9 + 9 = ♥

today is isaac's nine-month birthday. i almost forgot about it. {actually, technically, i did forget... mr. b. had to remind me.} i remembered every single other 15th of the month between last june and this month. but not today. i think it was because i was in a state of delirium with the crazy gorgeous weather we had. almost 80 degrees!

anyway, when mr. b. called at lunch, i had him on speaker so isaac could listen, and he said happy birthday to him. i blurted out, "oh, that's right! i almost forgot!" and then it dawned on me... isaac has now been living outside of my tummy for as long as he was living in it.


i find that pretty cool! so it had me searching for all my old pregnancy photos. and i'll share why in just a bit.


i dug up all my favorite shots, most of which were taken by a friend who became my official pregnancy photographer. back when they were taken, the only photos i would tend to put on this blog were ones taken by me, so most of these never made it on here. but now, i am less rigid about putting only my photos on here and will include others' photos from time to time, especially if they pertain to my life and tell parts of the story of it {as is often the case with photos of me where i can't be the one taking the pictures}. in the case of the first photo, though, i did happen to take it. {i think i set the camera on the coffee table and used the timer.}

i was about twelve weeks along in this photo. i think i was still slightly in shock at that point... being pregnant had not fully sunken in yet. though it is difficult to even recognize that i was pregnant here, i used this photo to announce my pregnancy in the blogosphere.

i have to admit something, here. {something i have considered writing about on my blog for quite some time, now.} i really miss being pregnant. IMMENSELY... and have for many months. when i see other women who are pregnant, i get a tinge jealous. actually, i guess it's not really a jealousy as much as it is a sadness... i'm sort of sad because i can't ever relive those days. just like i can't relive the days that isaac has lived outside my belly thus far, either.


i know it's so silly of me to get sad! i don't know why it happens. maybe it's a natural thing for first-time moms??? {or perhaps it's even because i have a sense that this will be it for us... no more kiddos?} but it seems weird to me that i get that way. i think i feel more sad when i see other women who are pregnant after having given birth to my own baby, than when i'd see them before i got pregnant... when i thought i couldn't have children.


this longing becomes almost tangible, too. when i was at that baby shower a couple weeks ago, something i observed immediately brought my mind back to my pregnancy... when i saw the mama-to-be rubbing her belly {which was something i did all the time when i had a growing baby bump}. i could swear i almost reached out to rub my own belly right then, secretly hoping the bump would still be there... like a woman who reaches for her long hair, long after it's been shorn... or sleepily reaches for her husband's hand in the morning, long after he has already left for work.

i'd think i would be so utterly grateful to have my son that there wouldn't be such a strong urge to be pregnant again. it almost seems selfish on my behalf. part of it is that i really do want to have another... a sibling for isaac. but there is a small part that simply misses those days when he was growing and developing inside me. despite some difficult days, it was the most magical time, and i find myself thinking of it often.

the next several photos {and the shot above} were taken at twenty-one weeks by my girlfriend. these never made it onto this blog until now. it is surreal to look at them all these months later. i've almost forgotten what those days were like, which is why i am so glad to have the photos. it makes me so happy when i look at these again. to say these images of a truly unique time of life are special to me is an understatement.

i never want to forget the quiet, blissful memories of being pregnant with isaac. it's why i am so glad that a friend captured the days on camera...

the smiles.

the reflection.

the pondering.

the wonder.

the sheer excitement.


the laughter.

she might have captured us {isaac and me} when i was cranky and hormonal, or worried and nauseous, or tired and sore. but she was able to come photograph on the good days... and i'm so grateful to have the photos to remember it by.

from here on out, isaac's days of breathing air will outnumber his days of breathing fluid. as lengthy as my pregnancy seemed, the first nine months since his birth have seemed to last so much longer.

it's strange to think that i did not know he was a boy throughout the entire pregnancy {though i had a very strong feeling that he was}. if i think back to those days, it somehow feels like it was known that he was a boy all along, because i am so used to the fact that i have a boy now. it's also strange to think that i couldn't have felt more love for him than i did right then, because now, i feel like i love him so much more... and couldn't possibly love him more now either.

