Week 8- in all its glory!

I say semi sarcastically... this is the roughest preggo time for me, i'm SICK. I started taking b6/unisom to help me to NOT throw up all the time. It has helped quite a bit. I've gone from requiring ER hydration to just being constantly queasy which is a definate improvement. I was really starting to get discouraged. Its amazing how your health going south can affect a person psychologically. Anyway, here's what's going on with the baby right now!

The embryo is reactive to its environment inside the amniotic sac where it swims and moves. Hands and feet can be seen. At the end of week 8, the embryonic period is over and the fetal stage begins.

this is again from the wpclinic.org website. Here's a picture. Notice the profound differences from LAST WEEK!

Week 7

Ok, i admit, i'm a week behind! i'm actually on week 8 now but the info about week 7 was remarkable enough that i figured i'd just make 2 consecutive posts. here's the blurb about what's goign on with the baby at week 7. This is from wpclinic.org

Major organs have all begun to form. The embryo has developed its own blood type, unique from the mother’s. Hair follicles and nipples form and knees and elbows are visible. Facial features are also observable. The eyes have a retina and lens. The major muscle system is developed and the embryo is able to move.

Click for a closer view... isn't that remarkable? I just think this whole process is amazing. And i'll be able to enjoy it MUCH more when i'm not constantly SICK! Though i do admit, its been a bit easier to find time with the LORD when the only thing i CAN do is PRAY! :-) This is not an entirely bad thing!! Ok, off to post the next week..

facebook

do you all have facebook?? if not, join! and find me, and buddy me! its a great way to waste time, plus you can connect with friends from high school, college, workplaces, its neat! I've been hanging out there a lot when i'm too sick to do anything but stare at a screen :-) i'll keep posting baby updates here though!

I take it back!

Ok, so i take back that statement i made a while ago about it being easy being preggo with such good kids. UGG my place has been a MADHOUSE!! It doesn't help that i've been really really SICK! both preggo sick, and funky stomach sick and coughing sick, just all around miserable. and i totally do NOT have the CHUTZPA to make it all happen right now! i'm so hoping its mostly the external sick and not preggo sick! The kiddos are grating on me and i wish i could just get a babysitter every afternoon :-D also i'm hoping since dad went home that might help.. LOTS of stress, lots of emotional stuff.. and now the snow! worrying about andy being out in it all day doesn't help. At least i got to stay home today! Still trying to stay prayerful and focused on the task at hand, whichever one that happens to be.

a poem

I saw this poem online and it really touched me. While we are only having our 6th, this so rang true for us. I included the link at the bottom for if you want to visit the site.

Seventh
by: Jennifer Wilson


I know I'm number seven,
but the fact you can't deny
is that God, Almighty Giver,
is the Author of my life.

My soul is no less special,
and my spirit no less great
than those that came before me--
be they one, or six, or eight!

So many eyes are blinded
by the whispers of this world--
to them, there is no miracle
in a human life unfurled.

A baby's just a plaything,
a burden, or a chore,
and we must proceed with caution
to prevent too many more!

Only a fool would trust the Lord
to give as He desires
and live a life of trust in Him...
whatever that requires.

A new car may be exciting;
a new house may be a prize,
but my new life is better
than any thing that money buys.

So all the world may roll their eyes
when seven now they see--
But I can't wait until I meet
the "fools" who welcome me.


http://www.lotsofkids.com/LOK-Features/seventh/seventh-poem.htm

ok....

Momentary lapse of judgement... its all good, i was reminded by my bf (in list form, which is so visually appealing to me!!) about what is important now and what i need to be doing and i'm going to do it.

I just lost sight of the whole point. Life isn't necessarily supposed to be easy. And let's face it, there's a LOT of people out there who have it a LOT harder than I do! And do i want to be an angry, bitter, resentful person?? HECK NO! I know that person and i do NOT want to be her. Its so easy to use anger as a cop out. And i guess coming from the background that i came from, finding a defense mechanism is first reaction. But i'm not that person anymore... prayer needs to be first reaction. So that's the primary thing i'm working on now, in addition to making my home a welcoming lovely place to be. NOT easy right now.

