you may even be thinking, surely other things have happened since the delivery.  And they have...

- Reagan has lost 6 teeth (4 since the delivery).  We are going to start calling her "Toothless"

- We are no longer: Jordan, Stefanie, Reagan, Nolan, and Grayson.  Nolan has dubbed us: Batman, Captain America, Catwoman, Spiderman, and Jack Jack.

- Grayson has started smiling and cooing a lot.  Not like it should surprise anyone that we have another talker on our hands.

- Nolan is on the back swing of his "after baby tantrum" cycle.  We are slowly returning to our normal, sweet boy.

- Reagan has 5 weeks left of Kindergarten (!!!!) and is starting to read small chapter books.  She couldn't read at all at the beginning of the year.  Super proud :)

- Grayson is officially sleeping through the night.  He has rarely slept less than 5 hours a night (maybe like twice), but is now sleeping an average of 8.5 hours a night...straight.  Sorry to brag...but with a third one, I'm grateful!

But really, I wanted to talk about all the prayers that were answered during our pregnancy/delivery.  Praying, standing on the Word of God, and BELIEVING what we were saying/reading, played a huge part in the success of our pregnancy.  (Apparently I'm into dashes today...sorry)

- Being anemic, we prayed for my blood levels to be high enough that I would not have to deliver in a hospital.  Four weeks before my delivery my iron level was checked, and I was at a 12.7.  I needed to be over a 12.  My iron has NEVER been that high.

- We prayed for a good sleeper...see above ;)

- Rea and Nolan LOVE Grayson, and are incredibly sweet with him.  We prayed that baby #3 would transition easily into our family, and the relationship that Rea and Nolan have already built.

- We prayed for a pain free labor...see birth story parts 1-3 ;)

- Since we were praying for a pain free labor, we started praying that we would have a sign that I was actually in labor.  We prayed for one of three things: 1. My water would break.  2. My first contraction would be so painful that I would know without a doubt it was time.  3.  The Lord would literally speak to me and say "It's time.  Go now."  Just so you know, my water has never broken for a labor.  It broke for this labor.

- Jordan works two jobs...one at Starbucks from 4:30am - 12pm, and one at the Melting Pot in Addison (about an hour from our house...hour and a half from the birth center) Thursday-Saturday night.  This was a different week...it was the week of Valentine's Day.  He was working EVERY night (and every morning).  We prayed that Jordan would be home when I went into labor.  The day I went into labor, Jordan was called off for the night, because they weren't busy enough to have as many servers as they did.

- We prayed for a fast labor, but not so fast that I would deliver on the side of the road (since it is 40 minutes to our birth center, no traffic).  We did not want to be like this lady who delivered in her car!!  My labor did not speed up until we got to the birth center.  Even then, I had time to update my facebook status AND upgrade my Spotify account before the labor kicked in!

- Prayed for a healthy little baby...Grayson is a champ!  Look at this face!  So in love!

 

Big Girls Don't Cry

My sweet, sweet baby girl turns 6 today!  Am I seriously old enough to have a 6 year old?!?!

This isn't a post with a lot of detail, but pictures to take you through the years of my baby Rea's life. 

Looking at how small she was when she was first born (6 lbs 15 oz!) brings a tear to my eye.  She and I started out with a rocky life together, but she has blessed me beyond measure! 

She has so much life, and so much love to give, it amazes me every day that God chose her to be my first child.  Surely, He was mistaken, and meant to give such a beautiful, obedient little girl to someone else!

She is only 2 in the above picture, and you can already see how much she wants to pretend to be like mommy!

And here you can see, even with the exhaustion, she has quite a bit of sass to her :)  She doesn't get that from her mom, AT ALL......

Fishing with daddy after a long night of camping with a family.  She was a pro.  

Love her so so much!

I am constantly amazed by her every day, and cannot wait to see what God has in store for her.  She is going to do big things for the kingdom of God and I am honored to call her my daughter!  Happy Birthday my sweet girl!

