Introducing...

my one-week old! :)

I had "Zane" last Thursday, the 12th... we scheduled the induction. At that point I was 38.5 wks along, but he was measuring well via the ultrasounds we had.
The day was a long one! We checked in the hospital at 8:15a, answered all five hundred questions, and eventually started pitocin at 9:45a. I sloooowly progressed from a 1.5 at the start to only 2 cms by 3p when they broke my water (& gave me my epidural)!
UGH - I was sooo disappointed to hear I wasn't further along. Enter the major discouragement zone. At that point, the tv was no longer entertaining and the texts & tweets from our friends asking for an update no longer sweet. I couldn't fall asleep, despite the epidural that was finally beginning to work it's magic, so I just waited. I felt so anxious, so ready, so excited. I wanted so badly to be holding my baby in my arms at that point.
From then, I moved to an "almost-5" (nurse being nice? "almost-5 cms" sounding better than "4cms"!) at 5:30p. I said to the nurse, after she reminded me that the last five could move as slow as 1 cm per hour (!), "What happened to third babies coming faster?!" Well, God must have given him a nudge to move along because two hours later I was a 10! He still wasn't dropped very far, so I sat up in bed (to let gravity help) until I started pushing at 8:15p. At 9pm, he was out! SHEW! His little head was slightly cocked which made it a bit harder to bring him through the birth canal. He was 8 lbs 7.8 ozs and 22 inches long! :) So much for being an "early," small baby, lol. At 11 days early, he weighed almost as much as his sister who was 8lbs 12ozs at 10 days late. :) Maybe my gestational diabetes had something to do with it, or his daddy, who was a big baby as well.

I can't even begin to describe the feelings when I saw him and when I heard that little cry. Emotionally overwhelming. A miracle before my eyes. My daughter is also a miracle, as I believe all life is, however something about replacing the sorrowful memories of my still-born Nathan with a wiggling, crying newborn made the miracle a bit more miraculous, if that makes sense. It had been hard to enter the labor/delivery room and know the last time there was under sad circumstances. The hardest thing for me was to see the baby warmer. I could picture my sweet Nathan still there, no amount of warmth able to bring him back to life.
They laid Zane on my chest and I sobbed. A few minutes later I was on the phone with my daughter, telling her that mommy was ok and that her baby brother had finally been born. What a tender moment.
We are doing well, settling into life with a newborn. He's nursing wonderfully. He had his first check up and weighed in at one ounce more than when he left the hospital, so the pediatrician is pleased w/ his eating. He's sleeping well, waking every 3hrs. for nursing.
Big sister is in love - wants to do everything with him - which is kind of overwhelming, but I know things will settle down.
I appreciate all of your prayers, your continued reading of my blog, and your support. God is so good. He carries us through the times of our weakness and is so gracious to give us times of joy.

Wordless Wednesday - waiting

Ruff, Ruff - when will my new little boy master be here to love me? Tomorrow's the big day!

last days

Yikes. Two days away, well, seeing that it's almost 10pm, less than two days! I am being induced on Thursday morning! I will get to hold this little man in my arms in just two short days. We set the date last week and since then it's been a mix of emotions. Monday I dealt a lot with fear... now that the end was in sight, would he live to make it into my arms or would I lose him? Monday I literally cried... and cried out to God. He carried me through the day. I was tempted to run from my house, to run away from seeing anything baby. It was like this unconscious attempt to protect myself. Today was more nerves about labor/delivery... getting everything done and ready and being nervous about how the day would pan out on Thursday. Despite an upset tummy, I went out and returned a few "extras/duplicates" from my shower this past weekend as well as my bi-weekly grocery shopping. I have been swelling a ton lately and the morning out today didn't help me this evening. In addition to major swelling pressure in my legs, I have been having some painful contractions. They went on for about a half an hour before dinner, subsiding when I drank a glass of water and proceeded to fall asleep during a movie that I was "watching" with my family. They're back now again. They're not lasting long, but are more shooting pain from my front around to my back. They pain is hitting every couple of minutes, but hits then subsides. I think I'll sign off and do the water and lay down thing again. I could fall asleep for the night, so maybe I'll just call it bedtime. I'm not familiar with hanging around for contractions as I've only been induced with my labors.... leaves me feeling a bit more nervous as I have one more day to get through until our "labor day." Thank you for your prayers, and I'll be in touch...

mouth is watering...

Mmm, mmm, mmm! I'm posting this recipe after being inspired by Fiddledeedee, however my mouth has been watering for some fudge all this week. Traditionally it's a Christmas thing for us, however I have been known to succumb to the urge at various times throughout the year! :) Just to let you know since different people prefer different kinds, this makes a soft fudge, and boy you will not be able to eat just one piece. I believe that once upon a time this came off of the Kraft Marshmallow creme jar, however I received it from my in-laws.

Fantasy Fudge

3 cups sugar
3/4 cup margarine
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 12-oz. (340 g) package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 7-oz. (198 g) jar marshmallow creme
1 cup chopped nuts
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine sugar, margarine and milk in heavy 2-1/2 quart saucepan; bring to full rolling bail, stirring constantly. Continue boiling 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring. Remove from heat, stir in chocolate till melted. Add marshmallow creme, nuts & vanilla beat till blended. Pour into greased 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Let cool and cut into 1-inch squares.

