Answered Prayer...

McKenna Dawn Wolfe

Born 11/2/11 @ 4:54pm

7lbs 1oz 19 3/4in long

Thank you to all who joined with me in prayer, the Lord heard and He answered, and now she's in our arms! Safe and sound and adorable as EVER!!

And so we wait...

40 week belly

So, I'm a goal-oriented person, and when a goal I had in mind has come and gone with no results, I'm left to wonder what to do next. I have been so focused on getting to October 30th that now that it has passed and I'm left still pregnant and unsure, coping with the next week or so seems like an impossible task.

I'm frustrated that my body isn't responding yet to the fact that it's time to be in labor, and I'm feeling like God is trying to teach me a lesson. I'm no go at relinquishing control and so I am sincerely hoping that this is His gentle way of reminding me who is in charge but that He has full intentions of creating a happy ending out of what has now become a stressful time for us.

Admittedly, after meeting with the Doctor today, I'm feeling about as hopeless and helpless about this delivery as if I had just received yet another negative pregnancy test. I feel like he was preparing me for the fact that something isn't right and something will go wrong and it isn't going to end on a happy note like it did with my first labor and delivery. Now, whether I'm reading into his words or not, I guess who really knows, but what I heard was not what I wanted to hear and I'm left feeling sad. I have chosen to go ahead and start my maternity leave, in hopes that I can spend the next few days focusing on what really matters and more on the situation at hand as we look expectantly toward the end of our time as a family of three and become a family of four.

I guess I will have to go on faith, which I don't have a great deal of most days, that everything is going to turn out fine. I will stop walking, and eating spicy foods, and making Tony massage my ankles and feet and give up all of the measures that are fun to joke about but not really practical for sending me into labor...and I will just have to become diligent about praying specifically for what I want for my baby girl. Other than that, I'm at a loss...we are both feeling at a complete loss and are desperate for some good news...

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Dear Lord,

I pray that someway, somehow, despite what modern medicine says is possible, that my body begins to respond sometime in the next few days and goes into active labor on its own. I pray that I would not have to have a c-section and that I would not be faced with the possibility of McKenna not being born alive and healthy and thriving. I also pray that my labor would be short and easy inasmuch as it was with Noah. I give you full control because it's pretty apparent I'm not able to do anything to influence the situation any differently, but you can, and I just have to have faith that you will. I thank you that you have her perfect arrival date and time in mind and I thank you in advance for that promise to be carried through. We just want to hold her and know she is whole and here safe in our arms. You have given me a successful, full-term pregnancy, and some mommies I know that were due right around when I was did not end up with healthy babies to hold and snuggle and love on, and so I thank you for protecting our little one thusfar. I feel like we are not out of the woods yet and there are still risks to come between now and delivery time, and I ask that Your hand be over those possibilities and that they would be taken away.

Please guide the Dr's heart and mind that I see this Thursday so that some better answers and more encouraging news might be present at the appointment that puts me back in a better frame of mind. Please continue to watch over our Baby Girl, McKenna Dawn, we want her here safe and sound so badly.

In Jesus' Name I Pray,

Amen

Halloween Pumpkins & Belly Pics

We carved pumpkins with Noah this past weekend, he wasn't really into the messy insides of the pumpkin like I thought he would be, but he still had a great time and Tony roasted up some pretty tasty pumpkin seeds afterward!

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38 & 39 week Belly Pics -- McKenna

Full Term, Yeah, Baby!

35 weeks

36 weeks

37 weeks

Family Photos

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34 Weeks & What's New with Noahman?!

6 weeks and counting...I really do feel like this pregnancy is lasting much longer than my first. I'm a little more uncomfortable this time, bigger at this point than I was last time, and yet trying not to wish away the time I still have left being a Mommy of one. My 34 week check was good, baby's heart beat was about 145, my belly is measuring right on time and no major complaints! I go back in 2 1/2 weeks for my 36 week check and it's every week after that. I'm a numbers person, so I keep looking at the calendar thinking, less than 1 1/2 months to go, or 4 more Dr. appointments at the most or what if I'm sitting on the porch watching Noah trick-or-treat on October 30th and she's still in there?! I could be the biggest "pumkin" on the block by then I'm pretty sure! I'm hoping maybe she wants to be born about 3 days early, but until then, she can stay in there in marinate all she wants. Still enjoying multiple daily rounds of hiccups, wriggling around and a jabbing hand or foot when she gets to groovin'. Love this time when I have my babies all to myself! But we are getting anxious to meet her, I keep imagining how cute and cuddly she will be and we are over the moon excited!