The Grand Finale!

The much anticipated (maybe not, but I will pretend like it is!) part 3!

So the last post, I left it where we had to get baby out.  Honestly, this was the first time I had PAIN.  Jordan and I (and several others) were praying that we would have a pain free labor.  Up until this point, I was aware of my contractions, but they didn't hurt.  When I was told that I HAD to get my baby out, I became fearful...and as soon as I did, I realized that I then believed it was my job, on my time, to get this baby out...and I was overcome by the amount of pain I felt.  I knew I had to refocus, but I was having an incredibly hard time!

11:15ish - I feel my next contraction starting, and Donnellyn reaches over and takes off my oxygen.  I hear her say, "Alright sweetie...take a big deep breath and push with everything you've got."  I take a big deep breath and start to push.  I feel like I am pushing for EVER.  I have to stop and catch my breath.

** I don't remember a whole lot here, but I know that I was almost in tears because I didn't feel like the baby was moving down at all.  I was worried the baby wouldn't come out and something would be wrong. I remember saying, "Come on baby, you have to come out!"  Inhaling again, and pushing...and screaming.

11:20pm - I hear the words I have been waiting to hear!  "I can see your baby's head!  And look at all that hair!"  Donnellyn tries to get me to look, and all I want to do is push one more time and HOLD the baby!

11:21pm - Probably one of the coolest parts for Jordan, is with this next push, he gets to catch the baby.  As I push, Donnellyn directs him on where to place his hands and how to guide out the rest of our little one.  As he guides out the baby, Donnellyn then helps hand the baby directly to me, and asks Jordan if he wants to tell me what we have.  I open up my eyes and see the huge smile on his face and he says, "We have another little boy!"

Having delivered my other babies in a hospital, there were two major differences I noticed and was unprepared for.

#1.  How long it would take for Grayson to cry.  Because he was still attached the umbilical cord (at a birth center they wait for the cord to stop pulsing before they cut), he was still receiving his oxygen from the cord rather than having to use his lungs.  In the pictures, you can see my concern (especially since he came out purple!), then my relief when he finally cries, and my concern again as he doesn't cry again for several minutes.

#2.  The rush of hormones after.  Because I was all drugged up with the other two, I don't remember much.  This time, my body was shaking so badly I needed three people to help me to the bed.  This is coming from the girl, who after having an epidural and delivering Nolan, 10 minutes later got up by herself and went to the bathroom!

Back to the story....right after the delivery, they noticed I was losing too much blood too quickly.  Grayson was handed to Jordan and I was moved to the bed to be monitored.  Within moments, I received two shots of pitocin, 2 glasses of water, and a pill to slow the bleeding.  By the time it became manageable, I had lost 2.5 times more blood than Donnellyn wants.  I had to drink several more glasses of water, 2 large glasses of chlorophyll water, and a protein shake.  Only then is when my color started to return.

Donnellyn and her staff were wonderful!  While they fixed me up, one of the assistants went to IHOP and picked Jor and myself up some food.  We sat on the bed enjoying pancakes, while Donnellyn did Grayson's newborn exam.  I love the "old school" way they weighed him...even though he HATED it.  He hates being naked...so unlike a boy, right?? After this, they prepared an herbal bath for Grayson and me.  It was only when he got in the water that he uncurled from the fetal position.  Grayson will be my water baby for sure!

We climbed back into the bed for Donnellyn to check my vitals.  When she declared I was good, we were essentially free to leave.  She wasn't kicking us out, don't get me wrong.  We could have stayed all night, but we figured, why not sleep in our own bed??  Jordan took the two older tweedles (who had FINALLY passed out sometime around 2 am) to the car, and then came back for Grayson and myself.

When J and I climbed into bed, around 4:45am with Grayson sleeping in the crib next to us, it finally sank in that we were a family of five.  And we are incredibly blessed!

P.S. Here is a video I put together of the pictures that Erica took!  The song, Unending Love, is the song that was playing when Grayson was born :)  Perfect.

