My Prince is here!

Micah James Golden is here!  He was born March 9, 2014, at 7:56 pm, weighing 7 lb, 3 oz, and 20 in long.  He is healthy, and we are home!  What an amazing blessing he is!

Here's his birth story:

We were not sharing with everyone, but we had a C section scheduled for March 10, when Micah would be 37 weeks.  All my doctors agreed that this was best for him and me, since I had placenta previa.  We were balancing me going into labor with getting him as close to term as possible.  So March 10th was the plan.  I was excited because March 10 was Grace's due date, and I knew it would be a special date!

Sunday March 9 didn't seem any different than any other day really.  I woke up with lower back pain, but didn't think anything of it, since my back often hurts.  We went to church, and had lunch with Chad's family like normal.  Here are the pictures we took Sunday after church.  I didn't know they would be the last pictures of our family of three!

Sunday afternoon, we hung out at our house with my parents.  I was eating Girl Scout cookies I've refused to share with anyone this year (I'm pregnant!), when all of the sudden I felt a gush.  ***Side note: This became a funny story...I dreaded everyone asking when I ate last, and told Chad on the way to the hospital that this could get embarrassing.  Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE asked when I ate last, what I ate, and (laughing when I said Do-si-does Girl Scout cookies) several even asked how many I ate!  Hello, I'm PREGNANT!!!  I didn't count them-ha!***  Anyway, back to the gush...I was sure it was nothing but went to the bathroom to discover I was bleeding.  I knew this was a potential and likely complication with placenta previa, but since it hadn't happened the entire pregnancy, I had started feeling safe that it wouldn't happen.  I freaked out, and Chad and I finished packing our bags quickly and rushed to the hospital, following my doctor's instructions.  We got there about 5:15 pm, they asked a bunch of questions and hooked me up to the monitor.  Micah's heart rate was perfect.  I was starting to feel some mild contractions.  The doctor there, who happened to be one of the doctors when I had Grace (was awesome to see a familiar face I knew I could trust) called my OB, and they decided to admit me to labor and delivery.  Next thing we know, my awesome OB was at the hospital, and they decided to do the C section that night!  They put in IVs, anesthesia asked me lots of questions, and Chad and I kept saying we couldn't believe this was happening!

 We quickly contacted our families and said Micah would be born in like 30 minutes, so they all rushed to the hospital.  They took me to the OR, gave me spinal anesthesia, and started.  It seemed like it took a while, and my blood pressure kept dropping and I felt nauseated several times.  Then, he was there!  Our precious baby was born, and he was perfect!  He screamed as the staff checked him out.  His Apgars were 8 and 9, and they quickly brought him to me for skin to skin time!  It was awesome, I couldn't believe my little man was laying on my chest!  They finally got finished with the C section, and I asked how much blood I lost.  Ha!  It wasn't much, thankfully.  They took me to PACU and took Micah and Chad to see our family.  They brought Micah to try to nurse, but he was too sleepy, so they took him to transition while I recovered.  And shook.  Oh, the shakes!  Finally they stopped, and they brought Micah back to me because his glucose was in the 20s.  I tried to nurse him again, but he wasn't interested, so they gave him formula to get his glucose up.  I was taken to my room after my feeling came back to my lower extremities around 9 pm.  My precious friend Anna stayed with me while Chad left to get a few extra things from home that we forgot.  I was very sick, vomiting many times throughout the night.  My nurse finally got the doctors to order a different pain medicine, so that got better with some time.  They brought Micah back to me around 1 am, and we snuggled all night!  He slept that whole first night, which was great since I was not feeling well, but I kissed him all night long.  My Prince was here!  The next day was better, and we got discharged from the hospital on Tuesday night.  Here are my favorite pictures from the hospital.

We are home and adjusting to our family of four!  Grace had a hard time the first night, but has done a great job of being big sister!  We are blessed beyond what we could hope for.  Thank you, Jesus, for the blessing of Micah!  What an amazing gift he is, as he reminds of Your love for us!

Grace is THREE!!!!!

