Luke's Birth Story

I had a scheduled c section planned for Monday, January 18th at 8am a few months before his actual birthday. It was weird knowing his birthday so long before it actually arrived, there was no mystery or guessing. I also really loved it. I'm such a planner, so it was nice to coordinate when my mom and Clarke would take off work, other family and friends could plan as well.

We left the house at 5:30am, to St. Mary's for me to get prepped. I got my fluids, iv started, and got ready for the surgery. It was weird walking into the operating room, so different than with Chloe. Snapped this last belly picture before walking into the labor delivery unit.

The c section didn't take very long, they gave me the spinal tap and shortly after Luke was here! Unfortunately the same thing happened that did with Chloe, my uterus wouldn't contract. They tried different medicines, but after nothing working, they put the bakri balloon in. I'm very thankful it worked again. I did get to do skin to skin for awhile, but it was really awkward.

They brought me back into our room, Luke was already there. I found out he was 8 pounds 5 ounces, I couldn't believe how big he was! I remember being cold, I snuggled him and the skin to skin regulated my temperature almost right away. It's so amazing. 

We had lots of visitors that afternoon. I just love this picture of Chloe and Luke, so sweet. 

Our first picture as a family of four!!

The following days we had more visitors, we felt so loved and supported.

We were lucky to go home the day before the blizzard hit. It really was perfect timing.

We got all ready for the big storm at home. The next day he had his first doctor's appointment, and the snow started falling just as we made our way back home. My mom got some extra days off from work, it really worked out so well. 

I feel so blessed when I look back on our time at the hospital, and his birth. I love being his mommy, and almost as soon as he was born I felt complete. I know it sounds weird, but it just felt like it was meant to be, and he was God's plan. 

I'm thankful for my doctor, who knew what to do when my uterus wasn't doing what it was suppose to, the caring nurses who took such great care of us and a great support system, many who brought us food so we didn't have to eat the not so great hospital food!  

So that's his story!!

37 Weeks...Full Term!

How Far Along: 37 weeks, officially full term! Now he's just putting on weight, 2 weeks to go.

Size of Baby: Baby is the size of a winter melon. 

Weight Gain: Ugh, about 26, already more than with Chloe, he is definitely bigger. 

Maternity Clothes: Yup, only a few pajama or sweatpants that are non maternity fit me now. 

Gender: Boy! 

Movement: So much!

Sleep: Not so great anymore. So uncomfortable it's hard to fall asleep. 

Symptoms: My skin has been so dry from winter and hormones. I hate to complain, but it's been really bothering me. My hands and feet are swollen, acid reflux, and my back hurts. He's also moved down some more so there's a lot of pressure. Can you tell I'm done?

Food Cravings: This past week I've been craving cranberry juice. But for most of this pregnancy I'd say it has been coffee and bagels. 

What I Miss: Just having my body back. I feel extremely pregnant and it just makes everything harder. 

Best Moment This Week: Enjoying Christmas. That was last week, but it was so fun watching Chloe open her gifts and just thinking next year we will be a family of four.

Big Sister Class and Haircut

This past Saturday we went to St.Mary's for Chloe's big sister class. It was super cute and my favorite part was when we got to go up and see where Chloe will meet her baby brother. I told her it's where she was born too, brought back so many emotions. 

 Afterwards we took her to get her first haircut. I've been putting it off because I thought she would scream throughout it, but she did really good. The special car she got to sit in definitely helped!

I was so happy she had a good first experience with her haircut!!

Baby Brother's Sprinkle

This past weekend our closest friends and family gave us a shower for baby brother! We felt so blessed to have so much support and received so many nice things.

The day of I realized Chloe had a dress that would match the party. The theme will match his nursery. Well, future nursery. Of course my mom made a bunch of food and my friends made the cutest decorations. It was a great time.

Chloe's favorite was the alligator cupcakes, helping open the gifts and hanging out with Ellie and baby Zoe. I even got her to wear a bow because baby Zoe was wearing one, ha!

Can't wait for him to come in about a month and get to use everything. I'm finally feeling pretty much ready after this shower!

32 Weeks

How Far Along: 32 weeks!

