34 weeks

It has been a busy week! We met with the maternal fetal specialist and found out our little guy is measuring 3 weeks ahead and is around 7 lbs. Quite a surprise when at this gestation they are supposed to be around 5 lbs. But hey, we might just have a big baby! Everything looked great, cervix was long and closed. They did a non stress test and there was no contractions. She still was leaning towards the steroid shots, but I politely refused. They also did a surprise 4d ultrasound and we got some amazing pictures of him, he is super cute! Our baby is in God's hands, and I know that he wont be born till hes good and ready.

We also had our baby shower, and got so many wonderful gifts for Judah. He is one lucky little guy. He needs his own bookshelf for how many books we got! We feel completely overwhelmed with the love that was poured out on us and Judah. My next appt with my midwife is Nov 6th and after that I will go to see her every week until he arrives! We are so excited to meet him, and know he is going to be such a blessing in our lives.

33 weeks

It has been an interesting week! Sunday night we went to the Birth Center to make sure my water did not break, because I felt like I was leaking. Well to our surprise I was having regular contractions that I wasn't feeling. They gave me some awful med's to stop the contractions which seemed to work, and then took a test called a fetal fibrinectin test. What it means is if its negative you are safe from going into labor for at least 7 days. Well mine came back positive, which means I have about a 30% chance of going into labor in the next 7-14 days. They talked about steroid shots for his lungs and even considered keeping me over night. My cervix was still closed and thick so he decided to let me go home and wait on the steroids. We have an appt with a Maternal Fetal Specialist tomorrow morning where we will most likely be getting an ultrasound to see the length of my cervix. The specialist wants us to get the steroid shots regardless of the cervix length. However they do not give the shot if you are 34 weeks or after. We have 6 days until we are 34 weeks so we are on the fence. We are leaning towards not getting them because we feel that God is not going to let Judah come if hes not ready. We trust him 100% with our little guy. I also have a UTI which can cause contractions so hopefully treating that will help and stop the contractions. We would like for him to stay put till at least 36 weeks. Keep us in your prayers, and we will see you all at the baby shower!

In Love

I absolutely love being pregnant. I feel so incredibly blessed to have this little person growing in me and that I get to be his mommy. He is getting so big, his little butt is always poking out. I love to feel him and try to guess what I am feeling. Its such an amazing experience. I only have 4 and half weeks till I'm considered full term. Its amazing how fast time has gone.

I feel completely at peace with the birthing process and feel with the support of my husband and my midwife I will be able to have the natural birth I am wanting. Lance is going to be an amazing coach, he is so attentive, patient, and loving.

I have never felt the amount of love I feel for my son. I know it will only intensify when I see him. This is just such an awesome experience and I thank God every day for this gift. I know its not a given. There are plenty of women who cannot have children, or struggle. Yes we had our struggle, with loosing our Josiah. But now we are here, with a healthy little boy growing safely. I still miss our little beanie every day. I remember what it felt like to find out we were pregnant with her. She is our first little one, our child. We have one child in heaven and pretty soon will have one here with us. I know will we see our baby again someday. Our sweet angel.

Our baby shower is next Saturday and we had a lot of people RSVP. We are excited to celebrate our little guy with all of our family and friends. It wont be long till Judah will be here! :)

30 and 31 weeks

We are rounding the corner of the end of this pregnancy and the beginning of our new life! We could not be more excited for this little guy. At our 30 week appt, I was measuring 32 weeks, and his heartrate was in the 140's which is great. He is also head down, which hopefully he stays that way! I also go to the midwife more then I used too, but the best thing about a midwife, is instead of a mandatory every 2 weeks she says 2-3 weeks, so of course I picked 3 weeks. At 36 weeks we will go every week until he comes!

I have still been feeling really good. Some aches and pains, but nothing I cant handle. Hes an active little guy and LOVES his daddy's voice. He always starts moving when Lance talks. Its getting a little tight in there for him now, and I am feeling little knees, elbows, hands and feet sticking out all over. If I push on his little butt he will always push back, which its fun to interact with him before hes here. Hes practicing his breathing alot, because he gets the hiccups quite a bit now. My whole belly shakes when he hiccups!

We had our birthing class this past Sat. and we found it extremely interesting and informative. I feel alot more prepared to have the natural birth I want. Also I'm glad Lance got to learn different techniques to help me through the contractions. It definitly made labor not seem as scary, because they explained everything really well. All in all im excited to meet this little guy soon, in 5 weeks I'll be considered full term!

