melton.wordpress.com
I've gone back and forth forever from blogger to wordpress. I am going to start blogging there permanently though. Blogger gives me too many problems for some reason!
I added the link, but it's not showing up! If you'd like, Copy & Paste:
http://melton.wordpress.com
Monday Morning...
Frank & I brainstormed several names for the new baby last night (at 10pm while eating CheezIts. I'm ashamed to admit Lydia was still awake at that hour. She has been battling terrible constipation of over a month now and is currently on Miralax, which has helped significantly. The problem, however, is that if I give a 1/2 capful, it's too much, but 1/3 isn't quite enough (tho it produces a BM every other day). I have been going with 1/3 capful and she's been going every other day, without pain, but she's still very hesitant to go (she holds it). It takes about 45- 60 minutes of me literally coaxing her to poop. Needless to say, I was coaxing at 9 and after she went she was hungry. Soooo, having said all that, we were all at the table last night considering names.
Daughter #1 is Lydia Catherine and we want to stick with Bible names.
Possibilities include: Elizabeth Rose, Sarah Elizabeth, Sarah Rose, Susanna Rose. Frank is absolutely STUCK on Rose, and I love Elizabeth (although it is very common). My middle name is Suzanne and I found Susanna in the Bible recently. Anyway, if it's like it was with Lydia, I had no clue what to write when they brought me the birth certificate. I had to ask Frank if we had decided on something. The truth is, he chose Lydia and my mom chose Catherine. Sad.
Real Life
I love the idea of posting rooms in the house (or in our case, apartment) for everyone to see. I thoroughly enjoyed getting a glimpse into other homes...very fun. I did not quite finish my picture taking and posting. Nor could I manage to get the pics
below this writing, so oh well. The first is our living room, and the next two are our bathroom (only one). Last is the kitchen, complete with messy fridge (magnets, pics, etc.) and dirty dishes in the sink!
Advice Needed
I desperately need some good, Godly advice on our current situation and tentative plans/thoughts. Frank & I are still in our apartment on-campus (designated for married couples without children). We are expecting our second child in October (our daughter is currently 19 months old). We are still at the church we've been at since marriage (he was pastor there before we married actually) and we definitely have to make a change soon (financially). So we are expecting/hoping to leave soon (particularly before the next baby arrives). Frank has sent out lots of resumes and he has finished his classes and tests in the PhD program (meaning he doesn't need to be on campus any longer).
OK, so I am an RN, but I've never really used that license. Here you have to work on Sundays to even get employment parttime in a hospital. I have been unable to find a pt job in a doctor's office. In SC, however, I was recently offered a job making my own schedule and getting paid very well. We don't have a problem going to SC (most of the resumes Frank sent out were to churches in SC). The issue is that I would be supporting the family (even though it's temporary). I have been all for it, up until this morning. Today it really hit me that it would be very difficult to leave my daughter for two or three days each week. Orientation would be three 8 hour shift (7-3pm) and then work would be two 12 hour shifts (7am-7pm). For most people, it's not a huge deal to leave a 19 month old. I mean, it's not like she's a newborn. But the thing is, I have been with her every single day for 19 months! Morning, noon, night.
Am I being too attached...or making her too dependent? Would it be better for her to spend those days bonding with dad and/or other family? Or is she still just too young for me to leave her two entire days)? I guess I should add that I would likely only be working from July until October (when the second baby is due) or until Frank is called to another church.
June
Much to update about in a short amount of time (Lydia's still in bed!). Classes ended successfully...I did well in the classes I took and Frankie passed his comps...yah! His next step is preparing a prospectus. Basically his title/topic for his dissertation. He has been working on that for awhile now, so he's gotten a small headstart.
Lydia is 18.5 months old and is a mess! She is repeating everything (or trying to), she is singing and loves music. She still loves books and will sit patiently at any time while I read to her (usually about 4-7 books at a time). She is so beautiful and is still obsessed with babies (both dolls and real babies!). She adores other kids and I regret there aren't more children around for her to play with. She is really good at sharing (I know that won't last) and is overall such a joy. The only negative is that she is still breastfeeding. I know I probably shouldn't say that's a negative; I'm glad to do it for her. And she only nurses to go to sleep (naps and at night), and like twice during the early morning (4am, 6am). I just really don't think I am not up for tandem nursing. I don't know...I'll do it if I have to. I have not been able to stop nursing Lydia cold turkey (I wouldn't do that to her) and I can occasionally distract her when she wants to nurse before napping. At night, though, if I try to stop nursing her she goes nuts! Anyway, we're managing.
