2 Weeks old...

Owen's first Sunday at Church

First Bath

Ready to leave the hospital

Sleeping on Mommy

Owen and Daddy

Okay - so I know I promised more pics and haven't done it! :( It is somewhat difficult to be able to type with only one arm and this little one does not really like to lay down by himself! Oh well - his mommy is very content to just hold him. And you can't spoil a newborn, right?

Owen goes for another weight check tomorrow because he cannot seem to be able to gain any weight. When we left the hospital he was down to 6 lb 11 oz and at last week's weight check he weighed 6 lb 8 oz. So - we are feeding him lots hoping that he will have gained some weight by tomorrow! If not I am sure they will make us supplement with formula or something... so we are praying hard that he has put on at least a little bit. Other than that he is doing really well. He is a very good baby and doesn't really fuss much unless he is hungry or his diaper needs changed. He finally slept in his bassinet for the whole night last night! It was a good night and mommy actually got to sleep in between feeding times! He has some problems with reflux and every time I would lay him down after feeding him he would sound like he couldn't breathe - so we had been keeping him in bed with us. I propped up the top end of his mattress and he sounds much better.

Okay - time for him to eat again! More soon, I hope! I will do my best! :)

Owen Henry Holt 11/8/08

We are so proud to announce that Owen arrived yesterday!!! He was born by C-Section at 4:31 PM weighing in at 7 lb 5 oz and 19 1/2 inches long. He is absolutely beautiful and perfect and doing wonderfully!

And plenty more to come!

If He Can Move the Mountains...

I had somewhat of a disappointing Dr. appointment this week... She told me that the baby is not as far down as she would like for being just a couple of weeks from due date - and that this tells her that there is a possibility that the reason his head is not down far enough is because it is too big. This also makes sense with all of the contractions that I continue to have that are doing nothing... Unfortunately - the only way to figure this out is to wait until labor starts and try and see if he will come out. And then if he won't - we will have to have a c-section. I don't think this sounds like a very fun idea... but there is nothing I can do about it and my hopes of going early are getting trampled with each coming day. She will also let me go a week past my due date before she will induce labor. So now, instead of being happy with having contractions because maybe labor was going to start it is really just frustrating! Anyway - I was worrying about this on the way to work one morning this week and listening to the Christian station as usual. A song came on that I love and I began singing - and when it got to the chorus it was as if God was using it to remind me that He is able to do anything...

Mighty to Save
by Hillsong
Everyone needs compassion,
Love that's never failing;
Let mercy fall on me.
Everyone needs forgiveness,
The kindness of a Saviour;
The Hope of nations.

Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.

So take me as You find me,
All my fears and failures,
Fill my life again.
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in,
Now I surrender.

Shine your light and let the whole world see,
We're singing for the glory of the risen King...Jesus (x2)

If He can move the mountains - He can certainly move this baby where he needs to be to have a safe delivery. Why do I not trust Him enough to remember that He is in control of even the smallest details of my life - if only I will let Him? Somehow I always try to figure things out on my own and after too much worrying, then give it to Him. If only I could remember to take it to Him first, then things would be so much easier... Now I am trying to rest knowing that He knows when this baby will come and all of the other details surrounding.

Wow - it has been a while since I have posted... I really should update but not really sure what to talk about. I am officially done with school for now and that is wonderful!! Although now I have some other crazy ideas going around in my head about what I want to do... hopefully someday I will be able to make up my mind! :) Just maybe when I am 9 months pregnant is not the best time...

Matt started his new job and really loves it!! Some nights I wish that he didn't love it so much so that I could get a little more sleep - he loves to talk about it which makes me really happy that he is so much happier now.

Baby is doing well. We had another fun trip to L & D on Saturday night only to be sent home... Hopefully next time we will get to stay - but for now we are just waiting... Due date is only 16 days away!!! At my last appointment she said would guess that he will be about 8 pounds if he makes it to 40 weeks. I am happy with that - hopefully she is close to right!!! Matt keeps teasing that he is going to be 12 pounds or something so I had to prove him wrong...

Well - better get started on some laundry... Bye for now!

New Blessings...

In the last couple of months, I have been stressing about two really big things in our life. The first was Matt's job. Many of you have heard me talk about how unhappy he was and we have really been praying for a new job. Anyway - he starts at Commerce Bank on Sept 22!!! He is so excited and we are SO thankful. It is a good job with good benefits and opportunities for advancement and he will be doing what he loves...

