Summer In Full Swing

Oh wow! It's been an entire 3 weeks since I last checked in with the blog. I can't believe it! I am 18 weeks pregnant now, and things have been going really well here.

Our county started opening back up a couple weeks ago for the first time since the pandemic started back in March. We have been enjoying more freedom these past few weeks as we finally were able to venture to some of our favorite summer spots! The first place that we visited was the Zoo! It was really great to be back!

We also visited Waldameer Amusement Park! We had season passed purchased prior to the pandemic and so we were very happy to see that they reopened! Of course, nothing is certain in this time. We know that at any moment things could shut down again. So, for now, we are enjoying all that we can do in the moment, while still being safe and wise with keeping distance from others outside of our circle.

When we first arrived at Waldameer, we found out that Piper joined the 48-inch club! She is now tall enough to ride most every ride in the park by herself! The timing of this couldn't be more perfect since I am 18 weeks pregnant, and can't ride barely any rides with her this summer! During our first trip back, (there have been a couple already) Nick was with us. Having him there to ride some of the bigger rides with her first helped to get her use to them all before I took her by myself a few days later. It worked out really well!

Since my last update, we celebrated the 4th of July, too! While there weren't any public firework displays for us to visit, we did get to picnic with some friends that put on an amazing firework show themselves!

I made some mini cheesecakes for the picnic (recipe from Skinny Taste), which went over really well!

With summer in full swing, I will likely have less updates on the blog but, I will try to keep it updated as best as I can! Coming up next, my first "second trimester update" of weeks 14-18 with this pregnancy! We are only a couple weeks away from finding out the gender, and we can't wait!!

First Trimester: Week 9 - 13 | Baby #2

I'm 15 weeks pregnant today and I feel very blessed to be here right now!! Below is my update from the last few weeks of my first trimester with Baby #2.

Week 9:

- Less nausea, some days. Now having moments (hours) of extreme fatigue in the afternoons

- Active hours 7:30-11:30am, then my energy dips majorly for the remainder of the day

- Eating most of my food for the day in the mornings, hungry for dinner around 3pm

- More spotting this week but no cramping, I'll get a sonogram to check on baby soon

- Craving: peanut butter pie and chocolate covered pretzels

10 weeks

Week 10:

- Nausea came back in full force

- Finally had to give in to the morning sickness on the morning of week 10

- This was the hardest week of pregnancy so far!

- I had terrible back issues this week. My rib slipped out of place while I was sleeping, limiting my breathing

- Adjustment from the chiropractor helped my back a little

Week 11:

- Nausea continues but I experience some days without it

- Still struggling with back pain which makes it hard to sleep at night

- Having more days where I can stay up later but still going up to bed around 6/7pm

- By the end of this week, my back pain was resolved

Week 12:

- Finally feeling some relief from all day nausea

- 12 week sonogram went well! Baby kept rolling around and hiding their face during the scan.

- Glucose test was negative for gestational diabetes

Week 13:

- Nausea is gone! But still having some aversions to food

- Never mind, nausea is back but manageable

- Started to feel the baby move/roll around when resting at night!

- Craving: peanut buster parfaits and the Mona Lisa sandwich from Picasso's (I had 2 this week!), also this week I have been totally bagel obsessed

A more current update:

Now that I am not experiencing much first trimester symptoms, being pregnant has felt so surreal. I cannot believe that in just 5 short months our lives will forever be changed with another sweet baby to love and share our lives with!

This week in particular (wk 15), I have been feeling a lot of fear over the future and how we will manage keeping the baby safe while being born in the height of cold and flu season (Dec 9 due date), during a  global pandemic. 

Please say some prayers for peace of mind, and for truth to fill my mind and heart. God is so good. He has answered our prayers! Our baby is growing perfectly on track with no complications. I want to trust in Him fully for the future, as well. I pray for baby's safe arrival and for baby's health!

Goals for a Healthy Pregnancy

Hi, everyone! I am happy to report that I am almost 14 weeks pregnant and I have been feeling more normal, most days! Now that I am having less nausea-filled days, I will be trying to set some basic goals for myself to help foster a healthy pregnancy in my 2nd and 3rd trimesters!

Goals:

- Drink 120 oz. water daily

- Track nutrition for mindfulness purposes

- Eat 3 - 5 servings fruits/vegetables daily

- Reach 5,000 steps daily

- Blog weekly

My water goal was hard to achieve during my nausea stage of pregnancy, but I've found that adding some fresh squeezed lemon has helped! It's my new favorite way to get my water in these days.

