Quick Takes Friday #5

My quick takes this week are recent comments I've gotten:

1.  (At the grocery store).  Clerk turns around from stocking shelves and exclaims, "Boy!  You're ready to pop!"  Well, not quite ready...six more weeks actually...thanks.

2.  (Several places):  "A boy and a girl!  Now you're done, right?"  No, *with a smile* actually we will take as many as God gives us.  Response:  Stunned silence or "Oh".

3.  OBGYN:  So what are you thinking in the way of family planning? 
      Me:  Oh we will have as many as God blesses us with.
      OBGYN:  How old is your daughter now?
      Me:  She's almost 5.
      OBGYN:  So she'll be starting kindergarten in the fall or....
(Simultaneously)  OBGYN:  ...will you be homeschooling?
                               Me:  We are homeschooling her.
OBGYN:  That's what I thought!
(What is that supposed to mean?  I've been analyzing this one for days!  Did she assume that I homeschool because I'm willing to accept children as a gift from God?  Did I exude homeschooling mom somehow?  I should have asked her!)

4.  (As Isabel and I are hurrying across the crosswalk in front of Target):  Guy in giant lifted truck yells out, "Hey, don't you be runnin' across that street for no one!  You deserve to take your time and walk!"  LOL....guess he didn't want pregnant lady to trip and fall on her belly! ;)

5.  (Isabel's 4 year old friend at church, with really wide eyes and pointing):  "Woah!  Look at your belly today!!!"

6.  "It feels nice to be called 'big momma' doesn't it?"   Ummm.....yes and no! ;)

7.  (Isabel after reading a story about a mommy getting ready to have a baby)...the story line goes "Hey your mommy looks like she just swallowed a basketball!  She can't even button her coat!"  Isabel exclaims:  "Hey!  That's just like you!"   Ahhh.....so true! ;)

Priceless!

A tearful Tuesday.

Not sure what has gotten into me today, but I certainly woke up ready to cry....and cry I did...about almost everything today.  I'm sure it's got to be hormones.  I mean, I am after all just weeks away from delivery... and that's emotional all on it's own without the complication of this month being February.

February 2011.  The end of this month brings the two year anniversary of losing Mary Grace.  And for the last several weeks, I've been so elated and enchanted with the idea of having a new baby in our home, that at some points I even questioned (in my head) if all of this was real.  "All of this" being losing our daughter two years ago.  Did it really happen?  It felt so far off....so long ago.

Until today. 

About midway through my day, it suddenly felt very real.   Memories and worse, the actual feelings of loss just hit me.  So tonight I went back through my blog to remember where I was two years ago today.  I was "expecting miracles", and today in 2011, I am literally expecting a miracle. 

A short ten days from my expecting miracles post, brought the post we never wanted to write.  So maybe today, I'm just weak with emotion, and filled with pregnancy hormones that have made me a weepy mess.

It's strange to be torn between two very opposite emotions...joy and sorrow.  I'm so joyful about expecting our little miracle baby, and yet it's sorrowful to remember the loss of our little baby girl. 

Today I'm just stuck in between.

Nursery Reveal!

 Bedding is a mish-mash of PB Kasey bumper and animal safari crib skirt.

The three picture frames above the crib are not filled with "real" pictures yet! LOL!  

"Faith", "Hope" and "Believe" are inscribed on the mats.  

I thought that was appropriate since all three have been important on our journey to expanding our family.

I just have to find the right pics to go in the frames!

 I Can't Wait to Meet My Daddy by Kathleen Blease 

And the softest little cuddly blue bear/blankie!  I can't wait for him to be able to snuggle with this!

 Homemade art! :)

Well, after all the struggle and strife painting this room has been, I think it turned out pretty good! ;)  I'm not joking when I say that I will not repaint this room....even if we are blessed with twin girls next!  I will find a way to make these stripes work.....for-ev-er!!!

Woah, Belly!!!

 

32 WEEKS!!!

My last OB appointment was on 2/1 and everything is looking great.  Well, there is that pesky little 8lb weight gain again...I suppose some people are just destined to gain 2lbs per week instead of the recommended one!  My belly is measuring a week ahead, (so at 31 weeks I was measuring 32).  My aches, pains, swelling hands and feet, headaches, heartburn, nausea, shortness of breath and dizziness are all normal at this stage! :)  I've been having lots of trouble sleeping at night....restless legs and flipping from one side to other without being able to get into a good position.  But it's so worth it to look at that picture and see that big belly and know that our little guy is alive and kicking and will be joining our family in just 8 *short weeks!  

