Preparing for a New Baby

As I approach the birth of our third child I find myself quite a bit more prepared for the first few months with a newborn  than I was the first time. Having a baby changes life. You wait for it to go back to normal but it doesn't. Instead your family finds a completely new normal. It can be a tough process, especially if you don't do any preparation. Since we are 13 weeks away from my due date I have been spending a little time praying and thinking about the upcoming adjustment. 

1. Pray for the adjustment period. I know that my family will adjust better if I handle the transition well. I always claim Pro. 16:1 here. That verses says, "The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord."  The God can guide me in what I need to do. I pray for my husband and the boys. I pray for wisdom in the practicalities and wisdom for the emotional stresses. 

2. Know it's a season. You hit a rhythm in just a few months. Just wait. Don't freak out if you don't feel like yourself or nothing feels right. It's a feeling; it's not truth. 

3. Give yourself grace. Prepare to do less. This starts with some practical stuff and the moves to mental stuff. I'm prewriting blog posts. I'm reviewing some old favorites for offertories. I'll put food in the freezer. We'll take a holiday from homeschooling for a few weeks. Then after the baby is here, don't worry about the dust or your normal schedule for a few weeks. Do what is most important for the people and let the rest slide (just not permanently). 

4. Don't over contemplate delivery. It's really one of those things we have very little control over, regardless of how we like to think otherwise. What happens, happens. I can't change it. I know that God is with me and is in control. I have a doctor I trust. Pray and move on. 

5. Buy some pick-me-ups.  I always give myself at least 2 months before I expect to start feeling like myself. Before that I simply remind myself that I just had a baby and let it go. (If this lingered significantly beyond the 2 months, I would seek assistance. My doctor would be third on the list. I know what is normal for me; use wisdom.) But I find some new books to read starting while we're at the hospital.  Have someone bring in fresh flowers for the kitchen table. Play your favorite music. Make a list of what cheers you and prepare for that. 

6. Form new habits beforehand. Think of things that irritated you after you had your other babies. (Or if this is your first baby what you think will challenge you.) Change what you can. For me, I am changing the time I make Micah's formula. I have made it while the boys ate their bedtime snack for at least a year. But soon I'm going to have an infant to feed then. I will not enjoy needing to make formula once I finally get the big boys in bed and I'm trying to teach a baby when to go to sleep. So I'm moving formula making time back to dinner prep or cleanup. That way it will already be a habit once Caleb arrives. 

-I'm also changing around my Bible reading. I end up doing most of my Bible reading at night while I'm up feeding the baby which means I read on my iPad. That is not my favorite way to read and so I am already reading on my iPad more just to get adjusted to it before I'm also super tired.  

It's a transition; it passes. And you get a beautiful new member of the family. But do help yourself out with the process. I'm expecting to see God show up in crazy big ways in my personal life in the those weeks just as He has been in the past few weeks. He is a personal God always at work in even the little things.

How do you ease the transition of a new baby? 

When I First Knew

Yes, I know. I've been remiss in posting the past few weeks. But I have a good reason: I've been napping. Doesn't sound like a good reason? Well, few things outweigh naps in the first trimester of pregnancy! We're going to have another baby! 

(Please forgive the horrid photo!)

I remember when I first knew that I wanted more kids (Micah was rather frightening; we debated not having more). It was about 2:00 am on Saturday, July 4th. Micah was two months old and we were heading home from a road trip to Cincinnati to have his g-tube replaced. As we were driving, trying to stay awake and reconcile this new version of life with what we knew, I realized that- in spite of all the problems with Micah- I still wanted to have more kids. Something about this motherhood thing still is unexplainable. 

So we did it again. Kevin is almost 20 months old and a wonderful piece of our family puzzle. 

And we are going to do it again. Sometime around the middle of November we will welcome a third baby in our arms. He/she already has a place in our hearts and a name once we know gender. (Yes, we will be finding out!)

So you'll have to excuse me if posting is slow. I have just as many ideas but I'm somewhat lacking in energy by the time the essentials are done. You know, food, preschool, laundry. That whole "we have to survive" bit. :) 

And please note, mamas, the above picture was taken at 10 1/2 weeks pregnant. You really do show faster each time. 

Precious Life

I'll be 12 weeks pregnant on Saturday. Life is so incredibly precious and we already treasure this small child. A Facebook friend of mine posted this picture and I was in awe at how perfectly tiny the baby is. You can google other similar pictures with the search "12 weeks gestation"; amazing!

It's totally beyond thought to me that there are people who believe that this is not a child. That it's just a clump of cells that you are within your rights to kill. What lies our generation have swallowed. How pathetic that there are those who would not only believe their own convenience is worth a life, even the tiniest life, but also entice others to walk that path. What burdens they must carry for the remainder of their lives.

Life is precious at all stages. Children are blessings; blessings that require a lot of work and sacrifice. But work and sacrifice make us much better people, teach us things we would never have learned if we chose an easier path. Children are a delight as well. Justin and I are continually talking about how much we enjoy Micah. God was so gracious to put him in our family.

The world needs to see something different. Children are not a nuisance, or a drain on finances, or the cause of your marriage problems, or the reason you don't get to fulfill your dreams. Those marriage/money/emotional problems were already there and you need to deal with them with your spouse and Godly counsel.

God says in Psalm 127, "Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth."

Reward: Recompense, or equivalent return for good done, for kindness, for services and the like. Rewards may consist of money, goods or any return of kindness or happiness. (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

If we want to adopt God's viewpoints, let's embrace what He says about children. Psalm 119:128 states: "Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way." God is always right. And the devil always has lies to combat the truth. Are we embracing the truth or the lies?

Please note that I am not saying that you need to have all the children you can. That decision is between you, your spouse, and God. I am saying that our attitudes about the children we do have should line up with the Bible.