i miss those days, for sure. but i am enjoying him so much {which i make a point to write about often} right now... in these days and weeks that will soon join the ranks of past pregnancy memories and newborn memories... days that will be longed for the way i miss the days of carrying him inside me and bringing him home from the hospital.

it's so crazy to think that some day, not only will i not be carrying him inside, but i won't even be able to carry him in my arms and on my hip anymore. that is the very reason i keep that little black contraption called a camera with me all the time... aimed toward him more than any other thing.


that said, i know i've been posting a ton photos of him lately {something only his mother could truly appreciate}... so i thought it would be fun to walk down memory lane and, instead, post the photos of hidden-him in his first nine months to celebrate visible-him in his second nine months.

i'm so thankful for the pictures taken while he was in my belly. {my mom always reminds me how back in her day, baby bump progression was not often recorded... especially not the way you see it creatively done today.} to look at them now is to vividly remember exactly how i felt when he was there in that quiet, safe little world. without the photos, the memories would still remain. but they would be nothing like what i feel each time i see them again.


here are a couple more from when i was thirty weeks pregnant... probably my favorite shots from the entire pregnancy.

i'm no less amazed, now, than i was then... about the biology and science and creation and miraculous nature of carrying and giving birth to another human being. even though it is nine months in the past, i'm still in awe of it all. in fact, just looking at that basketball-of-a-belly above makes me incredibly speechless... to think he was in there, and now is out here... living, breathing, smiling, giggling, observing, loving. it's overwhelmingly incredible to think about!

i did not take a single photo of isaac today to mark his nine-month milestone. but that's okay, because there are plenty from recent days, and i am happy to relish these bump photos for a day or two, as i don't see them much anymore. plus, in three short months, there will be more than enough photos taken of him on his one-year birthday to make up for what i did not take today.

i love that little munchkin with all my heart. though fondly missing the past eighteen, i look forward to the next nine months with him... and well beyond!

he's perfect!... I'M KEEPIN' HIM!!!

{isaac... formerly known as baby-b... in his "going home from the hospital" get-up}

ISAAC KENNETH BATEMAN

born wednesday,
june 15th, 2011

at 10:32 a.m.

9 lbs., 8 oz.
21.25 in.

for obvious reasons, i won't be able to write much about it all...

but everything went perfectly,

and we now have one perfect, beautiful, wonderful son.

and my life will never be the same.

words can not express just how in love i am with this little guy.

will write with more details later when i have time...
oh, say in four or five years??
=)

on ants and planning

dear baby-b,

though it is not yet officially summer here {actually, the first day of summer is the day after your due date in a couple weeks}, it has begun to get very warm on a daily basis. and every year with the warm weather comes a little nuisance around this house... a nuisance we call ants. i took the ant photo above last summer while observing these little busy creatures on our outside back steps.

you'll soon discover ants. in fact, i suspect that in a couple of years, they will be a source of curiosity for you. you won't yet see them the way i do... as little pests that invade our kitchen and require pesticide traps to rid them from our territory. {or to put it like your father refers to them... "they're jerks!"}

no... you'll just see them as something to pick up with your hands to practice your ever-developing motor skills, pick apart {poor helpless creatures}, and put in your mouth {though i hope you don't do that last one!}.

well, as is the yearly tradition around here, the ants have infiltrated our kitchen and we have had to buy ant poison to get rid of them. it's a cruel world out there. but we can't have ants crawling all over the clean surfaces where we eat... especially not when you are coming home in a couple weeks.

however... ants are not all bad. in fact, many a wise men have seen the wisdom that ants have and pointed out just how much we can learn from them.

let me tell you a story... it's an old aesop fable, actually. but it is retold here by someone named rose owens. {i found it on a web site.} it goes like this:

one summer day a grasshopper was singing and chirping and hopping about. he was having a wonderful time. he saw an ant who was busy gathering and storing grain for the winter.

“stop and talk to me,” said the grasshopper. “we can sing some songs and dance a while.”

“oh no,” said the ant. “winter is coming. i am storing up food for the winter. i think you should do the same.”

