Giving Thanks, In Everything...

It's been a little while since my last life update. Things get busy and health struggles are hard and I honestly just don't always have the words to share what it's been like over the past couple years. Something that stays on my mind so often though is this verse in 1 Thessalonians, "In every thing give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

In EVERY thing give thanks? That's something I admittedly struggle with not just doing but at times even wrapping my mind around. When I'm only responding with my flesh and focusing on my circumstances anyway. But when I take a step back and look at it from a spiritual perspective and ask God to really help me see how blessed we are regardless of what we are going through, oh how things change. Or my attitude towards thing changes at least and that makes all the difference.

The past couple weeks have been rough(er). Moving again, health issues flared up severely, trying to find a new church, being consistent with schooling, financial struggles, and just every day life stuff. Let's just say that remembering to still give thanks in the middle of it all has been a challenge. One that some days seemed more of a duty than truly heart felt. And I fall into the attitude of thinking that of course it's not wrong to feel discontent with how things are! Who could be thankful for all this? And my focus is completely on the bad with no thought for any blessings, which obviously is not a good place to be.

Then at the same time we are seeking God's will for our lives and sometimes doubting and questioning if we know what that looks like or if we are truly "getting it right". But then I read an article like this and it convicts me and reminds me of that verse all over again. And I go back to read it one more time. Only to find that not only do I have so much I should be giving thanks to the Lord for, but that is exactly how I can be in His will right now!

I'm not belittling what us and many other families are going through, some with way worse trials than ours(like the article above). I truly believe it's okay to be real about struggles because that's needed too so that we don't all feel alone in hard times. But at the same time I don't want to get hung up there and completely neglect to still give thanks.
Because the truth is, God is good. And every day that we are alive is due to His mercy and grace. If He never gave another gift or blessing to me besides just the fact that He gave His own Son to die for my sins and saved me from hell, that's enough to give thanks for. In spite of the hardships in life.

And just like the woman in the Bible, who begged Jesus to help her daughter even though she was just a Gentile "dog", He gives way, way more to us than just the crumbs off the table. He never leaves us, never forsakes us, and always provides exceedingly, abundantly more than we can ask or even think. It doesn't mean there aren't trials, but only that He is with us through them. And that He's leaving handfuls of blessings on purpose if we take time to get close enough and look for them. And He wants us to take time to thank and praise Him for that!

I'm going to wrap this post up with those thoughts, but next time I plan to be more specific on things I've found to give thanks for during these hard times. I hope this was an encouragement to someone and that you'll join me....


                                             Tyra

Our Plexus Beginning!

If y'all know me or have read about our family's health struggles and challenges over the past few years then you probably know that I'm super cautious about the types of treatments and supplements we try. I also tend to do lots of research before making a decision on if something seems like it will be good for us and help with our issues rather than making them worse or just not benefiting us at all. That being said I've been hearing about a company called Plexus for several months now but honestly at first just passed it off as another product line that claimed miracles but with a closer look wasn't as healthy as it said. Add to that the fact we were in the middle of new treatments for Daxton, a move to FL, and a dozen other crazy changes and I pretty much just wasn't interested in looking into anything else right then. But fast forward to a few weeks ago and I kept seeing stories about how much the Plexus products had helped people with so many things (and some of them specifically very similar to issues I knew we had) and I decided I couldn't ignore digging a little deeper any longer! After much reading and discussion plus prayer we ended up taking the plunge to try the basic set-up called the Triplex. 

Something that greatly impressed me when researching these products was the emphasis on gut health and the need to heal that in order to help so many other issues. We've faced many challenges in our own health journey due to problems with our gut so I know that it is the basis for a huge variety of both ailments if it's out of balance and achieving optimal health when it isn't. Add to that some of the other great results you can see from just drinking the pink drink alone and I was very encouraged that these products could help us in our ever changing journey to helping our bodies be the best they can be. I also love that it is plant based, has no artificial colors, and is sweetened only with stevia. There's so much more I found out but for sake of time here's another graphic to help explain the process of taking these three products together:

We've only been doing the protocol for a couple of weeks now so can't testify to any amazingly different results yet (other than noticing better energy levels for me which is definitely a plus!) but I am looking forward to what is in store for us in the coming weeks as we keep on taking it. I will be sure to report back as we notice more changes!