Noah has provided us with so much joy and laughter lately. Watching him make sense of and interact with his little World in new ways everyday is beyond amazing. It seems every time Tony and I get a chance to catch up on life we always have "Funny Noah Moments of the Day" to share, and they just too cute! He is certainly a little man with a big opinion, I see him becoming a leader someday (or at least a bossy older brother...ha!). He has no time for anything we suggest that he isn't on board with, he cries if I turn the opposite direction he wanted us to go in the car, and doesn't hesitate to tell me when he something tastes gross or yucky at the dinner table. He thinks the phrase "one more time" can be used an infinite amount of times, especially when it comes to a favorite cartoon or enjoy a sweet treat. He loves to have us kiss his boo-boo's because it makes them "Much better" in his words. He jumped in the bathtub fully clothed the other day because I was trying to quick-wash my hair over the side...twenty minutes later my hair was finally washed and apparently so was he! So much for a quick-wash! He also somehow chipped one of his front teeth that neither of us can pinpoint when or how it happened, but he obviously hasn't been too phased by it. Good thing this set of teeth isn't permanent! He is really starting to listen and respond to directions much more, which means I could have myself a little helper once McKenna arrives! And even though he acts so big and grown up these days, we still have binky and chewie at bedtime and the random hugs and "I wuv you's" to remind us what a sweet, little baby boy we have!

Go Leopards!

He looks so big in this picture! Love his Leopard Pride!

McKenna was ready for the game too!

Love my boys in blue!

Mommy & Noah!

HOF Parade & 30 weeks

We took Noah to the HOF Parade again this year, he hasn't missed one since before he was born! I was hoping he would have forgotten his fear of the big balloons, but it turns out he hadn't. I know these pictures are going to look repetitive, but his expressions were so much more entertaining than actually watching the Parade at times, I tried to capture them all!

Breakfast before the Parade kicked off





Just chillin' with my Grandma

Hi, Mr. Inductee to the Football HOF, congratulations!

Yay, more Marching Bands! I love the drums!

Whoa, look at that big float!

I see Ronald McDonald coming

Daddy will save me from the big, scary balloons!

Okay, I'm covering my eyes, but I'm still peaking out of curiousity...

Ah, these shades make everything look better, including me! What a Stud!


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Here is my belly when I was pregnant with Noah at 30 weeks:

And here is my belly with McKenna at 30 weeks:

10 weeks to go!

3rd Trimester

Mommy is feeling great, McKenna is moving like a wild woman, and we are having so much fun getting her room ready a little at a time. It's slowly coming together!

What a blessed summer we have had so far as a family of three...and I find myself longing a little more each day to finally have the opportunity to hold my baby girl in my arms. So excited to be a family of four! Even Noah has started to give my belly lots of big brother kisses, pats, and hugs. And he even played Doctor the other day and checked out her heartbeat with a toy stethescope..."Buboom, Buboom, Buboom" he said...sounds perfect to me!

God has truly blessed us and we are so grateful!

Oak Island 2011

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Ultrasounds, Puggles & Summertime Fun

McKenna Love!

We had our 20 week tummy check and ultrasound just about a week ago and it felt like the longest month ever leading up to that appointment! We were all so anxious to see if our baby was healthy and growing at a good pace. I was nervous since my thyroid levels had been so drastically off the first part of this pregnancy and the Dr. said it could really effect the baby's ability to grow properly. As it turns out, the baby was measuring right on for most of the measurements (especially around the head) and was measuring about 3-4 days behind everywhere else. Baby weighed in at 11oz and the heartrate was 152 bpm.

Noah went with us to that ultrasound along with the grandmas, all of us hoping to find out the big news...girl or boy?!?! He was so well-behaved, he was looking up at the monitor on the wall with his little mouth hanging open as he sat on Daddy's lap and said, "I see baby." "I see heartbeat...buboom, buboom, buboom." "Baby so cute!" Luckily, once he was bored of that scene, Grandma Wolfe has brought along grapes and Scooby snacks and Noah was content to munch and sporadically count my toes while I was up on the table. But he did really well and we were so glad he was able to be a part of that experience and see images of his little sibling for the first time.

