He's Finally Here!

For those of you who haven't heard yet, we welcomed our baby boy into the world this past weekend! Proudly introducing......

                                    Daxton Judah
                              08-26-12 @ 8:59 am
                              9 lbs 1 oz, 22 inches

 

(birth story to come soon hopefully.....after we get more rest and snuggles)

Things I Love {Thursday}

Well, obviously this isn't a baby arrival update since yes we are still waiting for him to get here! Until that unknown future date that may never actually arrive then I figured I might as well share some other things around here that I'm loving. You know, since I can't honestly say that about the waiting stuff. Or the contractions. Or not sleeping. Ahem, okay, I'll stop now. On to the real point of this post which seriously is going to be telling you about the things I do love..........

~ Baby girl arms wrapped around my neck and early morning snuggles with just the two of us.

~ Big boy hugs given just because without momma even needing to ask.

~ Little girl cuddles in bed while she's feeling yucky. Sleeping between momma and daddy makes everything better! :)

~ Answered prayers to not let fevers get too high during the night.

~ Finding a good deal on a new van before the baby got here. Such a relief to have that decision behind us!

~ Back rubs from the hubby when I'm sore and tired from all these contractions.

~ Celebrating 9 years of being blessed with our first little boy.

~ Hearing exciting news from a sweet friend that they've been blessed with another new life!

~ Parents who step in to help out and bring food when the whole family gets sick.

~ Friends who check in with me and give encouragement in this last stage of pregnancy.

~ Scriptures that speak to my heart and feeling God's sweet spirit in the middle of sleepless nights.

~ Singing around the piano with the family and hearing a sweet baby voice as she learns the words.

~ Delancey working hard to teach herself new songs on the piano. Independently of course. :-)

~ Watching Dathan use his imagination to build something neat. From a box.

~ Making memories with our 3 kiddos before welcoming a fourth.

Well, I'm sure I could go on and on but there's just a few of the things I'm loving around here these days. What kind of things are lovely around your house? I'd love for you to share them with us in the comments!

(On another note, before wrapping up this post that I started last night, let me just share that I am now having hard contractions that are about 10 minutes apart. Waiting to see if they turn into the real thing this time! Hoping my next update will be that this little boy has finally arrived!)

No News Is......

....not always good news! At least not around here the past few days. :-( I'm seriously trying to keep my spirits up and not be too discouraged but it's been a little hard. Let me back up and give a few details though. 

Thursday was a midwife checkup, which went pretty well overall and let us know I'm definitely making progress with some of these contractions. In fact, the midwife said she thinks it will go very quickly once things set it and even coached Blake on what to do if we ended up needing to deliver on the way! (I wasn't sure if I should be amused, excited, or scared to death! haha)

From the checkup, Blake and I had decided to drive to a car lot in Franklin, TN to look at vans for sale. We ended up choosing to sale our old one and get something new and really wanted to have that done before the baby came. Needless to say it was a loooong day but thankfully we were able to get a good deal on a vehicle!

My parents were planning to watch the kids for the day and do something fun while we were gone. The girls had both showed signs of what I thought was allergies for a couple days before that and with the weed pollen count high around here I figured that's all it was. Delancey had seemed a little worse that morning but still wanted to go and I assumed she would clear up as the day went on like she had been. By that night they were both worse though and she even had a fever! Ugh. The rest of us have slowly come down with sore throats, sneezing, congestion, headaches, fever, etc ever since so it's definitely not been fun around here.

I just woke up with it during the night on top of having some really strong contractions since yesterday evening. Let's just say that sleep isn't something I'm getting alot of these days. I had been thinking that maybe it was a good thing Daxton hasn't come yet since it would be nice not to have sick kiddos with a new baby in the house. But I have to admit that me getting sick too wasn't really something I wanted or needed right now!

My contractions are still irregular most of the time but getting much harder, so along with all the other signs I've had I know it can't be much longer. I still can't believe how long I've been having this prelabor stuff and to be honest it's getting more than a little old. Being so tired though and not knowing how long it's going to take for us all to get over this cold (or whatever it is), it's hard not to be stressed with it all. Prayers would definitely be appreciated for quick healing for all of us, strength for me as the baby gets ready to get here, and for me to trust that God has it all under control. Especially when I feel like everything is just falling apart!

Okay, so there's my not so great update for the week. :-/ Hopefully I will have much better news to report soon, but until then please keep us in your prayers! Being almost 40 weeks pregnant, sick, constantly dealing with irregular contractions that could turn into the real thing any time, and taking care of 3 sick kiddos is just a little overwhelming right now. I know God is able to give me grace though and all of this too shall pass eventually.

