36 weeks!!!!
Highlights
I switched to weekly OB visits and started weekly ultrasounds this week (I get to have ultrasounds each week until delivery to check on the baby’s health since I’m considered “advanced maternal age”.)
Baby is head down and scored 8 out of 8 on the tests and is looking so healthy. We’re so grateful!
(We laughed so hard at these ultrasound pics from this past week. Apparently, baby was feeling a little on the grumpy side. ;))
Also, we were excited that we were finally able to confirm that the gender from our 12-week DNA test was correct (baby was not cooperating at the 20-week ultrasound!) We can’t wait to announce the gender to everyone after the birth, but it has been so fun to keep it as our little family secret.
Notable
Overall, I’m feeling so good! I feel like God has poured extra measures of grace and energy on me in order to strengthen me to care for Champ and his medical needs and handle all the extra meetings and things involved with getting a long term foster placement + continue to run the business and be a wife and mom to our other three. It’s definitely meant that I haven’t been sitting around with nothing to do! 😉
We’re getting into more of a groove here with every 3 hour feedings and learning how to best take care of Champ. He’s been doing so much better with his feeds the last few days, so I’ve been able to train Jesse and the girls on how to do them and hand off a few feeds a day.
This has been such a gift because it means I’m back to getting 6-7 hours of sleep again (cumulatively)! I know things will change once we add a second newborn and nursing into the mix, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it!
Pregnancy & COVID-19
There’s a lot up in the air when it comes to the birth due to COVID-19. The hospital rules are constantly changing and I don’t know what it will be like when the time actually comes.
It’s easy to give in to wondering things like: “Will I be birthing alone because partners aren’t allowed? OR Will our hospital be overrun with cases and it be unsafe for me to deliver there?”
I could list off a host of what if’s. But worrying about the future won’t help anything.
So instead, I’m committed to do all I can to stay as healthy as possible and just trust God for whatever the future holds for the birth. And I’m seeking to just savor each day and make the most of it.
Virtual School Update
The kids are all doing well with their virtual school and classes through their private schools right now. Their schools are for sure closed through April 24… we’re not sure beyond that and won’t know until later in the month.
While they miss their friends so much and miss many aspects of school, they also love that they get to see their classmates on Zoom almost every day and that they have more flexibility in their schedules.
In addition, I think they are enjoying the whole no dress code/school uniform thing (see Silas’ outfit from one day this past week above! I told him he’s allowed to wear PJ’s to “school” so long as he takes a shower when he gets up and puts on clean PJs!)
The kids have been doing all sorts of creative things to stay busy. Kaitlynn experimented with some nail designs on my nails this week — I love how they turned out!
One morning, they poured dish soap on the floor and pretended to have a “treadmill in the kitchen” — which quickly turned into all sorts of hilarious antics and provided a ton of comic relief. Best of all, the kitchen floor got well-mopped in the process. 🙂
I posted this on Instagram this past week and wanted to share it here, too:
Getting to see my kids love on this precious little boy we’re fostering has been one of the most beautiful things my mama heart has experienced to date.
They’ve willingly gotten up early or stayed up late to hold him so I could get some sleep. They’ve changed his diapers. They’ve comforted him when he is crying. They’ve rocked him to sleep, swaddled him, done his laundry, cleaned up spit up, and spoken so many words of life and love to him.
There are moments when I struggle with feeling overwhelmed by so many unknowns for his future and how these might affect everyone involved.
I can play out the unknowns and what if’s. I can worry about how things will impact these people I love so much. But that does nothing to help anyone… it only creates stress or unrest in my heart, which can trickle down to how I interact with those I love.
Instead of living in what if’s or worrying about unknowns, I want to live today well. I want to love the people right here under my roof well. I want to cherish these moments and memories. I want to speak words of life and love. I want to savor watching my kids make sacrifices to love well.
We aren’t given grace for tomorrow. If we knew what tomorrow and next month and next year would bring, it might be too much to carry. All we’re given is today, right now, this moment.
Let’s love well and live well…right where we are. There will be grace enough for tomorrow when it comes.