 

Last but not least, I wanted to share that if you're interested in trying these products for yourself Plexus is offering a one time 15% off code for all purchases made by April 15th. You can go to my website here to browse and order with the code THANKS or comment or email me with any questions you have. There are 3 different ways to order that can save you money depending on the level of use you intend to have with the products so please let me know if I can help explain things in more detail. I would love to have you join us on this new health challenge and am excited at the benefits we can all see in the future!

 

Blessings,

Tyra

 

A New Look, New Year, New Start?

I can't believe it's been an entire year since I posted here! So many things have happened over the last twelve months that I doubt I can ever completely share it all. Hopefully I will get around to some of it in the coming days. For now though I just wanted to share the new simple look of the header and also the fact that this beautiful picture is where we've called home for the past 5 months. We sadly are moving again this weekend (prayers for that please) but plan on staying close by so I will still be seeing these gorgeous sunsets in the future. I'll be sure to share more pictures of that too. :-)
This past year has been a roller coaster ride of ups and downs that has challenged our faith and exhausted us physically and emotionally in many ways but I'm thankful to look back and see God's grace through it all. I look forward to getting back in the groove of blogging about our craziness and hope to "see" some of you coming back around to catch up with us! Until later....

                                       Tyra 

Months of Craziness all Summed Up in One Post (kind of)

So obviously it's been a while since I've blogged, y'all. And the main reason is that we really have been exactly what the name of this blog says.....but without the play on words. I thought it was about time to share a little of what that has looked like though, so hopefully I can get the general idea across in this post. If not, I may or may not do another later. No promises there since we will probably be dealing with the whole "at our wits' end" thing still. Anyhow, here goes....

As mentioned in my last post here we have figured out that this area is a huge source of environmental issues for us and our health. Not going to try and go into a lot more detail as to the "whys" at the moment other than just to say that chemical toxins, mold allergies, and even geographical layouts (we found out we live on top of a water table) can and do affect your quality of life greatly. Add all that to some already pre-determined genetic problems which make us more sensitive to some things and you've got some pretty major health stuff going on. Now you may be asking what that looks like on a day to day basis or even what we are doing about it and that's what I'm planning to write about tonight.

First of all, for our youngest (who has been hit the hardest obviously because of his age/size) it still means chronic, daily pain and itching all over his body, very restless and often interrupted sleep for several hours at night, welps, sores, eczema, swelling, stomach issues, and well the list could go on and on. Needless to say, for a 2 year old going through all of that and more, it. is. bad.

For the rest of us, we tend to have various reactions and/or health problems related to the things we're exposed to here but of course they aren't quite as severe or hard to deal with as his. But to be honest, my own have gotten a good bit worse in the past couple months and when you consider being the mom who is trying to handle everyone else's issues plus her own, not to mention the every day stuff around the house then it can be pretty rough sometimes. Between myself and the older 3 kids we've had migraines, stomach issues, skin problems(rashes, eczema, etc), chronic pain, extreme fatigue, dizziness, itching, swelling/breathing issues, insomnia, and random other things that seem to be related. Once again, not an exhaustive list but that is the general things that crop up on a daily/weekly basis for some or all of us.(Blake's issues are less often or sometimes obvious but still there as well) Suffice it to say, it's exhausting both physically and emotionally. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that we just found out the chemicals can work as hormone disruptors as well. That explained a lot of things but wasn't exactly good news. Fun times.

Now on to the what we are doing about it part. Well, the things is....there isn't a medicine out there to actually treat you for exposure to environmental toxins. In fact, since a lot of it is chemical based or due to mold, fungus, etc then most western medicine only makes it worse. At the very least, it would be a poor attempt at covering up the symptoms rather than getting to the root of the problem and at worst it will greatly exacerbate the symptoms. (care to guess which category we fall in??) We've searched long and hard for doctors and practitioners to help us figure out what's wrong and are still trying new treatments and supplements to help our bodies heal and get strong again (especially Daxton), but the main conclusion we've come to is that moving is obviously the only real answer at this point. I don't really have time to go into all about what trying to get a house up for sale, pack, find a new job (since this ENTIRE area has crop farming), and everything else a total move and life change is like when you're health and that of your kids is in total shambles. Let's just say it stinks and is pretty much impossible to do and leave it at that. Yeah.