The second stress was my school. When we decided to have a baby I did a lot of thinking about school and decided that I knew that I could handle it - School would only be 2 nights a week and I could do that. Once I set my mind to something - I will get it done and that was the attitude that I had. And then we get closer to having this baby... All of a sudden it occurred to me that I do not want to be away from my baby all day at work and then have to be at school for the whole evening. Even if it is only 2 nights a week - 2 nights is too much. So I cried and stressed and prayed and didn't know what to do. I have talked to many moms asking what they would do and still could not feel at peace about an answer. And I prayed daily that He would show me what to do. Then I was driving to work one day and heard this song...

One Life to Love by 33 Miles
He never thought he cared so much about the minute hand
Until he started praying for, a second chance
If he could only do it all again
He'd trade the long nights that he spent behind his desk
For all he missed
He tells his wife, "I wish that this moment in this room was not me dying, but just spending a little time with you."

You only get just one time around
You only get one shot at this
One chance, to find out
The one thing that you don't wanna miss
One day when it's all said and done
I hope you see that it was enough, this
One ride, one try, one life... To love....

She never thought she cared so much about those little hands
That held on tight the day she left
Til she was scared to death
Sitting all alone on a hotel bed, the end of the road
The sun had set on her big plans
To feel young again
She picks up the phone, dials the number, hears that little voice
That's haunted every single mile, since she made that choice

I started crying and knew that I had my answer. And I have had complete peace about it from that point on. It is amazing how God can use something as small as a song to give us the answer that we are so desperately waiting for. And it works out perfectly- School is broken into subsessions and the first ends the first week of October. I was able to drop everything after that point without losing anything. And I don't know when or if I will ever go back. I will cross that bridge at some other time. At this point in my life - it is my number one job to raise my children in the best way that I know possible. It is my job to let them know how much their mom loves and cares for them and would do anything in the world for them. And that is all that I am going to worry about. Everything else will just have to wait.

A Trip to Labor and Delivery

Sunday afternoon we made a trip to the hospital. I started having contractions as church was getting over at about 12:30 and by 5:30 they had not stopped and were still happening about every 10 minutes. Doesn't seem like much to worry about unless you are only 29 weeks... So - I called the on call doctor and he said he recommends that you come in to the hospital if you are having 6-8 an hour. Matt decided we should go ahead and go in since they were not seeming to stop no matter what I did. I honestly thought I would get there and they would think I was crazy (maybe these weren't really contractions - how are you supposed to know when you have never had them before?) and send me home. We checked in and they hooked me up to the monitors. For the first 30 minutes - no contractions and I was thinking I was right about them thinking that I was crazy. But then, the next time the nurse came in to check she had seen 4 or 5 contractions on the monitor that I hadn't even felt. And they were closer than 10 minutes. She gave me a pitcher of water to drink and told me she would check on me again in a little while. This time I felt the contractions as well as her seeing them on the monitor. They decided to give me a shot of terbutaline to make them stop. They monitored me for an hour and the contractions had stopped so they let me go home. They didn't really know what made them start - I was not dehydrated and had not done anything to cause them.



I had a Dr. appointment yesterday morning and she didn't seem too concerned. She told me to lay on my left side for 2 hours and drink lots of water and then come in if they still didn't stop. So - today I was back at work and had 4 contractions in about 25 minutes. I went home to lay down and they stopped after that. So now I am at a hard decision - do I keep going to work and come home everytime I have contractions? Or do I stay home and rest and hope that I don't have any? I don't want to overreact but I also don't want to do anything to hurt my baby... and I can't really afford to not go to work... too much going through my mind and I am sorry for rambling!



On a happier note - I have 4D ultrasound pictures! I am posting a few of my favorites...

Pictures!

So I promised I would post room pictures - and here they are! My computer died last week and so I just got a new one and it has the nifty little sim card reader!!! It is a wonderful thing - but I guess now I have no excuse for not posting pictures... I really do like the way that his room turned out! I will post some more later now that the dresser is fixed.

Two weeks into the semester and life is every bit as crazy as I thought it might be... wondering now how I am going to do this and be a mom? But I am trying not to stress about that now! Please pray for me if you think about it - I am definitely facing some major life decisions.

Things are still going well other than the fact that on top of my crazy schedule I now cannot sleep! Anyway - I guess it is just my body preparing me or something...

Well - should get going... We are leaving for Branson with our church group tomorrow and I still need to pack! I will update more when I get back...