Blessed

I am 10 days away from my due date, and feeling so incredibly blessed to be so close to meeting our son. We have so much to be thankful for. I cant see a newborn, think of my son without crying. Its unbelievable how much I love him already.

We have such an amazing testimony with our loss, and now with this baby. I will always miss that baby we lost, and cannot wait to meet her one day. She has brought this family so much closer. Her life had a purpose, and she was an amazing gift from God. We may never understand why she was only in our lifes for such a short period of time, but I know the short 3 months she was, she made a huge impact on us and everyone around us. I have alot to remember her by, and know when I look at Judah's sweet face I will be reminded of her.

I thank God everyday for my husband, and my son. I know Judah is going to do great things with his life, and he is going to be loved so much. Everyone is so looking foward to him. Thank you Jesus for our heritage in Judah. I thank you that he will be in the right position for birth, and that he will come before Lance's dad has to leave on Dec. 9th. We thank you for a safe and amazing birth experience.

Come on Judah!! :)

38 weeks

2 weeks until Judah's due date! As much as I want this little guy to come, I know its best if he stays put until hes completely ready. He does seem pretty comfy in there! We are working on getting him in the right position for birth, so I have been doing pelvic tilts (not enough according to Lance) and sitting on the birthing ball to help open up my pelvis and allow him to move on down. Something has changed as far as his positioning but I am not sure what. I can never tell what I am feeling, he seems to be everywhere. I think hes in the right position now though, so praise God!

Our appt on Friday went well, we only have 2 more left until the due date. I am 1cm dilated, 50% effaced, and very soft. So now we wait. I met a mom who is due Dec. 1st and we both talked about how excited we were to be at the new hospital. It truly is an awesome place to be, if you have to be there.

Daddy would love for him to come before Thanksgiving, but I think Judah wants his December birthday. I am just enjoying these last days/weeks with him in my belly, because I will never get this time back. He is such a blessing in our lives and is going to be so incredibly loved. We already have a crew set up for delivery (whos taking pictures/video taping). Everyone in our family is preparing and is so excited for him. His aunts and uncles are taking time off of work, my Aunt is coming in from out of town, and of course the grandparents are incredibly excited. Its the first little one to enter our immediate family on both sides. He is going to be here right in time for his first Christmas! Mommy and Daddy already have bought him a couple of presents. We love you so much Judah bug and we cannot wait to see you!!!

37 weeks: FULL TERM!

I cant believe we are already considered full term! We are so excited to meet Judah! He is having fun keeping us guessing when he will arrive. I have been having contractions on and off for over a week now. Sometimes they will be regular, sometimes not. Then they usually just disappear. Must be my body practicing for the real thing. He has been as active as ever, and now that he has dropped, it makes it slightly more uncomfortable. I feel a lot of pressure and lost what they call the "mucus plug" (lovely name) 4 days ago.

Everyone is convinced it will be within a week, but I guess we will know more at our appt. on Friday. I am okay with whenever he wants to arrive, I am trying to enjoy these last few days/weeks with him snuggled in there, because once hes here, he can't go back!

We found a pediatrician, and although her office is in Troy, I believe she is the right fit for us and Judah. That took a huge weight off of me, because now at least we have that squared away. The car seat is installed but we didn't have it inspected yet. The Milford Police station does it, I just have to call and get an appt, and if for some reason we don't get to before he comes, I will have someone at the hospital check it out. (even though I'm pretty sure its installed right!)

Other then that we are just waiting, waiting, and waiting. I am trying to keep busy to keep my mind off things, but I feel really tired most of the time. We can't wait to introduce you all to Judah!

35 and 36 weeks

Well here we are, 3 weeks plus after our preterm labor and Judah is still nice and snug in there. At my 35 week appt I was a finger tip dilated and his head was still up high, so looks like he may be in there for the long run! I am worried about have a giant baby though, as he measured 3 weeks ahead and my uterus is also measuring 3 weeks ahead. My midwife isn't concerned though, she thinks hes bigger then average but not huge. His space is getting limited and when he stretches out it can be a bit uncomfortable for mommy. We are just enjoying these last few weeks as just Lance and Tina, and excited to add Judah!

We have been together for 11 years. Lance has been my best friend since I was 15 years old. We grew up together, we dreamed about this since we were 15 years old. We have been through so much together, and this baby is an incredible blessing in our lives. I got really sad the other day thinking about our Josiah, and what that baby could have been. I miss her so incredibly much, but I know if she was here, Judah would most likely not be. Our first little one would be almost a year old by now. She will always be our first creation together, and we cant wait to meet her one day.

I have been having more and more "braxton hicks" contractions and when they happen I feel crampy all over. I guess that's just my body practicing for the real thing, but whenever they happen I always wonder...are they going to get worse or go away? Its exciting and fun and I cant wait till they do start getting worse and I can say "its time!"

A prayer request....we are asking God to lead us to a decision for our housing. We have an option with a condo in Milford, but we know we want to own our own home someday. The tax credit has been expanded until May or April (cant remember) and we are debating just saving money until then and trying to get into a home. Just pray God gives us direction in this area.