“oh, i can’t be bothered,” said the grasshopper. “winter is a long time off. there is plenty of food.” so the grasshopper continued to dance and sing and chirp and the ant continued to work.

when winter came the grasshopper had no food and was starving. he went to the ant’s house and asked, “can i have some wheat or maybe a few kernels of corn. without it i will starve,” whined the grasshopper.

“you danced last summer,” said the ants in disgust. “you can continue to dance.” and they gave him no food.

there is a time to work and a time to play.

i hope to teach you this lesson by example and by instruction as you grow up in our care. i'm afraid that lesson was not quite instilled in me the way i would like it to have been. you see, i am somewhat of a procrastinator. and i always learned to work very well under pressure with not a lot of time... you know... i like to show up at the eleventh hour and get things done. i think i thrive on that, because when i do a good job under those circumstances, i gain a lot of confidence and pride in my ability to work under pressure.

but truth be told, i would much rather be the kind of person that starts to do the things i need to do as soon as i am aware that they need to be done.

i've operated that way enough times in my life to realize it is a much better feeling. sure... there is not the same high or adrenaline rush that comes with waiting until the last minute to get things accomplished. but there is a bigger sense of pride in the end... knowing you not only accomplished what you set out to do, but that you planned well to achieve that accomplishment and that you did not cut corners to make it happen.

and when everyone else is rushing around trying to finish up what needs to be done, you are sitting back relaxed and calm, knowing that everything is on track and you have some breathing room.

i've observed many people in my life that live this way almost all of the time. and i have always admired every single person that i see is like this.

all that to say, i am somewhat proud of how i have planned for you to arrive. i could have done a MUCH better job at preparing for your arrival. and had i, there would not be a few last minute things hanging over my head as your due date looms just around the corner... things that i find it difficult to do at this late stage, as i am uncomfortably large and having a difficult time just moving around.

but even with those things, i feel quite adequately prepared. and i know that God helped me with all of that, because let me tell you, it was not easy. there were many reasons for that. i had to be creative in many of the ways that i got ready for you... if money was no object, there would have been no need for creativity. i had plenty of time. but when money does not flow freely {or even sort of freely}, but rather trickles in, one has to find creative ways to get ready. and i did just that. and not only that, but your papa and i put our heads together and figured out just where we could cut back... not cut corners... just cut back.

when you plan for big events... babies arriving or marrying someone or buying a home or going off to college... or even smaller things like going on a trip... there is so much that this world will tell you you need to have/do/achieve in order for it to be the ideal birth, wedding, house purchase, education or vacation.

but so much of what this world would have you believe is necessary is actually quite unnecessary. and i can honestly say, it takes work to figure out what those things are for a growing family... especially when you have never had a child before.

anyway, though i am sure your papa and i have not perfectly set up our little nest and life for you to be in it, we have done the very best that we can. you are going to get home, and we are going to realize that there are things we will need to go get or set up for you. and we will probably discover that we set some things up that were never actually needed. but for the most part, we feel prepared and ready for you to join our little home. not just prepared, but EXCITED!

anyway, i just don't want you to forget this little fable... it's okay to be the one working and planning early on for things big and small... even when everyone else around you is waiting because they want to enjoy life first and get to work later. we live in a society that thrives on instant gratification. but remember this. delayed gratification is just as satisfying as the instant can be... only it's arriving at a different time. and when hard work and planning are a part of that gratifying experience, it's that much more rewarding.

here is what solomon said about the ant in proverbs 6:6-8...

"go to the ant, o sluggard;

consider her ways, and be wise.

without having any chief,

officer, or ruler,

she prepares her bread in summer

and gathers her food in harvest."

that solomon... he was a very wise man. and his words should be heeded and observed. even if no one is telling you to work hard and prepare for things in a timely way, do it anyway... for yourself... for your own good. when you do, you can't go wrong and you won't be sorry. this is my prayer for you. and my prayer for me is that i exemplify that in my life for you.

all that said, i can't wait to see you and, in a couple weeks, bring you to your new home... sans kitchen ants.

