Jane: The Gestation Story

This post will build upon Jane's origin story. Also, I haven't written down my pregnancy experience yet and I want to change that. I don't want to forget all the cool things God did. Warning! This post is super long. It covers the whole 9 months I was pregnant with Jane.

Excited that player 3 is on the way
8 weeks pregnant

Three months after I stopped taking the pill, I was about 10 days late and I started to think I could be pregnant. The next morning, while I was working, I noticed that I felt a little strange. I kept feeling like I needed to gag and it didn't go away until later that afternoon. I thought, Ok I'm late and I'm starting to have pregnancy symptoms, it's time to take a pregnancy test! I waited until the next morning to take the test, because I had heard you could get the most accurate results first thing in the morning. It was Saturday, which worked well, because I didn't have to worry about getting to work. I took the test as soon as I woke up. Those minutes waiting for the results were so suspenseful! I was so jittery. I mean, I was about to find out if I was going to be a mom or not! The time was up, so I took a look at the results...

THRILLED!!
September 27th 2013

It's positive... I'm pregnant... I can't believe it! Yay!! :D Thoughts were racing through my head. I found out I was pregnant the day after my 25th birthday, which I find interesting, because I had always had it in my head that I wanted to have a child by the time I was 25. Wouldn you believe it, I had a child growing inside of me on my 25th birthday? I like to think God put that desire within me just to fulfill it and let me praise Him. It was the best birthday present ever! I waited for Sam to wake up that morning to tell him, because I know he loves his sleep and I didn't mind being the only one knowing for a little while. I let the news resonate with me. A couple of hours later, Sam was up and sitting on the couch. I went over and sat next to him and said, "So... I'm pretty sure I'm pregnant." He answered calmly, "Neat." :) Very Sam. Now, some people would be disappointed by a reaction like that, but not me. Let me explain, 1. What's the use in getting disappointed? You're creating a problem that doesn't exist. 2. My husband is very genuine. I never have to worry about him telling me something just because he thinks I want to hear it. So whatever he says, he truly means. I love that about him. 3. I wasn't ready to be super excited yet, because I still wanted to be totally sure. So I thought his response of "Neat" was perfect. :)

Like I was saying, I still needed more proof than a positive home pregnancy test before I let myself get really excited. I thought, "Well, I could be part of the small percentage that gets a false positive result." I called to schedule my first ultrasound to confirm a pregnancy. I had to wait a week and a half for my appointment. During that time, I only told my family and just a few friends and told them to wait to tell anyone else until we got confirmation from the doctor. I got to tell my mom and dad, in person, the day after I took the pregnancy test. They were very happy!

My mom and I were going to a work party that night and on the way we saw a rainbow! A reminder of God fulfilling His promises to His people. It's like he was telling me, "Yes, I gave you the desire for this child and I will fulfill that desire!" 

The Rainbow the day after my positive pregnancy test
6 weeks

While we were at the party, we were talking to my boss and a couple of co-workers. They started talking about how I was a clone of my mom. By the way, everyone at my company would consider that a compliment and it definitely is, she's awesome. So my boss said, "Marianne, we need another Christy. Can you work on that?" My mom laughed and said, "Oh I'm done making clones. You'll have to let Christy take over." My boss smiled, processed for a moment then said, "Oh wait! No! Christy can't have children yet! She has to have my approval first!" We all laughed. I really wanted to say "Too late!" But I didn't. Figured it wasn't the appropriate time to tell my boss.

About 10 days later I went to my first prenatal appointment with my regular OBGYN. I went straight from work during lunch time and my mom was able to come with me, which was great! We waited about an hour in the waiting room... Finally I was called in. My mom stayed in the waiting room. I actually didn't get to see my doctor. Her NP, Liza Rivera, saw me instead. She got straight to the ultrasound. She was pointing out my uterus to me and then she said, "And see that small spot that looks like a bean? That's your baby!"

