Mile 19: 2012

Update on Blane

Here's a little update on Mr Blane! He is absolutely the sweetest thing on the face of this earth! He is so precious. November 8th he turned 6 months old! At his 6 months appt this week, he weighed 16.8 pounds and 27.3" long. Thank the Lord for a good check up! We have been so blessed. He has been a completely different baby then Laney (she was precious - but a healthy tummy sure makes a happier baby :)

He has more than one tooth trying to peek their way through poor guy. I thought Laney was early on rolling on her side and rolling on her tummy, etc... but this little man has been on the move! Hee! He's inching around a little bit now, sitting up on his own, and army crawling some and can alligator roll across the room. He LOVES his big sister. It truly is amazing to see the love and bond between them. They are interacting more and more and laughing together. Laney has been more amazing than i could have even imagined at being big sis! So thankful!

Thank you all for your prayers. Every day we look at these pictures of Laney and Blane as embryos, in the frame with Jeremiah 29:11. God has done immeasurably more... immeasurably more...

Labor Pains

"We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time..." Romans 8:22. We ache, we long for the consummation of Christ, for His final return. We long for Home. The 'birth pains' get greater as we get closer. I have given this a lot of thought, now going through two childbirths all natural. What an incredibly perfect depiction God has given us, as He always does. The contractions begin and they are quite uncomfortable... as they continue the pain and intensity increases and you have to keep a calm focus on what lies ahead - what you are enduring this for - in that hope, what is to come, you find strength - you find patience- you find endurance - you find courage. The pain intensifies to its strongest seemingly unbearable point as you work through transition and grow close to the actual birth. The very hardest time comes right before the sweetest time. The intensity of the pain and struggle intensifies the joy and relief. Sin entered this world and we see brokenness... depravity... hurt, pain, suffering. But the hope of what is to come, for those who are in Christ - sealed - children of God - gives us strength, gives us courage, gives us endurance, and the patience to press on, awaiting what we eagerly seek - our final redemption when He calls us Home.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, these birthpains may be arduous - they may even seem insurmountable, but take heart! He who has called you is faithful! "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33. "May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it." 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure." Hebrews 6:19 "And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. and hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his live into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." Romans 5:4-5

I feel the contractions of this world, of its brokenness. Sometimes the pain of the latest death, cancer battle, tragedy... render us virtually speechless. My heart groans and aches for the hurt. If we don't have this Hope to hold on to, then what else do you grasp? God's Word... it's either true... or it's not... Where does your security lie? What is your faith placed in?

Back on the ole A&M soccer field! You should have seen that little Laney run!

Oats coming up! Thank you Lord for enough rain to get them going!

The Zoo!! Long awaited trip to San Antonio! So fun!

Mason Fall Festival! Laney was a "Ballierena princess!"

Snuggle buddies! Really is amazing how much they love each other and have such a special bond already!

Baking Cake & decorating for Daddy's Birthday!

Blane and Mrs Ballew

Blane and Nana

Blane and Papa Jim

Can you believe Blane is big enough for this now?!

Pictures

Laney & Daddy!

Laney coming down the chute to be 'worked' :)

Daddy & Blane (~ 2 months)

Baby Bunny McKenna found!

Proclaim!

I just have to do a very quick and brief post on God's Goodness! I guess it's a true indicator of my gifting and passion b/c i absolutely cannot go this long without teaching, writing and proclaiming God's goodness and faithfulness and His Truth! Satan wants to kill, steal and destroy. He wants to use times of hardship, darkness, desperation, sleep deprivation, to steal our joy and divert our focus...
Praise God that His Word is alive and active in me and we can claim it, speak it and live it! I have this little Scripture book thing that i made and have been memorizing each page of Scripture every day of Blane's life, staying up with "Jesus Calling", listening to Podcasts and reading 'Created to be His Help Meet' by Debi Pearl (what an awesome book for us wives!)... Some of these days are tough, but I can look back on God's faithfulness, where He has brought us, how He has provided and what He is doing in our lives. He is at work, He is faithful, and He is good. He has really soaked something into the very marrow of my bones over this past season:
Thankfulness. It is to precede our thoughts, our prayers and be woven through our lives, decisions and perspective. Oh how the Lord cherishes thankfulness and humility.
Gratitude and stress cannot coexist.
Gratitude completely alters our perspective and has the power to profoundly change the course of our thoughts and therefore our feelings, emotions and actions.
Thankfulness is the gateway to joy.
What Joy and Color is life with thankfulness! You literally see the glass half full, breathe easier, walk lighter and are able to take struggles more in stride.
Thank You... Jesus.

