Okay, so life has been a little out-of-control busy for us for the last several months, so unfortunately the blog had to take a back burner. I'm going to try to be more diligent now...
The exciting news in our lives right now is the much-anticipated and imminent birth of our third baby! He is due immediately, and has been teasing us for weeks with the anticipation of an earlier arrival, and yet is still holding on tight to his comfortable little world. In general, we are content to wait until he's ready; we certainly don't wish to force away from him his last few precious days in my womb, to which he can never return. However, as I mentioned, he's also been teasing us for this whole month with various signs of impending labor, then retracting as if nothing happened. The continued anticlimactic anticipation has been leaving us emotionally weary and confused, not to mention extra ready for him to come NOW! We are just so excited to meet this little guy!
The other challenge I am having is the daily face-off with my nesting instinct. Over the last several weeks, we've been crazy trying to get everything ready for baby: there were projects to accomplish, rooms to paint, baby gear to clean, and birth supplies to prepare, not to mention the usual housecleaning and home maintenance. And nesting sometimes means needing things done that seem unnecessary to others! For about two weeks we've had everything in satisfactory condition--by no means have we accomplished everything we would like, but at least the necessary things--and have been focusing on maintaining. Daily we endeavor to keep our home and ourselves in optimal condition for the onset of labor, assuming it could happen at any moment. We feel it is especially important since we are having a home birth and will be welcoming various different people into our home for assistance during the birth.
Our home needs to be clean. Our bodies need to be rested. Our supplies and preparations need to be ready. This sort of maintaining is surprisingly draining (perhaps mostly mentally) and takes a great amount of effort! To continually be ready takes a plan, great focus, dedication, consistency, and patience. It takes effort to refuel dashed excitements. And it takes the strength to overcome discouraging thoughts when your readiness is not rewarded.
This focus on being continually ready has been making me think quite a bit about Matthew 25 and the Parable of the Ten Virgins, where Jesus exhorts us to "keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour" (Matt. 25:13). Just like this baby, we know Jesus' coming is imminent, but we don't know when. We must keep ourselves continually ready by developing a plan, focus, dedication, consistency, and patience, and the strength to overcome discouragement. It's hard. It's really hard. But we know that soon our diligence will be rewarded!
Showing posts with label home birth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home birth. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Belly, Belly, Start to Swelly!
As it turns out, it's time to start growing this belly again!
Yes, Sirs and Ma'ams--we're having our Baby Number Three! And we couldn't be more excited!
We figured it was time to just make the announcement official, since word's been spreading already, and since it's getting hard to hide this belly anymore! I'm somewhere around 6 weeks along right now.
I know the questions you're all thinking (based on the questions I've been receiving), so I'll try to knock out some answers as best I can!
Q: When are you due?
A: Unofficially, around the last week of March, 2013. I'll update if anything changes!
Q: How many babies are in there?!
A: Who knows! But as far as we know, just one. I just happen to be efficient at growing babies! I would love twins, someday...Jack told me he thought we should have 5 babies in my belly...I guess we'll see :).
Q: Are you hoping for a boy or girl?
A: Equally either. Both would be equally fun for different reasons, so we're happy that the decision isn't ours! Jack, on the other hand, has his heart set on a baby girl and calls her by the name we've chosen. He will not even hear of the option that this baby could be a boy. When asked why, he's communicated that girls are cute and sweet, and he wants another sister just like the one he has, because he loves her so much. Isn't that precious?
Q: Are you planning to find out the baby's gender?
A: We're not sure yet...Having one of each reduces the practical need to prepare by stockpiling appropriate clothes...and it would be fun to have a surprise!...BUT, with the first two we also really enjoyed being able to bond with them while still in the womb, to call them by name and get to know them before we saw them. So, we don't know yet.
Q: Are the kids excited?
A: They couldn't be more! Both of them had been asking and asking for another baby in our family for some months, especially with the arrival of cousin Baby Ava. They both have tender, sweet, nurturing spirits, and they love each other to death, so to them the idea of another baby is just the greatest thing on earth! Jack's reaction when I told him the news was pricessless: pure joy! He tells everyone we see, with great pride, that mommy has a baby in her belly (it's hard to keep a secret!). They both love to gently stroke my belly or "tickle" the baby, or talk to him/her. And they practice baby care with their little dolls.
Q: Are you planning to have another home birth?
A: If we can help it--Absolutely. Having a home birth was the most incredible experience, and so peaceful for all of us, that I wouldn't give it up for the world! It's hard finding midwives in Northern Michigan, and it didn't look promising for a while--so that we even seriously considered commuting to Indiana to see our last midwife, or even moving!--but God worked it all out and we found a fabulous midwife here that we really like!