Size of Baby: Baby is the size of a squash. At my last ultrasound 2 weeks ago he was 3 pounds 2 ounces. 

Weight Gain: 15 pounds. 

Maternity Clothes: Yup, except pajama or stretchy pants. 

Gender: Boy! 

Movement: He is quite the kicker. Moving more and more each day.

Sleep: Okay, but getting harder to be comfortable. I miss sleeping on my stomach. 

Symptoms: My back hurts. Tightness and stretching. My skin is unusually dry too. 

Food Cravings: Coffee, Chick-fil-A, Bagels!

What I Miss: Cold medicine this week. I've got a bad cold and there is nothing I can take. Dr. said I could take Benadryl, but it makes me so nervous. 

Best Moment This Week: We got our pictures back from our maternity family pictures, and I love them. It was such a stress with having to reschedule and plan everything, but in the end I'm glad we did it. 

28 weeks...hello 3rd trimester!

How Far Along: 28 weeks, officially in the 3rd trimester. 

Size of Baby: Baby is the size of a an eggplant, about 2 pounds. 

Weight Gain: 12 pounds, I'm surprised it's not more. 

Maternity Clothes: Yup, except pajama or stretchy pants. 

Gender: Boy! 

Movement: He is moving so much! A lot more than Chloe did, especially when I'm sitting still. 

Sleep: I can always fall asleep right away because I'm so tired, but then when I wake up to go to the bathroom, my thoughts keep me awake and then I feel restless. 

Symptoms: Tightness and stretching. I can tell he is growing, which is good, but sometimes it's uncomfortable. My back hurts but the end of the day. 

Food Cravings: Nothing our of the ordinary. Coffee and Chick-fil-A! 

What I Miss: Just being able to keep up with Chloe. Also, it's about that time in the pregnancy when I start to miss running. 

Best Moment This Week: I love it when Chloe talks about her baby brother coming. She tried to feed him the other day by putting a pita chip and hummus into my belly button! She definitely knows he's in there. 

Chloe wanted to join in the picture this week.....kinda. 

One more thing, at my doctor's appointment last week I was diagnosed with a placenta previa. It showed up at my 20 week ultrasound but my doctor said not to worry because most of the time it moves up, it's too low right now. I didn't really think about it, but when they checked it still hasn't moved up, and it's unlikely that it will now. It means I'm more at risk for preterm labor and bleeding. It's scary because I hemorrhaged with Chloe's delivery and now I'm at risk for that happening again because of this. It just complicates things. He will probably be coming a lot sooner, I will know more after meeting with the high risk doctor next week. It's really scary and I would love your prayers! 

24 week update!

How Far Along: 24 weeks, where is the time going?

Size of Baby: Baby is the size of a cantaloupe, about 11 inches long. 

Weight Gain: 10 pounds altogether. At my apt this morning I gained almost 5 pounds in a month, yikes!

Maternity Clothes: Yup!

Gender: Boy! It's been so fun since finding out, picking out boy things for the nursery and clothes. 

Movement: Lots! I feel like he is moving more than Chloe did. My glucose test was this morning, after drinking that sugary drink she could barely find the heartbeat he was moving so much. 

Sleep: Okay. Mostly just takes awhile to get comfortable, and getting up to pee all the time. 

Symptoms: Just tired, and my back hurts sometimes. I find it's getting harder to keep up with Chloe too.

Food Cravings: Coffee! I find myself drinking decaf sometimes, which I never did before. 

What I Miss: More caffeine!

Best Moment This Week: Enjoying fall. I love the cooler temps, although the rain hasn't been the best. But seeing all the pumpkins and fun fall things, I love this time of year.

At my little brother, Drew's, engagement party Saturday night. 

21 Weeks Update

How Far Along: 21 weeks. 

Size of Baby:  Baby is the size of a carrot. 

Weight Gain: 5 pounds altogether. I gained 3 pounds last month which seems like a lot, oh well. I think I'm bigger this time around. 

Maternity Clothes: If it's not a t-shirt or stretchy, it's maternity. 

Gender: BOY! We found out last Friday we are having a baby boy. Chloe will have a baby brother, we are so excited!