1 Month Old!

Hey guys! What a month it has been! Sweet little baby Blane will be one month old the 8th! We had his 4 week check up yesterday. He was 7.2# at birth and is now 9.96! 20 in at birth and now 22in! Growing little boy! We had kind of a 'honeymoon' week i would call it his first week of life - we couldn't believe it - it was almost scary how well he ate, slept and was just so content! He's been pretty content off and on since then... working through the typical newborn stuff... and I'm afraid we are battlingn a little bit of reflux but we're trying to work through it and hoping and praying it doesn't get any worse. It is still WAY better and a whole different ball game than with Laney. Please continue praying for us! Yesterday and today he was fussy (to put it lightly) at almost every feeding and waking up from some naps (probably from reflux)... it hurts momma's heart when the feedings aren't peaceful and filling :) We'll work through it though!
'Two women looked through prison bars, one saw mud, the other stars". We choose to look at the stars. We are so thankful for this precious awaited blessing and that far outweighs the exhaustion, hard times, questions, etc.
He loves his big sister and she LOVES him so much too! Precious to watch them both.
My health is better this go around than with Laney (have some of the typical postpartum stuff that most if not every mommy experiences and then some of 'Linsey's weird health stuff... but only 2 migraines so far, nerve stuff is calming down and I'm sleeping a little better when i do get sleep...)
Thank you for your continued prayers! We need them and feel them!

(pics below are a bit of a catch up - finally got pics off Brad's camera... the older woman holding Blane is our precious 92 year old neighbor, Mary Ballew. She is one of THE most amazing women i have ever met and one of my greatest spiritual mentors. She was beside herself with joy to hold our precious one.)

Pictures of Blane!

Papa & Granny with Blane

Mrs Ballew with Blane

Papa and Blane

Working with mommy & daddy

Fishing!

Laney first meeting baby brother!

JEREMIAH BLANE WOODARD

HE'S HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

JEREMIAH BLANE WOODARD

BORN 5-8-12

7 #, 2oz

20 inches

He is amazing!!!! Baby Blane is doing so well! Please PRAISE the Lord with us and continue to lift us up! We are SO thankful for him to be here, in our arms, and for how healthy and perfect he is. God has completely blown us away and, once again, done immeasurably more than what we have even asked or imagined. So far, little Blane has had a different start than his big sister and is not exhibiting the same kind of challenges/concerns. We have just been walking through the typical newborn stuff and transitioning (on muy pecito sleepo :). The whole process of Life is miraculous - conception, pregnancy, birth... and then all that takes place immediately for a newborn and all they have to start taking in and doing differently outside the womb... wow - beyond me!

Thank you so much for your prayers! They have been felt!

More to come and Pictures asap!

Labor in swing - come on Baby Blane!

Waiting... and waiting... and waiting :)

40 Weeks!

Well folks... Baby Blane is still comfy cozy in my belly ("warm and tozy" as Laney would say). We had our 40 week check up today, May 3rd (due date!!) - everything looked good health wise but I have not progressed a bit (to my shock;) and the doc sent us in for an ultrasound to check fluid and his size and make sure on everything to get a little game plan together.
The ultrasound went good (just LOVE seeing this sweet little guy every chance we get :) They estimate his weight at 7# 15oz :0 Bigger than we were expecting! With how they figure it on ultrasound, there is a possibility of baby being up to one pound more than this, to one pound less than this. Given this tech's 'record' with measuring babies and them actually being born, she and the doc told me that:
- 7# 15oz is estimate
- 6#15oz - 8#15oz is range (what he could be)
- 7#8oz - 7#15oz is most likely his size (their prediction)

He is still head down... way down... and had a good heart beat and fluid looked good!

Given my anatomy and his size and that there is no question whatsoever as to do our due date (embryo transfer), the doc does not want us to go more than a week overdue. She has seen little benefit in going more than a week over anyways. We concur.
They checked out the books at the hospital and schedules and Tuesday is the best day to induce, SO... they have us down for:
-Monday 5pm check in (start Cervidil)
- Tuesday 5am (start Pitocin)

Monday is my dad's birthday! Would be pretty cool for his grandson to get to share a birthday with one of the most amazing men on this earth!