As for tracking nutrition, I will only be doing this for mindfulness purposes. While I was in my first trimester, I feel like my food intake was based purely on what I could stomach - which was mostly carbs. So, now that I am feeling better, I am also going to be trying to be mindful of eating at least 3 - 5 servings of fruits/vegetables daily.

Gyms are still closed in our area due to COVID-19, and so most of my activity has been coming from walks with my family. I was limited on energy for those walks in my first trimester but now that I am entering my second trimester, and the weather is nice, I am excited for more walks to come! 

My step goal is lower than usual at 5,000 steps since my activity has been lower in general. On the days that I am working from home, I would average about 2,000 steps for the entire day. Now that I have a little more energy, I am hoping to end my days with a family walk on those working-from-home days!

As for blogging, my ultimate goal is to get out 3 posts per week on Mon/Wed/Fri, but as for these days, it is an accomplishment for me if I carve out the time for one post weekly. So, that'll be my baseline goal for now, with the hope that I would get a couple more out weekly as time goes on!

Next time you hear from me, you'll be getting the last of my first trimester updates of weeks 9 - 13!

11 Weeks Pregnant with Baby #2

Hello, and happy Friday! This was my husband's first full week back to work since March and so, Friday is a very exciting day, again! At just over 11 weeks pregnant, I cannot wait for the chance to sleep in tomorrow morning.

Now that Nick is back to work, I am working from home with my 5 year old daughter a couple days a week. Working from home wasn't as hard as I thought it would be this week. The first day was a little rough but, the second day couldn't have gone any better! Being able to take my laptop outside on the nice-weather days really helps. I think we're working on figuring out a rhythm that works best for us, already!

At 11 weeks pregnant, I have been seeing some improvements while also struggling a bit. The improvement is that my nausea is starting to fade! It's so incredible to be free of that nagging nausea feeling all times of the day and night! 

I have been struggling, however, with some intense fatigue and back issues. I actually had to call in a chiropractor on their day off to help me with my back issues because my rib had slipped (I suspect it happened when I was dealing with some morning sickness) and the rib being out made it difficult to take a full breath without intense pain. She was able to fix it so I could breathe again, but I have still been having pain and have been generally uncomfortable because of my back issues this week. My actual chiropractor is back from surgery next week, and I cannot wait to see her again!

Another benefit of working from home is that I haven't actually had to wear jeans or any other kind of pants that aren't either sweat pants or pajama pants. I am actually nervous to try on jeans again because I suspect they will no longer fit, and feel super uncomfortable. 

The bump is starting to grow! Dresses are going to be my friend this summer!

10 Weeks Pregnant with Baby #2

I'm 10 weeks pregnant today (with baby #2) and I finally had no choice but to give in to morning sickness this morning. That's just about as fun as I remember it being in Piper's pregnancy. Bleh.

As hard as morning sickness and extreme afternoon/evening fatigue is, I've been finding reassurance in the pregnancy symptoms. That may just be part of being a pregnancy-loss mom (x3).

The wait between my 7 week sonogram and 12 week sonogram has been... long. Thankfully I'm over halfway through the wait. Only two weeks to go!

As for my eating lately, peanut butter toast has been about the only thing I can stomach first thing when I wake up. I eat frequently in the mornings (every hour or two), which is so different than my norm. Ice cold smoothies have been so satisfying after I have my pb toast. 

I have been loving grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch, which usually gets eaten around 11am. I've been ready to eat dinner around 3pm, and usually make myself eat one more time before bed, just to help with the morning sickness. Carbs have been 85% of my diet during this first trimester!

While the first trimester has been a little challenging, it really hasn't been too horrible. I am just so happy to be pregnant right now, with this baby we've been praying for, for years. 

I am also happy to be going through the first trimester during this (very chilly) Spring and season of sheltering in place. I haven't had to miss out on much due to not feeling well because there isn't much to miss out on right now. I will be going into my second trimester, and gaining more energy in my days just as summer begins. I am so looking forward to the second trimester and this summer!

First Trimester: Week 3 - 8 | Baby #2

I am 9 weeks pregnant today! I woke up feeling a little more "normal" today! I had a couple days with some intense morning (all day) sickness/dizziness this past weekend. The fatigue really wiped me out, too. Yesterday and today, however, have been much better days! Praising God for every day!

I have been trying to keep track of my pregnancy symptoms ever since the pregnancy test turned positive on March 26th. I was only 3 weeks and 1 day pregnant at the time! I knew in my heart this baby was strong from the very beginning.