with all my love,

your mama

spring forth

i took this photo {in my back yard} just a couple days ago... and already, this tree looks drastically different... about twice as full as what you see here. i love the burst of spring growth we get each year. it does my heart and soul such good. and this year, spring comes with a whole new meaning, for new birth is not just in the greenery around me, but in my home as well. if baby comes on the due date, it will be just a couple days before spring is officially over and is transitioning into summer. here's to hoping that baby-b "springs" forth as rapidly as the trees have been... to hoping it's not a long and tiring labor. but even if it is, what joy is on the other side. i anxiously await... more than any spring i have ever waited for or ever will wait for.


what are you waiting for right now?

to baby-b, from grandma... with love

dear baby-b,

look what your sweet grandmother {my mama} made for you.

she gave it to me last sunday

at the baby shower that my mom and sisters hosted for you.

it was...

and it was...

the first time i wrap you in it,
you will feel...

for there is...

i can't wait for you to...

this was the eighth blanket you received since you have been in my belly.

your papa's mama had a friend knit one for you, too.

it's orange and soft and lovely

and matches your room so perfectly.

you also got another beautiful hand-knit baby blanket...
from a friend of mine who's friend knit it for her to give to you.

and i made you one, too...

but don't get your hopes up.

it's not knitted with care like these other three were.

it's just one of those fleece tie blankets.

but i made it with love.

besides those, you got four other blankets,
but the rest are store-bought.

i have a feeling you will never be cold.

and that's a good thing.

if you are anything like your mama,

you won't want to be chilly, but instead nice and warm.

but of all the blankets you've been given so far,

this has to be my very favorite... for so many reasons.

it's so precious to me, i almost don't want to use it.

but you know what?

i'm going to.

and that will make your grandma very happy, i'm sure.

i'll be sure to thank her for you,

as i know you can not yet form the words to do it yourself.

until you can, enjoy your soft, warm, lovingly able to wrap you up

blanket.

love, your mama

{p.s. tomorrow or the next day, i will show you some more photos from the shower where you were given this blanket. but for now, here a couple of your grandma and me. we both love you more than words can say.}

more reasons to smile

knowing...

~

finding the above rug for baby b's room at 70% off.

~

getting lots of cleaning/organizing/nesting done around my house.

{God-given energy, i must say... because i have no idea where i am getting the strength.}

~

finding the necklace with a charm of a trumpet on it

{that was hanging on the framed photo of my dad} while i dust

and putting it around my neck to make me think of him every time i see it.

~

having a twin sister who calls me every so often...

giddy and excited about the baby shower she is planning for me...

trying to be so secretive about what she's got up her sleeve.

{i can't wait!}

~

listening to lonely river by susan ashton while i type this post.

{beautiful!}

~

listening to the cambridge singers on the hail, gladdening light recording

while i clean on this sunny day...

especially track no. 12... justorum animae.

{even MORE beautiful!! ESPECIALLY the end!}

~

cardinals chirping at me through the open windows while i clean.

~

getting notes from b. in the mornings

{that he leaves for me before i get up and before he goes to work}

that start out with "hi, squirts!"

~

accepting...

~

having b. just walk through the door {getting home from work}

and handing me the alison krauss cd i blogged about in my last post.

{he used part of his birthday gift card from best buy to buy it for me!... what a guy!}

~

having a dear friend who stops by every so often

to take photos of me and my belly throughout this pregnancy.

{here is one she took today to capture me at 30 weeks.}

thanks, sweet mary!

and thanks for cheering me up!

{you should have seen me crying before she got here

because i tried on about ten things for the photo shoot

and felt like a pale, beached whale in every one...

i didn't want to be anywhere near a camera.

but she pulled me out of my funk and helped me smile again.
those darn HORMONES!}

~

giving you a...

can't wait to show you more!

to come...

hope it all made you smile, too.

oh, the places you'll go {and other dr. seuss-isms}

dear baby-b,

i know it's been a while since i wrote you...
i haven't been around much.
well, that is to say, i have not been writing to you here lately...
much less doing any other kind of blogging.
but there are some reasons for that.


however, as you well know, i've been around.
in fact, not just around... but SURROUNDing you...
for almost twenty-nine weeks, now.


