Getting Ready and an Update

Ok, I haven't been a very good blogger lately.  I find sometimes it's easier just to post a status to Facebook then write out a whole blog post.  I apologize for my laziness.

Anne is 22 months old now and learning more everyday.  Her vocabulary has exploded lately and she will repeat almost anything you say.  We are starting to introduce Potty Training.  She did go one time on the potty and we cheered for her.  She will tell us if she is "dirty" but not until afterwards.  I guess she has to start somewhere.  Her favorite songs right now are No More Monkey Jumping on the Bed, 10 Little Buses, and the ABC's.  She loves her coloring activity kit and anything that is outside.  I don't what we are going to do this winter when we can't go outside much.  Her favorite toys continue to be her black bear and rainbow bear.  One or both of those bears come with us everywhere.

She is preparing to be a big sister.  I'm not sure that she fully understands yet what that means.  She has been very clingy to be this week so I think she has an idea that something is going to be changing.  I'm trying to give her extra love and attention because I know it will be a big transition for her having to share mommy.

Weight: 22lbs, 4 ozs (10%)
Height: 32 inches (25%)
Head: 18 inches (25%)

It's been a pretty productive weekend for Steve and I.  He had Friday, Saturday, and Sunday off.  That is almost unheard of in the retail world.  It was great to have him home.  Friday, we babysat for a cute little 4 month old boy.  It was good big sister practice for Anne.  She did ok.  I made a check list of things that we still need to do before the baby comes.  I can't believe I'm Full Term, as of Saturday.  This pregnancy has gone by so fast, it seems.  I feel incredibly blessed to have this baby growing inside of me.

Clean, dust, and vacuum Anne's Room - Check
Clean, dust, and vacuum Living Room and Master Bedroom - Check
Clean dining room and mop floors - Check
Clean the kitchen, including dishes - Check (for the most part.  There are still some dished to do)

Wash and Fold a load of laundry - Check
Wash and Fold Anne's Diapers - Check (even though I had to dry them twice thanks to a rain storm)

Have tacos and celebrate rainbows with great friends - Check
Tag and drop off 5 totes of baby stuff for the Granger Children's Resale - Check
Install infant car seat - Check
Vacuum out Lexus - Check

Wow, I wonder if there was anything else that we got done between Friday and today.  Yikes.  We still have to put together the hospital bags and Anne's overnight bag for when she goes to Grandma and Grandpa's house.  The bassinet is still at my parent's house too.  The swing is here already and I got our bouncer today.Baby needs to stay inside for a little bit longer.

Baby had it's 37 week appointment today.  Today, the baby measured at 38 weeks and had a nice strong heart beat.  This eases quite a bit of my anxiety since at the last two appointments, the baby was measuring 2 weeks behind.  Apparently, baby was just gearing up for a big growth spurt.  The OB said the baby is already "head down" but it facing up so she wants me to try to get him or her to turn over.  We are just waiting now.  It could be any day.  Anne was 6 days early and almost my entire labor was done at the hospital, so it will interesting to see what this baby does.


I realize that I haven't really done any maternity pictures yet for this baby.  I should probably get on that.

Hello Third Trimester

 Anne at 28 weeks and Rainbow #2 at 28 weeks.

How far along?: 28 weeks

How big is baby?:

Your baby's the size of a cauliflower!

He or she is about 16 inches and now about 2.5 pounds.

It seems so strange that we have 12 weeks or less left.  This pregnancy seems like it's gone by so fast.  I love when Anne pokes my belly and says, "baby."  I'm not sure she truly understands what's going to happen in a few months but she is, no doubt, going to be a great big sister.

Today, I look like a Mother

But today is not my "first" Mother's Day.

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 Today is Mother’s Day, but today is not my first Mother's Day. Mother’s Day is a celebration of ALL mothers, whether you hold your children in your arms, you hold your children in your hearts because God holds them in Heaven, or you hold them inside expecting them this year.

Our story: In December 2011, Steve and were approved as Wycliffe Missionaries and invited to go to Cameroon, Africa. We knew this is what God’s will was for us so we started working on creating our partnership team. It seems interesting to us that just as we began making plans to start training and build our team that our world got flipped upside down. God never promised that our lives would be easy. He just promised that he would be there and that He was in control.

Our journey to parenthood also started in December 2011. Our story starts just after Christmas. We had been trying for our first child for about 6 months at that point. On December 26th, our lives changed for what we thought we be for the better. After much denial, we took the test and it was positive. I was pregnant. To make a long story short at our doctor’s appointment, the doctor confirmed what we suspected. The first week of the New Year, we naturally miscarried our first child between 5-6 weeks. That started a month long drive back and forth to the doctor getting blood tests to watch my HCG levels drop. It was painful and I hated it.