Linking up with Sarah again at My Joy-Filled Life. Be sure to click through to see how all the other pregnant momma's are doing!

                                 

The Humorous Side of Birth

Since I'd already posted a pregnancy update for the link-up, I decided to do a seperate post for the discussion question this week. Thought it would be fun to share some of the more light-hearted things from labor and delivery to help us remember it isn't all about pain. (okay, so at the time it probably is if you're going natural but you can look back and remember how funny it was later anyway! haha)

Before I get started let me just say that I will be 39 weeks tomorrow, still having daily contractions, but NO baby yet! This little boy must have decided he just needed to stay put awhile longer. I'm trying to decide if I want to be just as stubborn in waiting him out or maybe try some more natural ways to get things going when I see the midwife? I'll be updating on that again after the checkup tomorrow I guess.

Now for the fun stuff:

1rst birth: This was an inducement (yes, I was young and naive about all that....whole 'nother story) so I had to be hooked up to all kinds of moniters. I remember Blake and my dad getting a kick out of watching the contraction moniter and telling me I was having one before I got my epidural. As if I didn't already know! haha
After they upped the pitocin and I did end up with the pain meds, I tried telling them I was super sensitive to everything and wouldn't need much. They turned the epidural up high anyway so that when the doctor came in for me to push I was extra numb and couldn't feel a thing or even move any part of my lower body. After telling me to put my feet in the stirrups and me not being able to the nurses finally helped get them up there. They evidently didn't take me seriously about having no control over anything though because they promptly let go only to have both legs fall over by themselves. They didn't even look real! lol I remember thinking that was the funniest thing ever to see my legs doing stuff but not being able to feel it or do anything about it. Blake and I still laugh about that all these years later. :-)

2nd birth: With this one we gave birth with a midwife at a birthing house. I had planned on getting in the hot tub they had there to help manage the pain but hadn't given any thought to actually having the baby in the water. Once I got in (I was already a 7) though it evidently relaxed me enough that I dialated quickly to a 10 and started feeling like I needed to push. We decided to just do it in the water rather than me trying to climb out in so much pain, but I was still unsure about it since I hadn't really done any research. In the middle of me pushing her out I looked down and saw her face in the water (she was born "sunny side up"!) and was like, Is she going to be okay like that?! Looking back it was such a silly question since obviously the midwife wouldn't have allowed it if the baby was laying there drowning. Ha! It's crazy how our minds can work in the middle of something like that though. After she came out on the next push and we lifted her up from the water she immediately started peeing everywhere! She loves hearing that story now and it's definitely something I can look back on and laugh about....since I'm not in so much pain anymore. lol

3rd birth: It's a little more challening to find something funny about this one since it was kinda chaotic with us ending up in the hospital rather than doing a homebirth as planned. I do remember laying there strapped to the moniter and begging to be checked to see how far along I was or them just take it off for a few minutes to give me a break because it was so tight during contractions. The nurse of course said no and kept right on asking her million silly questions that had nothing to do with labor! She then stood up and reached over to mess with the straps on my stomach right when I was having a painful contraction....I pushed her hand away and said, don't touch me! haha Totally unlike me really but turns out I was at a 10 and ready to push so was just feeling all those emotions that go along with that. Not to mention that no one would listen to me! Looking back I was able to laugh about telling her off like that. lol
The other thing we thought was funny later is how sore my throat was. I didn't realize how much I hollered while pushing until I had such a scratchy, hoarse voice. Just goes to show how focused I was on the job and not my reaction to the pain I guess. :-)

Well, there's my {hopefully} more humorous side of labor and birth! I can't wait to read some of the others on the link-up. Be sure to click here to see the rest of the updates and
stories. And if you don't have a blog or do the link-up, then feel free to leave a funny birth story in the comments. I'd love to hear it!

Our Little Worker!

Due to him having so many outdoor allergies, there's a lot of things Dathan just isn't able to do. Yard work with his daddy has always been one of them, but after a few treatments and recently seeming a little better with reactions we decided to let him give it a try. He is loving being able to help out and his favorite part so far? Push-mowing! The crazy boy even requested that Blake not finish the yard with the riding mower on Saturday so he can do it himself tomorrow. What a great little worker! :-)

I couldn't resist snapping a couple of pictures of him doing such a great job and thought I would share them since they're just so cute. He does still wear a mask and glasses to help with the allergy stuff and between that and taking a quick shower and his homeopathics he hasn't had any serious problems so far. Yay! Hoping he's able to continue helping out with it since he is having so much fun. He's even mentioned having his own little yard business eventually. So glad he's wanting to work hard like that.......now if I could just get him this excited over cleaning his room! lol

Hanging in There!

