First let me say that everything is A-OK... and that this may me TMI for some people.
Wednesday I started noticing some bleeding and of course freaked out!
I called the doctor and was assured that this was normal and unless accompanied by any cramps that I did not need to be worried. HELLO!? Does she know what we've been through? Telling me not to worry is like telling peanut butter not to hang out with jelly. Anyways.... I did worry and when I couldn't get an appointment until next week I decided I would not be able to make it through the long weekend without being a nervous wreck.
So Nick and I went to the ER.
After 5 long hours we were given the following results:
The baby's heartbeat was 166 beats per minute.*
My HCG levels were well over 130,000.(that is good)
The baby measured 8.9 weeks (right on track).
And.. we saw arm and leg buds forming!
So... the moral of the story is better to be safe than sorry and I feel reassured knowing everything is ok. Please keep praying.
(*The old wive's tale says anything over 150 is a girl!!)
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
Baby Connor
My dear friend Carrie just delivered her baby boy weighing in at 9 lbs 2 oz!
Keep her in your prayers!
Keep her in your prayers!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
A New Beginning
As my wife takes one last relaxing trip to the beach before yet another school year begins, she wanted me to update her blog with some very exciting news....... WE ARE EXPECTING IN APRIL!! Although I'm not as good as Jessica is with this "blog thing," I'm sure she will have more insight to post when she returns. However, I'm equally elated and relieved as is Jess in finding out the news. As of Wednesday, the baby measured 4.3 centimeters and was exactly 7 weeks old. Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers, as God has heard and answered them. ~Nick
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Got Faith?
While searching the internet for prayers for expectant mothers, I came across this magnificent painting: The Prayer of an Expectant Mother (Dmitri Petrov, 2005)
So...tomorrow we go to the doctor's for our first visit. I am praying constantly and feeling the assurance that everything is going to be fine! Of course there is a part of me that is scared too! I will update as soon as I can after the visit, but in the meantime please keep us in prayer!
Heavenly Father, please grant this baby of Nick & Jessica's a full term of nurture,
the joy and mystery of life, and the blessing of your love.
Grant them the fulfillment of their dreams,a baby to cherish and protect, a child to teach and guide, a blessing to their family. I pray that this baby will grow well and live to praise forever Your Holy Name.
Amen.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Full Circle
I got this as a gift last year for the big 30! It applies again but only for the next 45 minutes because tommorrow is my birthday... We go to the doctor on Wednesday for our first appointment. Keep us in your prayers:)
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
The Tea Cup
This is from the same daily devotional as The Dragonfly one.
I love it!
The Tea Cup
There was a couple who used to go to England to shop in the beautiful stores. They both liked antiques and pottery and especially teacups. This was their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary and the shop they visited had a beautiful teacup. They said to the shop assistant, "May we see that? We've never seen one quite so beautiful." As the lady handed it over to them, the teacup spoke suddenly.
"You don't understand," it said. "I haven't always been a teacup. There was a time when I was red and I was clay. My master took me, rolled me, patted me over and over and I yelled out, 'Let me alone' but he only smiled, 'Not yet.'
"Then I was placed on a spinning wheel," the teacup said,"and suddenly I was spun around. 'Stop it! I'm getting dizzy!' I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, 'Not yet.' Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I wondered
why he wanted to burn me, and I yelled and knocked at the door. I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as he shook his head, 'Not yet.'
Finally the door opened, he put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. 'There, that's better', I said. And he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. 'Stop it, stop it!' I cried. He only nodded, 'Not yet.'
Then suddenly he put me back into the oven, not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. All the time I could see him through the opening nodding his head saying, 'Not yet.'
Then I knew there wasn't any hope. I would never make it. I was ready to give up. But the door opened and he took me out and placed me on the shelf. One hour later he handed me a mirror and I couldn't believe it was me. 'It's beautiful. I'm beautiful.'
'I want you to remember, then,' he said, 'I know it hurts to be rolled and patted, but if I had left you alone, you would have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I knew it hurt and was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened; you would not have had any color in your life. And if I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't survive for very long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I first began with you.
Moral: God knows what He's doing for all of us. He is the
potter and we are His clay. He will mold us so that we may be
made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good,
pleasing, and perfect will.
Let this story remind you that God has a perfect plan for your life. He may need to place some obstacles in your life to strengthen your character, so that you may be strong in the days of greater adversity. Don't get discouraged when you feel like
the heat of the struggle is going to burn you. God knows exactly when to pull you out and deliver you from that problem and when He does you will be much wiser and stronger than you were before.
God knows your inner strength and ability to be strong even in the midst of a problem.
~Author Unknown~
http://www.mountainwings.com/past/8204.htm
I love it!
The Tea Cup
There was a couple who used to go to England to shop in the beautiful stores. They both liked antiques and pottery and especially teacups. This was their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary and the shop they visited had a beautiful teacup. They said to the shop assistant, "May we see that? We've never seen one quite so beautiful." As the lady handed it over to them, the teacup spoke suddenly.
"You don't understand," it said. "I haven't always been a teacup. There was a time when I was red and I was clay. My master took me, rolled me, patted me over and over and I yelled out, 'Let me alone' but he only smiled, 'Not yet.'
"Then I was placed on a spinning wheel," the teacup said,"and suddenly I was spun around. 'Stop it! I'm getting dizzy!' I screamed. But the master only nodded and said, 'Not yet.' Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I wondered
why he wanted to burn me, and I yelled and knocked at the door. I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as he shook his head, 'Not yet.'
Finally the door opened, he put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. 'There, that's better', I said. And he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. 'Stop it, stop it!' I cried. He only nodded, 'Not yet.'