Q: Are you sharing name ideas?
A: Hmmm...this is a tricky one. If we share, will you all promise not to steal our ideas??? Haha. As I mentioned, the girl name has been picked out for a while, but the boy name is still being deliberated over. We'll see how we feel about sharing when they're both chosen.
Q: Was this a planned pregnancy?
A: A very intimate question--how shocking that you asked! Well, we've been longing for another baby for some time, but were waiting for certain challenging life situations to clear up. I'll just say this: It was neither planned nor unplanned, but God surprised us with His perfect timing!
Q: How are you feeling?
A: So far, I'm doing okay! I am experiencing the typical exhaustion and occasional forgetfulness, and of course increased appetite! This past week and a half the nausea has hit, unfortunately, but so far it's manageable. I'm trying to still keep up with running, so I think that's helping overall. So, predictions, anyone?? With Jack, I had no sickness. With Safita, I was really sick. Anyone want to wager???
Anyone have any questions I didn't address? Shoot away!
 |
| 4 weeks, more or less |
Yes, Sirs and Ma'ams--we're having our Baby Number Three! And we couldn't be more excited!
We figured it was time to just make the announcement official, since word's been spreading already, and since it's getting hard to hide this belly anymore! I'm somewhere around 6 weeks along right now.
 |
| Again, at about 4 weeks...told you it was hard to hide! |
I know the questions you're all thinking (based on the questions I've been receiving), so I'll try to knock out some answers as best I can!
Q: When are you due?
A: Unofficially, around the last week of March, 2013. I'll update if anything changes!
Q: How many babies are in there?!
A: Who knows! But as far as we know, just one. I just happen to be efficient at growing babies! I would love twins, someday...Jack told me he thought we should have 5 babies in my belly...I guess we'll see :).
Q: Are you hoping for a boy or girl?
A: Equally either. Both would be equally fun for different reasons, so we're happy that the decision isn't ours! Jack, on the other hand, has his heart set on a baby girl and calls her by the name we've chosen. He will not even hear of the option that this baby could be a boy. When asked why, he's communicated that girls are cute and sweet, and he wants another sister just like the one he has, because he loves her so much. Isn't that precious?
Q: Are you planning to find out the baby's gender?
A: We're not sure yet...Having one of each reduces the practical need to prepare by stockpiling appropriate clothes...and it would be fun to have a surprise!...BUT, with the first two we also really enjoyed being able to bond with them while still in the womb, to call them by name and get to know them before we saw them. So, we don't know yet.
Q: Are the kids excited?
A: They couldn't be more! Both of them had been asking and asking for another baby in our family for some months, especially with the arrival of cousin Baby Ava. They both have tender, sweet, nurturing spirits, and they love each other to death, so to them the idea of another baby is just the greatest thing on earth! Jack's reaction when I told him the news was pricessless: pure joy! He tells everyone we see, with great pride, that mommy has a baby in her belly (it's hard to keep a secret!). They both love to gently stroke my belly or "tickle" the baby, or talk to him/her. And they practice baby care with their little dolls.
Q: Are you planning to have another home birth?
A: If we can help it--Absolutely. Having a home birth was the most incredible experience, and so peaceful for all of us, that I wouldn't give it up for the world! It's hard finding midwives in Northern Michigan, and it didn't look promising for a while--so that we even seriously considered commuting to Indiana to see our last midwife, or even moving!--but God worked it all out and we found a fabulous midwife here that we really like!
Q: Are you sharing name ideas?
A: Hmmm...this is a tricky one. If we share, will you all promise not to steal our ideas??? Haha. As I mentioned, the girl name has been picked out for a while, but the boy name is still being deliberated over. We'll see how we feel about sharing when they're both chosen.
Q: Was this a planned pregnancy?
A: A very intimate question--how shocking that you asked! Well, we've been longing for another baby for some time, but were waiting for certain challenging life situations to clear up. I'll just say this: It was neither planned nor unplanned, but God surprised us with His perfect timing!
Q: How are you feeling?
A: So far, I'm doing okay! I am experiencing the typical exhaustion and occasional forgetfulness, and of course increased appetite! This past week and a half the nausea has hit, unfortunately, but so far it's manageable. I'm trying to still keep up with running, so I think that's helping overall. So, predictions, anyone?? With Jack, I had no sickness. With Safita, I was really sick. Anyone want to wager???
Anyone have any questions I didn't address? Shoot away!
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