M2M Scavenger Hunt

Playing along this evening with fellow PW, Lisa, in her "Married to the Ministry blogroll" Scavenger Hunt! So... here goes... more than you really wanted to know about me :)

The Treasures

1. First Name. "Mrs." (sorry, but would like to stay Mrs. H for now).

2. State and Country of Residence. East coast, USA (again, just gotta be a bit anonymous)

3. Husband’s Ministry Title. Ministry and Youth Pastor

4. Length of time in Current Ministry Location. 2 1/2 years

5. Children? If yes, give gender and ages. girl - 6; boy - arriving on Nov. 12th!

6. Number of unique homes in which you’ve lived during your marriage. Eight (in just 8 1/2 yrs! 4 states/5 cities...sigh)

7. Cook Sunday lunch or eat out? Cook. Nothing big, but we eat at home.

8. Typically on time for Sunday School or not? Close enough. I'm usually chatting with people in the hallway on the way there. Plus, I stop at the senior high students' class because they always have iced coffee which is completely yummy!

9. Favorite TV Show. Not really into tv, however will tune into pretty much anything on HGTV if it's on.

10. Something you watch/like/do that you would never tell the church people. I love to take looooong showers. Man, whoever invented indoor plumbing and shower heads are on my top-favorites list.

11. Most annoying church-related pet peeve. Being expected to know things just b/c I am a staff member's wife.

12. One thing you need to throw away but can’t bring yourself to do it. I'm nesting - everything's getting tossed!

13. The one food you can not live without. dark chocolate!

14. Parsonage or have your own home? own home (been there, done that in the past with a parsonage - not quite my cup of tea)

15. Freak when the doorbell rings or always ready for a visitor? pretty much ready but would much rather know ahead of time. LOL, of course in one week with a newborn I will definitely freak! :)

Are you a PW? Visit Lisa's site and be sure to add your blog to the blogroll!

Wordless Wednesday - birthday hats

My daughter's (private) school celebrated their 10 year "birthday" last week. Her first grade class made birthday hats and musical instruments. The school paraded around the parking lot and then had a hotdog/hamburger cookout, complete with birthday cake!

latest and greatest...

Big stuff for little man tomorrow. I am getting a final (!) ultrasound, for a "peace of mind" fluid check as well as checking out little man's status. Then a doctor's appointment, including an internal check, where *hopefully* we'll find that I have made some sort of progression. The plan is so far (pending no changes based upon what we see/don't see tomorrow) to induce next Thursday! Seriously! I am sooo excited (understatement)! These past couple of weeks have been the hardest in some ways. I think in the beginning of the pregnancy, it was hard because the risk of losing him was the greatest. So once we got past the first trimester, it was a small sigh of relief. Moving to the second trimester, it got harder when I knew that he was technically "viable" at 25 weeks... what if I lost him, when he might've been able to survive outside of me? Now in the third trimester, especially in this ninth month, I want to feel him all the time... I want to be able to detect anything that seems odd... at times I almost lose my breath when I let fear fill me with the unthinkable idea of losing this one in this last month like last time. When I made it to 36 weeks/last week it physically sickened me thinking about making it this far last time to suddenly lose my child. The pregnancy has felt so long during the past nine months and these last couple of weeks pregnancy symptoms have kicked up, making me long for his arrival physically and emotionally. I've been sleeping on the couch for so many weeks now I've lost count. My back aches all the time. The top of my belly is sore. Heartburn has returned. Smells affect me once again. I've just started swelling some (although I must say, this is the first pregnancy that my wedding/engagement band still fits at this point) :) I just feel physically worn out. But, this is nothing new to the world of pregnant women nor to myself. I have been through all these and more and so I truck on :) But... it makes me all the more excited to think about him being in my arms in just one short week and a day!

Oct 31st

Wow. So usually we have no trick or treaters, but for whatever reason the street is flooded with kids tonight. And... we... are... not... handing out candy (or celebrating in any way). Hubby's at the church where there's a "Fall Festival" going on, but since it includes dressing up and getting candy (pretty much celebrating in my mind!), our family's decided that even though it's our church's event, it's not for us/our kid. When we first arrived, we sat down and shared our views with the senior pastor and while hubby has to go for work time, the s.p. knows we are personally not in support of it. But, it's not part of hubby's ministry, so beyond attending, he doesn't have to do much with it.
So, oblivious to the goings-on, Lynn's in the tub playing. It's kind of eery, though, to hear all the cars and activity on a normally quiet street outside. With all the outside lights off and no idea about what pranks might be done, it makes it even creepier.
Lynn and I attended her school's fall festival a few weeks ago, where there was no link to Halloween, so I don't feel that we're being a "scrooge" to the whole harvest season activities.
I found this article describing the origin and present day activities of Halloween and thoughts about the church's and a Christian's role in the "holiday." Honestly, I agree with most of it and feel that it's one holiday that doesn't deserve my support. Second to Christmas in money spent... third most "partied" holiday, behind Christmas and New Years... wow. A lot of money and time and energy goes to celebrating a holiday that teaches our children about ghosts and goblins... spirits from the dead, from hell. Seriously? It doesn't matter if you don't dress your kid in those costumes, the ideas still go hand in hand with the holiday.
Anyways, just some thoughts from someone who doesn't usually get too vocally opinionated on my blog. :) You are more than welcome to share your views and what your family does in the comments below.