Well, y'all, I've gotta say that it seems crazy for a whole week to have passed since the goings on last Saturday. And still NO baby!! To be honest I am tired and a little discouraged with it all (since I'm having at least one spell every day or night that seems like it's gonna be the real thing, including over 3 hours of hard contractions last night that got 3 minutes apart!), but I'm still determined to just wait this little guy out and let him come when he's ready. After all, we made it 11 days over my guess date with Darcey so I'm pretty sure I can make it a few more this time. :-)

If I was guessing I would probably say I don't think it'll be quite that much longer this time, but then again there's no sure way of knowing these kinds of things! I'm definitely having all of the signs of early labor though so the good thing about that is hopefully things will go super quick once the active phase kicks in. My biggest challenge has been not getting any rest but we are focusing on taking some natural stuff and doing things to help me sleep and the past couple  of nights have been a little better in that area. It will nice to not be so worn out for when I do deliver! The other thing that I think may be effecting things is he seems to be flipping from anterior to posterior position a lot, which seems to cause the contractions to start or stop at certain times. Trying to stay on my hands and knees and rubbing essential peppermint oil on my lower back to encourage him to stay in the right place.(yes, it actually does work!) Hopefully he will do so when it's time to actually have him. I'm not too keen on delivering another "sunny side up" baby this time like I did on #2! Ouch!

As for other stuff, the uti/kidney infection looks totally cleared up. (yay!) My blood sugar is still challenging but manageable as long as I'm careful with what I eat. Everything else seems to be doing well, other than just not knowing why my uterus is contracting so much every day. There could be lots of explanations for that though so probably something we won't be able to figure out for sure. It can be annoying and I am super sore a lot of the time, but I'm just trying to not let it get me too discouraged. Which I accomplish better some days than others for sure!

Here's a picture of me Thursday at my 38 week checkup. In all my big belly glory! Please keep praying for health and strength for us both and that I'll just keep hanging in there until it's time for this little guy to make his grand entrance! After last weekend I'm wondering how he's ever going to manage a more dramatic one?! lol Maybe my next update will be that he's finally here. One can always hope anyway. :-)

*linking up with Sarah at My Joy-Filled Life again....be sure to check out all the other pregnant bloggers too!

I Believe.....But?

So many thoughts, worries, and emotions I've had over the past few months, weeks, and especially days as this baby gets closer to being born. Unplanned and unexpected, this pregnancy has thrown me for a loop in numerous ways. (as did the last one as well) Please don't misunderstand, we love our children more than anything and are extremely blessed and thankful to have been given them by God, not to mention that we've always desired a big family. But with all of my health problems I have already, adding in pregnancy is more than a little challenging. That being said, I am so grateful for how our prayers have been answered in so many ways during this one and how the Lord has brought us through the hard stuff to make it until now.

As I wrote in one of my last updates, my health issues as well as some from Blake as well we think, have always gotten passed down to our babies. And even seem to be multiplied many times over or maybe are just harder to deal with when they are so small. Whichever the reason, it unfortunately results in alot of sickness and pain for them after being born. Needless to say, it's a scary thought to bring another little one into the world having to wonder just how sick it will be when it gets here.

Ever since we found out we were expecting again (well, after the shock and numbness wore off anyway!) I've been hoping and praying that this baby would be different. But at times I have to admit that I've been almost afraid to ask for better health since we did the same thing last time only to be disappointed. It's like even though I'm wishing for a better outcome, I'm already mentally preparing myself to not get it and for things to be bad. Not exactly what I would call praying in faith! Over the past couple weeks the Lord has really been pointing this out to me and dealing with my heart about it but to be honest I'm still struggling. My fears of what might be are greatly keeping me from trusting in what He could do.

I've also realized after having some conversations with Blake over the past few days that he's pretty much in the same spot....and really hadn't even noticed it himself. After talking with him about my feelings and how not only was I discouraged thinking about it but that I'd gotten even more so hearing some of things he said as well. Pretty much like we were both expecting a negative outcome when Daxton gets here, even though we say we're praying for the opposite.
After discussing it again this morning before he left for work I was thinking about how little faith we had obviously had that God would truly answer our prayers. And although I fully understand that we sometimes get a different answer than the one we want or ask for, I still think that it's important to actually believe He can and will do whatever it is we're praying about. And then just leave the outcome up to Him.