2 Fast 2 Furious: Argyle Version

Part 2:

Okay, here we go.....

So when I last left you, I was sitting on my computer (updating my status, upgrading Spotify...no ads while in labor!) and Jor was sent to Walmart.

9:10 pm:  Donnellyn comes over, asks how I am and encourages me to get up and walk around.  I agree and let her know I will momentarily.  Rea and Nolan come over and we chat for a minute, then they run off to play.

9:17 pm:  I start walking around and can definitely FEEL contractions, but am still feeling good.  I am warm in the center, so I head outside.  Yes, I was in a short sleeve dress, and yes it was 9:15 pm in February.  I don't care.

9:20 pm:  Erica arrives!  She gives me the same look that Donnellyn gives me...the "you are surely not in labor" look.  I essentially tell her part 1, and she assumes we will be in for the long haul as well.  So she grabs her camera, has a seat off to the side, and lets me know that she will be in the background.

9:28 pm:  My phone rings, and it takes me a minute to get over to the couch.  Jor was on the phone and he starts asking me questions about what kind of snacks I think he should pick up, how many, etc.  I realize that my pain is starting to increase, and he is no where near close to being back.  As nicely as I can muster, I tell him I don't care what he gets, as long as he gets back quickly.  Jor tells me later that he hung up the phone and went straight to the check-out.  He still thought that we had some time, but knew I was serious.

9:41 pm: Jordan shows back up and sees me leaning over the kids toy chest.  He drops off the snacks in the kitchen, and I head back outside.  Realizing that because I was sweating, and it's freezing outside, being outside is a terrible idea.  I come back in and go rest my head on the countertop.  Jor comes over and starts rubbing my back.  My legs are shaking so badly that I can barely stand and am starting to regret this whole idea.  I feel stuck.  I know that it has not been long and I am afraid I am only going to be 4 cm and my entire body will shut down before I get to a 10.  I ask Jor to go talk to Donnellyn and see if we can move to the tub.  I hear her tell him that if we move to the tub too early, we will stall out labor, so I can move to the shower.  I want to cry...but agree.

9:47 pm:  We move to the bathroom where the shower is running.  I lean over the tub, and start swaying back and forth.  I hear D ask Jor to start timing me.  Jor starts and asks me to tell him when my contraction stops.  Lucky me, I have double peak contractions (one of the many things I forgot about with my labor with Reagan).  Two and a half minutes into the same contraction, I hear D turn off the shower and say, "We need to get her in the tub."  PRAISE GOD.

9:50 pm:  D wants to check my progress before we get in the tub to make sure.  I wait for a break in my contraction and lie down.  She checks me...twice.  "You are at a 7.  Get ready sweetie...you're about to have a baby."

10-11 pm:  This next hour is kind of a blur.  I know I get in the tub and place my head in my hands.  D checks baby's heart rate, and informs me that it's slow.  She asks me to move to all fours and take big deep breaths.  Baby's heart rate improves, but I get oxygen to be safe.  After a few moments, D checks baby's heart rate and it has slowed again.  She asks me to lay on my left side, which I am grateful for since my arms are beginning to give out the other way.  Baby's heart rate increases.  I still have on the oxygen, and I know my eyes have been closed since I got in the tub.  I have my head laying in Jordan's lap....and I'm scared.  I hear him begin to pray for me and the baby.  Looking back, I have no idea what he said, but I know I was at peace while he was praying.
He finishes praying and D checks the heart rate again. She takes off my mask under the premise that I will continue deep breathing. She begins praying as well.  As she finishes, I tell her that I feel like I am close to pushing...she tells me when I feel this way to go ahead.  I tell Jordan that if he was going to catch the baby, he needs to move to the other end of the tub.