so, back to the reasons i have not blogged in quite a while.
well, i thought i would take a bit of a break...
or at least cut way back.
in fact, the day i wrote that i planned to do just that
was the day before japan was struck by a tragic chain of events.
and so even after i had planned on stopping in
every once in a while {maybe once a week},
i just couldn't do it.


there were so many things i could have written about
and taken photos of...
especially pertaining to you.
but i just couldn't do it.
nothing i could say would seem necessary.
nothing i could say wouldn't seem trivial
in light of what was going on almost half-way around the world.


for instance, i wanted to write about the nursery i am setting up for you.
i might have written about how when i found the perfect curtains for your room,
i went to buy them and discovered i was $1.56 short in my bank account
and was so bummed, because i really wanted to get those curtains for you..
but then i realized that there are pregnant women in japan
who are worried about radiation seeping into their homes
and affecting their unborn babies,
and the biggest of my worries was not having enough money to buy curtains,
and that for a time, i might have to let sunlight seep into your window
through the cracks in the blinds.
but this is so not a problem or a trial or a hurdle.
it's nothing.
simply nothing.
especially in light of what things could be like for us.


and the list of things i could have written about
would go on and on and on.
and like the curtains, all of it seemed un-important.
not to say our lives and our worlds are not important...
i'll get to that in a bit.
but i could only watch the news
in disbelief
and grieve for those people
who were hit with three separate tragic events in a row...
one after another,
each spawned by the one before...
with no breaks and no respite.
and i sat here helpless... except the ability to pray.
and so there was nothing for me to say
for a good long while
that would have mattered in light of it all.


but i realized something this week.
we all have many worlds to think about.
we have humanity and the world in general {this big ball we call earth}
to care about and be concerned for.
but then we each have the micro worlds we live in.
our homes.
our families.
our small communities.
and sometimes our own small worlds can be shaken
even the way the earth shook that day
to cause so much heartache and pain and devastation in japan.


though we may not experience the magnitude of pain and loss
in our own little worlds
that an entire region of the world could,
life is still sometimes difficult,
and when the crisis-mode and attention of a world event like that dies down,
we are back in the center of those things going on in our own lives.
and you know what?
it's okay to think on those things, too...
to write about them, process them, work through them, deal with them.


and by the time you are old enough to read this,
you won't remember what i will write about.
in fact, you may not have even been aware when it was happening.
but i'll never forget it.
but just in case i do, i'm writing it down now.


it started monday.
i lay there on that exam table
with my head supported by a comfortable pillow
and my belly exposed.
it was quiet... only the sound of the sonogram machine... a very comforting, buzzing sound
that filled the room with a peaceful quiet.
it was warm in the room...
i loved that, because your mama hates to be cold.
it was just such a serene environment,
and i couldn't wait to see your face come across the screen.


i was there for one reason, and one reason only...
to check and see if i still had the placenta previa
that the doctors had discovered eight weeks earlier.
and i did.
i do.


the technician left the room at one point... just like last time.
she had to check with the radiologist to see if more images were needed.
she left the room,
and it was just you and me.
you had been quite still... except for a yawn or two.
i saw your face even more clearly than i could eight weeks ago.
and i'm sure it has changed so much in that time.
your heart was beating strong,
and i could not help but cry when i saw you.
this time i was alone.
papa was working, so it was just you and me.
i didn't expect to get emotional this time... after all, we had done this once before.
but i was more emotional than the last time.
it was mostly from seeing you,
but also from learning that my previa condition still existed.
i had high hopes that things would have changed in the weeks that followed the first ultrasound.


so when she left,
again, it was just you and me.
and the tears rolled more quickly than i could keep up with them...
and like last time, it was a silent cry.
tears were only felt, though...
this time, not even heard hitting the exam-table paper,
because i caught each one with my hands,
hoping to not smudge the mascara
that i probably should have never even put on in the first place...
knowing where i would be going.


