Second Trimester! Woohoo!

Yesterday marked 13 weeks.  Nausea is slowly (ever so slowly) going away and the energy is slowly (ever so slowly returning).  Which means, I might actually get our August and September update done soon and then ya’ll can see and read all about our cruise and my kids exploits while we were traipsing around the Caribbean.

I was able to get a new laptop (thanks Lilla Rose) and we are working on swapping over our dinosaur pc to be a server of sorts.  Which means pictures are slow coming.  Hopefully, we will get those up soon.

And a baby update:  We went to the doctor the day before we left for the cruise and had another ultrasound.  I was just at 10 weeks which was when we found out we had lost the last baby.  Yes, I was a bit panicked but trusting the Lord and praying.  A lot.  It was a quick scan.  Saw baby and his/her heartbeat and everything looked great.  Not only that, we saw no signs of the hematoma.  Dr. J took me off progesterone the day after (which was supposed to help with the morning sickness on a boat.  Um, yeah, no.) and told me I really had no restrictions.  That really helped us to relax on our cruise.  By the way, apparently, the progesterone doesn’t really effect my nausea and fatigue.  That’s just standard ol’ first trimester funsies.  The nausea, food aversioins, and extreme fatigue these past few weeks have all put me at ease for this baby.   We go back soon for another standard check but doubt I will update on that one.

We have first names picked out for this little one and the boy and girl name both start with E so we are referring to this baby as Baby E.  Good luck on trying to figure out what the first names are.  Ernest (while one of my favorite plays, is not it).

Hopefully, I’ll be able to get my laptop and dinosaur to talk better and get pictures up soon.

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Sneak Peek, Spring Pictures

Tracy ventured out with us last week and braved all the bugs and such to get some spring pictures for us.  We have taken note.  Bug spray is a MUST around our neighborhood creek in the spring and summer.  A must.

Anyway, we thought you all would enjoy a sneak peek at the pictures she got.  I have to say I can’t wait to see the rest!

 You might have to click on it to get a better reading on the signage.  Or just look below.

We are excited, thrilled, surprised, and thrilled to announce that we will be adding to our bunch in December (or January)!

Yes, it is early.  Yes, we just found out.  But we believe every life is a gift and choose to celebrate it as long as we have that life.  Malachi and this baby will be 22 months (almost 23 months) apart.  That’s the biggest gap yet.  And we (meaning I) was just settled in enjoying our blessings and getting used to my baby not being a baby when lo, and behold, God gives us another one.

My first doctor’s appointment is this week.  I’m almost 100% that I’ll have my progesterone checked since it was low with the last two pregnancies and I had to go on supplements for the first trimester (not fun but willing to do what needs to be done to keep this little guy, or girl, growing).  So, please pray that my numbers are high.

A couple of prayer requests to go along with that:
1.  No subchorionic hematoma.  Not sure if the doctor will want to do an ultrasound so early but either way, whenever one is done, please pray there is no blood clot anywhere near the baby.
2.  VBAC.  Yes, no doubt about it, I want to try a VBAC.  I have a wonderful and amazing bestie who just so happens to be a L&D nurse who has VBAC’d.  She’s agreed to be a doula for me.  I’ve done this whole giving birth thing without a c-section six times but I know having her there comforting and supporting me will help.  Not to mention our laughter and conversation will distract me from the pain. One of the big VBAC prayers is that I can go in to labor on my own (which I haven’t done since Zoe was born).  Inductions are just not good for VBACs and I would really like to avoid that this time.  I am trusting the Lord to provide.
3.  My mystery pregnancy rash.  I got it very early with Malachi and it continued up until 30 weeks.  It just so happens that at 30 weeks I started drinking a Mama’s brew tea that had raspberry leaf, nettles leaf, peppermint, and alfalfa in it.  I’m already starting with this mystery rash again (really, they should name it after me).  I’m smathering myself with lotion twice a day and drinking one cup of tea a day.  Praying that this works to combat the rash before it gets really bad.

Thank you for your prayers for us and this sweet little blessing growing.

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Seven Update

A friend said we should name the baby Seven in honor of a Seinfeld episode where George decides that his first child will be named Seven.  Go youtube it.  It’s totally there.

So, #7 will be nicknamed Seven until he/she gets a name which will hopefully be in about six weeks.  It works for a boy or a girl, see???

I had a checkup today and had to go it alone because a plague was attacking the kids and we didn’t want to share it with anyone until we felt we might be in the clear.

I’m just going to confess.  A dear friend let us borrow her doppler to listen to the baby’s heartbeat.  We tried it at 12 weeks and again on Monday night (at 13 weeks).  We both felt dumb as dirt because we were both certain the baby was still in there but we couldn’t find him/her.  We really weren’t too worried that something was wrong because, well, because I’m 13 weeks and still having a bit of nausea.  And it’s not fun.

I just knew that Dr. J’s nurse or Dr. J himself would be able to find the heartbeat and I was already to focus on the location so I could do the same at home and let the kids listen at their leisure.

Dr. J’s nurse tried and tried but just couldn’t find it.  She thought she heard it a couple of times, but then couldn’t get a good reading. So, since it was late in the afternoon, she checked to make sure the tech was in (because if she hadn’t been, I totally was going to demand that someone else do it and do it quickly).  She was.  And, because Seven was acting up, I totally got a sweet ultrasound, which I secretly wanted anyways.  Who doesn’t love seeing their baby on screen?  Especially since the last picture I had was a kidney bean with legs.

Baby was there, moving, wiggling, kicking his/her legs.  And the heart was just a going at 164 beats per minute.  And that is, I do believe, the highest little heartbeat we’ve seen in any of our kids (and I had not had any caffiene before I got there).  But, as the ultrasound tech put it, it was perfect.