But wait, I can't really leave it there because that sounds completely hopeless and while some days I have to admit do feel that way I know deep down that it's not. Has it been a rough past few months? Yes. Are things looking better and we know exactly how they will work out in the next few weeks? No. (side note, I don't think I mentioned that we need to be moved asap since they are starting up the crop farming again. In February. Which means more poisonous chemicals in our already sick bodies. Lovely.) BUT, God has proven faithful in our lives time and again and I know that this time won't be any different. We are praying hard for direction, wisdom, and open doors and are slowly but surely seeing change happen, even though it doesn't look exactly like we would like. I don't know what the immediate future holds and sometimes my fears and worries over our chronic issues and how bad they are and how much longer they could last overwhelm me, but I'm choosing to trust tonight that it's gonna be okay. (You may have to remind me of that tomorrow when I have a baby boy with sores and welps and skin irritations who is scratching uncontrollably and screaming my name for help at the top of his lungs, in spite of all I'm doing to try and make it better. My mama heart is made of flesh after all and that's a little more than anyone can stand for days on end. Just sayin'.) But in the end, that's all any of us can really do, right? Try our best to make good decisions for our lives, within God's will according to the Bible, and then leave the rest up to Him. I have to admit though that living by faith is sometimes a much easier song to sing than it is to actually put into practice. Only through His grace. Always.

Since this has already turned out to be a pretty long post, I'll end with that and also asking you all to pray for our family as we travel this road of sickness and hopefully big changes over the next few weeks or months. Obviously we aren't the only ones faces problems or hard times but they are still there and still real for us and we can use all the prayers for strength we can get! I'm not sure how long it will be until the next update but I'm determined for it to be a good report whenever it comes. Until then, we'll still be hanging out here at our "Whits" end. :-) Thanks so much for stopping by and reading. We would love to hear from you in the comments!


                                             Tyra

A Long/Short Summer!

Since I've been missing in action around here for the past few months, I figured it was time for a little update on what's been going on. The hard part is in knowing where to start exactly in all the craziness?!

In case you don't already know, we have a lot of health issues including allergies and especially chemical sensitivities. Unfortunately, we also live in an area where the farms are large and have gradually become more and more dependent on pesticides and other sprays that are toxic. (ever hear of Monsanto? they pretty much own this area I think. ugh) Anyway, this year we noticed an even bigger change in our reactions as they started spraying the crops in the spring and by the end of May and first of June we were hardly able to go outside without side effects since the chemicals are just so strong in the air.

Although all of us suffer from various reactions at times, the worst part by far though has been Daxton's skin issues, with him eventually having something that looks like a cross between burns and severe eczema all over his body. I'm not even exaggerating either, but I wish I was. I could go on and on trying to explain how horrible it has been but let's just say that nightmarish pretty accurately describes it best. He has been in almost constant pain in some way or another for the whole summer and is still not over it. Putting him in footie pajamas to keep scratching at a minimum, rubbing him down with oils or creams multiple times a day, giving him meds, staying up half the night, and just working to do anything to keep him calmed down has been the norm for us these past few months.

And of course with all that we've been limited on taking him out very much so it's been challenging to do things (especially all together) and the summer has felt like it has just passed us by while at the same time dragging on forever. Sounds crazy I guess but it's true! All that being said though, I have had moments of extreme thankfulness even in the midst of all the pain and frustration of dealing with this. Thankful for answered prayers and moments of relief when we were literally at the end of our strength. Thankful for grace and the help of a wonderful husband. Thankful for time with the kids where we had fun in spite of feeling yucky and more thankful than I can say that I get to stay home with them and their health issues aren't any worse. Thankful for grandparents who love to help out in so many ways. Thankful that even though I can't see a purpose in what we've gone through this summer, I can trust that God still has one and just keep coming back to Him when I question and doubt.

So yes it's been a long summer as far as going through hard times and short in that it seemed like we weren't able to enjoy it, but we've almost made it past it now and are looking forward to changes ahead! I had planned on sharing more about those tonight as well as some photos but it's late and I need to try and rest while Daxton is sleeping (since we never know how long that will last!) so I will be back soon...


                                              ~Tyra~

Lilla Rose Sale and New Items!!

