Let Us Praise Him!

I just want to PRAISE GOD for the birth of a healthy MckMuffin on Wednesday, MckMama's baby with the in utero heart issues. I've been alternately weepy and ecstatic (sometimes at the same time!) over the awesomeness of our God and the healing He has given this child.

Prayers are answered! Miracles do happen!

For those who haven't yet checked out her blog, there's a button on my sidebar or you can click here. It's a beautiful testimony to the power of God and faith and community.

Thank you, Jesus, for the gift of Stellan. We glorify You and know whatever You do is right - we thank you abundantly for Stellan's healing! We praise You for Your goodness and generosity and compassion. Through the intercession of Your mother, Mary, we ask for protection for Stellan as he is monitored over the next few months, and that the miracle of his life continue to glorify You.

Shot Through the Heart...

...and you're to blame, darlin', you give lo-o-ove a bad name! naaa-naa na-na-na-na naa-na!

Oh. Sorry. My love of Bon Jovi overcame me for a moment.

But, speaking of being shot...

We had our teaching session for the lovenox medication today. All I can say is, this baby better know how much I love him :)

I have much more respect for my Nanny Crossley now, who was diabetic. I remember as a child watching her give herself shots like it was no big deal. Too bad I didn't have that reaction today.

I was able to keep it together until after I'd given myself the shot. Little bit of a meltdown once it was all over, though. I'm sure it's mostly because I'd worked myself up over this whole thing ... plus, it's just freaky. I don't watch other people poke me, I always turn my head. So actually having to watch myself give myself a shot ... uber freaky!! But, I did it, so hopefully it will get easier. If not, there's always Jorde :)

On the upside, I think the nurse practioner (Val) felt bad for me because I was crying and upset, and asked, "Would you like to see the heartbeat on ultrasound?" Well, I am never going to turn down that opportunity, so for the second time this week, we got to see our little Webb-let. Heartbeat was strong and fast (probably in the 170s, we were told) so...so far, so good :)

3rd Time's the Charm

***Update: Our niece, Megan, suggested that our countdown ticker be called a Webb Cam ... so, Megan, just for you we changed it :) ***

Y'all are not going to believe this.

Heck, I didn't believe it until official confirmation just a little while ago.

Are you ready?

Okay, here goes ...

I'm pregnant. 8 weeks. Really. Pretty quick, huh?

I've been in a bit of a daze these past 2 weeks. When our home test came back as "Pregnant", I literally stared at it, waiting for it to stop pulling my leg and give me the other (more expected) outcome. But it didn't. I even wondered if the "lights" were bad in my particular brand of test and the "Not" part just burned out (yes, I realize that's ridiculous, there are no lights in these gadgets, but I was slowly going into shock at that moment and comprehensive thought had just flown out the window). My brain just refused to accept the information.

Of course, I woke Jorde up to tell him the news ... he, too, was surprised (we'd had a negative test 2 weeks prior), but seemed to accept the information pretty quickly, kissed me, then rolled over and went back to sleep.

Oh, that I could shut off my brain that easily.

(Deep breath in. Deep breath out.)

It's not that we aren't happy. Of course we're happy - in a reserved and scared silly kind of way. It's just, well, this was the first month we were "allowed" to try again, and we didn't really try. At all. Plus, we expected it to take a few months, like it always has. Which just means, as with our other 2 babies, that this child is here on God's terms, not ours...just hopefully, this one won't be going to live with Him for a long, long, long, long time. Loooong time. Long.

So, for our friends who requested to know specifics about what to pray for when we were once again "in the family way", here you go:

* no blood clots - this was the biggest problem last time, and the one our doctors are trying to prevent with the anti-coagulation meds I will soon be starting - my high blood pressure can also impact this negatively, even though it's controlled medically - it was also mentioned that pre-eclampsia could be an issue, as well as another placental abruption (10% chance) due to that happening last time, so please keep that in mind, as well

* safe and healthy pregnancy & delivery - everyone always wants this, of course, but I just really feel the need to include that because, honestly, I want to come through this as well as the baby - there's enough medical stuff going on to make anyone nervous, and though I try not to be, I'm definitely nervous

* healthy baby that we get to take home with us - duh, right? But it's worth making a point of saying, in our case

We'll keep you all updated as everything progresses. I'm pretty open about our baby-medical information because I think the more people know the better their prayers will be. I know I'm that way when praying for other people - the more you know, the more specific your petition.