We know that anything can happen between now and then, and truthfully, we hope it does. We desire to go into labor completely on our own, just as we desired with Laney.
Ya, I was a little discouraged today with no change or progress (and shocked!), and 'everyone else seems to be going into labor on their own' - hee! But, I rest in God's Plan, His timing ('my times are in Your hands'). We have so much to be thankful for and we choose to focus on that. We are grateful we have carried him to term and he has had every opportunity to develop and put on some extra fat that will benefit him outside the womb. We are grateful to have carried him... period... what a miracle! what a blessing! We are grateful for the extra time this week that we desperately needed to get our feet back on the ground and things under our belt from the crazy month we've just had. We're grateful that hopefully this way we can all concentrate our selves, time and prayers on my niece's surgery tomorrow and not be torn in different directions. We are grateful for a doctor who is great, who genuinely cares about us personally and will do all she can to see to it that he gets a safe arrival :)
Below are the Scriptures God brought to my attention today... loving, steady reminders of His faithfulness and that He is above all, through all, and in Him ALL things hold together. Blane's birthday is no surprise to Him.
We ask that you continue to please pray for us!! We need them, we feel them and we cherish them!

"You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.

⁴So trust in the Lord (commit yourself to Him, lean on Him, hope confidently in Him) forever; for the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages]." Isaiah 26:3-4

Before I formed you in the womb I knew^[a] you,
before you were born I set you apart" Jeremiah 1:5

"You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me." Psalm 139:5

"all the days ordained for me were written in your book

before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:16

Pregnancy and Prayer Update! 38 weeks!

Hi friends and family! Prayer Warriors! Thank you so much for your prayers and support through this pregnancy (as well as with Laney, infertility and so on!). I have certainly not emailed out and posted near as much this pregnancy. A lot I want to write but it is rare when those thoughts get to make it down onto paper (journal) and even more rare when they make it all the way on to here!
We are due May 3rd (38 weeks along this week!) and just cannot believe it! Still in awe and shock that our second little embryo survived and has THRIVED!! He's a strong little guy! We think we have decided on the name enough to actually officially put it on here :0 Jeremiah Blane Woodard. He'll go by Blane :)
We had read years ago and marked in my journal how 'Bane' = long awaited child. And had read a good ole' Louis Lamour book a while back with Utah Blaine in it (a tough rugged awesome cowboy!). While we have tossed around a page full of B and J names, these were what kept surfacing to the top. We, of course, like Jeremiah for Biblical significance (he had some crazy perseverance i'll give him that!) and Brad has always felt that name to be a strong name. We wanted to keep Brad's initials for this baby in honor of him and his daddy (Papa Jim!) so we knew JBW from the start! We are so excited about baby Blane and Laney is WAY excited about him coming!!!

There are so many praises I cannot even list them all. As most of you know, we have worked so hard on my health and God has been so gracious. We have continued to uncover many critical things and worked through a lot with specialists and have seen very positive results. My health going in to this embryo transfer last summer was way better than with Laney! The first part of the pregnancy proved to be just as tough (very sick) but I steadily improved, where as with Laney i didn't really much at all! I can't say the nausea ever actually left but it is worlds better than the first half which is incredible within itself. I have not been anemic this pregnancy; my blood sugar has stabilized better; I have had little to no migraines :0 and my neck/jaw flair ups have significantly improved. Overall i have actually done really well and stayed super active chasing Laney everywhere ;) Just being able to cook without puking and wearing a bandana all the time has been amazing!

The first semester (up till Thanksgiving) we were monitored heavily by Texas Fertility Center. Once again blown away by Dr. Hansard there (absolutely incredible and amazing wisdom and judgment in our individual set of circumstances). The rest of the pregnancy has been with a normal OB in Fredericksburg and I have not known what to do with myself. Like she said, pregnancy after infertility is just downright tough - you're always waiting for the other shoe to fall off. She has rejoiced with me at seeing somewhat 'normal' tests results come back. Can you believe it?!!!

Please continue to pray for us in this final stretch. While we have been purposefully taking more and more off our plates, we have been pretty full lately with K-Life Banquet and have Brad's brother's wedding this weekend in Austin, etc. After this weekend things will calm down a TON. We pray that the Lord keeps baby Blane in my tummy all warm and snuggly until His perfect time for him to be born. Please pray for His health, for my health, for labor and delivery, for postpartum, for his health after birth, and most of all for his life. We pray blessings over him and the plans God has - He will be a mighty warrior for our King!
We have done IgE and IgG testing amongst other things and are altering diets and will have specific nursing diet for when he gets here in effort to not repeat what we went through with Laney! We are hopeful with how much it will help!

I find myself these days wanting to have my bags packed, bed made and things 'ready' for taking off in his anticipation. Is that not how we should live out our lives everyday, in a spiritual sense, for the anticipation of our heavenly home?! Our citizenship is there! We are travelers, on a pilgrimage, passing through. May we be reminded to be ready for Christ's return, and ready to go Home when He calls. What are we doing each day to impact His Kingdom? How are we living for Him - beyond ourselves - beyond our mailbox - beyond our means? I want to raise children with an eternal perspective - pray for us as we commit to this please! I am honored to journey with you my friends!

All of our love and thanksgiving!