Week 3:

- Extra tired (by 6pm each night)

- Early bedtimes (around 8pm)

- Hardening feeling in uterus (3/25)

- Face randomly feeling warm/flushed

- Slight cramping

- Sense of smell increasing

Week 4:

- Cramping

- Very tired and emotional in the evenings

- Bedtime routinely around 6pm

- Lots of blood work

- HCG was rising appropriately

Week 5:

- Morning sickness began! Nausea and light heartburn. (never been so happy to be sick!)

- Bedtime still between 6 - 7pm

- Mood swings in full force

- Cramping was dwindling

- Light spotting but emergency sono showed all was well and the heartbeat (100bpm)

- Cravings began! Craving salty food, hot fudge sundaes (never really cared for them before), voodoo chips and cheeseburgers (Nick went to my moms at 9pm one night to pick up ground beef and grilled a cheeseburger for me. Craving satisfied!)

Week 6:

- Very tired in the afternoons, naps help

- Bedtime still between 6 - 8pm

- Extra emotional in the evenings

- Cramping no longer happening

- Nauseous if I don't eat every 2-3 hours

- Aversion to chicken wings (a previous favorite of mine)

- Craving: red meat, salt and ice cream/sweets

Week 7:

- Bedtime between 7 - 8pm

- Morning sickness is getting stronger/lasting most of the day

- We had another sonogram and saw the heartbeat (163 bpm)

- We told Piper the news! She checks on the baby daily and prays for it's health and strength!

- Hungry for dinner at 3pm most days

- Experiencing more aversions than cravings this week

- Craving: Arby's beef and cheddar sandwich

- Strong aversion to chicken

Week 8:

- Bedtime stretching to 7 - 9pm most nights now

- Evening mood swings are still happening

- Starting to have more aversions to foods/meats but finding that it's not bad once I take a bite

- Morning (all day) sickness / fatigue / dizziness was strong for a few days this week

- Also had a few days this week where I didn't feel sick much at all and it was great

- Craving: peanut butter toast, scrambled eggs, pretzel salad

I'll post another update like this once around 14 weeks! Until then, keep an eye out for different updates along the way. We are so grateful to be on this journey with Baby #2!

Jesus Will Not Let Us Sink

Hello! If you missed our special announcement, you can find it here: Baby #2!

We have been praying for this second child for so many years. For those of you who were around when we first got our new-to-us SUV - that's a good marker of just how long we've been waiting and praying. 

Two years. Two miscarriages. We've fought through fear and heartache after heartache for you, Baby #2.

Our most recent miscarriage was in January, so I was surprised when just a month later, around Ash Wednesday, I felt the call to begin trying to conceive again. I was paralyzed with fear, which led me to giving up fear for Lent.

And let me just talk about giving up fear for Lent. It’s much different than giving up chocolate, right? I mean to give up chocolate means you don’t eat the chocolate. But fear is a natural part of being human. So how do you give it up?

I found the answer in 1 Peter 5:6-7
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand that He May lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

I’m definitely not an expert in this, but the way I went about it was a very simple but effective approach. Daily, hourly I was just being honest with myself and God about my fear. When a fear would arise, I’d say (either out loud or in my head) “Lord I give this to you, and I trust you”. After some time of being obedient in this, I felt the release of those fears and I did feel my trust in Him grow.

In the first few weeks of Lent, God was faithful to show me new areas where fear was also hiding. Anger, frustration, irritation. Fear was at the root of so many of those emotions. When he revealed that to me, instead of feeling shame for those feelings, I felt such grace for myself. And that is what he wants for us.

Galatians 5:1 “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

So after a few weeks, with my fear and all the things that come with it being release daily to God, we were able to step out in trust in this new journey of trying to conceive Baby #2.

Now, we are newly pregnant, during a pandemic. And for somebody whose core weakness is fear, I, like many of us in this season, feel like I’m on a seesaw of feeling His peace and the world’s panic.

Which brings me to the scripture where Peter stepped out in trust onto the water with Jesus, and was so quickly taken by fear in Matthew 14:28-31.

It says, 28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” 29 “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

I don’t know about you, but I can so relate to Peter right now.

Jesus asked Nick and I to step out into the water IN TRUST, then the winds pick up, and we’re hit with a pandemic at the same time when the pregnancy test turns positive.

I’m wondering if any of you can think about a time when God has called you out into the deep and the winds picked up?

God is so good to have given me peace in those first days after finding out we’re pregnant again, it really was a sense of peace beyond understanding. But this hasn't been a completely smooth ride for us. The winds of fear picked up a couple weeks ago and had me feeling like I was sinking. During week 5 of this pregnancy, we had a scare with some spotting and I was sent in to get an emergency sonogram. Nick wasn’t able to come with me, and probably won’t be able to be with me for any future appointments for a while. Thankfully, I was able to see the baby’s heartbeat and got reassurance from the doctors that everything was continuing to look good. As for me, it took a while to be convinced that this wasn’t the end of yet another pregnancy. My immediate reaction was to assume that this was just the start of another storm.