It's little Jane!!
7 1/2 weeks

My heart still leaps with joy as I type this just remembering that moment. My first thought was "OH! There she is!" Maybe it was just coincidence that I thought that or maybe it was mother's intuition. I don't know, but I do remember specifically thinking she. I started to tear up as I was looking at my itty bitty baby. I was just so elated! Then the NP said, "Now lets find that heartbeat." She could only hold the heartbeat for a couple seconds before she lost it again, because Jane was so small. But it was such an awesome sound!! :) Like little galloping ponies. She did some measurements and took a couple of ultrasound pictures for me. After we were done the NP told me my due date was May 24th 2014. We spent a couple of minutes talking about prenatal vitamins and what to eat. It was a very quick appointment. I mean I didn't feel rushed, but I had my, "Congratulations, you're pregnant!" gift bag on my arm and was being ushered out the door before I knew it. I went straight to my mom and showed her the ultrasound picture. We both started crying tears of joy. Then I texted Sam to tell him that the pregnancy was confirmed. He asked me to text him the ultrasound picture, so I did. He was excited too. When I got home that night Sam said to me, "You know I was thinking, the fact that we're having a kid, it's the best thing ever." I said that I totally agreed. The appointment to confirm my pregnancy was what we both needed to let ourselves be completely overjoyed!

I told everyone at my job I was pregnant as soon as I got confirmation from the first ultrasound at about 8 weeks. I wasn't feeling too well most mornings and I was definitely more snappy than normal, so I wanted them to know the reason why. I told my boss and he was very happy for me. He also expressed to me how his son was the best thing that happened to him and he never regretted his wife staying home with his son. It surprised me because he was always encouraging me to work overtime. I told him, if possible, I would like to work part time from home after the baby was born and he was very supportive of that plan as well. I think his support was a big reason that it worked out for me to work from home. I am so grateful to everyone who helped make it a reality. I am so blessed to work from home and stay home with Jane.

After my experience at my first prenatal appointment, I was left considering alternative options to a hospital birth. I mean, I won't even get to see my doctor until I'm ready to have my baby. I waited a long time for my appointment and then everything was just so fast and impersonal. I wasn't very impressed. Also, doctors offices always stress me out. So I researched birth centers. I found one that was about 25 min from where I was living at the time. I decided to go check it out. My mom was able to come with me to give her opinion of the place as well. As soon as we arrived we were greeted and we took a seat on the comfortable couch in the lobby and within 10 min we were greeted by the nurse/midwife and owner of the birth center. She gave us a tour and we got to sit down and chat with two of the midwives. They made me feel like they weren't worried about sticking to a schedule and they were focused on me. I felt very well taken care of. I also loved that it was a house and it felt homey. My mom was happy with everything too. Sam was very supportive of the birth center as well. So I decided to have my prenatal and postpartum care and birth at Bay Area Birth Center. Click the link to take a little tour of the birth center. You can see the lobby with the couches I was talking about. I had almost all my prenatal care in the room with the twin bed. I was in the green room for the majority of my labor.

Bay Area Birth Center.
Isn't it pretty?

I am so glad I chose to have all my care provided by the Birth Center! All the midwives were wonderful. It was always so relaxing. About halfway through my pregnancy they started having group meetings in addition to our appointments. I loved getting to chat with all the other pregnant ladies. The midwives were very knowledgeable and could always answer my questions. They even gave me a great pediatrician recommendation. At the first appointment at 10 weeks they weren't able to find Jane's heartbeat. That kind of scared me but they assured me that it was normal. All the following appointments they found her heartbeat right away! Every time it was a good rapid heartbeat. They said it could mean that it's a girl, but you never know. Jane grew well with every appointment and everything went very smoothly. The only thing was they had a hard time finding my veins, which wasn't their fault. They told me my veins were the hardest they've ever tried to find. I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to deliver at the birth center, (mostly because it doubled my medical bills) but that wasn't their fault either. They took great care of me!