As only God can plan our Genesis class was doing a study of “Monster Inc. – Fighting the Monsters within You.” We were discussing greed, envy, anger, and fear. This was interesting since I was dealing with three of those.

I wrote this in my blog about the study on January 24, 2012:

“I have learned that when bad things happen to you, you have two choices. You can become bitter and angry at God and the world or you can become better and stronger. I choose to become better. ..I have found that if you are not careful that impatience can turn into anger, angry can turn into bitterness, and bitterness turns into envy. Envy is a horrible emotion. Envy not only steals your joy, but it robs you of feeling joy for someone else. Guilt speaks loudly in your ear when you are alone. What did I do wrong? You go through every moment in your mind and wonder what you could have done differently.

Our doctor told us that since it was early in the pregnancy that we didn’t have to wait to start trying again so we didn’t. The beginning of March came around and I still hadn’t gotten my period and so we took an HPT to rule that out and made an appointment with my doctor to make sure everything was ok. The doctor confirmed what we already knew. I was pregnant again. There was no way this was just my body messing with me or HCG from the previous pregnancy. Our doctor set me up with an OB specialist to see the next week. The OB did an ultrasound to confirm the pregnancy and the ultrasound measured 6 week 1 day, but no heartbeat. On Monday morning, March 26th, I knew something wasn’t right. She did an ultrasound to check things and confirmed what she already instinctively knew. I had naturally miscarried that morning. So in summary, in the first 3 months on 2012, we had been pregnant and miscarried twice.

My heart was breaking. I wanted to start 2012 over again and forget this whole year existed. After the first loss, I was devastated and depressed. After the second, I was all those things and beyond angry. I was just angry. It’s not fair. We were even planning to be missionaries and serve Him full time. How could God let this happen?

This whole time, we have been still serving with Wycliffe. We were building our team, sharing our Wycliffe ministry, and our passion for seeing the Bible available to all language groups. We were still on track to go to a two week training and orientation in Orlando, Florida.

I was more determined than ever to get our ministry started. I refused to let the Devil destroy God’s plan for the people of Cameroon. Even when I feel alone and just want to scream, God is there. While I try and find an explanation, God is there telling me He has it under control. Have I hit the acceptance stage? Hardly.

We hoped for a rainbow. Fast forward to February 2013, we got another positive pregnancy test. To say that I was anxious doesn’t even begin to describe the emotions. We called my OB and she started blood tests and wanted to do an ultrasound right away. She did a battery of tests and had me start taking progesterone and other meds because “it couldn’t hurt.” I had a picture perfect pregnancy and delivery and on October 9th, 2013, our little miracle was born.

I remember my first Mother’s Day and it was one of the hardest days of my life. Not many people knew then about our precious babies, but NOT ONE person that did know remembered. NOT ONE person wished me a happy Mother’s Day, except Steve. I felt the pain of loss and I felt like we were doing it alone.

We don’t know what God has in store for our lives as we enter the next phase in our Wycliffe ministry. We have never lost sight of the goal to get the Bible in every language that still needs one. How our ministry looks is changing. We still very much believe in the mission of Bible Translation and plan to continue with it in the future. For now, we are on a journey of faith and are striving to be the best parents to our little blessing. We believe that God will continue to provide everything that we need, just as He has been.

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So today is Mother’s Day. Whether you hold your babies in your arms or Jesus holds them in Heaven, happy Mother’s Day.

Thanksgiving 2013

I have so much to be thankful for this year.

1. "The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song." Psalm 28:7
   
   I am thankful for a God that loves me unconditionally and provides for all our needs.  I'm thankful that I serve a God that doesn't give up on me, even when I feel like giving up on Him.  I'm thankful for a God that hasn't a perfect plan for each of us, even when I don't understand that plan.  I'm thankful that God is my strength and my comforter.
    
2. I'm thankful that we several Bibles in our house because we are blessed to have an abundance of English translations available to us.  I'm thankful for an organization, Wycliffe, that has a goal to bring the Bible to every people group, even those that don't even yet have a written language.
   
3.  I'm thankful for my amazing, loving husband.  We have been through so much in the last few years and have grown stronger together.
   
4. Anne is our rainbow baby and a blessing.  Someday she will understand what that means.  We love her so much.  Words cannot even begin to describe what a miracle she is.  There are days that I just stare at her beautiful face in awe that she is really here.  I'm thankful that I'm able to stay home and take care of her everyday.  I love watching her experience all her "firsts."  The look of awe and wonder on her face when she figures something out or experiences something that first time is so fun to watch.
   
5. I'm thankful for my family.  I'm thankful for parents that are still married after 33 years.  My parents taught me the value of marriage and commitment.  They taught me the value of work and that there was no such things as a free lunch.  I'm thankful for sisters and a brother that love each other.  I'm thankful for an extended family that loves each other.
    