Then suddenly he put me back into the oven, not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. All the time I could see him through the opening nodding his head saying, 'Not yet.'
Then I knew there wasn't any hope. I would never make it. I was ready to give up. But the door opened and he took me out and placed me on the shelf. One hour later he handed me a mirror and I couldn't believe it was me. 'It's beautiful. I'm beautiful.'
'I want you to remember, then,' he said, 'I know it hurts to be rolled and patted, but if I had left you alone, you would have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I knew it hurt and was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened; you would not have had any color in your life. And if I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't survive for very long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. You are what I had in mind when I first began with you.
Moral: God knows what He's doing for all of us. He is the
potter and we are His clay. He will mold us so that we may be
made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good,
pleasing, and perfect will.
Let this story remind you that God has a perfect plan for your life. He may need to place some obstacles in your life to strengthen your character, so that you may be strong in the days of greater adversity. Don't get discouraged when you feel like
the heat of the struggle is going to burn you. God knows exactly when to pull you out and deliver you from that problem and when He does you will be much wiser and stronger than you were before.
God knows your inner strength and ability to be strong even in the midst of a problem.
~Author Unknown~
http://www.mountainwings.com/past/8204.htm
Sunday, July 20, 2008
The Dragonfly
The Dragonfly
Once, in a little pond, in the muddy water under the lily pads,there lived a little water beetle in a community of waterbeetles. They lived a simple and comfortable life in the pond with few disturbances and interruptions. Once in a while, sadness would come to the community when one of their fellow beetles would climb the stem of a lily pad and would never be seen again. They knew when this happened; their friend was dead, gone forever. Then, one day, one little water beetle felt an irresistible urge to climb up that stem. However, he was determined that he would not leave forever. He would come back and tell his friends what he had found at the top. When he reached the top and climbed out of the water onto the surface of the lily pad, he was so tired, and the sun felt so warm, that he decided he must take a nap. As he slept, his body changed and when he woke up, he had turned into a beautiful blue-tailed dragonfly with broad wings and a slender body designed for flying. So, fly he did! And, as he soared he saw the beauty of a whole new world and a far superior way of life to what he had never known existed. Then he remembered his beetle friends and how they were thinking by now he was dead. He wanted to go back to tell them, and explain to them that he was now more alive than he had ever been before. His life had been fulfilled rather than ended. But, his new body would not go down into the water. He could not get back to tell his friends the good news. Then he understood that their time would come, when they, too, would know what he now knew. So, he raised his wings and flew off into his joyous new life! ~Author Unknown~
Once, in a little pond, in the muddy water under the lily pads,there lived a little water beetle in a community of waterbeetles. They lived a simple and comfortable life in the pond with few disturbances and interruptions. Once in a while, sadness would come to the community when one of their fellow beetles would climb the stem of a lily pad and would never be seen again. They knew when this happened; their friend was dead, gone forever. Then, one day, one little water beetle felt an irresistible urge to climb up that stem. However, he was determined that he would not leave forever. He would come back and tell his friends what he had found at the top. When he reached the top and climbed out of the water onto the surface of the lily pad, he was so tired, and the sun felt so warm, that he decided he must take a nap. As he slept, his body changed and when he woke up, he had turned into a beautiful blue-tailed dragonfly with broad wings and a slender body designed for flying. So, fly he did! And, as he soared he saw the beauty of a whole new world and a far superior way of life to what he had never known existed. Then he remembered his beetle friends and how they were thinking by now he was dead. He wanted to go back to tell them, and explain to them that he was now more alive than he had ever been before. His life had been fulfilled rather than ended. But, his new body would not go down into the water. He could not get back to tell his friends the good news. Then he understood that their time would come, when they, too, would know what he now knew. So, he raised his wings and flew off into his joyous new life! ~Author Unknown~
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Resilience
re-sil-ient
def.- springing back; rebounding; returning to the original form or position after being bent, compressed, stretched.
This is a story of resilience.
During the Easter season at our church, you could purchase Easter lilies in honor or in memory of a loved one. My mother and father in-law bought one in memory of Caroline. They planted it in our flower bed after bringing it home from church. Although it lost it's blooms, it was flourishing, for a little while anyway. Being that I don't have the greenest thumb, it eventually started to die. It got brown and the leaves began to fall off. So, I yanked it out of the flower bed and tossed it aside, with intentions of later throwing it away. Now it looks like this:
In the last few weeks since I did that look what showed up in its place! Not one, not two, but THREE new plants!
I like how there are 2 bigger blossoms and 1 smaller one. It reminds me that, even if it was for only six months, we were a family of three:)
I think we, people in general, are kinda like that lily. Just when you think you are down and out, conquered, and ready to give up... you bounce back. Thank God for resilience!
def.- springing back; rebounding; returning to the original form or position after being bent, compressed, stretched.
This is a story of resilience.
During the Easter season at our church, you could purchase Easter lilies in honor or in memory of a loved one. My mother and father in-law bought one in memory of Caroline. They planted it in our flower bed after bringing it home from church. Although it lost it's blooms, it was flourishing, for a little while anyway. Being that I don't have the greenest thumb, it eventually started to die. It got brown and the leaves began to fall off. So, I yanked it out of the flower bed and tossed it aside, with intentions of later throwing it away. Now it looks like this:
In the last few weeks since I did that look what showed up in its place! Not one, not two, but THREE new plants!
I like how there are 2 bigger blossoms and 1 smaller one. It reminds me that, even if it was for only six months, we were a family of three:)
I think we, people in general, are kinda like that lily. Just when you think you are down and out, conquered, and ready to give up... you bounce back. Thank God for resilience!
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