I just wanted to share that Lilla Rose is having 10% off ALL items today and tomorrow plus free shipping on any orders $40 and up!! Plus they have released the July flexi of the month a week early so that you can order one for the holiday. Love this new clip and matching bobbies!! Also, the June clip is still available as well so don't miss out on stocking up on these beautiful hair accessories. Perfect thing to have this summer!! Go to my website HERE for more details and to browse all the great products. Be sure to comment or message me for details if you have any questions and happy shopping!! Here is a little peek at the newest clip.....don't you love it?? :-)

Black Friday Lilla Rose Deals!!

Don't miss this fabulous Lilla Rose black Friday sale going on now through midnight on Saturday! Details and a picture of a new holiday flexi are below. I'm also offering a buy 3 products get 1 free (up to a $16 value) through me. Just email me after your purchase! Please comment or email me with any questions or if you need help! Use the link here to place an order.

 

Tyra

9 Month Cutie!

This little munchkin is growing like a weed these days! Going from sitting up to scooting around on his tummy to crawling and trying to pull up.....he is definitely on the go! Jabbering in sweet baby talk and learning to say his first words (mama, daddy, and hi are the main ones we've heard so far) is the cutest thing ever. He loves to smile and laugh at everyone and never fails to melt our hearts with his sweetness.

He's finally able to tolerate a few solids, although our attempts to change from the special formula haven't gone very well yet. We are thankful for every bit of nutritional stuff we can give him though! Two teeth have broken through after months of teething symptoms. An amber necklace and Hyland's teething tablets are favs around here. He sleeps better than our other babes at this age but still wakes up about every 4-5 hours to eat. With his allergies and stomach issues that is great to us! (even though yes we are tired sometimes....just keepin' it real;)

So thankful for this baby boy that God has blessed us with. He is such a joy and we are loving watching him turn into his own little personality every day. Although it's a little sad to see him becoming less and less of a baby, it's also exciting to look forward too all the fun in the future!  

6 Month Old Update!

It is absolutely unbelievable that our little man is half a year old already!! The past 6 months have just flown by. We've had good days, bad days, crazy days, easy days, and I guess about every other kind in between. But they have all been absolutely positively blessed with him as a part of our family! It's amazing how looking back after adding another baby in our lives we can't even imagine not having them now. And we definitely feel that way about Daxton Judah! Here's a picture of this cutie pie who is growing up way too fast, then I'll share some of what he's been up to lately....

 

~ He loves to be talked to and is always ready with a big smile and laugh.

 

~ Every time he laughs hard he gets the hiccups. Every. time.

 

~He can roll over but hates being on his stomach so hardly ever does. If we put him on his stomach he ends up getting mad and crying so I don't very much. (all 4 of our kids have been like that so maybe it's a pain thing?) 

 

~ Manages to scoot on his back all over the place when I put him under his toy on the floor. It may be a little while before he tries crawling since he doesn't like tummy time but it doesn't look like that's going to stop him from getting around!

 

~ Pretty sure he's ready to eat solids but I'm putting off giving them to him because it is so challenging with allergies and stomach issues and I'm already overwhelmed with health stuff right now.

 

~ He takes a 5-6 oz bottle (of $10 per can Nutramigen formula with probiotics, fermented cod liver oil, olive oil, and occasional coconut oil added in) every 2&1/2 to 3 hours. It still bothers me that I can't breastfeed (for both emotional and health reasons) but he's worth every single dollar we spend on trying to give him what's best for him right now.

 

~ He tries to sit up but doesn't have great control yet and ends up falling over pretty quickly.

 

~ He's wearing 6-9 months clothes already, although I still squeeze him in a couple smaller things sometimes because I'm still in denial that he's getting this big! lol

 

~ He's the best sleeper of all 4 kids so far but still isn't very consistent with his naps or night time sleep yet. But we aren't really surprised by that fact and are grateful for how good he actually does compared to some of our other experiences. (you'd have to understand how extremely bad sleepers our babies/kids are to know what that means really) Let's just say if you have a baby who sleeps well it is not something to be taken for granted!

 

~ He already has obvious allergies to things and has reactions to various triggers pretty often. Once again, not totally surprising but definitely disappointing and more than a little discouraging.

 

~ Loves to bounce on the exercise ball and it's our go-to way of getting him to sleep or settle down from a crying spell. Could be worse things I guess.....I manage to get my daily work out in at the same time this way. Ha!

 

~ Is a total sweetheart who never fails to make me smile even on my worst days!  