As for the new baby, we'll find out today the sex; my u/s is at 2pm. Frankie made a pretty funny statement worth retelling when asked what he wanted. He would love to have a boy, but he is and wants to appear thankful for whatever God blesses us with. Anyway, a church member asked what he wanted a boy or girl, and Frankie's answer was: "Well, if it's not a little girl, I'd love to have a boy." lol...like what other options are there? I thought it funny.
So the other "big event" is that we're trying to decide about our future. We cannot continue at our current church and are trying to decide/discern if we should continue in KY (while Frankie works on his dissertation) or go back to SC for awhile. It's difficult to make this decision as there are pros and cons with both.
Wrapping up the semester
Things have been busy, as usual, these last few weeks. After I had that weird episode a few weeks back, my mom came up for about a week. That was a big help and Lydia loved having so much attention. Frank only has one more day of studying before his first PhD comprehensive. I am trying to take my Biblical Counseling final early, so we can head to SC after Frank finishes his last comprehensive next Monday. I also have an appt with the OBGYN that day, so we'll likely end up getting a hotel Monday night and driving on home Tuesday.
Lydia has starting saying, "No" quite clearly now (as compared to her previous "Naaaa" which I thought was quite cute. She is also repeating everything she hears! I am eager to see how she will act with family in SC. She has not seen everyone (except my mom) in months.
Wednesday
I have a few things to blog about today, as the last few days have been pretty busy. On Sunday we were on our way to church when my vision got a bit blurry and I started getting a headache & nausea. About an hour later I still wasn't any better and I realized my lips and the left side of my chin & cheek were numb...also the tips of my left fingers. After a little deliberation, a couple of church members took me to the hospital (as Frank had to preach). We waited quite awhile, and by the time Frank arrived, I still hadn't been seen. Another church member happens to be the director of the ER, so she called and "pulled strings" so I was finally taken back. The doctor didn't want to do a CT scan because of my pregnancy, so she gave me a bag of fluids and then discharged me. She said if it happened again to come back. Duh. It was a wasted trip. The only thing that I felt good about was that they were able to make sure my eye wasn't hemorrhaging, which has happened before and left me with a small blind spot.
Needless to say, we missed Sunday night church.
I do have to brag on Lydia though. We were there for about 7 hours and she was awesome. She didn't cry, even though her daddy and the church members didn't think to change her diaper and she leaked out of it...Frank said it weighed 10 lbs when he took it off. Also she wasn't allowed to get down, so she remained almost the entire time in laps!
Monday I had an appointment with my OB. The heartbeat of the baby sounded great and everything seems fine, so far. No more word on what all that bleeding could have been.
Yesterday we took Lydia to the park, where we had a picnic and let her play on the playground. She loved swinging and sliding and had a fit when it was time to go.
Today my mom is on her way up, so I'm busy cleaning!! She'll likely be here by around 7pm. Lydia is napping now and Frank is still in bed!! (He stayed up late watchinng a movie from RedBox)!
Frank will take his comprehensives in just a 2 1/2 more weeks! Yikes!
quick update
so i go from not writing for a month to writing hours within my last post.
ok, so i'm still pregnant. the baby looks fine... everything is there that they look for at 9 weeks. the baby is measuring right for 9 weeks. praise the Lord!
our edd is Oct 19
A month later..
I haven't had the time or energy to write lately. We've had a very busy last couple of weeks. On February 22, I had a lot of bleeding/clots and was told on the phone that I was most likely having a miscarriage. The bleeding occurred once and the PA suggested I take a pregnancy test after two weeks if there was still no bleeding. That was the case, and two weeks later I tested positive. I had blood work last Monday, with HCG levels at 144,000. The OBGYN's only response was that the number was "promising" and "good and high." Today I am scheduled for an U/S, which will tell us a lot more. When I had the bleeding I felt confident I was miscarrying. The following weeks I attributed the pregnancy symptoms to hormones that had not yet leveled off. Now I'm unsure what to think, or even hope for. I am trying not to think about it at all, but that is difficult. Lately, I felt hopeful that maybe the baby is fine and it's just one of those weird things. The PA said she'd seen women bleed tons and still carry until full term. Also she said the clots I passed didn't necessarily mean anything. She also said, "You're probably still pregnant." I've read enough online to know that isn't true. Clots at 6 weeks are almost always miscarriage. Anyway, we shall see. I know it is in God's hands.
The worst part of all this has been this crazy waiting... three weeks! Ugh.