11:10 (ish) pm: Two or three pushes in...nothing.  I feel like baby is not moving like I need.  I can hear Jordan encouraging me, telling me I am doing great...don't give up.  The oxygen comes back on.  Donnellyn checks baby's heart rate again.  I'm listening to the heart rate and I say, "It's slow."  I hear D whisper to someone in the room and I hear that individual leave.  Very quietly, I hear Donnellyn say, "It is slow.  It's too slow.  This next contraction, I am going to take off your mask and I need to you hold your breath and push with everything you have.  We need to get this baby out now."  I can feel myself panic as I say, "I'm worried about the baby...what happens if I can't push enough to get the baby out?"  She says, "Don't worry you will."  I feel Jordan's hand on my leg, and I hear Donnellyn begin to pray.  (Click here...part 3 is the best part!)

Prelude to the Crazy

Part 1:  Alright boys and girls...it's the story you have been waiting for!

Monday, February 13th.


I should preface this with we have been praying for a quick (but not too quick...no delivering on the highway!) labor, pain free, and healthy mom, healthy baby.  Because we were praying for pain free labor, we were praying that God would let us know it was time by one of three ways:

           1.  My water would break (which it had never done...the dr's broke my water the other two times)
           2.  My first contraction would be so painful, I would KNOW I was in labor
           3.  The Lord would literally say to me, "GET IN YOUR CAR NOW."

And we begin!:

Jordan had to work in the morning, but unfortunately until 3 pm.  Normally, that's not a big deal...but this is Valentine's week!  Essentially, the Superbowl at The Melting Pot...he was working ALL week in Addison.  He called the MP, and asked if he could take the night off...no reason, other than he knew he wouldn't see me and the kids all day (since he would have to leave from Starbucks and go straight to MP), and the rest of the week would be pretty limited as well.  They agreed, since they weren't that busy.

I was feeling really good all day...doing my normal mom things!  Picked up Rea from school at 3:20, came home, worked on Valentine's for her class. Read some books, relaxed, got ready to run errands.

6:10 pm: Get out of the car at Target, and hear a pop.  Most of the time, when I hear a pop, it's either my hips popping out of place or "Cletus" kicking me in the ribs.  This was different, but there was no "gush" like people said.

6:40 pm: Come back home, change clothes into sweats, and realize that instead of a "gush" it was more like a leaky faucet (sorry for those of you who do not have kids yet....).

6:45 pm:  I text my midwife asking, "How do I know if my water broke?"

While I waited for her to respond, I finished cooking dinner, did the dishes, cleaned the kitchen.  Jordan was spending time with the kiddos in the back.  Donnellyn (my midwife) called me back and we discussed why I thought my water had broken.  She was almost home (south FW) and said she would swing by her house, and then meet me at the Hurst location to check and see if my water had really broken.  She said if ANYTHING changed, to call me immediately and we would go to Argyle instead.

7:22 pm:  Donnellyn calls and lets me know she is about 10 minutes from the Hurst location.  Asks me how I am feeling, and I let her know I am feeling great.   She says she will see me shortly.

7:28 pm: Jordan calls Donnellyn and says that I have had my first contraction.  It is not painful, but it was definitely a contraction.  D and Jordan talk back and forth and come to the conclusion that we should just go to Argyle, where the birth center is...just in case.  We apologize for making her drive all over the DFW area :/

7:35 pm: We pack up dinner, and I text Erica (my beautiful friend and photographer!) to let her know the status.  She says she is finishing up dinner and will head out shortly.  I text my parents, my sister, and our friends the Duncan's (who are helping watch kiddos) just to let them all know this COULD be it.

8:00 pm:  We pass by our church, and the contractions are slightly stronger.  Still not painful, but letting me know that they are there.

8:35 pm:  Arrive at the birth center!  We come in, kids immediately start to play with the toys.  We talk to D, and she looks at me like I am crazy.  She says, "You do not look like a woman in labor."  Jor and I both laugh, and I say, "Well, we have been praying for pain free!  Either I'm not in labor or this is going to go down just like we prayed!"  She laughed, and agreed.  We started in just like a normal appointment.  Go to the bathroom, weigh myself, take my pulse and blood pressure.

