overwhelmed...

The first in a series, I have a feeling...

I've just hit the point of totally and completely overwhelmed. Not just one area of my life, either. But today we're tackling the baby topic, because I need your help. When I was at the doctor yesterday, he informed me that I should have already done a number of things, of which I have done *zero*. So, here are my questions:

1) Apparently we should know who our pediatrician is. Recommendations? How does one pick a pediatrician, anyway?

2) Totally overwhelmed by the idea of doing a baby registry, because I feel so completely clueless about what I need. Help!!! What do I need? Is there stuff that's recommended but not necessary? What couldn't you have lived without?

Feel free to shoot me an e-mail if it's too much info to share in a comment. I just need help...and prayer, please.

prayer request

Please pray for a good friend of mine. Her mom is actively dying - may have anywhere from a few hours to a few days at this point. She was able to take time off of work and is with her now. This same friend lost an uncle a couple weeks ago, was notified that same week that her job is being eliminated just a couple weeks from now, and has a few other terribly difficult trials facing her at the moment. God has allowed a tremendous about of pain in her life right now, and I can't help but believe that He has intended a corresponding amount of good from it. Obviously, though, it's hard for her to see right now. Pray that God would be revealed in this. She believes that God exists but I would hesitate to say that she is saved at this point.

Thanks :)


Update: my friend's mom passed away late last night (Thursday). Keep praying.

baby update

Here's an updated head shot of the little guy. Yep, that's right - a little boy!




Everything is checking out very well at this point...we're really excited, and Matt doesn't have to get over his pink aversion yet! The medical professional in me is absolutely in awe of what they can see on ultrasound at this point - they were even measuring structures in the brain! Crazy. I'm also feeling great - turned the corner at 14 weeks and have been feeling good ever since, with the exception of my heart rate going up with very, very minimal exertion. Who needs to go up stairs anyway?

Now all I have to do is convince Matt that the baby need not be named after a Civil War general... :) (I already vetoed "Chamberlain Young", for those of you who were concerned about that.)

girls weekend!

Last weekend was Girls Weekend for me. Matt was off at a teacher's institute for a long weekend with 150 other Civil War nuts, so one of my coworkers and I went off into the mountains to the retirement home of a third coworker and her husband for a few days of R&R. I love the mountains. Some people find the beach and ocean peaceful, but for me, God has always displayed his majesty and peace to me in open space and mountains (and water ON those mountains!). Oh, and the weather...absolutely incredible! Got some rain towards the end of the weekend, but most of the weekend was in the upper 70s/low 80s with NO humidity...and we never left the state of MD!

Enjoy a few pictures my coworker took... (Matt had our camera!)


This was the view from the front deck of the house. They have a wrap-around deck, and about 13 acres of property in front of their house...so this was what we woke up to every morning. You can't appreciate how long the driveway really is, but it took us 15 minutes to walk from the house down to the road! We spent a good chunk of time enjoying the view and reading on this deck.


That little dot at the top is the house, which is not small. THAT is how long the driveway is.


The southeast view. This one was absolutely incredible with the sunrise first thing in the morning. Deep Creek Lake is about a half hour straight ahead :)


One of my favorites...our excursion to Swallow Falls State Park. Absolutely beautiful. You could walk out on the rocks right by Muddy Creek falls, and the hiking between the two falls was doable even for kids or a pregnant woman trying to keep her heart rate down!

What kind of chocolate?

So next weekend is girls weekend, and for a variety of reasons, we established that we need to stock up on chocolate for the occasion. For some reason, they put the pregnant girl in charge of the purchasing. Which brings me to my question...

What type of chocolate is your "must-have" for a night (or weekend) with your girlfriends?

FAQ

Answers to the most commonly asked questions from the last few weeks!

Q: Are you excited?!?!
A: In a word, yes, but it took us a while to get there! In early May, we found out that I have a genetic condition that has been causing my miscarriages. There isn't really anything that can be done except to recognize that my risk of having an early miscarriage is very high. In a nutshell, if the baby gets the correct chromosomes = normal pregnancy, incorrect chromosomes = miscarriage. Less than 5 days after we found out about the genetic condition, we found out I was pregnant (love God's sense of humor!). So those first few weeks were very touch and go, moment by moment. As they've monitored me and the baby seems to be doing very well, we've progressively grown more excited to the point where I think I can say we're excited now!

Q: How are you feeling? Have you had much morning sickness?
A: Oh, the morning sickness. Whoever named it that? For me it was more like 24/7 sickness for a lot of weeks. My OB was able to give me something for the nausea, which has been immensely helpful and limited the days that I would have been sprawled on the floor of the bathroom and allowed me to be functional at work. The last week or so has been much better, but the fatigue has been overwhelming. Hopefully I'm over the hump now with the nausea.

Q: How far along are you? When are you due?
A: 13 weeks...due date January 16. Grateful that God prompted me to get a car with 4 wheel drive last year.

Q: Are you going to work all the way until January?
A: As long as God allows my body to complete my job safely! It's already a challenge because my job is so active and physical, but we're taking it one day at a time. I'm getting good at that.


Coming soon: funny work-related pregnancy moments. You know you love my old people.

coming attraction...

Sorry for the lack of blogging. I had a good reason.

Expected arrival, mid January. :) Picture just under 11 weeks.




Some of you know what a miracle this really is. For now, suffice it to say that it is nothing short of God's grace...and it deserves its own post. Someday I'll get there!