But things are okay. The baby is doing so well! We are 8 weeks and 5 days along in this pregnancy, now.

There were many times over the past few weeks when I called out, "Lord, save me". And I imagined Him reaching out His hand to me like he did for Peter.

God is faithful to begin a new and good work in us exactly when we need it. I can see His faithfulness in preparing us for these moments as He nudged me to begin working intimately with him on my fear on Ash Wednesday, and if I hadn’t begun then, I don’t know how well I’d be handling everything right now.

I know there may be times when you also feel like you’re sinking, and I just want to remind you that if we call to Him, He is faithful to immediately extend His hand to us, like He did for Peter.

If we call to Him, Jesus will not let us sink.

Our Special Announcement - Baby #2

Sharing our joy! Blessed to announce Baby #2 is coming to town this December, 2020!

Piper is so excited for her little sibling to arrive this winter!

I am a little over 8 weeks pregnant now, and just feeling so incredibly blessed. During our last ultrasound, baby's heart rate was 163 and growing perfectly on track for December 9th due date. Now that we've announced this blessing to all of our friends and family, I am excited to start blogging more about it, soon!

For [these children] we have prayed.

1 Samuel 1:27

Easter at Home 2020

Happy Monday, everyone! The sun is shining here and I am feeling a sense of clarity in my mind.

Tomorrow marks 40 days since life started changing for our family, due to COVID-19. I feel incredibly blessed that we've been impacted in such small ways (small ways that sometimes feel bigger than they are) in comparison to others. Nick is partially back to work, and I still have the awesome opportunity to be working from home during this season.

Personally, I've had some incredible days at home, and also some days where I have been battling anxiety. Thankfully the good days far outweigh the bad, and today is one of those incredible days! 

It's the first day in weeks where I used my planner to keep track of some tasks I wanted to complete for the day. Something as simple as making a to-do list has helped bring some sense normalcy back into my day, and it feels good. Typing out this blog was one of the items on that list!

While Easter was a little over a week ago, I still want to share some pictures and a recap of our day!

Piper was so excited to see what the Easter bunny brought her on Easter morning! She especially was excited for her big surprise from mom and dad - her brand new bike!

After the Easter basket fun, we went back upstairs to watch Church online, from the comfort of our bed. I wasn't feeling too well that morning and it was so great to have the opportunity to rest in bed while watching the service!

Later that afternoon, we took Piper's new bike out for a spin and she did really well with it! We were blessed with some warmer weather on Easter, so we spent as much time outside that afternoon as we could! As for Easter dinner, my mom spoiled us with a full Easter dinner delivered to our house! We had leftovers for days! It was awesome!

As for the week following Easter, it was really cold and snowy! We made the best of the snow but, we still didn't get outside as much as we'd like last week. We are looking forward to some warmer days coming soon!

I'm hoping this was one of our last (if not the last) snowfalls for the season. Staying at home during this seasons is so much more manageable when we can get outside!

One Month at Home

Hey, guys! It's been a while. It's been 3 weeks to be exact. I really thought being at home more would mean that you would be hearing from me more often on the blog. However, I've come to find that maybe "having enough time" to update the blog wasn't ever the issue, but rather it's more dependent on where it lands on my priority list for the day.

I honestly can't believe that it's been 3 weeks since that last time I sat down with the blog. Time has been moving at a strange pace where I'm never quite sure what day it is. I'm sure there's a bunch of you out there that can relate. For the most part we have just been floating through the days when both Nick and I aren't working. We almost always get a good amount of time outside in our days, even when it's chillier out. We just bundle up a little more.

Since it's been so long since the last time I checked in, let me catch you up with some photo highlights from the past three weeks:

Nick created a little workspace for me in our spare bedroom a few weeks ago, which has made working from home so much easier.

So far, we have only had one picnic in our time at home but, seeing this picture reminds me to make sure we schedule a few more picnics together as the weather continues to get nicer!

One highlight of our week is on Friday mornings when Piper gets to have a video call with her teachers and friends from class! This has been extra special given the news we received this week, that all schools will be closed for he rest of the academic year.

Camping "under the stars" in our living room has become a weekly thing.