Here are a few highlights from each of my trimesters.

First bump picture
13 weeks

I think the picture above looks like a baby bump because of the shirt I was wearing and all the free food I was eating at my job. ;) 

I experienced most of the regular first trimester woes. I had morning sickness that would sometimes last most of the day, but I only threw up twice from morning sickness. Both times were right after brushing my teeth. Gagging was my worst first trimester symptom. I would gag every time I brushed my teeth, when I smelled certain things, and sometimes for no reason at all! One thing that lasted my whole pregnancy was my weakened immune system. I got sick almost every month I was pregnant! I'm so glad to have my normal immune system back now. I was hungry all the time, but not much seemed appetizing to me. I could only eat small portions and I had to eat slowly, which is not normal for me. I lost a lot of my filter, I was way too honest! I slept a lot. I would be ready for bed at 9:30pm, which was early for me, being a night owl. I didn't have the easiest first trimester, but it definitely wasn't the worst! I still enjoyed life and I didn't let the hard things diminish my joy. 

My second trimester was awesome! Except for my morning sickness hanging on until about 17 weeks and those pesky monthly illnesses, I felt great the whole trimester! Morning sickness went away just in time for my family's trip to St. Maarten!!

In beautiful St. Maarten
18 weeks

Whenever Jane grows up and asks me if we can go to the Caribbean, I'll probably tell her, "You've already been there!" Then I'll show her this picture. :) It was an awesome vacation. My appetite came back just in time to enjoy all the fantastic Caribbean food. I don't think there was one meal that was't delicious! Even though I was pregnant, I still got to do almost everything.

Jane and I enjoying the sunset
18 weeks

Relaxing on the beautiful beaches and watching the gorgeous sunsets were probably my favorite things. I only missed out on horseback riding and zip lining. Flying was rough just because I couldn't take anything. Peppermint oil was my friend! It definitely saved me from using one of the barf bags on the plane.

Double Rainbow on Pinel Island, St Maarten

Can I take a moment to talk about how many rainbows I saw while I was pregnant? I have never seen so many rainbows in 9 months time. Almost every week of my first trimester I saw a rainbow. The day after I found out, rainbow... the next weekend, rainbow... leaving the birth center for the first time, rainbow... driving home from work, rainbow. I saw about 4 rainbows the week I was in St. Maarten. I saw two different double rainbows. Every time it was a reminder for me that Jane was in God's hands and it would do me no good to worry. Looking back on it now, I realized that the frequency of seeing rainbows greatly reduced once I could feel Jane kicking. The rainbows reassured me Jane was alright before I could feel her. God is awesome like that. He knows what we need.

A week after we got back home from St Maarten, I had my 19 week ultrasound and we got to find out the gender of our baby. My parents got to be there with us when we found out. Sam and I both wanted a boy first, but not to the point that we would be in any way disappointed if it was a girl. The only a reason I wanted a boy first was because I loved my big brother so much. When the ultrasound tech said, "It looks like it's a girl!" I was happy but it hadn't quite sunk in yet. Once Sam and I reached the parking lot, we were so excited it was a girl! Sam said "It will be great, especially because she can be your helper if we have more kids. I've always wanted more girls anyway." On the way home we were talking about names. I asked Sam if it would be ok if we named her Jane. I reminded him that a couple years before, on the way home from watching the movie Thor, I asked him if we could name our first daughter Jane and he said, "Sure." He responded and said, "We can name her Jane if we can name our next girl Alexandria." I said "Ok!" We both settled on Elizabeth as a middle name shortly after.

They tell me this means she's a girl. I will take their word for it. ;)
19 weeks

I felt Jane's first kicks around 20 weeks. It was such an awesome feeling and probably my favorite thing about being pregnant! There was a time at 11 weeks that I thought I felt her because it was a feeling I had never felt before. It was like a little flutter. It seemed like she just did a somersault. Of course it's unlikely that I could have felt her so early. But you never know!