 

Happy 6 month old day to our baby boy. We are more thankful than I can say for the gift he has been to us!

 

(linked up with My Joy-Filled Life)

News Flash!!

Since my blogging has been waaaay off for the past few months I've missed posting on several things around here. I plan to gradually start catching up on stuff when I can. So be prepared for lots of "old" news in the future, okay?! :-)

Subjects may include but not be limited to;

~ Dathan turning nine years old. (with all the craziness of labor around that time I never posted his birthday story!)

~ Darcey turning two. (again, just too much craziness around here!)

~ What's going on with Daxton and everyone else's health these days.

~ How quick this baby is growing and all the milestones he's already had!

~ And other random things that I come up with. lol

Anyway, this is a post to let you know about those other posts. You know, cause that just seemed to make sense when I first thought about writing it. (now I'm kinda just wondering if it's another sign of how my tired brain works these days. Or doesn't work?!) Okay, well, on that note I'm gonna stop for now. And maybe y'all won't think I'm too crazy yet! :-)


                                        Tyra

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)

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!

                                 

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!

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.

Praise, Prayers, and Pregnancy

The morning of my midwife checkup started out pretty normal and routine. Got up early (can anyone say "pregnancy insomnia"?!) and had a snack to keep my sugar level okay. Had some quiet time before the kiddos woke up then fixed breakfast and got everyone ready to go. The checkup was great (more on that in a minute) and we all enjoyed getting to see the midwives again. Seriously, it is the best thing ever to have such a more personal experience than you get with using a doctor. After hearing the baby's heartbeat she held the doppler on Darcey's chest so she could hear hers too. So fun! Then the kids mentioned being hungry before we left so she gave them all snacks and juice for the trip home. How awesome is that??!!

So anyway we head for home and make a quick stop at Kroger for a couple of things before driving through the main part of town. Traffic was heavy and we have to pass by the hospital which means there are almost always ambulances to watch out for. While coming up on the last intersection of that area I saw one pulling up to the red light to the right of me but didn't think it had its' lights on. (it could have and I just didn't notice when glancing over) It suddenly flashed them and sounded the siren at the same time obviously letting us know we should stop even though our light was green. The person in front of me went on through and although my stop was kinda last minute and meant I was going to go over the line a little I felt like I shouldn't just ignore him inching out there and keep going. About 5 seconds after we came to a stop and the ambulance was about to cross in front of us we were whammed from behind! Talk about scary!!

Thankfully no one was seriously hurt other than Delancey getting a small bump on her head from hitting the thing on the bottom of the head rest. We aren't sure about the damage to the van yet but at the moment our rear door refuses to open so that's a little frustrating to deal with. But we know vans can be fixed or replaced so are choosing to just be glad everyone's safe and praising God it wasn't any worse! Prayers for the insurance issues to be resolved quickly so we can hopefully make a decision before the baby comes is appreciated.

Now on to the pregnancy news which I will try to be short with since this post is already so long. :-)

~ I am 35 weeks 2 days.

~ The baby's position is still great and his head has dropped down even further. Yay!

~ Having contractions off and on most days and especially at night. I'm thinking I've made a little progress already but that's normal for me around this time. Just getting things ready for the big day!

~ Everything looked great other than a very slight amount of ketones in my urine. They thought it was probably due to my diet more than anything and encouraged me to eat more if I could and definitely drink more. I'm pretty much floating from all the water I'm having these days! lol

~ I've gained about 25 lbs total which is a little less than the other times so far but I weighed more starting out so it ends up about the same I guess.

~ Trying to get some things done and tie up loose ends before he gets here. I still can't believe it's going to be so soon! I'm so looking forward to meeting him and also very excited to see what kind of experience this birth will be with my lovely midwives. Something else I'm excited about is some ladies we met through our homeschool group offering to give me a baby shower! Gonna be so much fun getting to celebrate with them before he arrives.

I think that's about it for now. Prayers for mine and the baby's health are always appreciated as well as for my other children (especially Dathan) who have alot of health issues going on at the moment that are challenging to deal with. I'll post more about that seperately though so I can end this short story for now! :-) I'm linking up over at My Joy Filled Life again this week so don't forget to click through and read about the other pregnant mommas too. Until next time....

