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Well things are a little uncertain right now.
Michael does have his job, actually he is now working for two different colleges, both in the same town. Yeah!
But baby dropped last week, and yesterday at the doctor’s appointment measured the size of a linebacker… seriously. At 32 weeks, the baby measured 6lbs 11oz!!!!! So… since baby is measuring a bit bigger than normal for this stage, I’m not thinking we are going to make it until the October due date. The goal right now is 2-4 weeks.
We go back in two weeks to check the growth, check me and possibly have an amnio to check for lung maturity. Okay the amnio is probably a given, but I can still hope.
At the same time, moving is uncomfortable and I have to keep careful not to overdue it right now as they are watching me for signs of preeclampsia. As long as my blood pressure keeps going down when I rest, we should be okay. Yeah I know, rest, right.
But it is all going to work out. I’m updating the Baby Needs list today, we’ve bought some stuff given the fact that things are moving up in dates and we don’t want to be without them when everything does happen. 
We are waiting…
Before we were waiting because we didn’t know what the next step was going to be. Before we were waiting to figure out if Michael was going to have a job for the fall and where we would be.
Now we know…
Now we know he has at least one adjunct teaching position. Now we know we have some money coming into purchase the things we need for the baby and for him to go to work in. Yes he’s needed some clothes but we put it off not knowing the type of clothes that he would need for whatever job God gave him.
Now we are just waiting for the money to arrive in the account so we can inact the plan that is in our heads but can’t take affect until the check shows up.
The waiting is harder I think because we know we have a plan, we know there should be a date we can do it by but instead the days seem to tick by and we wait. Trying not to overplan, trying not to drive myself nuts when I see good sales or free shipping now.
Knowing that…
… in just about 70 days we will have a new baby
… in just about one month Michael will be teaching and I’ll be here with the girls
… in that same time we will have had to figure out where and when I’m having doctor’s appointments (here or Syracuse) and juggling how much time we spend at the in-laws vs at home.
It’s hard right now. I want to move forward. I want to go on and yet I don’t want those days to leave me because it is that much shorter of a time we have together as a family being unseparated for days at a time. I just have to keep remembering that God is going to take care of it. Every detail, every need… the ones I’ve thought of and the ones I haven’t.
Michael has a job! He will be adjunct teaching at Utica College for the Fall Semester for two classes. He also has his name in at MVCC and SUNY IT for two other positions so we are hopeful that at least one of them will pick him up to teach as well. Right now he only has classes M,W,F.
So life is interesting as we try to figure out the particulars… Michael will stay with his parents, since he will not be making even as much as he did on unemployment. We also learned the help we are receiving (medical, food, etc) would count renting of our house as income. So we will be a split household when he teaches, although the girls and I might go down every once in a while and stay with him with his parents.
But it feels right. It doesn’t make me feel anxious. It’s a resume builder and with any luck they will pick up him up for the spring semester too. He’ll be looking for full time employment for the fall as they usually start to appear after Thanksgiving time. We laugh that it would be funny since we keep trying thinking we are leaving the North Country if one of the colleges up here ultimately ended up hiring him. We will see what is in God’s plan.
So yeah, things will be a little interesting. There are days I’m concerned about being here and taking care of the kids on my own and trying to get anything done. But it’s going to work out.
I added another page to the site this week outlining all the baby needs that we have. It’s not much but we are making a few changes this time around (explanations on that page) so we do need some things that we haven’t needed before. For all of those asking me what do you need, how can we help, that’s the place to go to.
Thanks for all the prayers, I’ll ask that you continue them as we prepare for being a split household, the baby’s arrival and the future.
With Blessings, Becky
Tonight I realized is garbage night. Now normally this wouldn’t be a big deal but with Michael gone and me being ready to just go to sleep it means I’m on my own to get it ready. Okay still not too big a deal.
As I was emptying the diaper pail upstairs, I realized something. For over a year after Michael lost his job I would put in extra bags in the bottom hoping that by the time I pulled out that last bag to put on the pail we would know what is going on in life. Where he is going to work, where we are going to live, what we are going to be able to plan on doing…
I’ve stopped doing that.
I’ve stopped hoping that by the time I get to the last bag we will know because it seems like we are in a constant state of the unknown.
We haven’t been able to move on because we don’t know what is coming up. How we will pay for things when unemployment runs out next month (unless another extension gets approved which with the state in it’s current situation looks highly unlikely), where is our life going for the future? It’s amazing how much this can upset you at times. I’m not crying or anything, I just feel resigned right now. Tired.
We get asked where will you have the baby? Well unless something actually changes, in Syracuse as we have all the others but come October what is going to be happening?
Maybe it’s sad I’ve stopped hoping I’ll know what is going on by the time the last bag gets pulled from the diaper pail. Maybe it’s being a realist. Maybe its just because I’m tired tonight and am looking forward to hearing Michael’s voice saying he arrived in San Diego just fine and that I’ll talk to him tomorrow after his interview.
I think I’ll get some sleep and we’ll see. That is after I put the garbage out…
Michael and I have been married 14 years today. We have been through a lot in just the last 10 years. Birth of Angela Faith born with brain defect, but the joy of our lives. The loss of Angela, 37 months later. The unexpectedly soon arrival of her sister Cayli Grace and then Lia Hope. Now 4 and 2. Kinda unexpected unemployment in February of 2009. But we definitely haven’t expected it to last as long as it has… almost 16 months. And God’s surprise of child number four on the way to arrive with an expected date of October 5th. We still have no idea where God is leading us.
