Just requesting a few prayers...

So, here it is...the inevitable "feeling so sorry for myself" blog post. I really try to stay (outwardly) optimistic, not (publicly) complain and for, whatever reason, I don't ask for prayers for myself very often. However, I have felt compelled to do so today and I will explain why.
I was hospitalized again this week for three LONG days and nights, and yes I know, this is nothing new. However, there were a few things that made this hospital stay a little different. First of all, the bigger I get the more my uterus presses on the area where the stones are and the pain gets significantly worse as the weeks go by. When the pain gets unbearable, the vomiting begins and I reach a point where I can't keep any fluids or my meds down. This is the point at which I have to be admitted to the hospital.

The increasing days spent in the hospital is now presenting another challenge. I have had to have IVs so much that basically I no longer have viable veins in my hands or arms. They have put IVs in my neck a couple of times, but this time they decided to use whatever they could in my hands. Well, eventually the ivs began to leak (can't remember the medical terminology) into the tissue and to make a long story short, both my hands and arms are now swollen about 10 times their normal size. No joke. They are swollen to the point that I can't bend my fingers, grasp a fork, or even pick up sweet Hayes. So, they are very concerned about what they will have to do if I am hospitalized many more times.

But this, like the constant pain, is something that I have to endure. I made it through my pregnancy with Hayes (even though it wasn't this bad) and I know that with lots of prayers and the fact that I have put this in the hands of our beyond-amazing God, I can get through it. However, this hospital stay brought on another challenge, which is the reason that I am asking for prayer. All of the challenges I have faced during the last seven months have been problems that solely affected me, but this new challenge is one that could affect Ella Bailey, and that breaks my heart.

While I was in the hospital, I began contracting and eventually they gave me medicine and stopped them. Thankfully, I haven't had any more contractions and my beyond fabulous OB assured me not to worry, but of course with all that is going on, I do have a fear of her being born premature. I had Hayes at 36 weeks and 5 days, and I just pray that I make it that long with this pregnancy. So basically, I know this happens and I shouldn't worry about it, but I would just feel better if my sweet friends sent a few prayers up, and I thank ya dearly in advance :)

I do apologize for the feeling "blah" blog post, but I have been lying here in pain and feeling sorry for myself today. But, gosh darnit, I deserve one of those days. Not to mention that today I saw a FB post by someone that said "It is the best feeling ever to have a life inside of you and I don't understand why some pregnant women complain about every ache and pain." Ohhhh, hell no! Not a good day to read that! Granted, I didn't know the girl, so she certainly wasn't speaking to me, but it took every smidgen of goodness inside this 'ole girl not to send her a message saying something to the extent of "ok hefer, you try having stones covered in spikes slowly making their way down your ureter and spending most of your waking hours in pain much worse than labor . Then, while you are at it, for fun why don't you chase a two-year-old around all day, then you let me know what kind of complaining you do."

But, instead of sending the message, I chose to blog and ask for prayers. By the way, while you are at, please also pray for a little patience for this momma, because as you can see, I definately need it.

Not that I feel that this post needs a disclaimer, but let me say this, not because I feel I need to, but because it is the truth. I DO know that I am so incredibly blessed beyond imagination. I DO know that I have the best family, friends, support system, OB, etc. that any girl could ask for. I DO know that in 8 WEEKS every twinge of pain will be completely worth it when I look into Ella Bailey's sweet face. I DO know that there are so many people in this world with problems that my little challenges pale in comparison to. I DO know that I have felt no greater peace in my life than during times like these when I truly hand these problems over to God and entirely trust Him with them. But, I DO also know that a girl has to vent sometimes, and today I am content doing just that.

But, while I am venting and asking for prayers, I wanted to share a passage from a fabulous book that I just finished reading called "A Perfect Mess" by Lisa Harper. Her words remind me of the incredible beauty that follows these "venting" days when we as Christians trust our pain to Him.

"I am convinced that trusting God with our pain and disappointment leads to greater intimacy with Him. When we tell god where and why it hurts, we will experience divine embraces that last until our souls stop quivering. We will hear comforting whispers that mute our cries of distress. We will sense nail-scarred hands reaching down to tilt our faces toward Him, followed by the promise 'I am right here...I'll never leave you.'"

Hayes and Ella Bailey's 4D pics compared...

I simply cannot put into words how exciting it was to see Ella Bailey today! I was back in the same room, with the same sweet ultrasound tech as in 2008 and I couldn't believe my eyes when she started doing the ultrasound. I felt like I was watching Hayes' 4D all over again, because Ella Bailey looked JUST like him! She is the spittin' image (as my Maw Maw says) of Hayes' 4D pics and of what he looked like when he was born. The nose, the lips, absolutely everything!

David and I were both pretty amazed. During this entire pregnancy, I have told David that I think she will look like Hayes, but neither one of us could get over the resemblence on the 4D pics. Although, it has been an exciting day, it has also been long and this mama is pooped. So, I will post all the pics from Ella Bailey's 4D tomorrow, but I wanted to do the Hayes-Ella Bailey comparison pictures before I went to bed. On a side note, thank you, thank you, thank you for all the sweet comments and prayers about my gestational diabetes test results. I found out today that I tested negative and I am beyond happy and relieved!! Dr. Garrard also said that because of my kidney situation we would do the c-section at 38 weeks, which means only 10 weeks to go before I see Ella Bailey's precious face in person. Yaaayyy!!!

Ok, so here are the pictures. After I have rambled on and on about how much they look alike, nobody else will probably see the resemblence...but trust me on this one!  The first two pictures are of Hayes' 4D and the second two are of Ella Bailey. Ella Bailey refused to look straight, so the angles are different, but you get the idea....

