Note:
under normal circumstances our blog rules are to use lots of pictures and a
little bit of text. I’m breaking that rule tonight because I can barely time
find to blog these days but I realized I have not documented this pregnancy really
at all. Lots to say!
Wow. It
takes a long time to grow a babe. I started taking these shots at 14 weeks,
skipping a few weeks in the mid-20s. This week is 34. It’s wild to look at all
of these lined up together. That one ultrasound shot of brother is at 28 weeks,
which is amazing, seeing that we can get a glimpse of how he actually might
look outside of the womb. A true miracle from the Lord, for sure.
This
pregnancy has been, um….interesting. After two miscarriages, one in October of
2011 and one in March of 2012, then this pregnancy starting in July of 2012, if
I’m being honest I feel like I've been pregnant for a rather long time. It’s
been a journey with the Lord for sure, some really hard parts, some joyful
parts, learning how both of those things can go together simultaneously. I took
almost weekly pregnancy pictures with Grayson, because, well, she was our first
and that’s just what you do. Then with Finley, I was so caught up with Grayson
that I’m not even sure I knew what week I was if you had asked me at any given
time, let alone take a picture to document it. This time with brother, the
weekly pictures are a sort of happy-count-down-while holding-my-breath,
wondering if we are really going to make it to the end.
There has
also been quite the interesting array of mild complications this time around. Progesterone
supplements got me (and him!) through the first trimester with lots of praying
and feeling extremely nauseous. On top of that towards the end of the first
trimester, I broke out in some kind of weird, extremely itchy rash all over my
legs. Thankfully that cleared up on its own after a few exhausting weeks,
without any major medication. Second trimester brought a very short-lived bit
of energy, but overall, this pregnancy has been much more tiring than my
others. Maybe because I’m a bit older, maybe because I have two kids to chase
around now instead of just one. Either way, about halfway through I just resigned
myself to taking a nap every day when the girls have rest time. Good for rest,
not as good for getting things done outside of growing a babe. Tis the season.
At the 19
week ultrasound they figured out I had previa, where the placenta was partially
covering the cervix. They also saw one small tiny “bright spot” on his heart.
Both were hopefully expected to resolve themselves, which after a few more
ultrasounds, they did! Praise the Lord. After the previa was resolved, they
then noticed I had high amniotic fluid. Extended diabetes test came back clear,
so now I’m just in the office for weekly ultrasounds to monitor it all. Fluid
has still been high each week, and brother is measuring quite large. At 34
weeks he was already 6.5 lbs. So maybe he will come early or just be a 10-plus
pounder at 40 weeks. Because of the high fluid, he is also ‘swimming around in
there’ as the doctors like to say, so he is flipping head up, head down week to
week. Currently he is head down and we are praying he stays that way. It is so
much more comfortable! (Comfortable being an understatement for any 30 plus
week pregnant mama.)
Although
spending a chunk of time each week at the doctor’s office for ultrasounds is
not exactly how I would choose to spend my time, part of me does often wonder
if that was/is the Lord’s provision for us in relieving anxiety around this
pregnancy. I get to see brother on that screen each week, which in many ways in
a huge blessing. He also moves, kicks, & turns more than I remember the girls
moving. Which may just be his thing or may be that I have a bad memory. Both
possibilities.
Once we
found out he was a boy, we started to talk names here and there. I found one
name fairly early that we both agreed was a possibility (a small miracle). With
the girls, we could not settle until the very end, so both of their names we
just announced at birth. This time, we've kept coming back to this same name,
so we finally called it done and put the “E” initial up on the nursery wall (along with yes, a moose head).
Grayson
was fairly certain it was "E" for “Eugene Munster”, a name she had nominated for
brother based on a character from her Adventures in Odyssey CDs (his name is really
Eugene Meltsner but Munster is what she heard!). And yes, this means our
children will have the initials “E, F, G”, in ascending age order, but although
quirky, not done on purpose!
According
to the baby name books, his first name means “brave & strong”, which we
loved being spoken over him as being our first son. I also loved it for this pregnancy,
as there has been much to be brave and strong about in the last couple of years
as we journeyed toward meeting him. One of our favorite verses is Joshua 1:9,
which now hangs on his nursery wall:
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and
courageous. Do not be afraid; do not
be discouraged, for the Lord your
God will be with you wherever you go.”
His middle name is a
family name from Justin’s side…Peeps being the most recent owner of it himself.
It just seemed to fit too perfectly with the meaning of his first name. We long
and pray for him to be brave and strong and have a wild heart for the Lord.
So…
Everett Wilds Smith, we
can’t wait to meet you very soon!
(We will call him Everett!)
2 comments:
So excited to meet sweet Everett! We praise God for you already, buddy!
Dear Millie,
I am so happy for you! Your father just sent me the blog address. Any day now....right? I have a baby girl due end of July/beginning of August. I'm 23 weeks (almost) into my first pregnancy....also hoping my partial placenta previa will move! Know we are thinking of you at this time...hope the babies can meet one day!
Love, you cousin Laura Laurajulietwood@gmail.com
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