6. I have some of the greatest friends anyone could ask for.  The few years have not been easy for me and one thing you realize when bad things happen is who your friends are.  I'm thankful for their listening ear and their hugs.  I'm thankful for the new friends I made in an incredible online support group.  I don't know how I would have got through it without them.

I have so much more to thankful for.  I could list things forever.  We have a home, food to eat, electricity, jobs that provide for our needs, a ministry that we love, monthly financial partners that believe in us, people that love us that prayer for us regularly, and much more.

Happy 1st Thanksgiving Anne!

28 Weeks!

My sister is a great photographer.  It's hard to believe that we are at 28 weeks now.  12 weeks or less until we get to meet our beautiful rainbow.  We have so much to do to get the house ready for the new arrival.  Baby had some lazy days over the weekend which made mommy nervous, but he/she is moving around today.  I think baby missed daddy.

Here are some of my favorites of the pictures she took last night in our parent's backyard.

Hello Third Trimester

We feel so blessed to have gotten to this point.  We have so much left to do to get ready for the baby and so much to learn, but we are excited.  Between getting ready for the baby and preparing our ministry, we are very busy.  I wouldn't change a thing.  We even started thinking of names for little one.  We decided on a really great boy's name, but we are still narrowing down a girl's name.  We won't be sharing the names until much later though.  I signed up for a free Prenatal Yoga class at the Women's Care Center that starts on Saturday.  I'm really looking forward to it.  After all we have been through, I can't believe we have actual hit the third trimester.  I never thought this day would come.  We know how blessed we are.

How far along?: 27 weeks

How big is baby?:

Your baby's the size of a rutabaga!

At 13.6 to 14.8 inches and 1.5 to 2.5 pounds, she's not just getting bigger, she's getting smarter.

Any appointments or updates this week?: We had a regular appointment last Monday and it went really well.  The doctor had so concerns at all.  She said she could hear the baby moving around and kicking on the Doppler, which was pretty cool.  She predicts that he or she will be a tall baby.

Best moment last week?: The best moment was definitely when Steve could feel outside movement.  I could tell that he really enjoyed that too. 

What I'm looking forward to?: Even though I have loved being pregnant, I'm looking forward to meeting our sweet rainbow.

Fourth of July Celebration/25 Week Update

We had a great 4th of July.  I spent the morning buying some flowers to plant in our front yard and going for a walk around the Mishawaka Riverwalk with Erin, mom, and dad.  I love the Riverwalk. It's so beautiful and peaceful.  It was a very hot morning, so I made sure to drink a lot of water and wear light clothes.  My sister got a great picture of me in the rock garden.

After our walk, my mom came over and planted the flowers I bought in our garden.  With all the rain we have had, the flowers are growing really big.  Last year, we hardly had any rain by this time.  Most places canceled fireworks because we hadn't had rain in more than a month.  This year it seems to rain every week.
 
We were invited to a cookout at our friend's house, so I cut up a watermelon and ate great food with friends and family.  Steve met us there after work and we watched fireworks along with river in Mishawaka.  It was a great day.  The weather was perfect.

How far along?: 25 weeks, 3 days

How big is baby?:

Your baby's the size of a cauliflower!  During month six, the average fetus measures about 13.6 inches to 14.8 inches and weighs about 1.5 to 2.5 pounds.

Any appointments or updates this week?: Our next regular OB appointment is on Monday.  I can't believe I'm this far along all ready.  100 days left!  I have to schedule my glucose test next week.  Oh goody.

Best moment last week?: I can definitely feel movement more than I could last week.  Hopefully, soon we will be able to feel them on the outside so Steve can feel them too.

What I'm looking forward to?: Feeling kicks on the outside and holding my perfect baby.  The answer to this question will probably be pretty consistent.

We are so Blessed

If there is one thing that I have learned in the last year, it would be the value of friendship.  Some friendships come and go but there are some friends that stick with you through the good times and the bad.  Some friends will walk away when things get tough, but others run towards you when you feel like the world around you in falling in.

We know that we are blessed with some amazing friends and a spectacular family.  I'm so glad that we got to spend some time with them this weekend.  The amount of people that have called or emailed us offering to give us things for our baby or for our garage sale or to partner with us in our ministry has been humbling.  It really is humbling to see God use His people to provide for your needs when you feel so unworthy.  This has been a year of a great change and great anxiety, but God has continued to show that He is still there and He continues to provide for everything we have needed.  We have learned new lessons this year about where to put our trust and our hope.  Our trust and our hope is planted firmly in Christ.  We look forward to what's next.

Our beautiful rainbow is going to be so blessed and such a loved baby because of God's amazing people. 

