Praising God in the Fog

Hallelujah--she's here!! Adelyn Lively Skow was born February 24th at 1:09pm. She weighed 9lbs 2oz and was 19 3/4 inches long. Big girl! She is absolutely perfect in every way. She has been struggling with some jaundice, and had to stay in the hospital an extra day under the lights because of it. The hospital kicked me out of my room after my 'allotted time', so Dawson and I had to camp out in waiting rooms and in our car for those last 24 hours that Adelyn had to stay for the light therapy. It sucked pretty bad. The worst part was not getting to hold her except for the 30 minute feedings we were allowed every 3 hours. Dawson and I both hated being away from her during that time, but we are at home now!! Praise God! We are still having to go back and do bloodwork and doctor visits for a few days, but it is so much better than being in the hospital.

Now, we have officially entered the 'after baby fog'. Ya know, the days and weeks that follow when you are so sleep deprived that your brain feels like it is in a constant fog. I would love to be posting an eloquent, poetic entry about the miraculous birth of this baby girl and giving God all the glory for all of the answered prayers....but that will have to wait for a different day. For right now, I just want to post some of my favorite pictures from the past week.

Our first meeting


introductions


Forever her protector


Ellie's favorite new baby doll


a memory of our yucky light therapy


My beautiful new daughter

Induction Day!!

5 hours and 51 minutes...that's how much longer I have until I'm supposed to admit myself into St. Joseph's hospital tonight for induction. Wow. I can't believe the day is actually here. It seems like I've waited FOREVER for this day to get here, and now that it is here, I almost can't believe it's happening. It's definitely one of those surreal, twilight zone kind of days. After waking up this morning, and realizing another night had come and gone with no baby action, I tried to explain to Dawson how I was feeling. I had to admit that my first feeling was of disappointment, that I couldn't get this baby out on my own, or that it couldn't have been a 'surprise'. But after all of the praying and begging God to bring her early, there must be a reason He's waited until now, and I trust Him. I told Dawson that waking up on 'induction days' is kind of like when you wake up on your wedding day--except usually your wedding day doesn't include excruciating pain and lots of nasty bodily fluids. And there's also usually not as much of the 'fear of the unknown'. But these days almost supercede the wedding day feeling of excitement---knowing you are bringing another whole person, another miraculous life into the world. Wow--what a privilege. Knowing that I am going to meet my life-long daughter tonight or tomorrow morning is pretty awesome. I just hope she's cool! :)

Up until now, the day has been pretty enjoyable. It has included play time- accompanied by extra hugs and kisses-with the kids, pre-baby interviews on video-tape (a tradition we started before Caleb was born) and a Sonic drink, which helps/soothes/celebrates any emotional occasion. :) Now, it's time to begin completing the 'to do list' before night--re-packing the hospital bag that I optimistically packed two weeks ago, dusting, making a contact list, etc.

Thank you to all of you who have been praying for us and this baby. It means so much to me to have friends who cover us in prayer. We ask you to continue to pray for us for just a little bit longer--for an easy delivery, a healthy baby, and a smooth transition for our other two little angels. And I'll keep you posted...one way or another. :)

Contentment at 38+

So, I'm STILL PREGNANT! I just knew that God was going to have brought this sweet baby girl into the world by now, but....no. I am now less than 48 hours away from another induction, and I don't seem to be making much progress on my own.

I have to confess that I feel like this entire pregnancy has been somewhat of a 'crisis of faith'. First, the fact that it was unplanned and therefore, totally a surprise, caused Dawson and me to have to rely on the fact that this was God's timing, and we both know His plan is always better than ours. Then, this pregnancy has proven to be harder, both physically and emotionally than the two previous. I just felt sicker at the beginning, crazier throughout and now at the end, way more uncomfortable (aka--IN PAIN). Through all of these stages, I have discovered that I am not as strong of a woman as I once thought. And trust me, this is not something I am comfortable acknowledging or professing. But maybe that was the point--that God wanted me to realize how dependent I am on Him, for my physical day to day, as well as my mental sanity and emotional peace, and then give Him the glory for those things.

