A Special Family with a Special Prayer Request

The Macfarlan family is very near and dear to our hearts, and really need to be covered in prayer right now. Below is a copy of an email I received this morning. Before reading it you should know that the Macfarlan's really helped our family out when we were first learning about Abigail's diagnosis. Our laundry had gotten piled up because of hospital stays, doctors visits, and more pressing matters. That doesn't even do it justice. It was ridiculously backed up; so badly they took it to the laundry mat and spent several hours washing, drying, and folding our laundry. When they brought it back to me their kids cleaned my house while Laura took me to lunch. Not because they had to, but because they were showering us with His love and service that day. We had never been touched by a family in quite the same way before or since. Please join us in prayer for their sweet Lydia.

Please be in prayer for Lydia Macfarlan. She is the 11 year old daughter of Kevin and Laura who taught our Sunday School class for several years. Their children Ginger and Luke (with Lydia's assistance!) have watched our boys. They are a really special family to us. Lydia is the baby and their "miracle child" - her birth was what caught her mom's ovarian cancer in stage 1. Please join us in praying for this little girl. From what we have been told, she was in Branson with her mom this week and got sick -- that progressed and when they returned, she was really sick. They went to the doctor and her blood sugar was in the 800's. They decided to life flight her to Little Rock Children's Hospital for stabilization, but because we had storms last night, they ended up having to make the four + hour drive via ambulance. Please join us in prayer for this beautiful little girl. For God's healing, for peace and comfort for their family, and for wisdom. Please be in prayer for Laura and Kevin and their other three children, Kyle, Ginger, and Luke. Classes just began on Wednesday at JBU and Kevin is an Engineering professor and Kyle is a junior and Ginger is a freshman. Please pray for their studies in the midst of all of this!

Poor Jonathan Doesn't Have a Chance!

See our friends' blog, more specifically the August 24th post and you will understand! Thanks Angela, for the insight on what it is like to raise a son! =)

Contractions

So, I had an appointment with Dr. Pickhardt yesterday. On a side note...I just love him, he really is a great doctor! He said that since the contractions were not progressing anything that there is no need to worry at this point. I am to treat these previous contractions as a baseline and if they differ from that I am to call him right away. They have backed off quite a bit; more like true Braxton Hicks contractions now. He said that I could have uterine irratibility. That basically means that I am having consistent regular contractions (unlike Braxton Hicks which are random) that are not productive. If these contractions continue there is a test that can be done at 24 weeks to see if I am in or at risk for preterm labor. This test is very accurate, so if it comes back negative he said that I could contract all day long for several days and still not go into preterm labor. If the contractions cease or become more random then we will not have to do the test at all. Hopefully this was just a fluke one time ordeal. Since I have had to be induced all three previous pregnancies and never gone into preterm labor it is a really good sign that everything is going to be okay. Thank you all for covering baby Jonathan and I in prayer over the past few days!

The Little Man

Contractions. Bet you weren't expecting to read that word so early in my pregnancy, but for the past few days that has been our reality. Friday morning around 6:45 am, the contractions began. At first they were just cramps, and I really thought they were just Braxton Hicks contractions. By about 11:30 am I realized that the contractions were regular and coming more frequently then they should be at only 21 weeks pregnant. They also changed from feeling like cramps to actually tightening and relaxing my uterus. Mandy and I took the girls to the park and I began timing my contractions. It was nice having Mandy there to feel my belly tightening up and relaxing...she was my proof that I hadn't just imagined having contractions. By this point they were coming every 10 minutes pretty much on the dot while sitting and every 5 minutes when walking or standing. Ross took me to the doctor, and I had to see the doctor on-call. This proved to be more frustrating than helpful. Long story short, he said that there was nothing they could do so go home and wait. Wait for what? To loose my baby? I don't think so! This did not set well with either of us. The contractions did slow down a bit later in the evening and I was able to sleep well. I really thought that I would go to sleep and wake up the next morning fine. That was not the case. I awakened at 6:30 in the middle of a contraction and they just kept coming. At one point they were as close as 3 minutes apart. After trying to decide what to do, I called our lovely family member who just happens to be an OB here in Siloam Springs. He checked me out and gave me several meds. Two antibiotics and a medication to stop the contractions. Luckily today my contractions have pretty much ceased. It seems the medicines have worked. I have had a few here and there, but nothing like Friday and Saturday! So much for "there is nothing we can do!" Even if the medicine had not worked, at least I felt like I was being pro-active and not just sitting waiting to deliver a baby that would not have survived. Thanks, Chad! You have no idea how much it that means to us!! I guess the little man is making his presence known early. This is not a problem I have faced before. Braxton Hicks contractions and high blood pressure yes, but regular contractions no. In fact, I have had to be induced with each of my other pregnancies. Boys...ornery already! ;)

Cleaning Machine

Apparently I am sticking to my new motto "out with the old, in with the new." Although I don't have any new yet; that will come soon enough. I have cleaned out toys, closets, dresser drawers, and old baby stuff. All of this was done while also cleaning the house. I am consigning my "good" baby clothes, threw away icky toys, rearranged closets and drawers, and donated the rest. I started at 8 am and stopped at 4 pm. Oh, and did I mentioned the loads upon loads of laundry I have done today?! I have not vacuumed nor clean-cleaned the bathrooms, but that will just have to wait until tomorrow. That will give me something to do while the big girls are at school. School. I am so not ready to be sending Hannah to Kindergarten. I am way more upset about sending her than I was Mary Grace. Probably because MG was six going into the first grade, not 5! My baby is only 5...why do we have to send them to school so young? I do not like it! Can you tell this is a sensitive subject? She is so ready for the first day of school to get here. I am sure tomorrow will be exciting. We met their teachers last night, and both of them seemed very fitting for each of the girls personalities. Although it will take some adjusting to not having them home, I am excited to see how they will each grow throughout the year. Sorry for totally switching gears in middle of my cleaning conversation, but hey that is how a pregnant mind works!

Out With the Old, In With the New

So, I spent several hours last night going through the one and only baby tub of clothes I had saved, plus Abigail's old clothes. It was much tougher to get rid of those last few baby girl clothes than I originally thought. Plus, it just felt wrong to be getting rid of Abigail's clothes that only she wore; they would have been perfectly fine to pass down to another baby ;). I am selling the old clothes to a consignment retailer in hopes to make enough money to buy Jonathan some new clothes. Bye bye old clothes, hello new! Let me also just say that it is really strange having clothes in blue, brown, and green hues. It seems as if they are the wrong color. Ha! I still find my eyes wondering to baby girl clothes, bedding, and accessories. I have to admit, it has been fun searching for the perfect "coming home" outfit. Which by the way, I have not found yet. Okay, I suppose that is enough of the boy talk for today. I can't help it. It's new. It's fun. A little scary. And totally exciting!

"Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord." Psalm 127:3 (HCS)

The Boy's Name...

Jonathan Ross

Jonathan means "God has given", and after re-reading his story in the bible we both decided this would be the perfect name for our son. You can find the story of Jonathan sprinkled throughout 1 Samuel and in the beginning of 2 Samuel if you are interested. Before you ask, we will not be calling him Jon. He will be Jonathan. :) Ross was actually the first one to mention this name; and the more we thought about it and said it, the more we liked it! It replaced our old standby of Nathanael that we have had since before we had Mary Grace, but it seems to be a better fit. Funny how those things change.