Baby Update

My doctor is out of town this week, but the OB nurse who checked me today says I am continuing to progress towards labor. I had several good contractions while I was there :-) Baby's heart fluctuated from 143 and then came up to 169 during the contractions, which is considered typical. The nurse told me that I had better not wait too long to get to the hospital if I thought I was really in labor, or I might end up having her in the car ;-)

You Know It's a Full Moon When. . .

you take your daughter to the doctor and she throws up on the doctor and passes out during her blood test :-( Poor thing. She was so brave and hardly cried during the whole thing. She just said that her tummy hurt and she was crying softly, when all of a sudden she leaned forward, threw up on the doctor (who was drawing her blood) and passed out :-0 She was only out for a second or two, but she was completely white and had to lay down on the couch with her feet propped up until she felt better. It also looks like she is still allergic to the milk and egg, so we probably went through it all for nothing :-( We will get the results of the bloodwork back in a few days, so I guess we will see, but the skin prick tests didn't look too good.

"Miney" is going back to the allergist & an Update

I am taking "Miney" back to the allergist. We are hoping that she is over her milk and egg allergies. They will draw her blood and it will be a couple of days before we have results. She is a funny girl. She actually seems excited to be getting her "shot"--and she even remembers what it was like the last time! They will want us to come back for a food challenge if the bloodwork is all clear. If she is over these allergies, this would greatly simplify things. Then we could use more convenience foods and not worry about ingredients in foods that people donate to us.

I am definitely starting to feel more tired and grumpy ;-) I am full term, so we have made it far enough for things to be good if baby was born now. People keep telling me that I should enjoy it, because I will get less sleep after the baby is here. I am having so many bathroom trips at night that I know this isn't true :-0 I can feed a baby and doze at the same time, but I can't go to the bathroom and doze at the same time. . . lol Today is the full moon, so you never know. I will probably go a little longer, but I definitely wouldn't object if she came today :-)

Update on Jason

Jason has had a hard time this week. He has been in bed alot and slept quite a bit. His pain has been hard to control. He tries to get up from time to time, but it doesn't seem to last very long. Please continue to pray for a reduction in his pain level and also for renewed energy for him.

On a brighter note, it appears that we will be able to pay our bills this month. Several unexpected gifts have come our way, and barring any unforeseen expenses, things are looking good. I cannot even begin to tell you the number of times that God has provided for us through unexpected means. Every time that I start to stress about the finances, I know that deep down I am being silly. God is in control. He knows our needs. Even if the bills do not get paid, that does not mean that His Love for me is any less. I can rely on Him to provide what He feels that I need, and if He doesn't provide it, that is because He doesn't think I need it right now. So, October is still a few weeks away, and I'm not going to stress about it (yet) ;-)

Please pray about an important financial decision that we have to make fairly soon. We need wisdom and clarity when making this decision. Pray for God to make His will clear for us in this area.

Some Progress :-)

We had a wonderful meeting with the social worker this morning. He did a complete 180 from when I spoke with him on the phone last week. We will get food stamps and Medicaid (although we didn't get our food stamp card today--that will be a few more days). We left feeling like the social worker was truly an ally and he was impressed that we were honest and forthcoming with the information he requested. He stated that we were definitely not the typical clients he sees in his office (and he meant this in a good way). Praise God for this provision and we are praying that we will be able to get our food stamp cards quickly.

Appointment at 11am this morning!

Please pray about this appointment. We would like to walk out of the DHS office with food stamps and Medicaid for the baby. This would greatly decrease my stress level. Also, that Jason would be able to handle the appointment well. The social worker asked if Jason could come and we are going to take him (hopefully the visual of this man struggling to make it into the office will make an impact on this social worker who didn't seem very sympathetic when I spoke with him last). The kids are staying with a sitter, so it will just be the two of us.

Jason is still having a hard time being off of paid meds and maintaining his level of activity. It seems to be either one or the other right now. We are praying that his pain will decrease to the level that he can start being more active without medication.

Yesterday, a friend washed some of my baby clothes/blankets which had been lying around waiting for me to get to them, and she cooked some of my meat for the freezer. Later, she came and cleaned my master bathroom and vacumned/dusted in the master bedroom. These were things I just wasn't finding time to get to in the midst of all of this.

I spent most of yesterday handling financial/business matters and making copies/sending faxes off for information we need on our various charity applications. It was very time consuming and frustrating, but quite a bit of it got done yesterday. Our church was kind enough to let me use their copier and fax machine, and my kids were able to play up there without me being worried about what they were doing ;-)

"Miney" goes back to the allergist next Monday to be rechecked for her food allergies. We are hoping that she is over them so that we can vary our diet somewhat and not be as concerned when other people bring us meals. She is excited to be going back (strange girl) and keeps asking me every day if she can have her "shot" (blood test) today.

ETA: We are also doing school 5 days a week, so that is keeping us busy too. "Meanie" is doing regular school now and he is doing quite well with the 3 R's. He likes Math the best (I think it helps that I bought him a Transformers Math workbook). "Eenie" is beginning AO Year 4 and is continuing to make progress with her reading. We are starting to add written narrations occasionally so that she can gain more confidence in her writing skills.

Special Delivery

Last night, I got a special delivery of meat from a friend. Today, another friend called and asked if she could give us more. I told her that I had to cook up the first batch before I could fit anymore in the freezer. Considering our circumstances, this is a nice problem to have :-)

Blessings!