Movement: Lots of movement at night. Some big kicks too.

Sleep: Okay. I wake up with my back hurting most nights, just hard to get comfortable sometimes. 

Symptoms:Just tiredness, which I'm thankful that is all right now. Took longer to get rid of some first trimester symptoms so I'm trying to enjoy the glorious second trimester. 

Food Cravings: Nothing out of the ordinary yet.

What I Miss: I miss sleeping on my stomach. Also, this nice fall weather is always my favorite time to run, so I'm missing that. 

Best Moment This Week: Finding out it was a boy and sharing the news with our family. Also, the 20 week ultrasound, baby boy looked healthy! 

A little shy of 21 weeks at the Elizabethan gardens last week on vacation. Bump is growing!

it's a.....

I'm sure everyone already knows, but have to post here as well......

We found out on Friday we are having a boy!!!! Beyond excited!

17 Weeks Baby Update!

How Far Along: 17 weeks, finally into second trimester. 

Size of Baby:  Baby is the size of an onion. That seems pretty big to me, about 5 inches long. Crazy how fast she or he is growing.

Weight Gain: When I went to my dr. apt last week they said no weight gain, which baffles me since my belly has grown. So still at 2 pounds from start. 

Maternity Clothes: Regular shirts and sundresses still fit me, everything else is maternity. 

Gender: We scheduled our ultrasound to find out!! September 4th can't come soon enough. 

Movement: I think last night and last week I felt the baby move. It's still surreal even the second time around. 

Sleep: Okay. After awhile of figuring out how to get comfortable I sleep well. 

Symptoms: My back has already started to hurt, and I'm tired. But since my last update the headaches have gotten so much better, pretty much gone. The nausea is gone too! Took a little longer than with Chloe, but thankful those symptoms are gone now. 

Food Cravings: Wine, lol. 

What I Miss: I miss having more energy and being able to do more. Just keeping up with Chloe wears me out now.

What I’m Looking Forward To: Beach!! Nothing to do with pregnancy, but this summer has been kinda hard for us. Moving and having the house on the market still. Lots of new transitions, all good, but with adjusting we haven't been able to go on vacation this summer. Can't wait to bring Chloe to the beach, go to all our favorite restaurants and just relax. 

Best Moment This Week: Hearing the heartbeat at the doctor or feeling it move for the first time.

And this is the best picture I could get! You can see my growing bump so I guess that's a win, ha!

My Grace is Sufficient

So I've been meaning to write a post about how we got here...

On May 21st, after 6 months of trying, I finally took a positive pregnancy test. 

Back in November, we finally felt ready to start trying. We always knew we wanted one more baby, and we always wanted them about three years apart. It was a big deal since my birth with Chloe was so hard and really I was ready to be pregnant, but being ready to give birth again was a whole other thing. 

I had been training for the Richmond half, and I ended up running a half in Winston 3 weeks later. Needless to say all that running totally through off my cycle. Of course I would speculate each month I got my period, why it didn't work. But it was hard, a lot harder than I thought it would be. 

I'll never look at a pregnancy announcement the same way again. It's such a sweet thing, such a blessing, such a miracle. But it definitely makes me think about those that are aching for that as well. I remember that feeling. Nothing could ever make me love Chloe more, but going through this made me appreciate the timing of her even more. With her we weren't sure if it was the right timing for us to become parents, but God knew it was. 

This time I thought it might take 2 or 3 months tops, but once again God knew the perfect timing. If we had gotten pregnant right away Clarke wouldn't have applied for jobs and we wouldn't be back in Richmond, and we are suppose to be here. God knew. And the thing that makes my heart so full is knowing how much I doubted the last month. I was so sure it was going to be negative again. I had convinced myself something was wrong with my uterus from the trauma of Chloe's birth. I doubted God's timing and perfect plan for our family. This verse comes to mind...

2 Corinthians 12:9
But he said to me, " My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 

 In the mist of my weakness, my doubt and fear, God still blessed us with such a precious gift. His grace really is more than enough for us, more than we deserve. I can't wait to meet this baby, I know he or she is exactly what God wanted for our family.