My second trimester came with a bit of a sad end. My childhood pet, my sweet pug Allie, passed away. She was like family. She was the baby. We all loved her dearly. We knew she was near the end of her life but we thought she might make it another year or so. I was hoping she would make it long enough to meet Jane. Even though it was hard to let Allie go, looking forward to the arrival of Jane reminded me of all I had to be thankful for and I had so much to look forward to. One thing I wish I would have done is gotten a picture of Allie putting her head on my pregnant tummy. She liked to do that and Jane would kick her when she did. Love you Allie-kins. You'll always have a place in my heart and you gave me so many special memories to hold dear.

We'll always love you Allie

My third trimester went very well! I had just a few symptoms. I started having heartburn. Ugg... I'm so glad I don't have problems with heartburn when I'm not pregnant. My feet swelled a few times but not too bad. I had tons of stretch marks. I still do, I know my stomach will never be the same. But I'm ok with that, it's reminder Jane was once inside of me. Life is such a miracle. I still slept really well all the way up to giving birth! I only had to get up once a night, sometimes I even made it all the way through the night! I was still pretty tired most of the day though. Growing a human is hard work! But oh so worth it! I was showered by so much kindness and gifts by my co-workers and friends. I felt as ready as you can be to have a baby. I had my final ultrasound at about 36 weeks. She was head down and ready for birth! The ultrasound tech said she was moving a lot and she had lots of hair on her head.

You can see her nose and her eye and her hand is up by her mouth
36 weeks

I gained about 30 lbs for my pregnancy. About 4 days before my due date I got a small stomach bug that lasted a couple of days and I lost about 5 lbs. I recovered 2 days before my due date but still felt low on energy and my stomach wasn't quite back to normal. Considering everything, I felt pretty well! I told my midwives that the day before my due date and they said, "Don't worry, that will change before you go into labor. You probably have another week left." Haha! Most of the time that is true, but I went into labor early that next morning on May 24th 2014. I'll save the birth story for another post. This is terribly long already. Here are all my bump pictures!

Starting to really show
22 weeks

Getting closer to that due date!
26 weeks

Third Trimester
30 weeks

Lots of growth!
34 weeks

First swim while pregnant
36 weeks

Almost there!
38 weeks

Last Bump picture!
39 1/2 weeks

Psalm 139:13-16

For You formed my inward parts;

You covered me in my mother's womb.

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works,

And that my soul knows very well.

My frame was not hidden from You,

When I was made in secret,

And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.

And in Your book they all were written,

The days fashioned for me

When as yet there were none of them.

These are a few of Jane's favorite things

Yes, the title of this post is a line from a song in The Sound of Music. When I was thinking of what to name this post, it came to mind, tune and all. I'm not sure why though. I've never watched the Sound of Music all the way through, from what I can remember. (I hope to remedy that soon) I think it might be because when I was about 7 years old my mom worked nights at Randalls for a short time. (she was a stay at home mom all the rest of my childhood) During that time my dad put me and my brother to bed. My brother, my dad and I would all sit on the bed and sing a couple of songs and pray before bedtime. I have fond memories of those times. I specifically remember singing Do Re Mi together. That's must be why I remember the song My Favorite Things as well. Just a little memory of one of my favorite things growing up. Love you Dad! Even though Mom working nights for that short time was tough on all of us, you made it fun. Thanks. :)

Without further ado, these are a few of Jane's favorite things.

Standing up has always been Jane's favorite! She has been standing with assistance since she was about 2 months old. Sadly, I didn't get good picture of her standing until she was 3 months old.

"Standing is amazing!"
3 months old

She's still not crawling yet. I'm not worried about it though. I think her love for standing has something to do with it.

"Is this how I do it?"
3 months old

Her legs have always been really strong.

"Woah! You mean your not holding on it me!"
6 months old

Now she absolutely loves walking around her crib or while holding on to the coffee table.