Merry Merry and Happy New Year!!

Goodness gracious, I have seriously been neglecting this poor blog! It is New Year's Eve, I have been in the bed all day with strep throat, and in the spirit of turning 30 this year, I am ringing in the New Year in true old woman fashion. PJs, watching a movie with the hubby in bed and yes catching up on the 'ole blog. Boy, do I ever have some catching up to do!

I will start with Christmas. For those of you who aren't in love with looking at pics of my child, you should probably stop reading right about now. Mama got a new camera from Santa this year and oh you know I have lots of pictures to share!!

So, normally we would celebrate Christmas Eve with David's family, then head up to Fort Payne to wake up Christmas morning, but we decided to do it a little different this year. Since Hayes is older this year and understands how this Santa Claus thing works, I really wanted him to be home on Christmas morning. So, Mom headed down here on Thursday, attended David's family Christmas with us and stayed until Sunday. Dad and Maw Maw Bailey came down Christmas morning and spent the day with us! So glad they made it, because we were worried they wouldn't make it because of all the snow in Fort Payne, and Hayes' Christmas just wouldn't have been the same without his Paw Paw!

This Christmas was just so much fun! I just love Hayes' age right now (ok, not all the time) and he really got into the Christmas spirit this year. He loved talking about the real reason we celebrate Christmas and it just melted my heart every time he belted out, "Hopppy Birfday, Jeeesus!" Last year he couldn't have cared less about opening gifts, but this year he was ALL about it! We had to watch him like a hawk to keep him from sneaking off and opening everyone else's gifts, as well. And Santa Claus, oh Santa Claus. This is all David and I heard for a month! The first thing Hayes said every morning was "I love Santa Claus!" So, we couldn't wait to take him to meet Santa Claus and....

Seriously? So after we peeled him off David and made it to the car I asked him if he still loved Santa Claus. His response was, "No, Santa Claus loves me!" From then on every morning when he woke up instead of saying "I love Santa Claus" he said "Santa Claus loves me." :)

Some pics of the Gardner (plus my mom) family get together..

 Singing Christmas carols....

And Uncle Channing taught Hayes how to play paper football...

So, you all know that it is a constant battle to keep Hayes' clothes on. He will disappear out of sight for a second and return naked as a jaybird. So, why should Christmas or family get togethers be any different, ya know?

And some pics from Christmas Eve and Christmas morning...

 Of course that sweet boy had to give Ella Bailey Christmas kisses!!

Wow, what an amazing Christmas it was! There is nothing better than seeing the pure joy in your child's eyes on Christmas morning. It is hard to believe that next Christmas we will have two little angels to celebrate the holidays with. It is also hard to believe that as I am typing this there are only 3 hours left in 2010. God has blessed us so incredibly this year and I can only imagine the sweet blessings he will place in our lives in 2011. After all, what could be better than starting a New Year knowing that in approximately 10 weeks I will be holding the little girl that I have been praying for and dreaming of in my arms. Happy New Year and I wish for you all the love and joy that your heart can hold in 2011!!

27 weeks!

I am sitting here today wondering where the time has gone. It is the day after Christmas and I can't help but think that means that 2011 is almost here, which means that Baby Ella Bailey is almost here. Ahhhh!!! Next week I will be able to count on two hands the remaining weeks until my scheduled c-section. Nine (really ten) months seems like an eternity, but it truly flies by!!

I know that my blog has been neglected lately, and there are several Christmas posts to come in the next few days, but I wanted to post some pics of my 27-week-belly. Please say a prayer for me this week, because I have my gestational diabetes 3-hour-test on Thursday. I know a diagnosis of GD is not the worst thing that can happen in a pregnancy, but I truly feel like I am at the end of my rope right now. My kidney stones situtation is getting very bad and we are all worried about the next couple of months. The pain is incredibly worse the larger I get and to make matters worse, Ella Bailey stays on the side where the stone is stuck and kicks it constantly. Excruciating pain!! There has been a lot of discussion about doing surgery to put in a stent, but I just don't want to take any chances with surgery for Ella Bailey, especially since there is only a small chance it will even help. I just feel (and hope and pray) that I made it through the pain. I did it with Hayes and pray I can do it this time, as well. I just REALLY don't want to have to deal with GD on top of all this, so we are praying for good results on Thursday.

On a much happier note, we will be having our 4D ultrasound on January 4! Hayes looked JUST like his 4D pics when he was born and we simply cannot wait to see Miss Priss!! Here are some pics of my big'ole belly this week.

Deckin' the halls....

We are finished with all of our Christmas decorating....finally! We got a late start this year, since I was in the hospital all last week, and I was beginning to think we would never get everything finished. I LOVE our real tree, but it almost caused David and I to get divorced last night :). He couldn't get it straight in the stand and my big pregnant self couldn't hold the darn thing up straight for two hours while he worked underneath it, then Hayes had his hammer trying to help, and I had to have it perfectly straight and blah, blah, blah. Two trips to Wal-Mart, some help from the neighbors and a roll of duct tape later, we finally got it straight in the stand. AND I would like to give a big shout out to the person who invented the tree skirt.

After all that, this girl was hitting the sack, so the decorating of the tree had to wait until tonight. We had a great time decorating, and of course, Hayes had some decorating ideas of his own....

After untangling the kid and the dog, we finally got to work on the tree.

And the finished result.....

And with the lights off....:)

Of course, we had to get Ella Bailey an ornament. Can't believe she will actually be here to enjoy Christmas with us next year!

And here is Hayes' favorite ornament....

Finally, we have a  house that is decorated inside and out, which means we also have one tired mama. Night!!