We are prepared to be at Lance's parents house with Judah for a little bit if we need too, it will be tight but all that matters is I am going to be there for him, thats most important to me. I am looking at finding a part time nanny job where I can take him, and have an interview this week sometime for one that starts in January.

Our baby shower is in 2 weeks and we are super excited to celebrate our litte guy with family and friends. I love my aunts and cousins that I dont get to see very often, so I am excited to see them!

28 and 29 weeks

We are getting so close! We are very excited to have 8-10 weeks left till we meet our son. He has blessed us so much already, and we know the blessings will continue for the rest of his life.

Our Pastor got a word from God about Judah. Psalms 1: Blessed is Judah who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But Judah's delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law Judah meditates day and night. Judah is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yeilds its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever Judah does will prosper.

One thing I have felt since we conceived, is that God was preparing me for a child that would do great things for the Lord. I never really understood why I felt this way, or what the great things would be. We have had more then a few people speak some powerful things into his life. As soon as our Pastor said this I looked at Lance and could barely get out the words "I have known this for a long time." I felt so much emotion because God was confirming to us what he has been telling me all along. He also told me that I am about to birth a powerful man of God. Later on, he told me that I should be researching biographies about great men in history, christian or not.

I don't know what God has planned for Judah, but I will continue to pray for him and love him, and help mold him into the man God has intended for him to be. He is our little miracle! I am still in awe every day of him, and we are already feel so protective over him. I never get tired of feeling him move and talking to him. Hes my little buddy and his mommy and daddy cannot wait to meet him!

On to our 28 week appt, it went really well. We had some blood work done including the glucose test again. Everything came back good except for my Vitamin D levels are low so I am now on a supplement. Sometimes I wish I could just take my prenatals and be done with it, but its all worth it. I now take 3 prenatals a day (I buy my own because I perfer wholefood organic vitamins and you take one with every meal), I take 4000mg of folic acid, a baby aspirin, 600mg of calcium (twice a day), prenatal DHA, and now 50,000 units of vitamin D once a week. So my day is surrounded by remembering to take all of this stuff, but as long as my little guy is getting what he needs to be smart and grow, its all worth it :)

Lance and I are still praying for God to lead us to an affordable place to live so I can stay home with the baby. We know he will provide!

26 and 27 weeks

1 more week till the 3rd trimester! I cant believe we are getting so close to meeting this amazing little boy. Sometimes it seems so far away, but then I remember, 3 months is not that long. He has been moving around alot, but had a couple of days last week where he wasnt. We of course were concerned, but I think he was in a different position, because he has been moving like crazy the past 2 days. We bought his carseat/stroller this past week. That made things seem alot more real. Thats the first big purchase for the little guy.

My last day at the daycare is the 16th. I am a little nervous not having a job, but I know God will provide. He will lead us to affordable, safe housing. With Lance working and going to school full time, buying a home right now would be too much stress on him. Our marriage and our little boy are #1, and we are willing to make sacrifices to reduce any unneeded stress. Our goal is to have a place by the time Judah gets here, but boy is that coming fast! We just ask for prayers for direction and guidance so we know where to go next.

I have to do the glucose test again at my next appt, I am praying I pass and everything goes smoothly.

God, give us direction

I dont have a ton of time to write, but I just needed to express some of my concerns as of lately.

Judah will be here in 3 months, I cant believe it! We have so many decisions to make right now. As you all know we have been looking to buy a house, but after alot of seeking and praying I feel like God is saying not right now. Again I dont know what this means, or why we keep getting led into the house buying market, and then at the last minute it doesnt work out. I will not allow myself to be confused, and I just ask that God keeps showing us where to go.

Also I may be leaving my job. Lets face it, I am making $500 a month, to drive 45 minutes both ways. Not to mention the impending flu season ahead. I trust the Lord, but I also know that we do get sick at times, and this is not a time I want to be sick. 6 out of the 20 pregnant women who have caught h1n1 have died, without even seeing their babies first. I refuse to live in fear, but I also use the wisdom God has given me to protect myself and my baby.

So where does that leave us? I am not sure, all I ask is for prayers, that God leads us where we are truly meant to be. My first priority is my son and my marriage, and I refuse to put us in a situation that jeopordizes either of those. It is very important to me to be home with my son, and I dont want to be in a situation where I would have to be away from him, at least not for a while.

Thanks for listening.