                                          Tyra

33 Weeks....and Counting!

Time for another update on the pregnancy! It's been fun linking up with another blog and following along with other moms' journeys this time. Be sure to click over to Sarah's blog, here to read how everyone else is progressing too. (some of those ladies should be delivering any day) And I should say a BIG thank-you to her for hosting the link up as well! :-)

Here's what's new around here since last week....

~ My checkup with the midwife went pretty well. The baby is head down already (woo-hoo!) and the heartbeat sounded great. A couple of my urine levels were a little off, but I really wasn't terribly surprised since we'd had a few rough days and this heat has been awful! The fact that the day before was a holiday didn't help any either. I was dehydrated (oops) and hadn't kept my glucose levels quite as in check as needed so I've really been working on those two things since then.
The ups and downs with my blood sugar can be frustrating and it's hard not to be discouraged with it some days. Prayers for it to be more regulated and for me to have wisdom on what's best to eat are greatly appreciated! I look forward to seeing how things are improved at my next checkup.

~ I've been having some nightly contractions already but that's pretty common for me at this point. Although I know in some ways it's good for my body to prepare itself for the actual labor it can get a little tiresome considering that I do it for several weeks before the real thing. I'm really hoping to not go over my guess date quite as much this time since my health isn't the best but trying to just trust that he will come when he's ready! I will definitely be doing all the natural stuff to help it along I can as it gets closer to time though. :-)

~ Having a hard time emotionally as the actual birth gets near with worry about the baby's health. I plan to do a more detailed post about our past experiences and give some specific prayer requests about that but until then please just pray that I would "cast all my care upon Him"!

~ As for the discussion question about names, we don't really have any certain way to pick one other than them starting with the same letter. (which wasn't planned on purpose to begin with!) Our first two I had actually found and liked before even getting married and they happened to both begin with "D". We then picked out middle names we liked to go with them, but didn't base it on meaning or anything, just what we thought sounded good. When pregnant with our 3rd we decided it would be kinda sad to leave her out of the whole "D" thing so we searched until we found one beginning with that letter that we liked. The funny thing is that I looked up the meaning after she was born and it totally applies to her! (it means dark-hair/skin and she's the only one out of the 3 who has that coloring. lol) We actually had the name picked out for this one with our 2nd since we weren't sure if it was a boy or girl until after she was born. Super excited that we finally get to use it after all these years! And of course looking forward to finding out how crazy life in 4-D will be. :-)

                                          Tyra

32 Week Pregnancy Update!

Linking up again today with Sarah at My Joy Filled Life for the pregnancy updates. Be sure to click the picture below to read some of the other stories! Now onto the latest news.... 

I haven't posted an update for a couple of weeks but there's not really a whole lot to share at this point. I'll try to just give a quick run-down and share a picture of my humongous cute, little belly at the end. :-)

How far along: I'm 32 weeks 4 days.

Scripture on my mind: "Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass." Psalm 37:5

We are seeking the Lord's will for our lives in several areas right now so this verse has really been on my heart the past few days. Not to mention that it helps me to remember that I need to trust Him with pregnancy, health stuff, and whatever else going on too!

Baby's growth and movement: He is definitely a busy little thing lately! The family is loving being able to see my stomach move into all kinds of weird shapes. lol He's gotten so big that it can be a little painful at times but I know that's just normal for this far along. According to several websites he should be around 4 lbs and 19 inches. And he feels at least that big to me!

Cravings: Having a hard time with not eating sweets since I'm trying to keep my blood sugar in check. I've splurged a few times but have to be careful to get some protein as well. And sometimes regardless of what I eat it seems to just flunctuate anyway! The midwife says my levels still aren't really bad but it can still make me feel yucky.

Medical Stuff: Nothing new to report there really. (although the blood sugar info could probably have went here instead of on the cravings spot. lol) I ended up missing my midwife appointment last week so I won't see her until this Thursday. I think things are going pretty well though. I'm still struggling with allergies to the chemicals around here so that's hard. I would probably feel pretty good if it wasn't for that since other than normal pregnancy issues I seem okay.

Something I look forward to: I'm more than ready to be done with the pregnancy and meet the baby of course. Also, hoping for some answers to the prayers I had mentioned earlier!