While I was thinking about all that, the Lord brought the scripture to my mind about the father who brought his son to the disciples to be healed of an evil spirit but they were unable to. Then when Jesus came to ask what was wrong he said if thou can do any thing, have compassion and help us. (kinda sounds like he was already doubting? definitely familiar!) But Jesus told him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. Then it says that the father cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief. The man acknowledged that he believed Jesus capable of healing his son, but that there was still a smidgen of doubt and fear in his heart that he just couldn't seem to overcome without God's help. But instead of trying to hide that or pretend it wasn't there, he admitted it and asked for mercy anyway!

This is exactly where I am right now too. My heart wants so badly to believe our prayers for Daxton to be healthy, able to sleep, nurse well, etc will all be answered, but there's still a part of me that also just doesn't believe it's possible after seeing 3 other babies suffer. As the day draws close for him to be born, I don't honestly know what the outcome will be. But my heart's cry is that I truly do believe God is able to work a miracle and I need His help with my unbelief that He will. I'm praying that He uses this somehow to strengthen our faith and teach us to just trust in Him and His goodness more. No matter what. I definitely need grace in order to do that though. And I'm trying to learn to depend on Him for that as well. "Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him. How I've proved Him 'ore and 'ore. Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus. O, for grace to trust Him more!" 

Will you please pray for our family in the coming days that we'll truly believe and just rest in His peace? 

What a Weekend!

To say things have been a little crazy around here the past couple of days would be a total understatement! Here's a little rundown on what we've had going on around here.

On Friday Blake took off work to help get some things done around the house since we were planning an early birthday party for Dathan. (his is only 2 days before the baby is due so we were thinking doing it now would be better just in case) I had some contractions off and on but just contributed it to being on my feet more. That night I ended up with back pain and nausea on top of the irregular contractions that were still happening. Needless to say I didn't really get much sleep.

On Saturday we got up and went ahead with plans for the party although I felt like something was a little off but just wasn't sure if I was feeling real labor symptoms or just end of pregnancy uncomfortableness. (is that a word??) Anyway, the closer it got to the party time the closer and harder my contractions become until about 30 minutes after it had started they were 5 minutes apart. I also felt crampy, still had nausea and then diarrhea (which I've never done in labor before?), and just overall active labor symptoms. I called the midwife and we decided it would be good for us to head that way just to see what was going on. So we packed a couple of bags and left our company here having a party while we headed to TN! Thankfully it was all family so it was no big deal for them to just be here by themselves and they were totally understanding that we had to leave. :-)

On the way there (which is about a 50 min drive) my contractions were 3 minutes apart so we were like, wow this is really it! They weren't horribly painful but uncomfortable enough that they felt real. It's typical for mine to not get terribly bad til right before the end anyway so it seemed likely this one was going the same way. We got there and she checked us both out a little, then did a urine test. She wasn't totally pleased with a couple things but wanted me to drink some water and do another one since I seemed to be dehydrated. I was only dilated to a 2 but the baby was at a little more than 0 station and I was very effaced so we still figured things would go pretty quickly if my contractions kept up. After doing the next test she confirmed that I had a slight uti/kidney infection and we needed to start me on antibiotics immediately. I did that and also started drinking tons of water. The contractions slowed to 5 minutes apart but were still consistent and hard enough they seemed to be doing something.

After waiting a couple more hours the contractions became a little more irregular so we decided to head home for a little while and try to rest in our own beds and just see what happened. It was a long night again for me with still feeling labor symptoms and not able to get much rest. I'm still drinking alot and taking strong antibiotics to hit the infection before it becomes more serious. At this point we aren't entirely certain if the combination of infection, dehydration, etc is what triggered the labor or not. Since it hasn't entirely stopped yet it's looking like maybe it's just getting close for him to come but we are kinda just having to wait and see.

The plan for now is to take some doses of magnesium (which can slow or stop labor) in order to give my uterus a break and hopefully allow me to get some rest for when it really kicks in again. I'm trying to just take it easy and go with the flow for now, although that can be a little hard with how I'm feeling at the moment. Prayers for wisdom and most of all strength are very much appreciated. I know he will come at the perfect time even if it doesn't look exactly like we planned or thought so I'm trying to just not to worry and let the Lord take care of it! To be honest, I am really hoping that this doesn't go on for several more days since I'm already so tired and sore but then again I would probably feel a little more comfortable for Daxton's sake if he had more time to grow and get stronger.

I will try to keep you all updated with any changes over the next few days and please keep me and this baby boy in your prayers. We are so excited to meet him soon!

                                          Tyra

ps. I think I forgot to mention that I was 3 cm before leaving last night so the contractions were making some progress....just slowly. Also, I'm only 37 wks and 3 days so that is pretty early for me since the other 3 have come late. This one may be totally different though so now we will just wait and see how it goes from here! :-) I'm also linked up to My Joy Filled Life again so be sure and click through to see to read all the other pregnancy updates.