Getting Through

Just a small update on the baby momma:

I am still teaching even though our due date is 3 weeks away. (Three weeks on Friday technically). For all future momma's, when people say the end gets really hard they stinkin mean it! I hope by the time we have another baby I am either not working or can time the birth for the end of summer vacation. It's just so exhausting. I am getting overwhelmed with all the school and sub plans at this point. Thankfully, I have some great co workers who are helping me out. Next Tuesday one of our instructional specialists is actually subbing for me so to speak so I can work on plans and materials. What a blessing!

I am getting really tired and swollen and achy these days. I really don't know how Jude could possibly grow any more inside me. Literally, everything feels so squished. I am really getting out of breath more and more because he is just up inside my lungs or whatever. You should hear me when I come in from recess and go up the stairs with my kids. I just huff and puff like a chain smoker with an oxygen tank. I have heartburn like crazy to. It feels like he will roll around, knock in to my stomach, and send this pleasant surge of stomach acid right on up. I'm about to start walking around with a bottle of pepto bismal on top of my oxygen tank.

Today was a first for one pregnancy symptom though- I've had several Braxton Hicks contractions today. I'm not sure if I've had them before or not. If I have, they weren't as clear as they were today. For those of you who don't know, Braxton Hicks contractions are just your body's way of practicing for the big day. They are perfectly normal. I "practiced" a lot today. Most of the afternoon anyway. It was annoying, but not a big deal. I suppose my body is officially getting ready for Jude to be here.

For all you Christians out there, Jude and I do have a prayer request. At my doctor's appointment this week, she told me that I have group b strep. I freaked out when I was told this because I thought it was an STD. It's not for those of you thinking the same thing. Apparently sometimes you just carry it. It's asymptomatic in adults, but can be dangerous for the baby during the birthing process. I'm going to have to go straight to the hospital when I go in to labor to get put on antibiotics. From what the doctor said, everything should be fine since they have caught it and I will get antibiotics, but to be honest, I'm still freaked out. It has the potential to cause big health problems for Jude like pneumonia and meningitis. I have to keep reminding myself he will be ok if I get antiobiotics. Just pray that everything goes well and I don't worry too much.

Another request for prayer is relating to our house. First of all, pray that Michael and I would continue walking by faith. It's getting hard at this point, but we know that in the end God will make it clear to us why He has taken us this route. We have had an offer in on a house in Crossroads since Aug 3rd. We were told it was a short sale, but our realtor failed to explain to us that short sales take 3 months. When we found that out, we talked and prayed about what to do. While we still have the offer in on the short sale house, we decided to try other houses to see which one opened up first. God led us to this wonderful realtor who is experienced and a Christian to boot. Really great for 2 inexperienced people like us. We started working with him around Sept 3rd. During that time we have put offers in on 4 houses I think? The first offer came back with foundation problems, termite problems, flooding problems, and fire problems. Go figure. We were able to pull that offer thankfully. Then we found another house that we really liked. We put in the offer only to find out an offer went in and was accepted mere hours before ours. Another bummer. We continued looking and found another house we really liked. Put in the offer, got it accepted, AND they agreed to close on Oct 9th- big deal for us. We had the inspection done the next day to help speed up the process, and were told the house needed $40,000 worth of foundation work to be safe. No, $40,000 is not a typo... At this point, we were just frustrated and frantic because time was running out. We found a house that was smaller than the others and more expensive and put in an offer out of sheer desperation. It was accepted and they agreed to close October 13th- again with amazing. And that's when God tested us to see if we can really trust him. It somehow came up to question whether we loved the house and would have bought it no matter what or whether we are just desperate and willing to take anything. Michael and I both felt that we were making a (huge) decision out of fear and a lack of faith. We decided to walk away from it and trust God to bring us HIS best- not just the next available. For me, with all my nesting urges, this was the hardest thing to do in some ways. The logical side knows it was not the right house. The spiritual side knows it wasn't God's best for us. Yet my momma side desperately wants a house to bring my baby home to. I'm still struggling with this so keep praying. I am holding on to the fact that I know the God I serve. He's so much bigger than the housing market and my parenting dreams. I know He has a plan to get us where He wants us to be. I know when we get there I will be soooo thankful that I allowed God to be God in my life. In the meantime, I'm kind of scared. Please be praying for Michael and I as we are literally clinging to Christ through this whole process. We really aren't sure what is going to happen for us in the next 3 weeks, other than a baby will come. Please pray that God part the Red Sea so to speak. We need to find a place to live.

Thanks guys, I know this post was kinda heavy...