Oh well... please pray for me if you are reading this. Sometimes i really wonder if i have what it takes for this life.
Rebecca

UGG.

Boy, am i having a crap week! finding out i was pregnant necessitated going off a medication i was on, and really super fast too, and specifically, the going off of that medication results in neurological side effects, weird head buzzing, dizziness.. well, i've had that, and hallucinations on the worst day, which was about 10 days ago. But now i'm off it completely, only slightly dizzy and only the usual preggo symptoms, which for me is horrendous nausea, coupled with this cold i have, is a real pain in the rear. I cough like there's no tomorrow, which initiates the gag reflex... sigh... i'm a mess. Plus, with my head being clearer, i've had more opportunity to think about a situation in my life that won't go AWAY, and that sucks, and to top it off, my dad is visiting, which is a whole nother category of stress. So i'm about at the limit. I'm angry and sick and realy feeling like an IDIOT. I'm not saying the specifics, but there's a situation in my life that for the last couple months has eaten away at me. you'd think that a person who's been hurt by others as much as I have, would have learned to be suspicious and NOT trust others but i'm the OPPOSITE. WHY???? Honestly, i'm trying really hard not to be negative, but for crying out loud, how many times do i have to be SOLD OUT to get that i am a sucky judge of character. Men are the WORST. Men are HORRIBLE. i'm staying way the heck clear of the bastards. Except for family. And so, here i am, trying to move on, and every week, like clockwork, its smeared right in my face. And i'm EXHAUSTED from being SO angry. But i HAVE to be angry. its the ONLY way i can possibly deal with it. i guess, maybe someday, something will change and i'll be able to find some kind of normalcy. Because leaving the situation is not a possibility, and i'm working VERY hard to not be angry about that. Because if i had MY way, we would be moving on. BUT as its been pointed out to me, i am not the center of the universe, and my needs come DEAD LAST. So life really really sucks right now. I know i just need to get distracted, to concentrate on the miracle that is growing inside of me. To be a good wife and mother, to exercise when i dont feel like it and to eat my vegetables. That's the point of being a Christian, right? to focus on others needs ahead of your own? WHY can SO many other Christians GET there and here i am STUCK. sigh... who knows... i need a nap. i seriously need to kick the nausea because we are going out for GREEK PIZZA BUFFET tonight! WOOOHOO and i need to be able to eat something!!

a fun personality test

give it a try, its fun :-)

My baby

i found this amazing picture online that i had to share!



This is a picture of 4 weeks, and as of tomorrow, i'm actually 5 weeks but there was not picture on the website that i found this one on, until 7 weeks.

This is so exciting.. .Morning sickness has hit with a VENGEANCE! its really hard to take my antibiotics for the sinus infection i have, so i'm trying to just get through the 3 more days! But i will, and i'm grateful for the sign of a healthy baby!

I found a great blog with some useful info http://www.averynearlytea.com/2006/09/pregnant-and-homeschooling.html?showComment=1158815700000 she posted an article there about legumes making morning sickness go away, so i'm beaning it up, starting NOW! we'll see how that works!

something amazing....

So if you aren't within rooftop shouting range, you may not have heard, that we are PREGNANT!!!!!! i found out yesterday... i'm due Aug 11, REALLY hoping for a
girl. I'd forgotten what a handfull little boys are, but a boy would actually be
really cool too because Leify is such a MAN's MAN, that he'd have WAY more fun
with a boy.. and true to form, everyone is THRILLED except Leif, who won't even
entertain the idea of a baby other than him :-D