Discussion question: (how do you plan on managing pain during labor and delivery?) I'm planning another natural delivery this time, which I've had 2 out of 3 times so far. I actually don't get terribly uncomfortable during labor until closer to the end so just walking around, breathing, taking a bath, etc works fine with the pain. The last 30 min to an hour can get pretty intense but I usually just try to focus on the contractions, breathe through them, and squeeze my husband's hand super hard. haha Both of my natural births have been a little chaotic in nature so I really wasn't able to relax for the pushing like I wanted but I'm hoping to have a better experience with that this time. I didn't handle the pain very well and pretty much just yell-moaned through the pushing. Thankfully I only pushed about 3-4 times before the babies came out so it didn't last long. I plan on discussing all this with the midwives more as the time gets closer. I'm hoping they'll have some good tips for me!

And last but not least is the latest picture of the belly. I think this was taken right when I turned 32 weeks or maybe 1 day after. We are definitely growing! :-)

(as a side note, this is a shirt I got from Motherhood during my last pregnancy and it's one of my favorites! So comfy! Really wish I had several of them in different colors.)

Pregnancy Update Week 30

Linking up again with Sarah for the pregnancy updates. Be sure to click through the picture above to read about other stories!

~ I'm 30 weeks and 1 day. (although I should probably change that since I really think my due date is later and I tend to go over anyway!)

~ Had my first official check-up with the midwife since we decided to switch care. Everything looked great with the baby and Blake and I were both impressed with how they answered our questions, etc. Very excited to be having another "homebirth" experience!

~ Not sure about weight gain since I really don't keep up with it much here at home. I'm measuring right on schedule baby wise though. Although, according to alot of horribly rude um, well-meaning people I look huge and could possibly even be having triplets by the size of my stomach. Seriously?! Do women honestly think those kind of comments (which there have been a ton of this pregnancy!) are appropriate?? Thankfully I've managed so far just to smile sweetly and reply with a "this is just how I look because I'm short" type of answer and leave it at that. Now my thoughts were a different story but we won't go there at the moment. lol Okay, I'm off my rant for now. :-)

~ I'm struggling with not feeling good alot of days. Not really sure how much is pregnancy related and how much is from our allergies. We have MCS and they are spraying the crops around here lately so it's throwing us for a loop! My blood sugar is still a challenge most days although I'm managing to keep it in a pretty good range. I'd rather not have the added stress of having to eat so strictly but I know it's good for me and the baby right now. I know things really could be alot worse health wise so I'm trying to be thankful for that rather than focus on the bad.

~ Glad to be in the 3rd trimester and SO ready to be finished with the pregnancy and meet this little guy! The kids are excited as well, with Delancey requesting that she be allowed at the birth since we're using a midwife. We aren't too sure about that part though! I'm thinking she would do okay til the end and start freaking out over my other-worldly screams during pushing. haha Not sure what the actual plan for the kiddos going with us will end up being but I guess we have a few more weeks to decide.

~ In answer to this week's discussion questions: we have decided not to have any more biological children after this one. Between my health and the health problems all of our babies/children deal with it is huge struggle to add pregnancy on top of all of that. With us also trying to homeschool we feel that I can better care for everything, including the 4 children God's already blessed us with, without continuing to have more. I know alot of people feel that means you aren't trusting God, accepting His gift of children, or even are actually disobeying His commandment but we choose to look at it like being responsible for the gifts we have rather than allowing the fear of doing wrong be the only reason we have more. Also, the whole "be fruitful and multiply" and "having a quiverfull" ideas are kinda debatable in my opinion since there's no actual number mentioned....amoung other things. But that's probably a discussion for a whole 'nother post! :-)

That's all for now though. Please be praying for our health as me and the other 3 children are having a hard time right now. That also causes me to worry about the health of the baby when he's born since we tend to have alot of issues right from the start. Trying to trust that God will take care of it all!

                                     Tyra

Another Pregnancy Update!

Maybe it's just me but it seems like the days between doing these posts are flying by! (of course I have been late in writing some of them so that could be why?) Anyway, here's a couple new things going on with me and Daxton. :-)

How far along: I am 25 weeks, 5 days today. (according to the doctor's guess date)

Weight gain/loss: While I am definitely sure to be in the gain department I haven't even been keeping up with it much here at home. My appointment is next week so guess we will see how I did then. Personally I feel so much bigger this pregnancy, especially in the hips/behind area, but I think that's just because I had some left over weight from last time compared to my other pregnancies.