i was crying out of joy to see you again...
to see how much of a reality you have become as you grow in me day by day.
you were once only a dream of mine.
but now you are so real.
{i had to use the dr. seuss quote above,
because i loved how appropriate it was for this post... for this time in my life.
and the funny part is, i have not been sleeping for about a month...
something i always attribute to the very restless legs i have at night
due to your existence and growth in my belly.
but maybe it's also for the reason in the dr. seuss quote...
maybe i'm SO IN LOVE with you
and so happy that you are here... soon to REALLY be here...
that the reality that was once only a dream
now keeps me awake.}


well, back to the exam table and you and me lying there in silence.
i looked up.
well, i guess i had been looking up the entire time
{when not looking over at the monitor to see your precious face}.
i mean, where else would i look?
but when the technician was gone,
your face disappeared from the monitor.
so i had to look somewhere else.
and lying there on my back, it was up that i chose to look.
and i'm glad i did.
you know what i saw?
i saw clouds and hot air balloons
on a bright blue sky.
i'm not kidding.
i'm not just saying that... like it's something i saw in my mind's eyes.
there were literally clouds and hot air balloons and blue sky.
you see, it was one of those fluorescent ceiling light covers
that a lot of hospitals now use... to brighten up the cold, sterile spaces
that hospital rooms can sometimes be.
it was a photo printed on plastic
made to look like we were looking out through a sky light
and were beneath some balloons sailing through the sky.
had the light been on,
it would have looked even more real.
but the lights were dimmed,
and all i saw was a darker version of this cheerful sight.


and it made me think back...
"oh, yeah, whatever happened to those photos i took
on my way home one day last fall...
of the balloon that was in the sky?
i totally forgot about those!
i need to dig those up and see if i could make something of them."


well, i did just that.
in fact, when i finally found them, i discovered they were taken
about one week before i even knew you existed.
you had been growing in my tummy for just a couple weeks.
but when the balloon shots were taken, i didn't know you were there.
here i was, a half year later,
on a table,
looking up,
waiting for you,
thinking about how far i've come,
wishing i had received better news,
but still so very grateful to be there...
to see your face,
to watch your heart beat.
i was once again moved.
by so much.
to tears.


i couldn't wait to get home and look for the photos and process them.
and write about the day.
but you know what i did instead?
i came home and looked up some things about placenta previa {at this stage of pregnancy}
on the internet and did some reading about what i might expect.
right thing or wrong thing to do... i don't know.
but i did it.
and i became discouraged.
and balloons and blue sky went out the window for a time.
and worry took their place.


and this time, my sleepless night was not only filled with thoughts of
"oh, my... how uncomfortable am i!
how i want to sleep right now, but can't, no matter how tired.
how i wish i could make my legs stop tickling/fidgeting."
to
"yikes... this is not good.
there are so many things that could go wrong,
and even if they don't,
i still may very likely have to deliver a little early
and it would be via the c-section i was hoping not to have."
and though i know worry is not good,
i could not help myself.
in fact, i don't even know that it was so much worry
as much as it was just thinking about all that could happen...
how if the previa causes bleeding,
i may have to be hospitalized
or on complete bed rest for the last two and a half months
before you arrive.
how my Rh- blood could pose a problem
should there be bleeding
if you have Rh+ blood.
how i can't afford to be on bed rest...
there's still so much for me to do to get ready for you.
in fact, even if not bed rest, being restricted to what i can do...
no heavy lifting.
nothing strenuous.
yikes!
i still have to go pick up your crib
finish setting up your room
and clean our home like it's never been cleaned before
{that's part of that nesting instinct mamas get}
and baby-proof some of the rooms in our house
and lots of other things.
i can't be sitting around taking it easy!


so i lay there and thought of all these things.
i thought about your safety and health.
i thought about my safety and health.
i thought about money
and what pregnancy or birth complications would mean to our wallets.
i thought about how i have longed since day one
that you will arrive at {or close to} your full-term due date.


and i should have lain there and thought of balloons and fluffy clouds instead.
or about how God is going to take care of us.
but i did not.


however, i did have enough sense to get up and go to the computer
and write and ask a good many people
who i consider near and dear...
people who i know would want the best for you
and would be thrilled to meet you...
if they would pray.
not just for you and for our health and for this pregnancy.
but for me and my mind to be at peace...
that i would not worry or fear.


