Katelyn
-Disobedience is really hitting hard right now. Our sweet little girl who usually follows directions is straight out saying "no" and/or running away from us when I ask her to do something. I'm honestly wondering if she's seeing Luke get away with it a bit. I'm feeling a bit at a loss as I'm a bit slower than normal these days and don't feel like I can respond as quickly. However hard she's pushing, I still feel like I'm able to make progress with her over time. She is such a rational little girl that talking it through after the hysterics are gone usually are helpful. And if I ask her ahead of time if she's going to throw s fit, it makes her think and decide and usually she says no. If she changed the subject, I know I'm in for it. So at least there's warning! Also stating I know she's disappointed or mad really helps.-Yet with this phase of disobedience, she also is just the sweetest thing at times. Yesterday, grabbed both sides of my face and leaned in close to say "do you know how much I love you?" and gave a big kiss. We still have lots of fun and laughs and she still can be so sweet "I had fun today mama" so I'm very blessed that this is really the first big phase of flat out disobedience.
Lucas
-Disobedience just like Kate but much more of the run away when I come to get him. When I count down from 3...2....1... time out... he sees that as a cue to run instead of listen and obey... oh boy... we're in for it. And when I try to discipline, he cries too loud to listen. I can tell he hates that he disappoints us, but doesn't understand that it has to do with his actions. There is something about Tyler- he is SO good at getting that boy's attention and quiet to talk with him. He's really developing a special bond with daddy.-He sure knows his color blue! He'll point things out that are blue. Then he'll point out things that are green, or pink or red, and call them all "boo!" I guess we have a ways to go :)
-"hey dude" aka "ay doo". Cutest phrase!
-"bum bum"- loves to give love pats on our "bum bums" when we lean over. He thinks it's hilarious.
-moved them into the same room for two nights. Luke is too sick to continue as he wakes every couple hours from this miserable cold. We'll try again in another week. This way he can have a closed door so the humidifier does its job and helps him breathe better.
Baby #3- 26 weeks
(Rapunzel- according to Grammy and Katelyn. No, we're not actually naming her that!)Pregnancy: Baby must be getting bigger as my upper back is really causing some pain- hard to breathe, hard to get the pain to change. I think baby is pressing up against my spine. It's really excruciating pain when it hits.
Baby's Health: I will start by saying baby is 100% healthy. We were under the impression that there were some heart issues for a few months now. If you're interested in the details, I wrote it all out below- more for my own memory, but God certainly put us on a new journey through the past few months, here's the story if you want to know the details:
My biggest downfall is curiosity. I despise not knowing something that I want to know. I research everything and anything hidden from me drives me nuts. (WHY does mail have to be in an envelope? Do they realize the time it takes to tear open an envelope? I just want to know what's IN it!) The one thing that drives me nuts more than anything is knowing there's something to know that I don't know. Knowing this may help in the following journey:
Routine 20 week anatomy scan: In May, when we had our 20 week ultrasound, I noticed the tech came back to the heart after looking at it once. Of course she said nothing and I wasn't going to read in to it. Figured baby just had moved and made it easier to see but the thought had crossed my mind quickly before I pushed it out that something could be wrong. As we checked in to our regular dr appointment, I suddenly heard God speak the world "Adonai" in my head. At first, since we had just found out it was a girl, I thought "What a beautiful name! We could name her that!" until I remembered that it was a name of God! Ha- we can't name her that! How random that that came to mind! We went to the dr appointment, but my dr was out so I saw a nurse practitioner I had never seen before. She mentioned something about the heart but that she couldn't tell us anything and that we'd need to wait for the dr to come back the next day and look at the chart and give us a call. At about 10 the next morning, I was getting anxious and called and a lady told me that it wasn't on the docket and if I haven't heard anything, it must be fine. *Sigh of relief* I called Tyler to share the great news. Not 20 minutes later did a nurse call to tell me that there were concerns about baby's heart. (Whaaaat? the other lady had no clue what she was talking about). She said one of the ventricles looked smaller than it ought to be and it needed to be checked out further. We were referred to a level 2 ultrasound for a week later.