Symptoms/Medical Stuff: My allergies have been a killer recently and I'm not sleeping too well. Also, I started therapy yesterday since I have some pretty major hip/low back issues that have started interferring with my every day activities. As of right now I'm just sore but really hoping that it will help after going a few times. On a more comical note, my last couple of pregnancies I have gotten more clumsy for some reason and that is totally kicking in right now. Thankfully I haven't dropped anything too important. Yet. Does anyone else do that while expecting?

Prayer Requests: Better health and strength for me as I finish out the pregnancy. Some relief from these allergies would help SO much I think as well as being able to rest better. My glucose test is next week so I'm hoping to pass that. I'm also looking ahead to discussing the kind of birth experience I want with my doctor and the hospital soon so please pray that goes well. I know just having it planned is only the first step and there are no guarantees it will go that way, but I think it will be good to have a plan and then just try to trust the Lord to take care of the rest!

Thoughts from the family: The kids like asking about if he's moving, feeling him, and even telling him goodnight sometimes. It's sweet! Darcey of course isn't sure what all is going on but she will point to my stomach and say baby since she's heard the rest of us talk about it so much. Fun!

Discussion question: Who will be attending the birth? Actually we aren't totally settled on this question at the moment. Obviously my husband will be there and since I'm doing a hospital birth this time it will also be the nurses and doctor but I haven't decided if we may want to hire a doula or not as well. I plan on trying to stay home as long as possible so there might not be a need for someone else being there for extra support, but it's hard to say since we won't really know how things are going to go until it happens! I will definitely keep you update on this decision though.

Well, there's the update for this week! Look forward to next week since I'll have some new info after the checkup. Be sure to click the button at the top to visit the link and read about other ladies who are expecting! :-)

Tyra 

Catching Up

Life has been busy, busy around here and I just realized I haven't posted in a whole week! We traveled to KY for a camp meeting last Wednesday and got home on Friday night.  It was nice to be in the services and hear some great preaching, but I have to admit the trip was a little rough for me. The kids did good on the drive back and forth, especially Darcey who is at that age where sitting still for long is never fun. Dathan's allergies have been a pain lately though and causes some emotional/spiritual problems for him as well so dealing with that was harder when away too. He actually got ready to come back home earlier than we had planned and I can't say I blame him since I know how bad he was feeling! We were glad we took the trip but more than glad to get back home. :-)

Saturday morning I went to a pregnancy class that was put on by a local therapy place. It was fun and very informative, plus they told me I should ask my doctor to write a prescription for therapy to help my chronic neck/shoulder pain and some hip problems I have that get worse when pregnant. Definitely looking forward to trying that and hopefully getting some help!
The rest of Saturday we spent with my parents eating out to celebrate my mom's birthday and then just visiting at their house. We were all super tired from the trip but it was nice to have a relaxing day just taking it easy.

Through the night found me sick with a bad allergy attack so needless to say I didn't rest which ended up for a rough day Sunday. I think the week just caught up with me too after being around so much I was sensitive to, eating different, etc. My dysautonomia had kicked in several times so that had my pretty wiped out too. I mostly just laid around and tried to feel better while Blake helped out with the kiddos. Thankfully he wasn't preaching anywhere and we just had our own devotions here so I could rest.

Today was starting back into a new week with doing a little around the house and getting some school work this morning. My check-up with the OB was this afternoon and I was a little anxious but also ready to find out if there was any change with the placenta previa. Thankfully it has totally moved and everything looked great! Praising the Lord for answering prayers in that area. I appreciate everyone else who prayed as well. And although God had really helped me with it and given me peace over trusting Him, it's still a relief to not have to worry about it anymore.

Tonight we drove over where my Momaw lives and visited with her and my aunt for awhile. We hadn't seen them recently so it was good to enjoy spending some time with them. Finally made it home and got all the kids washed up and into bed. I grabbed a minute to get on here and update but I'm gonna head that way myself now! 

I'll probably do another pregnancy post soon with more specifics and hopefully update a couple more times before we leave to go out of state again this weekend. (yes, we are crazy for taking two trips this close together! haha) In the meantime, prayers for all of our health and especially mine and Dathan's would be greatly appreciated. We really need the Lord to help us with some things that we're struggling with! Thanks so much and now I really am going to bed. :-)


                            
                              Tyra