In the past month, I have gotten so pathetic that I have been BEGGING God to get this baby out. Praying every day that this would be the day. But for some reason, God isn't answering that prayer the way I had hoped. And in my bi-polar, somewhat schizophrenic state, I have let this seemingly unanswered prayer steal the joy away from some of my hours or days. However, in the last few days I have earnestly tried to trust God's wisdom and timing, and just enjoy our final days of being a family of four. And as feeble and delicate as my faith has been, God has blessed us with some awesome family time. So, even though I'm still hoping to go into spontaneous labor any moment.....no, not now.......no, not now either......no again...:) I will say I feel truly content--in fact, overwhelmingly blessed with my life, my Jesus, my extraordinary husband and my precious children.

Now, some pictures of our last few days....

Fun times at the park


Happiness before we found out our game got rained out (please notice my daughter's pig tails....I'm attempting to learn how to 'do' her hair :)


My sweet soccer star, attempting a 'mean, game face'--yea, right! :)


My sweet angel, chillin' with me in the car


The man of the hour, who takes care of us all

My Little Soccer Stud

We have officially started our first team sport--soccer!! Before becoming a mom, I never realized how momentous this occasion would be. For some weird reason, it's so exciting to see your little baby out there--being part of a team, and playing his little heart out. It's also a little intimidating to be entering "that world" of competition, and time commitments, and potentially crazy parents. Thankfully, we are on a great little team, whose coach is a long-time friend of ours. Caleb's little team is called "The Sharks" and two of his teammates are little friends of his, which makes it even more fun.

I must say that so far, Caleb has done great with this new sport. He has 'played' soccer for a long time with us in the front yard, and so is pretty familiar with the ball. And thankfully, he seems to have inherited his father's natural athletic ability, not his mother's complete LACK of athletic ability. However, I will take credit for his superior dancing skills. :) Here are some of the pictures from his first game this past Saturday...


Shark #3 is ready to rock!


We spent a lot more time at their goal, then they did at ours. :)


Mr. Cool had his shades on for most of the game. :)


And Daddy has LOVED being an 'unofficial assistant coach' and Caleb loves having him out there with him!

A small light at the end of a very LONG tunnel

So, I had my official "36 week" (even though, that's rounding up a couple of days) OB appointment today. I have been praying for this appointment for awhile. I've been very anxious to hear if my body was making any progress toward labor and GETTING THIS BABY OUT! And, my doctor had promised we would discuss induction dates today as well. But my prayers have been for God's peace, and contentment, and just help in trusting God's plan and timing for this precious baby's arrival.

WELL, I must confess that the appointment did not go AT ALL how I had hoped. Dawson was supposed to be there with me, but he had to leave early in order to make it to church for our Wednesday night worship service. So, when he left before I even got in to see the doctor, that was the first time I cried. And then, when my OB told me I was 'barely dialated and my cervix was still pretty thick', I wanted to cry again. This was after she had already measured my tummy, and said that the baby is still measuring two weeks ahead of schedule, and that she feels like the baby's probably over 7 lbs already!!

Through all of this though, I was still holding out for the induction date discussion, hoping beyond hope that it would be ASAP--like tomorrow. Then she says, "well I hate to do anything earlier than 10 days ahead of the due date"--aka-not tomorrow. She was going to let me leave without even setting a date because of some silly coordination of schedules, BUT thanks to a kind and merciful nurse who stayed late and contacted the hospital for me while I watched the stupid, cheesy epidural video for the 15th time, I left with my little light at the end of my tunnel. I will be officially induced on Tuesday, February 24th. (twenty LONG days from today!!) But at least there is an end in sight AND I'm still hoping and praying that I will get to go into spontaneous labor before then. And if you love me, please, I beg you to pray for that too! Maybe if God hears the request enough times, He will have mercy on me! :) Now the countdown begins!