You so should have BEEN at the
dinner table when we announced it.... it was too funny, i was dropping hints...
i was like, tonight we brought home a pizza and i thought we'd stay up late to
celebrate! No one bit... then i was like, "I think we'll watch the movie "9
months" (WHICH by the way, if you don't remember is really NOT suitable for a
family audience in a lot of ways! eek!) and still nothing... and i was
like... anyone know what we are celebrating/?? and alex was like... uh... when
you found out you were pregnant with Leif?? and andy
and i LAUGHED, and i was like, close, but not quite... and he said, "when you found out you were
pregnant with ANNA? and we LAUGHED! finally Andy was like... how about when we
found out we were pregnant with a baby who's not yet born and doesn't have a
name??!!! it took them a while and then Alex screamed, "YOU'RE PREGNANT??!!! and
they all started SCREAMING! must have been a sight... SO wishing i videotaped
that!!!! and i have to tell you, my oldest two are already BABY'ING me, this is
going to be SO AWESOME! "Can i get you some water, mom? Let me take that
garbage out for you mom! LOL!!!!!!

My kids have been trying to knock me up for AGES! they have totally felt like it was time for a new baby to join our family. I was starting to wonder too if i was getting OLD or something... You see, we don't use birth control. I extended breastfeed all of my children, except alex, young and immature, blech! and the blessings of that are just amazing. Not the least of which is the delay in the onset of menses, which is AWESOME! I LOVE children, I completely think that children are a blessing and don't for one minute begrudge having them, but at the same time, i would NOT be a good mother having a child every year... its just me... and God KNOWS that, He KNOWS what i can handle and what i can't! Its amazing...

So having known i was pregnant for almost 2 whole days now, and having gone to MOPS and to the dr. (had a sinus infection AND had to figure out a way to get off my crazy pills quick without getting too bad of symptoms of going off the meds) and went to get a formal test at the lab, and so forth and so on, i'm already starting to get "THE COMMENT" it starts like this-

Them- You are pregnant! Congratulations! is it your first?

ME- No! its my 6th!

Them- Wow, that's crazy, 6 kids??!! how do you handle having so many, are you crazy? did you MEAN to do THAT? yadda yadda yadda....

Now, i know its a curiosity. The idea of allowing oneself to get pregnant 6 times is entirely foreign to our culture. HECK, i was there once too. A good friend of mine (THANK you SARAH!) really impressed on me a few years back, how i was approaching the whole birth control issue in the wrong way.

You see, i was buying into the common cultural viewpoint that children are a curse, that they are a burden, a waste of time, a hindrance to a career, a taker of resources, sanity, etc. However, Sarah showed me how GOD does NOT view children in the same way. In the Bible, children are NOT considered anything less than a gift. They were never given as a curse, they functioned as an ASSET, not a liablity. Now i guess, in our culture of excess, many people feel that children must have all this STUFF and that would indeed make them expensive. Andy and i have learned that to give up the opportunity for our own acquisition of STUFF has been so valuable a lesson to us. The fact is, the Lord DOES bless us financially, whenever we really have a NEED, He makes it happen, and sometimes there's even some fluff left over for fun, or specific fluff gifts. Through the years, as we've grown in maturity, frugality skills and increased income, we have become MUCH more able to handle our finances than when we even had ONE child. Of course now, we are in a tight spot, having had a few events transpire that really set us back, thousands of dollars of van repairs, alex's tonsils out, etc. and we are SCRIMPING till tax return time, which will exist solely to pay off CREDIT cards and bills. not our usual partial fun money, but the point is, we are so much more capable and better off NOW with more children. Its the classic paradox of when you follow God, He blesses you.

WE now do not see any real need to prevent children from coming to our family, if God opens my womb, though we had a struggle with my depression issues. I'm on a heavy duty antidepressant that i can't take early in pregnancy. But i know that God will provide. Hopefully among that which he provides will be patience and kindness to the "telling the family" moments... sigh... some of andy's family and all of mine will NOT be happy at all to hear our good news. That is our biggest struggle when it comes to pregnancy. They just don't understand us. How can you explain how you feel from this kind of worldview to those who buy hook line and sinker a worldly view that is the polar opposite of ours? Ah well... Cie La Vie...

later...
The preggo :-D