"I can move around on my own? YAY!"
8 months old

She has become an even happier baby now that she can get around by holding on to things. She will scoot while she is sitting to get closer to pull up on something, anything really, so she can stand up and start moving around.


Sleeping with me has been a favorite of Jane's since birth. Sleeping without me is a different story. ;)

Relaxing by Pappaw and Marmee's pool
1 week old

It's one of the best feelings ever to having your baby sleeping on you.

Never get tired of this
7 weeks old

Cleaning the house can always wait, right? The house isn't going anywhere.

Sleeping on my lap while I work
4 months old

Haha, it looks like she's trying to cover her ears. She was probably tired of hearing me type.

Feel asleep reading a book
5 months old

I always try to read Jane a couple of books before bed. She is doing really well at turning the pages.

Smiling in her sleep
8 months old

I told you sleeping with me is one of her favorite things. Just look at her smile.

Jane found her thumb really early! She couldn't figure out how to get it back in her mouth for a couple months, but once she figured it out her thumb was a definite favorite.

Found her thumb!
1 week old

At first I tried to fight it. I would take her thumb out of her mouth when she started to suck on it. But I gave in eventually because it was the only thing that would soothe her when she was upset.

She was chewing on her toy, decided her thumb was more interesting.
3 months old

She doesn't care for pacifiers. I tried to replace her thumb with a pacifier but it never worked.

Both thumbs!!
4 months old

She had a couple weeks where she wanted to suck both thumbs at once! It was so cute.

Nap time!
4 months old

Bah! I am powerless against the cuteness!

Sleepy girl
8 months old

She mostly sucks her thumb when she's sleepy. I'm not worried since she doesn't seem super dependent on it.


A new favorite is her stuffed bear.

Jane and her Jo Bhaer
8 months old

It's a little white bear with a purple scarf. It actually came with a bottle of perfume someone gave me a few years ago. I liked the little bear, so I kept it. I decided it would be perfect to give Jane. I don't have many pictures with her and her bear yet, because it's only been a favorite of her's for the last couple of weeks. She will pick it out of all her other stuffed animals. I have lovingly named it Jo Bhaer. Fans of Little Women/Men will get it. :)

I feel like this post is getting long, so I'll stop here. I love to watch as Jane shows more of her favorites as she gets older.

Philippians 4:8

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy - meditate on these things.

1 Corinthians 13:13

And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; But the greatest of these is love.

I like to think I'm a favorite of Jane's. She's definitely my favorite.
8 months old

First trip to the park!

This post will be less words more pictures! Jane, my mom and I went to Elm Grove park today. It was my favorite childhood park. All the playground equipment is different from when I was a kid but it still has the same scenery. It's so fun to get to take Jane to the same parks I went to as a kid!

First time in the baby swing. She's not sure yet.

Mid-Swing! She's in love!

Can you see that tooth in there??

First slide!

Jane and her Marmee. I love my mom's face in this one.

Trying a bigger slide with me!

Swinging into tickles

Kisses from Marmee

Trying the big swing out

She made a friend by the swing that doesn't want to sleep through the night either. ;)

Me at the park 25 years ago. I miss all the wooden structures.

I guess I'm grateful that playgrounds are safer now, but these new playgrounds don't quite measure up to the playgrounds I grew up with! Wooden structures, metal slides, ahh the memories... It's still tons of fun though! At least swings are still the same. They have always been my favorite.

Romans 15:13

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Psalm 19:14

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart, 

Be acceptable in your sight,

 O Lord, my Strength and my Redeemer.

Me and my brother, Scott. Good times!

Jane: The Origin Story

I want to take a step back and tell the story of how Jane came to be part of our world.  It's a little long but it's one of my favorite stories.

The story begins with my desire to be a mom. Now anyone who knows me knows I've always wanted children. When I was graduating high school and everyone was asking me what I wanted to do, I would answer, "I don't really know, but I do know I want to be a mom."  When Sam and I were engaged, I expressed my desire for children and he said he wanted kids too. Woohoo! On the same page, check!