Week 22 Update/Anatomy Scan

I'm sure that someone is waiting for updates and "bump pictures."  I was pretty anxious to put up any updates until after our Anatomy Scan.  We had a great appointment on Monday morning.  I was a little anxious about it because Steve found out at the last minute that he would have to work.  He had a volunteer group showing up at YWCA that he had to assist.  My amazingly wonderful mom went with me though, so I didn't have to go alone.  Steve has been to every pregnancy related appointment of mine except for one, so I'm sad that he had to miss this one.  I had my mom video the whole appointment on my phone so Steve could feel like he was there.  I have tons of pictures too.

Baby Pitney is a perfectly healthy baby, weighing 1 pound.  The OB had no concerns at all.  She said the baby was feisty and kept putting its arm in front of its face when she was trying to check out its face.

I know that I am so incredibly blessed.  

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How big is baby?:

Your baby's the size of a Papaya!

During month five, the average fetus measures about 10.5 to 11.8 inches and weighs about 12.7 to 20.8 ounces.

• Now that he's got more developed eyes and lips, he's looking even more like a newborn.
• He's sleeping in cycles -- about 12 to 14 hours per day (hint: they're probably those times you're not feeling any kicks!).

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Any appointments or updates this week?: Just the Anatomy Scan.  This is the appointment when we could find out the gender, but Steve wants to be surprised.  So for now, we are Team Green.

Maternity clothes?: I have been wearing stretchy and maternity pants since about week 10 or 11.  I did get really comfy maternity shirts at a garage sale two weeks ago for 50 cents each.  Score!  I love dresses the most right now because they are just comfy.

Best moment last week?: This week has been a roller coaster of emotions.  I started feeling more consistent flutters this week.  It's a pretty cool feeling.

What I'm looking forward to?: Holding my perfect baby.  The answer to this question will probably be pretty consistent.

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Introducing Baby Pitney: Age 22 weeks

Celebrating Mother's Day

All day I was celebrating the beautiful life inside me. The last almost 18 weeks have been filled with anxiety, fear, and joy.  Steve has been walking this adventure with me one day at a time.  We could not be more excited about welcoming this baby into our family in October.  Yesterday was a celebration of ALL mothers, whether you hold your children in your arms, you hold your children in your hearts because God holds them in Heaven, or you hold them inside expecting them this year.

Happy Mother's Day!

Source: social.kidspot.com.au via Bridget on Pinterest

I got the only thing I needed for Mother's Day this year.  We listened to the heartbeat first thing in the morning.  It was nice and strong.

Celebrating Our Anniversary

This weekend, Steve and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary.  It was an absolutely beautiful weekend in South Bend.  On Saturday, Steve and I celebrated by going to out to dinner to Salsas Mexican Restaurant.  I love Mexican food but I forgot that our anniversary is a "holiday" until we got there and it was packed.  We got a sit pretty quickly out on the patio outside and there was a live band playing.  The food was really good, as usual.

Sunday was our actual anniversary and I had the whole day off work.  It was marvelous.  Steve had to work though. {Sad face}  Sunday, after church and lunch, Steve had to go to Sears and I had a great day of relaxing ahead of me.  Actually, I was quite busy but nothing on the schedule.  I went shopping, visited some some friends, did some things to get ready for our garage sale, and then visited Steve at Sears for Friends and Family night.

Oh and Steve wanted to celebrate our anniversary by posting this announcement on Facebook Sunday morning before church.  He had some fun creating it.  My sister took some great pictures of us and so I posted some of them too.

We ended the day by listening to our baby's heart beat on the Doppler and Steve recorded it.  That sound never gets old.

Passing a Candle for Liam

 

Please pray for a special member of my online community.  My heart just breaks for her and her family.  They discovered a few weeks ago that their sweet baby, that should have been their rainbow, had Trisomy 13 and was incompatible with life.  Their precious baby went to heaven this Saturday at 17 weeks, 1 day.  His name is Liam and he is loved by more people than he will ever meet.

I saw the most beautiful outpouring of love this weekend.  For 24 hours, from Saturday night until Sunday night, nothing was posted on the board except for candles and messages of love for sweet baby Liam and his amazing mother.

Please keep this family in your prayers.

I Will Carry You (Audrey's Song)

There were photographs I wanted to take
Things I wanted to show you
Sing sweet lullabies wipe your teary eyes
Who could love you like this
People say that I am brave but I`m not
Truth is I`m barely hanging on
But there`s a greater story
Written long before me
Because he loves you like this

So I will carry you
While your heart beats here
Long beyond the empty cradle
Through the coming years
I will carry you
All my life
And I will praise the one who`s chosen me
To carry you

Such a short time
Such a long road
All this madness
But I know
That the silence
Has brought me to his voice
And he says

I`ve shown her photographs of time beginning
Walked her through the parted seas
Angel lullabies no more teary eyes
Who could love her like this?

I will carry you
While your heart beats here
Long beyond the empty cradle
Through the coming years
I will carry you
All your life
And I will praise the one who`s chosen me
To carry you