While we haven't had much structure to our days, and we never quite know what each day will bring, I can say that our hearts have been so full during this time together! All of this extra family time has definitely been the highlight of the season! There have been more than a few occasions when Piper has ended her day randomly declaring "this is a good life" or, "this was my favorite day" or, "I loved this day together"! While we may have started off unsure of how to navigate this time of such uncertainty, I think we're doing something right.

Self-Isolating during COVID-19 Outbreak

We are about a week in to self-isolating as a family (funny how that is now a positive thing) and so I wanted to fill you in on how we've been spending some of our days.

I don't think I can stress this enough - I am extremely grateful to have the opportunity to continue working from home during this time! Last week, I continued with my schedule of working on Tuesdays and Thursdays (from home). My husband had a few hours of work on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, which worked out very well for our family.

I know that with the kids being out of school, some people are wondering what to do. We weren't quite sure right away either but, I think what we did last week worked out really well for Piper and our family.

Mon: Mommy & Piper Day (Morning homeschool; Afternoon movie/free play; Evening family time)

Tues: Daddy & Piper Day (St. Patrick's Day! Arts and crafts, games, movies and free play)

Wed: Mommy & Piper Day (Morning homeschool; Afternoon movie/free play; Evening family time)

Thurs: Daddy & Piper Day (Arts and crafts, games, movies and free play)

Fri: Mommy & Piper Day (Unscheduled mix of a little bit of everything)

If that plan looks simple, it's because it is. While I love structure and plans, I also value simplicity. Last week kind of fell together in this way, and so we went with it! This next week is going to look different. We just found out that Nick will be out of work for a while which means every day is family day! :)

Besides having the opportunity to be able to work from home and more family time, here are a few other things I am really grateful for right now:

- Living life at a slower pace

- Running water, shelter, food (basic essentials)

- More time for Nick to get projects done around the house

- More time for prayer, reflection, bible study

- More intentional conversations with friends

- The opportunity to help others in new ways

- Warmer days are coming and we already got to enjoy some last week

During our time outside almost every day last week, we saw others from a distance. We've passed by people who were fishing, walking and riding their bikes. Before all of this, when things were busier, we might have merely managed a smile in passing. This past week, I have noticed more intentionality. I jump at any opportunity to wave at others, say "hi", and engage them with the thought in mind that this might their only face-to-face contact today. 

This is one thing I hope sticks around after all of this is over. I hope we never take for granted the opportunity to be in community with others.

March is Looking Different, Now

Hey, everyone! March is looking different for a lot of us.

Piper is off school for the next two weeks, and Nick is day-by-day on whether or not he has work. Nick had work initially today but, it looks like he will be coming home early. It is also looking like there won't be work tomorrow. My work with the church will continue, but I am grateful to say that we're welcome to work from home, and we'll also be working in some new creative ways.

When news of COVID-19 began amping up last week, I have to admit I was getting very annoyed. I thought people were overreacting, and wished they would just stop talking about it. 

There I was, wondering why everyone was acting out of fear (panic-buying food, non-stop talk about the virus, etc.) while also thinking that I wasn't acting out of fear by "not wanting to talk about it". After some time, and becoming better informed, I realized that in some instances people weren't overreacting at all. Something needed done. We needed to talk about it. I also realized that my initial reaction (avoiding the topic) was also rooted in fear, which gave me more to pray about.

Now that March is looking different, I am hoping to dedicate some more time to blogging and will be spending some time outside each day - no matter how cold it is. This is how I am practicing self-care. My brain seems to be in "high processing mode", which is exhausting. Getting out for a walk each day has been helping calm my mind, and gives me more intentional time for prayer.

What's one way that you're practicing self-care today?

Update: March - Week 1

First week of March has come to an end and, I'm down 2lbs. on the scale. I'm really happy with how this week went! 

While each meal wasn't perfect, I feel like I did a good job at balancing my plates overall. I went out to dinner with a friend (+ dessert), had a breakfast date with my husband, and I still lost weight this week! 

I managed to get in some extra activity this week which helped the balance of everything, as well. We had a night at the trampoline park and most days in general I was able to keep my steps between 7,000-10,000.

On the evening of Ash Wednesday, I felt called to give up fear for Lent. That's a daunting thing to give up, personally. At first, I was unsure how to go about following through with such a thing. 

Fear isn't tangible, and it's hardwired into our human-ness. I don't think fear is something that will ever fully go away and, I don't think that's the point. Instead, God is showing me that while fear will never fully go away, it is something that I must constantly give away -- to Him.

After a week of diving into The Word and being more faithful in prayer, I can already see how God is helping me overcome fear in some situations that were starting to feel a little hopeless. God is so faithful to transform us in ways beyond our own ability!

March - Week 1, was a good one!