I just thought I wouldn't post again until baby brother was added to the mix, but I forgot about one little minor event in the life of our family - GRACE'S BIRTHDAY!  

We had her birthday party early because I didn't know if we might have two new babies in our family by the time her actual birthday got here (my sister in law was also pregnant at the time).  So we had her party at the end of February.  It was Veggie Tales themed, her favorite.  I kept it simple, and really threw the party like my parents used to throw our birthday parties.  I think it was my favorite birthday party Grace has had.  We filled our home with Veggie Tales stuff and the most precious family and friends we have and celebrated the life of our girl. 

The miracle of these past three years do not escape me.  I have thought a lot about Grace's birth day, and remembered the most scary thoughts I didn't even want to speak.  Thoughts of her being stillborn, or not living long after birth.  And now we've had three years with our little perfect princess.  Wow-what an amazing blessing!  Thank you, Lord, for sustaining her life and the miracles we have witnessed!  I look forward to celebrating the rest of her life, as we give her to You every day.  She is Yours!

Here are the pictures from her party!  

Her new favorite thing to say is "eeeyaaay" (hooray)!

Most of the kids

Checking out her cake

This is yummy!  She ate two pieces and was more into the cake this year than any other birthday.

Bob's at my party?!

Present time

Sweet cousins

The cozy coupe was a favorite toy for the kids to play with

Best buddies

My precious college friends!

My sister and me

My dad wanted a picture with his girls

Add momma

Add the boys

These two precious ladies keep Grace for us - they adore her and we are so thankful for them!

My dad and his brother with their grandgirls

Our precious friends, the Eldridges.  I LOVE that Grace and Walker are both smiling and clapping!

Please pray with us over the next few weeks, as we will meet Micah very soon!  We are praying for a continued complication-free pregnancy, and that Micah will be completely healthy when he is born!  We cannot wait to meet him!!!  I'll be 37 weeks Monday!  :)

Sorry!

So I've kind of ignored my blog.  I'm a perfectionist, and if I think I can't or haven't done something perfectly, then I like to ignore it and just not do it at all.  Chad recently asked if I was going to keep writing my blog.  I said I don't know, I feel like I have to catch up and it's overwhelming.  His advice: just start again.  So this is me, starting again :)

This is as much catching up as I'm going to do:

These are the most recent pictures we have taken.  Yep, they're from Christmas.  Oh well.

Grace is doing awesome!  We are still praying she will walk independently by the time baby brother Micah gets here, but regardless of whether she does or doesn't she is really doing awesome.  She loves school, she is "talking" more and more, and she is doing so much.  I love that she is getting busier and busier.  I still long for the day I am exhausted trying to keep up with her busy self (although let me just tell you, we stay plenty busy)!  I am so tired of moms complaining about being exhausted because of their kids.

Speaking of exhaustion, I am 33 weeks pregnant today.  :)  Baby brother will be here probably the first or second week of March (I'm hoping for the second, since Grace's birthday is the first week in March, and he'll get to bake one week longer).  That's 3-4 weeks away.  You guessed it, my placenta did not move and they don't want to risk me going into labor, so that's why we will have a C section and have it that early.  I DO NOT feel ready, but I am ready to see his precious face and give him kisses all over!

So there you have it, there's my apology/update/non update.  :)  I probably won't blog before the baby comes, so next time, you will see pictures of the sweetest, most handsome little baby boy!  Keep praying friends!

Doctor's Appointment

Well we had a doctor's appointment this week and it was not the news we wanted to hear.  I still have complete placenta previa.  My doctor said it is unlikely to move at this point (I'm 24 weeks).  I will go back to him at 32 weeks to check on it again.  We were SO disappointed to receive this news.

Baby Micah is 100% healthy though!  His choroid plexus cyst is gone and they all enjoyed looking at all his perfectly healthy organs!  It was fun for them to talk about how good everything with him looks.

Just wish my placenta was more cooperative.

I'm posting this (maybe too much information?) so that you can pray specifically for Micah and me.