and aside from praying myself,
it was the best thing i could do in that moment.
i went back to bed,
and though i did not sleep so well the remainder of the night,
i did wake up with a sense of peace...
i actually felt as if many were praying for us.
and my feelings were confirmed when i logged into my e-mail the next day
and many had already written back to let me know they were praying.
in fact, many prayed right there for us in their message.
baby-b, you can't know what that did for me.
it reminded me of so many things...
that God is control.
that He would not bring us this far just to let us go.
that no matter what happens... complications or not...
we will be cared for and are in good hands.
that He is faithful.
that He is good.
that so many care for us
and are so happily awaiting your arrival
and are ready to pray at a moment's notice.
one friend even wrote back and told me that when she read my request for prayer,
she stopped what she was doing
and got down on her knees right there in the middle of her kitchen and prayed.
baby-b... this is the kind of person i want to be...
a "drop everything to pray" kind of person...
for me.
for you.
for others.
for the people in japan who i don't even know.
for my sister.
for my brother.
and i want you to be that way too.


and perhaps i can't give you a lot it this life.
but i can give you this...
the knowledge that having a host of friends and family praying for you
or being part of a host of friends and family praying for others
is one of the most wonderful things you could ever partake in.
and i hope that some day you will meet each and every person that prayed for us.
i know that you will meet many of them.
the whole church choir is praying for us...
i'm sure you'll get to meet them some day.
so many friends and family members praying...
even friends of friends who i have never met.
many of my mom's friends who i don't know are praying for us.
you may never meet them... nor i,
but i'm glad you know about them.
i'm glad i do too.
like i said, i felt the prayers.
i felt the peace.
in fact, i slept like a baby that next night.
and even in my waking hours,
i was able to lay aside worry, and instead, just trust.


and so i was able to quit reading what the web sites say...
what could go wrong...
what will likely happen in my situation.
and i was able to look for those balloon photos.
and i processed them...
and i had a blast doing it!
it's been so long since i took photos... or even just processed old pictures!
and how appropriate they were in so many ways.


i have to say, i was not sure if i would add words to them.
i thought about adding some quotes about prayer
or bible verses or nothing at all.
but when i saw how whimsical they seemed after i processed them,
i thought about the comment i read on a web site on monday.
it was on one of those pregnancy forum sites...
a woman who is in the same exact situation as i am
wrote about how she is disheartened and concerned
that at twenty-eight weeks, her ultrasound revealed
that her previa had not corrected itself
{or the placenta had not migrated upward}
like it does for ninety percent of the women who have it.
another pregnant mom left a comment on her post
telling her to go read the dr. seuss book, up, up, up
to the baby in her womb and to herself...
in hopes that the placenta would move up.
of course, it was a whimsical, light-hearted encouragement... not real advice.
but i liked that.
i went to your closet to see if that was one of the six or seven
dr. seuss books i have for you.
well, it was not,
so i googled to look for some quotes from the book instead.
i did not find any, but i came across
several other sweet little dr. seuss quotes
that i found very appropriate for my blog post and these photos...
and for this time in the pregnancy.


so here they are.
none really having anything to do with the other...
in fact, some not even really having to do with this post.
but i like them all.

i love this last one... it's from one of my favorite of his books.

in fact, you will soon be hearing me read it to you

while i sit in our glider chair...

maybe even tonight.

oh, i almost forgot, baby-b.

we are not "out of the woods" yet.

and there is still a risk of some things to "go wrong".

but one thing i do know...

there are many who are praying for us still.

and we are in very good hands...

the doctor's,
and more importantly, God's.

and, no matter what,

i love you more than anything

and will do anything to keep you safe...

now and for the rest of my life.

and lots of women and their babies get through this.

so i know we can too!

and one more thing.

i went yesterday to get that rhogam shot

in case our blood types are incompatible.

while i was there, i asked the nurse to check my chart

and see if my previa is considered posterior or anterior.

this makes a big difference,

because if it is posterior,

there is a much better chance that it may yet change

{there is a higher chance that the placenta will "migrate" upward},

than if it is an anterior previa.
well, she informed me that IT IS posterior!!
woo hoo!

i had already felt a lot of peace because i knew many were praying for us.

but then when i got that news, i felt even better!!

and even if it doesn't move up, up, up...

you

and

i

are

going

to

be

okay.

i love you.

~mama-b