And Then There Were 3

Hi, this is me, Zach.  I am still inside my mommy’s tummy, and I am still not ready to come out yet.  Mommy went to the doctor on Tuesday, but they said that my mommy has not changed at all.  But, I am quite comfy in here!  I am starting to get bigger, so there isn’t as much room for either me or mommy anymore.  However, I still like to move around quite a bit.  I have been making mommy a little more tired lately, and I have also been making her have Braxton Hicks contractions.  But, she says they aren’t too painful yet.  And she says they are still not close enough together to get me to come out.  I think I will probably stay in here at least until my due date.  It’s warm.

Here are some pictures of mommy and me inside mommy’s tummy the other day when mommy went to the doctor:

And here is another picture of Mommy & me, Aunt Ashley, Nonnie, and Grammit.  They all went to the doctor to see my latest ultrasound picture:

And here are the pictures the doctor took of me with the ultrasound machine:

  This is my side view.

  Labeled, in case you can’t tell what everything is.

  This is my front view.

 Here is where everything is.

Aren’t I cute?

Less than 30 days to go!!   

Here’s my most recent picture:

I am ready to not be pregnant anymore!  And I am getting tired of people telling me exactly how HUGE I am and that I look like I am ready to POP!  Yes, I am well aware.  Thank you. 

I am 35 weeks pregnant now!  I had a doctor’s appointment ealier this week, and they did an ultrasound.  They said Zach is approximately 5.5lbs now, and could be 7.5-8lbs at birth!  Oh boy!  He’s basically fully developed now, just getting “fatter” the last month, and his lungs are maturing more.  And they said that babies tend to put on 1/2 pound each week in the last month before birth!  At my next doctor’s appointment starting next week, I will get checked to see if I am dilated at all.  That will be exciting, but still probably won’t mean much.  Some women stay dilated for weeks, where others don’t dilate until they are in labor.

As I am getting near the end of my pregnancy, I am starting to get a little more anxious.  I wake up in the middle of the night thinking of all the stuff I have to do or might want to do before the baby comes.  And I have all kinds of fears that like to pop in my head at that particular time of night and prevent me from sleeping.  Everything from some freak accident that will prevent Will from being at the birth to am I going to be a good parent to will I love my baby enough?  yes, logically I know these are fears that almost every new mom-to-be has.  But, it still doesn’t stop the thoughts from entering my head!  Although, I do know that no matter what, God is in control.  He knows what is going to happen before I do, and He already has a plan!

On that note, I was looking back at what a journey it has been the past year or so.  It was just over a year ago that I decided I was ready to have a baby!  We had prayed about it, and just felt that this was the right time.  Well, directly after that, Will wasn’t getting any work coming in, and wasn’t finding any full time jobs either.  Then he had to move his storage sheds, which took him quite some time, and also helped hinder his job/work situation.  Then in January, at the beginning of this year, we found out we had become pregnant!  Well, I turned in my Short Term Disability paperwork too late, and was denied.  So, that means that I won’t have any paid maternity leave, other than what I have for vacation time saved up.  Will got a couple of side jobs here and there, but we were still mostly living on my income alone.  Then we had all the problems with the apartment, and ended up not moving because we couldn’t afford anything bigger at the time, and moving to another apartment the same size (or only moderately bigger) just wasn’t really worth it.

But, thankfully, the contractors were able to get the bulk of the work done while I was out of town, and I didn’t even have to deal with all the construction.  (Unfortunately my poor husband did!  But, he is a trooper!)  After that, Will’s old truck died.  All the engine oil poured out at once, and the engine locked up.  To those who don’t know much about cars, that is NOT a good thing and means you need a new engine.  So, Will was giving me rides to work a lot and borrowing my Trooper until we could come up with another solution.  And then the air conditioner went out in my Trooper!

But a huge blessing came when we were able to get a new Truck for Will in June.  We bought it totally on faith, because we knew Will was going to have to find a job in order for us to afford the payments.  But, just a short couple of weeks after we bought the truck, Will found his new job!  He is actually getting a salary, which is pretty unheard of in his line of work (most people work on contract).  After that, the engine in my Trooper decided it wanted to die as well!  So, I had to borrow a car to get by.

But, just recently, I got a new vehicle!  I was able to get a 1998 Jeep Cherokee that is in excellent condition for its age!  And, Will was able to get a side job in order to earn the money to completely pay cash for the Jeep.  So, we won’t have to have 2 car payments after all! 

In the midst of all these financial issues, I had my baby shower.  And I was so blessed to receive so many wonderful gifts and baby items!  Will and I hardly had to buy anything at all because of the generosity of all our friends and family.  There have been a lot of obstacles to overcome in the past year.  But, for everything we have faced, we have received an answer.  God has definitely provided.  It may not be exactly in the way we had imagined, but looking back, I don’t think I can deny that God had a hand in it all.  We definitely feel blessed!