Pregnancy Woes

I promised myself that after all I had been through to get to where I am, I would never complain about my pregnancy. I just couldn't imagine anything being bad enough that a pregnant woman would want to complain about such a blessing!

Well...let's just say it's a bit different when you are really here... and things really bother you. So, I am going to allow myself today to complain.

First of all, Braxton Hicks suck. Plain and simple. I have stayed up at all hours of the night "timing" these contractions praying that I am not going into preterm labor. Being a first-timer I have no idea of what "real contractions" will feel like. Everyone has said, "Oh, you'll know when its the real deal." Well at the time Braxton Hicks feel like the real deal... to me at least... so far... :)

Second of all, I have never in my life had a hard time falling asleep or staying asleep. Anyone who has ever lived with me knows if there is one thing this girl can do, it's sleep. Well not anymore! I sleep on average around 3 hours a night. I have tried all kinds of relaxation techniques and still I sleep for about an hour then am wide awake until 3 or 4 in the morning.

Thirdly, 30 trips to the bathroom in one day is just plain ridiculous! My daily exercise comes from me having to walk down the hall and back at my office to go pee. I think this little booger has positioned himself directly on my bladder. And to add to it, you are supposed to be drinking more water. So more water + pregnancy = many many trips to the bathroom!

Last, but certainly not least. I am enjoying every moment of this! I feel my son kick me and it reminds me of how faithful God is to answer our prayers, and truly what a miracle baby I am carrying each day.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support through our journey. I pray that each of you will find peace on the journey that God has laid out for you. No matter where he leads, follow.

25.5 Weeks!

25ish Weeks!

I'm 25 weeks 2 days!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 25 Weeks

Size of baby: He is around 1.75 lbs

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 14 lbs

Gender: It's a boy!

Movement: He is moving like crazy! I think he may be running out of room quickly, because he just feels squished!

Cravings: Chet's Hotdogs

Best Moment this week: Putting the Crib and bedding together.

Goal for this week: Get John and I to agree on a name! (Nope we are still no closer!)

24 weeks!

24 Weeks!

I'm 24 weeks!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 24 Weeks

Size of baby: He is around 1 1/2 lbs

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 13 lbs

Gender: It's a boy!

Movement: He is very active. He finally let daddy and Gran have a good feel!
What I miss: Not having a hard time tying my shoes!

Cravings: Braums! Chips and Queso!

Best Moment this week: Starting demolition on the nursery closet! One step closer to having his room done!
Goal for this week: Get John and I to agree on a name!

Praise God!

Amazing how faithful God is to us! After 14 months of battles with insurance, Cherokee Nation, and OU Medical, John's $1200 genetic testing bill was written off! I didn't even have to ask for it to be done! I called to check the status and the lady told me he had a $0 balance!!!! Praise God!

ALL OF OUR MEDICAL BILLS ARE PAID FOR!!!!

A few months ago I posted this...

"Just about an hour ago, John dropped another bomb on me. He told me was was thinking we should sell his car and go to a single car. It would allow us to pay off a tremendous amount of our debt, and free up monthly funds to spend our money as God would have us spend our money. Again, I nearly fell on the floor when I read his email. I said there is probably no way we can make that work logistically. He said why.......? Umm... Uh.... well, I really didn't have an answer for him. So, tonight we are going to really sit down and talk about having a single car would look like for us and see if we can't make it work!"

Since then a lot has changed! We have sold John's car and now have our one car! It has been awesome! I just wanted to share a little about our financial journey since I am so open about another type of journey we have been going through.

Growing up my mom was a spender. To the max! Us girls were of the school of thought that after we went shopping we would only bring in half of the bags until dad left and then we would bring the the others! To balance out my mom, my dad was a super saver! He would hoard money like no one's business! However, when the car broke down or we had an emergency dad always had the cash stored away to cover us. (literally stored away... like in the ceiling, etc... :) )

When we were going through marriage counseling we talked about how we would spend money together. The bad part if that John and I are very much alike in our spending habits. We are emotional spenders. Happy = new clothes and dinner out. Sad = new clothes and dinner out! ha! It's funny how the two extremes are so much alike!

Any way. Long story, short after our first two years of marriage (Summer of 2009) we had accumulated a large amount of debt. How much?

• $11,000 car loan
• $12,000 John Student loan
• $4,000 Amy Student loan (even though I had a full ride... that's another story!)
  
• $8,000 credit card debt (Mainly from taxes owed to IRS, ski trip, and a few little here and there items. This number actually went up due to medical bills.)
• Plus we had just bought a new house
• I had also calculated that we had only given 2% of our income to the church that year
  

I sat down one day and was figuring up our debt and was floored when the total was over $35,000 not counting our house! Eek! Then we started this whole baby life and the bills just added up between my tests, surgeries, and doctor visits. John and I decided we certainly needed to change our lives!

Since then (about 20 months) I am happy to report that we have a paid for car and no credit card debt! Also in the past 18 months we have given 10-15% of our income faithfully to the church! Now we are hacking away at the student loans.

To accomplish these things we have only made a few lifestyle changes. We canceled our satellite ($100 per month), sold John's car to pay off the remaining balance of my car ($300 per month loan, and $50 per month saved on insurance), and starting tracking our spending using the Home Budget App. This app allows both John and I to enter our spending and it syncs between our two phones. All of these have allowed us more financial freedom to pay for more important things. For example all of our doctor's fees have been paid for in advance for this pregnancy and we are now saving towards the hospital bill so we can pay cash when we have the baby. Also we are saving towards paying cash for a new "family" car after the first of the year.

Being faithful with our money has eliminated a tremendous amount of stress in my life. I know that I am spending how God wants me to spend! I am no Dave Ramsey, but I think we are off to a pretty good start!

21 Weeks

(This is a horrible picture I know! It was taken late at night in the dark with John's I-Phone!)

I'm 21 weeks!

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: 21 Weeks

Size of baby: He is around 1.3 lbs

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Gained 11 lbs

Gender: It's a boy!

Movement: He is very active. However, he refuses to let daddy feel. Every time John tries to feel him move he is perfectly still. Then the moment he go away he kicks up a storm!

What I miss: After a crazy few days at my office, strawberry daiquiris! :)

Cravings: Braums! In fact I could go for a chocolate shake and fries about right now!

Best Moment this week: Getting a good report at our ultrasound and doctor's visit!

BOY OH BOY!

Here we go! It's a boy! Everything looks great! Thanks for the prayers!