Everything looked great on the ultrasound, and with a LOT of pushing and prodding at my stomach, most of which made me more nervous that my bladder was going to empty itself on the exam table more than disturbing the little one growing inside of me...baby finally uncrossed it's legs...and there was no denying it...IT'S A GIRL!!!!! McKenna Dawn Wolfe is on her way and growing perfectly! We feel so blessed to complete our family with a beautiful baby girl. And we could not be more excited for her big brother who is already one amazing kid. Both of our angels from Heaven! Praise be to God, we are eternally grateful!

The Dr. met with me afterward for my regular tummy check and all was well there as well. It turns out my placenta is a little too close to my cervix so I will get another ultrasound at 3o weeks to ensure everything has moved up at least 1 cm. If not, the Dr. said there could be talk of a c-section but I'm nowhere close to actually having placenta previa and they aren't labeling it as such. He said there's about a 99.99% chance everything will move up into place so no need to worry. And considering how very quietly and smoothly this pregnancy has gone compared to Noah's, despite some early insomnia and lots and lots of nausea for 15 weeks, I have every reason to believe everything is going to be just fine! I go back again at 24 weeks for a tummy check, 28 weeks for my glucose test, and 30 weeks for the next ultrasound.

I have been really bad about taking belly pics and journaling this pregnancy, but I finally did get a baby book filled in for Miss McKenna and I have some belly pics as well. I will have to post those next time because our scanner has decided to stop working once again..no fun! I know every Mommy of more than one child has told me the second pregnancy is different, and I echo that truth whole-heartedly. Although I have to say, in some ways it is an amazing experience. Because I have much less time to read the week-by-week pregnancy books and am just trusting the process God put into motion. I have every faith McKenna is going to be a beautiful, healthy baby girl and this time is able to be devoted to Mr. Noahman and soaking up these last months of just one kiddo to snuggle, so we can have twice the snuggles come this fall! Watching our baby boy grow up into such a great kid just makes us so much more excited to hold McKenna and watch her grow into her own as well. Little miracles!

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On another note, and I hesitate to document this experience only because I have terribly mixed emotions about it...it is still a part of our family journey and it's something to look back on from time to time. Through no real pressure or desire of any of ours, it has worked out circumstancially that we have given Spencer to a new home. We picked up Spencer at 7 lbs and all curly-tailed and puppy breath adorable in the Spring of 2006, when he was just 8 weeks old. He has been a part of our family for the past 5 years and we have shared many family experiences with him and have come to know his personality undeniably well. He truly became just the dog after Noah was born, but he and Noah interacted great together and we have lots of video and pictures of those experiences that we will definitely cherish. It turned out my Aunt was looking for a dog and had had two really bad experiences trying to find a good fit for her home. She and Spencer have always been buddies and the timing worked out perfectly for both of us, as we were all headed out of town for a week. So we took Spencer to my Aunt's house last Saturday along with all of his belongings and boy, they have created quite the bond already. I am really sad that I know he is getting more attention than he had with us and is probably, in some ways, much better suited for a kid-free, and judging by his personality, other doggy-free environment with 100% one-on-one attention. I guess the maternal part of me is sad I didn't try harder to give that to him, but I'm also excited for him and my Aunt to really love each other and enjoy each other's company. And we will have another dog someday...way down the road when our kids are older, but we just felt this was best for everyone involved. If he hadn't gone to family we would have never considered giving him up to anyone else, and this way, we know where he is and can still visit him from time to time. So, Spencer James, Pencies, Puggly, Doodle, Noodle, Doodle James...we love you, Noodle-head and we really miss you like crazy and hope we did the best thing for you.

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We also had the opportunity to visit my sister, brother-in-law and niece for a week while Tony was away on a mission trip with the youth group. Our days were filled with walks, shopping, a visit to a local rescue zoo with the CUTEST baby goat and baby bear ever, art projects, lots of messy meals, the "Ah!" game between the two kiddos...let's just say it got loud...and lots of snuggles, hugs and great memories!

I had a glimpse of our not-so-distant future with two carseats in the backseat of my car!

Baby Billy Goats

At the zoo!

Art Projects for Father's Day...and yes, my son is painting his foot!

We even had a Seester night out thanks to her amazing hubby, so fun and refreshing for us both!