Engagement
September 2010

There was a small problem though. When Sam and I were about to get married, the only income we had was Sam's part-time job at Best Buy. We had both left our camp jobs (where we had met) just a few months before. I had been keeping an eye out for a job but I hadn't found one yet. The job market was really rough. So we discussed it and decided we weren't financially stable enough for children at the time. Sam and I also felt very strongly about me being a stay at home mom once we had kids. Part of me still wanted to trust that God would provide even if He did give us a child then. The other part of me was saying it would be irresponsible to have a baby at that point of our lives. Since Sam wasn't comfortable with having kids yet, I was content with following my God given leader and waiting to have kids for a while, so I went on the pill. For two and a half years, I prayed that God would change Sam's heart when the time was right for us to have children and that God would give me patience until that time. And whaddaya know, God came through. I was completely content and thoroughly enjoyed our married years before kids.

We have fun
January 2011

Sam and I both worked part-time retail for almost 2 years. Then God lead Sam to a great full time job in the copier business. Just two months after Sam started his new job, God gave me the opportunity to work full time in Oil and Gas, at Argent Energy (the company my mom works at) as an accounting clerk. We both loved our new jobs! So we decided it would be a good idea to save up some money working our full time jobs for a while before we had kids.

Enjoying life together
September 2012

About six months into my new job, (I think it was June 2013) while I was working, all of a sudden I had a desire for children come over me like never before. It's hard to explain. Before, my desire for children felt like a far off dream or a nice idea. But this was like a calling or almost a need. The feeling of, I don't want to do anything else but hold my baby in my arms right now, no matter what it takes. It renewed the passion in my prayers for children. I didn't share this with anyone, not even Sam. If this feeling wasn't from God I didn't want it to sway him. Within a couple of weeks, the subject of when we would have kids came up for some reason, I don't remember why. Sam said, "whenever." I said, "what do you mean by whenever?" He said,"I mean, I think I finally realize God will provide for us when we have a kid, so whenever is fine." I said, "Wow, ok!" So I asked if he would want me to come off the pill then, he thought maybe I should at least be at my job a year before I did. I was cool with that. Another couple weeks went by and I ended up saying something about coming off the pill in November and he seemed a little uncomfortable with how soon it seemed and said maybe at the beginning of the new year instead. I was a little disappointed that he wanted to push it back more, but it didn't bother me too much. A couple days later, I had a strong feeling that I needed to ask God to prepare Sam's heart for sooner. When I did, I heard God answer back to me, "If you believe I can work in Sam's heart, then you need to be prepared for it to happen!" So I did some research to see if there was anything I needed to know about coming off the pill. I also looked up if there was anything I could do to promote a healthy pregnancy before getting pregnant. Within that same week, Sam and I were eating at Taco Bell and he said "Oh yeah, I was going to tell you... you can come off the pill now if you want." He explained by saying God had showed him that preventing pregnancy was like telling God, "no, I know better than you and I don't want you to bless me." I was thrilled!! God blew me away. I've never had Him speak so clearly to me and then answer a prayer so quickly and evidently. Then I told Sam about my feelings and prayers of the last month. He thought it was all pretty awesome too. About two months after that wonderful conversation at Taco Bell, I was pregnant with Jane. :)

Pregnancy Announcement
October 2013

There you have it. Jane is an amazing, answered prayer and testimony of God working in my life and desires. I may be biased, but I think she is destined for great things.

 Haha! funny newborn faces
2 weeks old

With a face like that how could she not be? ;)

Already looking happy.
1 week old

I like the idea of ending with a couple verses. I think I'll try to do that with every blog post.

Psalm 37:4

Delight yourself also in the Lord,

And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 127:3-5

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,

The fruit of the womb is a reward.

Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,

So are the children of one's youth

Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;

They shall not be ashamed,

But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.

We are blessed
5 weeks old