*Wishful thinking on the "short" part.  Each day is starting to go by slower and slower with the anticipation and excitement building! 

I go again to the doctor on the 15th and then 2 weeks later, then weekly!  I just can't wait! 

Quick Takes Friday #4

1.  I'm feeling good except for being tired and short-of-breath often!  I think that is due to my low-iron issue, and even taking my iron supplements does not seem to be helping all that much.  I will be 31 weeks on Sunday!

2.  Okay, so actually I guess it's not technically Sunday that I turn 31 weeks...back when we had our anatomy ultrasound, my OB decided to bump my due date back 3 days to April 6th.  So when people ask, I now tell them "April 6th" but I keep "updating" my week as if my due date were April 3rd (and have not changed my ticker at all)!  I happen to like the "date" of April 6th, because it is also St. Gerard's birthday!!!  Amazing!  If you forgot, here is the post about my "run-in" with St. Gerard during this pregnancy.

3.  I just saw that an article I wrote for Catholic Online back in July 2010 was linked on this blog!  It's funny because I follow Simone's blog, but somehow missed this post, and only found it by googling "Mary Grace Holmes" and "St. Gerard" to try to find the name of my own St. Gerard post!  LOL! 

4.  I'm currently reading three different books *blush*....  Father Elijah:  An Apocalypse by Michael D. O'Brien, Catholic Education: Homeward Bound:  A Useful Guide to Catholic Homeschooling by Kimberly Hahn and Mary Hasson, and Rediscovering Catholicism by Matthew Kelly.  Yeah, it's quite a handful of reading material...not sure how I ended up reading all three of them at the same time, but that's what's going on!

5.  My next doctor's appointment is Tuesday!  I really look forward to them....it just gets us closer and closer to the Big Day!

6.  Tonight we are going to see Cinderella performed by the local Christian Youth Theater group.  I'm pretty excited about it!  They take a story and put a spiritual twist on it, so I'm interested to see how they do it.  We are taking Isabel...I'm hoping she will stay awake since it starts at her bedtime!

7.  I am taking recommendations for a baby swing!  We have this Fisher Price Aquarium swing from 5 years ago, but since it has been up in our attic, I guess the heat has done something (very bad) to the motor...and it is now useless.  DH even took it apart to try to fix it, but it is done for!  I really don't want to buy a brand new swing...we are looking around on craigslist for a deal, so if you have/had a swing that you bought within the last couple of years, leave me a comment with the type!  Then I'll go and try to find the good ones on craigslist!  Thanks :)

Absolutely in love!

I'm head over heels in love with this little baby boy!  He's not even here yet, but as each day draws closer to his arrival, my heart has been swelling with love and excitement!   I cannot wait to count his fingers and toes, to watch him breathe, to see if he has a head full of hair, to hear those precious baby cries.  He is going to arrive and add another member to our family....okay so that might have already been obvious to everyone, but for me it has been this sort of slowly unfolding revelation.  Sure, I've understood it in my head, but wrapping my heart around it....that we will really have another living, breathing, comes-home-to-live-with-us child (!) is just so joyously overwhelming!

My head swims with the idea lately....and sometimes I have to put the thought "away" because it is simply overwhelms me with emotion. 

Everything is making this reality more clear:  from my ever expanding belly, to the way we've been incorporating the new baby into our everyday speech (to get Isabel more and more accustomed to the idea), to the way this boy just rolls and stretches in my belly like he is ready to evacuate! 

He is coming in just a scant 10 weeks!!!

I can barely contain myself!  God is indeed wonderful and gracious!  And somehow, though we cannot always "see" and understand it, His timing is perfect.  It has indeed taken time for me to appreciate this, and there are days when I wonder why it could not be the way I had originally intended it.  But through my story I have been able to witness to others of God's love and faithfulness....what would I have had to witness about had I not experienced the pain of suffering infertility and losing babies?

Lord, my prayer is that I may not lose sight of the preciousness of life, which only You give and take.  Please let others see it too!  And bless those struggling with infertility and/or pregnancy loss, that they might find strength in You during their darkest moments!  Bless those who desire a child, with a healthy pregnancy or a smooth adoption!  Put your hand over those who are currently pregnant that both mother and child would be strong and healthy.  Always Lord, turn our hearts to You, that we might know true life in your son, Jesus.

29 weeks