Today we won’t really be celebrating our anniversary together at least in a formal go out way. There’s plenty to do as there is every day. My back and hip are in pain from this pregnancy which made sleeping hard last night. (Especially since it’s the left side where you are supposed to sleep.) I have a lot of computer work to do, and then cleaning for a house guest that is arriving in just short of a week. (And the guest bed is currently covered in clothes to be put away (winter stuff) or in drawers (summer stuff).)
Hopefully today will be a good day.
Well we survived the trips, the single parenthood that changed hands after eight or so hours. Unfortunately since my trip required going 4 1/2 hours south of where we live my allergies decided to make an appearance in full force by the time I returned home. At least to me they feel like allergies. You know those that you want to open up your sinus cavities and scratch with the coarsest sandpaper you can find?
So the kids waited at least until I was home for a few days for theirs to hit. Unfortunately with Lia I think the teeth coming in (2 year molars) are also playing a part. Last night Michael and I were up with her about seven or eight times between the two of us. Usually when one was up the other was passed out from exhaustion so off an on we each got some sleep. But here it is after noon and he had to return to bed from a headache and lack of sleep. He managed to get up to eat and after the kids go down for quiet time we will see if he is up to getting up. (I might also hear him now as the kids finish eating…)
Pray for us as the allergies continue, hopefully soon I will be able to lay flat again to sleep (oh that will be a wonderful thing) and the kids noses won’t be running or crankiness from not feeling good surrounding them.
As soon as I get batteries in the camera I’ll be downloading pictures and trying to get some uploaded.
Cayli has planted sunflowers, Lia has tomatoes. Yes we know it is too early up here in the North Country but the kids are enjoying watching them grow so much.
We don’t know where we will be this summer as they grow. We are almost to the mentality that we are here in this house for the foreseeable future. And then when a job shows up we change our mentality then. It has been very trying to keep thinking we are leaving and then nothing happens with a job…
So Michael is doing his whirl-wind trip of three states this week. He left yesterday for NJ, today has his interview there, stays overnight and then heads towards Pittsburgh tomorrow for an interview on Thursday. The kids are doing there best to remind me of the joys of single parenthood and it hasn’t even been 24 hours yet!
- Cayli who hasn’t worn any of the overalls in her drawer since they got put there decided today is the day (and of course she can’t do them up or undo them on her own – still not sure why this is a big deal? think potty time)
- you don’t have someone else to nudge when someone starts crying in the middle of the night or to help change diapers.
- and when I gave the kids a bath last night and lets just say there was an accident in the bath requiring getting them out, cleaning the tub out, cleaning it and redrawing bath water.
Love them dearly but I’m a little worried it hasn’t even been 24 hours! :)
Lia doesn’t quite have the understanding of what is going on. I’m still here in my pajamas and she thinks that any time now Daddy is going to be waking up, that I’ve just been letting him sleep in.
And of course Cayli wants to know how many darks (yes she counts nights not days) until … just about everything in the calendar year. Halloween, until the baby is born, Christmas, when Daddy gets back, when we will go stay at Grandma & Grandpa’s… the list goes on and on.
Does anyone know of something that would allow me to instantly know how many days there are until…? I keep thinking there is probably an app for the iTouch but since I haven’t made that purchase yet that doesn’t do any good yet. Best thing I can come up with when I’m by my computer is having the days of the year up on my Google Calendar so I can (hopefully) do the subtraction in my head from one date to today.
Well it is time to try and get something done today. Enjoy!
So many of you have heard and are probably being directed here by my latest email. We are expecting. I am about 7-7 1/2 weeks along depending if you go by my dates or the last ultrasound’s date. Either way it is close.
We have not made it to Syracuse yet, but hope to have that appointment with the Perinatal Center in the next month or so. The advantage is if we get a job here in New York, we should be able to follow up with them throughout the pregnancy.
We are excited. A little nervous at the timing, but we are looking forward to see what happens. We are due right now in October.
Meanwhile we enjoy Cayli and Lia as they grow up. Cayli has a small idea of what is to come. She will tell anyone there is around when she is thinking of it that there will be a new baby after Lia’s birthday. That’s the goal. We will see what the Lord has in store.
 My baby girl’s birthday was yesterday. We were shopping at the store Friday night, walking by the cake section at the bakery and I almost lost it. Angela loved ice cream cake. Yesterday a few friends came over with cake and ice cream just like she would have loved. I know Cayli and Lia didn’t quite understand, but they tried.
Angela would have been eight years old. Hard to believe in some ways, but in others it is hard to believe it has only been that long. Her two beautiful sisters here kept me smiling but tonight I just had to sit down and put my facebook post down in a scrapbook page. I choose Autumn Bliss created by Sweet Tomato Designs. (see my scrapbooking blog post)
This month has been stressful. The next month brings continued uncertainty and another emotional anniversary. But this is why I started scrapbooking. Therapy. And digital scrapbooking therapy is certainly cheaper than retail therapy! (Not that there is anywhere around here for the latter either!)
I know I’m going to have my moments, especially over the course of the next month. But family is here to support, and God is hanging on to me.
Well family is always asking us for ideas for Christmas so I have been putting together a list with the help of the universal add to wish list button for Amazon. So hopefully this will help any family and friends who are interested. There should be a link on the right that you can click on to go straight there. Enjoy!
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