It was a quick ultrasound but right as she was finishing up, she snapped a picture of this:

That would be that the baby just decided to take a rest and plopped himself/herself right down to get all cozy and snug.  Mark said it looks like the Dreamworks fishing kid at the intro of all their things (it’s on youtube as well).  Either way, I just think it’s adorable and we are all getting so excited that our baby looks like an actual baby.  

And, if you’re wondering, the hematoma is still there but very, very small.  I know where it is, but it is hard to see if you don’t know what you are looking for.

We rejoice that God’s blessed us and are looking forward to a fun second trimester!

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Happy Birthday Josiah!

We were so excited to celebrate Josiah’s first birthday today! It really does feel like the time has flown by. He is such a joy to have in our home. At one year old, he is crawling on all fours…not the belly slide anymore. He loves to talk. Playing with his brothers and sister is a joy for him. He is climbing on anything he can reach. He loves to pull everything off the coffee table. Food is his friend and he enjoys being with it very much…however, he still loves to spend time with mommy nursing (twice a day, yippee). He can win you over with the biggest smile that says, “I’m going to get into something, just watch.” He absolutely loves playing in the water, be it the bath, pool or the cat/dog water bowl. He sleeps about 10 to 11 hours a night before spending time with mommy. He takes two naps each about 2 to 3 hours long (yeah, I know, it’s really nice).

We celebrated today with some friends over for lunch. Ge & Granddaddy came up and celebrated too. We had a yummy lunch followed by yummy cake and Josiah enjoyed his “smash” cake. Then he opened presents. He didnt dive into the cake too much. I’m afraid I filled him up on lunch but he did enjoy the sweetness and got a little dirty.

I’m afraid we have a ton of pictures, so I put it on a slide show. Thanks Tracy and Mark for taking so many pictures! All in all, it’s been a fun day. I’ve really enjoyed it since this is the first first birthday I haven’t been pregnant and feeling blah!

So, enjoy!

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Josiah’s Newborn Check up

We just got back from the doctor to get a quick check up for Josiah. Just had to share that he only lost about 2 oz from birth! Very shocking!! For those that don’t know, babies usually lose a little weight after birth, especially nursing babies and our ped. said that big babies tend to lose more. However, Josiah must really enjoy his milk!! He’s doing great and doesn’t have to be seen again for 2 weeks. My milk has come in so I doubt he’s going to lose any more weight!

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Josiah Britt has arrived!


Josiah Britt Character has arrived! He was born on June 28th, 2007 at 6:55 p.m. EDT. He was 9 lbs. 6 oz., 21 1/2 inches long, and his head was 15 1/4 inches around. Mommy and baby are doing wonderful. Abbie, of course, did just a magnificent job of shepherding him into the world. We are thankful for God’s blessing as we welcome Josiah into our family. More updates and pictures to come as we will probably come home tonight (Friday).

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We’re on our way!

I’m 2 1/2 cm dilated and Josiah’s dropped a little. We’ve scheduled an induction for Thursday. I had some fierce contractions since yesterday but nothing consistent. I’m praying my body will decide to go on it’s own.

Much prayers for a safe delivery are appreciated. Also, pray that I am able to make this as least medically invasive as possible.

I’m sure Mark will email when he gets here!

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New Pregnancy Things

First up, Mark is going to post on our little “visitor” from this weekend…so stay tuned if you like to look at gross pictures!

Here are some new things with this pregnancy that I’ve never experienced before:
1. Very noticeable (at least to me) swelling in my feet, hands, and arms (and I’m sure legs but I can’t see those).
2. Joint pain (especially in the morning or when I’m not using my hands) in my hands and feet and knees.
3. Extreme reflux/heartburn.
4. Painful, itchy rash on my belly! Yikes! This one is most embarrassing because I get scratching fits in public…I know people are wondering why that big woman is scratching her belly!!!

Thankfully, all of these should disappear after little Josiah gets here…the question is when will he get here 🙂

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Baby Update

No change.

My doctor thinks that I won’t go past 1 cm on my own. We’ll see. I also found out why my belly has been itching so much…it’s a common symptom of the last stages of pregnancy and I have a nice little red rash all over my abdomen…to cure it…deliver!

We go next Tuesday morning and will hopefully have progressed some. My itchy abdomen is really itchy and owie so I’m not sure how much longer I can wait.

We’re praying for progress, etc! Please pray with us.

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Plan of Action and Ace Update

First off, Ace is doing good. No fever today. Definitely a viral thing but I’m glad we took him in and Liam in when we did…especially Liam with his ears! We’re waiting on Zoe or Mark or I to catch it.

Here is our plan of action on baby birthing thus far…we’ll go in on Thursday and if there is still no change wait until the 26th to go in and get checked again. If there is still no change, then we’ll wait until the doctor gets back into town (he’s leaving on the 29th and will be back at work on the July 5th). Two weeks should give my cervix plenty of time to do something. If I’ve dilated two to 3 cm, I don’t mind looking at an induction as it would be pretty quick to get me started. However, being induced when I’m only 1 cm and not overdue seems a little bit to be jumping the gun.

I’m not so much fearful about having the baby and getting kids situated as I am impatient and highly uncomfortable. Both reasons, God has shown me are not justifiable in being induced this week. I keep repeating that I need to persevere.

I keep repeating James 1:2-4: Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

While this isn’t a trial it does feel like a test for me to see if I can allow God to fill me with the patience I need to have a safe and healthy delivery.

Also, I am looking at this time as an opportunity to spend time with my kids before being consumed with all the newborn needs.

So, please pray for us as we “endure” this waiting time!

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