8:49 pm:  Done with all of the "basics" we now get to test to see if my water really broke or I just have no control over my bladder (again...sorry for those of you who do not have kids yet...but one day you will understand).  D does the test, and the swab comes back dark brown...amniotic fluid!  We are officially in labor!!  Jordan and I high five each other, like nerds ;)  She checks me....95% effaced, 2 cm dialated, baby is at a -2.  We have a ways to go, but we are officially staying!

8:57 pm:  I text Erica and let her know to come on down!  She is excited and says she is leaving as we speak.

9:05 pm:  I send Jordan to Walmart.  We forgot a couple of items (like snacks for the kiddos) and Donnellyn says it will probably be awhile.  I change clothes into a maternity dress and put my hair up.  Nolan says I look beautiful, just like a princess....I love him so.  :)  Then, I do the normal 21st Century thing, and update my status.

This whole time, I am praying, please...I do not want a Valentine's Day baby...... (Continue to Part 2!)

Worldly vs Godly Pregnancy

I'm going to be honest, and it's going to sound bad....

As I approach my due date (still 8 days away), I find myself getting more and more annoyed/anxious.

Anxious to meet Cletus....to introduce "shim" (as my students have taken to calling the baby, since we don't know whether we are having a boy or a girl) and reveal the name.

Annoyed because I'm competitive...and I think everyone who is due AFTER me, has already had their baby.  I want to join the party tooooooo!

This pregnancy has been different for a number of reasons: Put on the least amount of weight (hooray!), my numbers (bloodwork wise) have been better than ever, we are delivering at a birth center...etc.  But one of the biggest differences, is that we are Christians during this pregnancy.  We were with Nolan as well, but we were still unsure of what that truly meant.  Four years later, we have grown a LOT in our walk.  No where near "perfect" and, clearly, have points of weakness.

I bring this up though, because while I am greeted by everyone with a version of: "You are STILL pregnant??  When are you having that kid??" It is followed up by encouraging words.

I am reminded of a friend's blog (who I have spoken about many times), when she talks about can a baby really be born "late"?  I know, I know...I'm still 8 days from my due date.  No where close to late.

A friend of her's sent her an excerpt from a pastor in Kansas City, Dan Wolgemuth.  Here is what he said:

"Today, August 20, 2010 is eleven full days after the due date of our daughter Alli's first baby.  She's in labor as I type.  Just yesterday I informed a friend that she was "over a week late." But I was awakened this morning to the reality that our Father's watch never runs slow...that He's never late for an appointment, that He never oversleeps or reacts too quickly or scrambles to get something done...time, every second of evert day, every day of every month, is His.  Babies are born in the fullness of time.  The last breath of every creature is deployed in the fullness of time.  God Himself stands at the end of the phrase..."when the fullness of time had come, GOD...";  just as He stands at the end of every moment in our journey.  He's not stuck in traffic. He didn't misplace His watch.  He hasn't forgotten to adjust for daylight savings.  His batteries are fresh.  His wisdom is impeccable.  In the fullness of time...at St. Anthony's Hospital in west Denver...a baby will be born.  Not eleven days late, but right on schedule.  This reality extinguishes anxiety while it ignites hope.  Yes, my fourth grandchild will be born right on their due date..."- Dan Wolgemuth


I constantly think of this post as I get closer and closer to my due date, but I was also reminded about it by a sweet friend.  She sent me an e-mail this morning and let me know that she was praying for me.  She reminded me that we have prayed over this delivery and we are trusting Him for the best possible outcome...so we need to trust Him in these last moments and allow myself to be flooded with joy, rather than annoyance.

I am used to being the rational one...and it drives me bonkers that I'm not rational at all right now.  But I am so grateful that God has placed friends, family, and a wonderful husband in my life who will speak the Word into my life right now.

So I leave you with this (wish I had a better version though):