Also, just for fun (for me, at least), on the sidebar is a baby countdown ticker that shows the fetal stage of our Webb-let, counting down to our due date, which, by the way, is May 26th (no nickname, as yet, but we'll let you know when we have one).

Thank you, in advance, for all of the prayers offered for us and this little one. They are all appreciated more than you know.

My precious Jesus, we thank You for our unborn child. We treasure this child as a gift from You. Our child was created in Your image, perfectly healthy and complete. You have known our child since conception and know the path of his life. I ask Your blessing upon our baby. It is in You, Lord, that our child will live and move, and have his being. He is Your offspring and will come to worship and praise You.

Heavenly Father, I thank and praise You for the great things You have done and are continuing to do. I am in awe at the miracle of life You have placed inside of me. Thank You! Amen.

Aunt Sister

I just found out that my Aunt Sister (my aunt, my mom's sister...and yes, that's what we call her) is having heart surgery tomorrow, back home in Alabama. My understanding is that first she'll have a heart cath done, and whatever the outcome of that is will determine whether she has a pacemaker implanted, or has heart bypass surgery.

Just so ya know, she's one of the Crossley relations I referred to in the post about my lab results, so she has had many heart/health issues through the years, this just being the latest.

My Aunt Sister is a wonderful, happy, faithfilled woman - and one of the funniest storytellers I know. It's truly a gift! She was out here visiting earlier this year and what a blast we had with her - I hated to see her go home :) We all love her so much and are praying for her recovery. Any prayers for her health and safe passage through surgery tomorrow will be so appreciated.

Thank y'all so much for being prayer supporters for me and my family. We love you, we appreciate you, and we thank God that you're in our lives.

P.S. Thanks for putting up with my little rant yesterday. I know I don't need to apologize for it...it's my blog for corn's sake...but I so rarely thrust my opinion on people that I can't help it. I can say with almost certainty that you will never have to read another political-type post here again. Not that I don't stick by what I said, because I do. Can you tell someone got under my skin yesterday? :)

A Quick Political Rant - Just Because I Can

Can I just say it? I hate politics.

It is uninteresting to me and a constant source of conflict between all manner of people - and I avoid conflict as much as possible in my life. I mean, who needs it?

But some people - ya know, the ones who like politics, who enjoy debate, who get that crazy gleam in their eyes whenever an issue is raised or their candidates name is mentioned - are so dang tenacious about bringing you over to their side! And how dare I not know the "truth" about the issues (whose truth, I ask), why are you not supporting so-and-so, don't you care about your country, how can you possibly disagree with me?! They are always right, and you are not, so be sure to remember that. How frustrating!

I am very aware, however reluctantly, that it is my duty, not only as a US citizen but as a Christian, to vote and do my part to steer our country down the path I believe God wants us to go. The only problem with that is this: not everybody is letting God lead their decisions. If they were, abortion would be a non-issue. It seems to me - a non-political junkie, an outsider if you will - that God is only in politics when it's thought to be helpful in winning votes. Say what you will (and since it's my blog, I will), our country was founded on basic Christian principles, and the further we get from them, the bigger the hole we seem to be digging for ourselves.

Take this whole economic bailout disaster. Get to the root of the problem and do you know what you have? Greed, plain and simple. And not just on one side.

And that leaves us, the people who pay our mortgages on time every month, who struggle sometimes to keep our heads above water, to fork over more of our money to fix someone else's mistakes.

It just irks me.

I know, I know. Our economy can't afford to get worse. I just get testy when we have difficulty paying off all of our doctor's bills and the government doesn't care to step in and bail us out. I don't see the mom-and-pop business down the street getting a hand-out either. Can't make ends meet? So sorry - but we'll be taking more taxes, regardless.

So, know this about me, where politics are concerned - I do love my country, very, very much. I support our troops, but don't know how I feel about the war. I'm worried and ashamed of some of the actions of our leaders on issues, but I'm not them and don't have to answer for those choices on Judgement Day. I will fulfill my voting duty, even if it's not my favorite thing to do, and whether you like my candidate or not really doesn't matter to me.

Can we just not talk about it?