I am not good at the waiting game. I hate knowing something could be wrong but not knowing what. However, I looked up "Adonai"- realizing that that was indeed God's voice preparing me for what was to come. It means "Lord of everything". It's the word LORD in the Bible when it's said three times, saying He is over every little piece of of our lives, down to the nitty gritty. God has always spoken to me strongly through music and the song "Adonai" and the following brought me immediately to my knees:
"you are maker of each moment, Father of my hope and freedom"
"From age to age you reign in Majesty. And today you're making miracles IN me..."
Overreacting? Probably. But any concerns over our baby's most important organ would send any mama into a whirlwind of thoughts, fears, anxieties...
Level 2 Ultrasound: Finally, 10 loooooooong days later, it came time for our level 2 ultrasound. I was thinking that was the longest 10 days of my life and I was so ready to just learn what's going on in our baby girl's heart. We watched, and listened, the tech of course isn't allowed to say anything, the dr finally came in, looked at the pictures, the tech and him kinda mumbled something we couldn't hear or understand, and with his back to us says "Yep, schedule them for the fetal echocardiogram with Dr Sammi" (pediatric cardiologist) and left the room. Ummmm... hello?! Talk with us? We asked the tech what was going on and all she said was that one of the ventricles was too small and that there was thickened tissue surrounding it is a concern and we need to have a specialist check it out further. She showed us the picture and pointed out the clear as day smaller ventricle and the thickened tissue. We didn't even know what else to ask. I was devastated. Not because it was bad news, (was it bad news? I didn't even know!) but that we still knew nothing! What does this mean? And come to find out, it would be FIVE weeks until we met with the pediatric cardiologist. Are you stinking kidding me? 10 days was awful. Over a month?! I was a wreck. Frustrated in not knowing how our baby girl is doing. Thankfully, my dr looked over the results and personally called me since I didn't have an appointment with her until after the 5 weeks would be over. She reassured me that baby is totally safe in utero, that she's relying on me and really this is to see if we're going to need a surgical team at the ready for birth when her heart is to go on her own. The echocardiogram will explain if we need to deliver somewhere special, whether there will need to be a team of surgeons on hand, what types of surgeries may be needed, and what types of things we would need to look for once she's born. That was a little relief knowing we aren't looking to lose her in utero, but still so frustrating. Tyler is always so calm and nondramatic and tries to calm me down but I told him I just need some time with Jesus. Then we can tell family tonight after I've heard from God. He watched the kids and let me have some alone time with God whom immediately put the song "While I'm waiting" in my head.
"While I'm waiting... I will serve you while I'm waiting"
"The fruits of the spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, ...etc" but then firmly felt him saying "I will teach you peace and patience. but YOU have to step in obedience in love and joy during this waiting period first"
Echocardiogram: Finally? The day came! It was the day of our echo. I honestly felt at peace. Even knowing that I may have no answers. The dr came in, I said a quick prayer for God to prepare me for any news or no news. Found out later Tyler was praying the entire echo. The dr did some double checking of what the technician had done, and said he sees no issues. He said the ventricles are all the right size and there is no thickening whatsoever. He even went to say that the past technicians must have made a mistake because he couldn't see what they had talked about. A bit blindsided by THAT news, we both were quiet a minute. Tyler then asked "are you sure? So do we need to go in for follow-ups closer to birth just to make sure?" The dr said "not at all. The heart has formed all it will and everything looks great, so all that's left is for it to just grow bigger so that's it. You're done. Have a good day" We walked out- I was a bit in a daze feeling like, is this for real? Is this really over already? As we walked out the receptionist asked when we need our next appointment and we said "nope! no need!" We hugged when we got outside of the office and we felt God's immediate love pour out on us. What a huge blessing!!
Results: Healthy baby, healthy pregnancy! It felt surreal. I firmly believe that God did some healing to her heart because I could even clearly see the thickening they talked about at the level 2 but all 4 chambers looked to be the same size today! Praise Jesus! How did we get so blessed to have three very healthy children!? We feel overwhelmingly blessed and now we can't wait to meet her all the more! October is coming quickly (almost 3rd trimester already? Yes!).