Please pray
-that the placenta would MOVE!
-that I will have NO complications (no contractions or life threatening bleeding)
-that Micah will make it to full term (having a premature baby is a possibility with PP)
-that I will be able to work the remainder of this pregnancy
-for Chad and Grace as they continue to cope with this new normal
-for me emotionally, as I am struggling with worry, fear, and the feeling of being robbed of now two pregnancies
-that I will not have to have a hysterectomy (also a possibility with PP)

I'm so sorry if that is too much information, but I really want you to be able to pray specifically for these things with us.  I am trying to move past the worry and fear and focus on enjoying the pregnancy, as well as the fact that Micah is HEALTHY!  Praise God!  Thank you for your prayers!

God's Hand

Wow-it's been a long time.  A lot has happened since I last posted.  I've been meaning to write this post for a while, and I hope I haven't forgotten anything I wanted to write.

On one of the Sunday nights before Thanksgiving, our small group at church talked about things we were thankful for over the past 12 months.  The thing that popped into my head was God's hand.  I am so thankful that I have been able to see and feel and experience God's hand in such evident ways over the past 12 months.  And really specifically, over the past 5-6 months.

It really starts with getting pregnant with baby number two.  We really wanted to wait for the perfect time (and by perfect, I mean God's time) to get pregnant with baby number two.  Life is so different than we thought it would be, and we really had to consider what was best for our family, and really Grace specifically.  Without going into too many (personal) details, we really feel like KNOW that God created this little life at the perfect time.  We are so excited.

Speaking of my pregnancy, we are also so thankful that this baby is HEALTHY.  Oh, and this baby, I guess I should refer to by name - Micah James.  We will call him Micah.  I still can't believe that he's healthy sometimes, even though I almost felt entitled to have a healthy baby after having Grace (even though I knew that wasn't true/right).  We have truly seen God's hand in the healing this has brought to us.  Especially to my heart.  Wow, it is healing right before my eyes.  How precious is it that God knows how and wants to heal us?

Also speaking of the pregnancy, ever since we found out about the placenta previa, I have been on medical leave from work.  That has been a huge stress for us, just thinking about the possibility of me having to be off the rest of the pregnancy.  I have a lot of paid leave time built up, but not enough to cover the rest of the pregnancy.  Plus FMLA only secures your job for 12 weeks.  So thinking about this possibility, as well as the possibility of maybe not having a job to return to, on top of the financial stress this caused was almost taking the breath out of me at times.  Well-enter God's hand.  After four weeks of being on leave, my doctor lifted my restrictions so that I could return to work!  I go back for an ultrasound next week, and I hope that the placenta previa has completely resolved!

Ok, so I should also talk about our recent move in this post too, because God's hand has been ALL OVER that.  We listed our old house (an 80+ year old house in not the most popular area of Jackson), and in less than a week, we had an offer!  And it was a good offer.  We held our breath as the process with our old house was underway hoping for no major complications (an 80 year old house ALWAYS has complications...we've lived with them (and paid for them) over the past five years that we lived there).  We also started the process of finding our next house.  God lead us to the PERFECT house for us, and within the next week, we made an offer and it was accepted!  Also - this house is in an awesome area with an awesome school district with an awesome special education department.  The whole process from start to finish took a little over a month!  That is just not typical in today's market.  God's hand.  Also, on the day of the closings we had our first kink in the whole process and were told we may not be able to close on the new house or move into the new house until the next week.  I held back tears until within only a few minutes the problem was solved, which according to our realtor normally would not have happened.  God's hand.

Also, we have seen God's hand through the health problems of several close family members over the past month.  I don't want to go into details to protect the privacy of our family, but wow-God has been at work.  He is so evident and real.

And of course (and probably most obviously) we have seen God's hand in Grace's life over the past year.  She has made amazing progress with her development, and is just such a cool little girl.  I am blessed to be able to witness miracles in her everyday.  I am so blessed to be her mama.

I'm going to end this post with some updated pictures since my last post.  :)

 Halloween - Grace was a puppy :)

 Laps for Little Ones - Grace's school's big fundraiser

 Christmas card pictures