Birthday Month: One Day At A Time!

What breakfast looks like on a good day (missing - string cheese)

So I continue to celebrate my birthday each day, somehow! Since my last post, I ran the Neon Run with my friend Sara. That was fun! Pictures will come later. (Unfortunately, they are at home on my camera.) That was this past weekend!

So lately, I have been reading this:

One of the ladies in my support group read this after having her miscarriage. She said it helped her out a lot. I didn't realize the book she was offering for someone to read until, at the end of our time together, I looked over since nobody went for it and took a second look. This is EXACTLY the book that I wanted to order a couple of months ago!

I had been listening to John MacArthur's series in the mornings about what happens to babies/children when they die. It perked my attention for obvious reasons - I had a miscarriage last year. I have never really heard a pastor talk about this with such compassion and detail. He was not giving your typical pat answer. So with good intentions, I meant to call their ministry to obtain this book for free but that time went and left but it was always somewhere in the back of my mind. So when I asked if I could have the book, she said, "sure!". And when I picked it up, I was like, "Thank You Jesus!" I was meant to get that book at that time and it was so encouraging. It's moments like that, though I know His love never stops, but it's those tangible moments that I know God really does love me (us) and He does answer prayer!

Recently this happened to my dogs:

Both doggies got groomed! It was a Happy Birthday present from me to them :)



And last but not least I got to watch this:

Sorry for the quality, but you get it.

Last week, on April 9th, my birthday twin called me, while she was having 3-minute apart contractions to see if I wanted to come to the hospital to watch the process of her giving birth. Um, YES! I was so excited and honored that she would even ask me. One of the songs that played while on the way up to the hospital was "Happy" by Pharrell. Such a good song and appropriate for the moment.

I arrived at the hospital around 6:00p.m. and went to the top floor of the hospital and called both her and her husband's phones. He answered and peeked his head out of the room. I walked down to the room and inside to find her laboring in the tub they had in the room. In between contractions, she was able to talk but I tried to give them as much space as possible. Kind of like being a fly stuck on the wall.

As contractions increased, I headed over to the waiting room where my husband brought me some dinner and we ate together. I love that my husband was there and at the same time, I felt like I was a nurse on call. After 30 minutes or so, I told Adam that I should go back to the room and he so wanted me to stay with him. We had no idea when baby was going to be born, but I didn't want to miss a thing and he wanted to be with his wife, since he was not allowed in the room. So, I decided to stay in there with him for another 30 minutes and while in there my friend's husband ran into the room to drop off a cup for me to fill up with water to take back and went back to his wife's room. So I filled up the cup, told Adam I would be back and went to the room.

She seemed to be doing well but by now in a lot of pain. They had ordered up an epidural by then and were waiting. So I went back to the waiting room and waited there a little bit longer.

I said goodbye to my husband and went straight to the birthing room! I'm so glad I did. Her nurse midwife was coaching her through her contractions, which kept coming like the waves of the ocean slapping on the shore. They were getting closer, like 90 seconds apart.

That was 7:30 pm. They finally got her out of the tub for a second time (since I've been there) and took her to the bed where she was in extreme pain, still waiting for the epidural. As the nurse was trying to coach her to breath, I sat on the side of the breathing "for her" and praying. The nurse asked her was she pushing. Whatever her body was doing, that's what she was doing.

The nurse midwife, tried to wait for the doctor but she called some other nurses in to get the cart ready and to set up the room. And they did it quickly and efficiently! One nurse even introduced herself to me. How nice!

My friend wanted a mirror so that she could see the birth. But that baby was not waiting because by 8:00 p.m., the nurse lifted one of my friend's legs and there was a head and the other nurses helped his little body the rest of the way out!

She had her natural birth! She wanted a epidural but by the time they had ordered it, she was already 8cm.

He came out and started crying. Tears came to my eyes the miracle that was happening before me!

Amazing! Extremely Amazing!

Happy birthday little guy! Thank you for making my birthday month a bit more special!

Until next time,

Mrs. M

Ready, Set, Glow!!!

via Neon Run Facebook

Yes, it is that time again where I push myself to do a 5k! I know, no big deal, right? It's just 3.1 miles! Like I've said before, I am NOT a runner. Okay, maybe just a little.

The times that I do get out to run and maybe push myself a little farther than before, I feel SO good! I'm a little halfway there. I ran an estimated 2.2 miles this morning! Ha ha! I run with my little chihuahua/retriever mix (don't ask) :). She does pretty good for herself! Of course, there are times where she wants to stop at a scented spot here and there that's new to her but I tug at her harness and tell her to keep going. But sometimes the stops are a welcome relief. There are other times, where she will start sprinting and so that encourages me to move a bit faster. It's nice to have a cute running buddy!

One day, oooone day, I'll get to a half marathon! I'll put that on my bucket list.

Oh, birthday month update! So this past weekend was a blast! I have several other April birthday friends and I got to celebrate one of them this past weekend. I celebrated with my friend, Gracie, who by example, showed me I need a little, no A LOT of color in my life! It's amazing the colors that you can put together. You should try it this spring and summer! There are so many colors to wear! You just might pick up someone's face with a smile!  It was fun spending part of her birthday with her and some other friends.

Gracie is in the middle!

My friend Nefertari (above picture, right), came and visited too! I know she was so happy to see Gracie and to hang out with us. Nefertari is not only my friend but a purse diva, I carry one of them with me all the time! She's also a food connoisseur. On her way down to visit us, she stopped at a couple of her favorite spots to pick up some of the items she loves, so she can take them back home to enjoy, a little at a time. She even brought me an early birthday cupcake from DOTS. It was so very moist and though the cake was not too sweet, the icing made up for it. Thank You Lord for friends.

Sunday, I was so exhausted from the weekend that after we went to church in the morning and looked for a microwave, I just wanted to go home and take a nap. And that's just what I did, a two-hour-nap!

Later on that night, I had a good cry. I found out I hurt my husband's feelings, more like embarrassed him and I didn't realize it. I was caught up in the moment. But I should have known, by the small signals he was giving me or the look he gave me.

So after our heated exchange, I left the table to cry. I wanted to stop the tears but I'm like, you know what, it's a okay to cry. I gave the situation to the Lord and asked Him to help me to understand my husband better and to help me be aware.  I told my husband that I was sorry for what I did. Though it was a hard night, he forgave me. We talked about it later and I got a better understanding. Plus, we had the best make up ever!

So here's to another week of birthday fun and celebration!

Love, Mrs. M 



 

Celebrating all month long!

Back when I was 24, I met a guy who did a bit of traveling. He told me of some of his travels. I even dated him for a little bit. But the thing that caught my attention of what he said, was WHEN he intentionally travelled and not just for work. He took trips on or around his birthday every year. I'm like, "What a great idea!". It so happened, that year I was turning 25 and my dad asked if I wanted to take a trip with him to see my extended family in Texas. Um, yes please! And that's when I became intentional about celebrating my birthday.

First, it started off with celebrating for a week. One year, some good friends of mine celebrated with me for two days the week of my birthday! I'm not sure what order we did the following things: One night we watched a movie and ate pizza and ice cream.  Another day we went to Universal Studios! During that week, I also got my hair done along with my nails and also got a wax. Ha ha! I went shopping for an outfit to go to Universal Studios in. That was fun! I would have liked to go to somewhere out of town but where I live, there is plenty to do around and close by.

So, I did a week celebration for several years. I even took a week off on my birthday several times. I just wanted to celebrate life! I've flown out of town to visit a friend, I've driven with my mother to go visit my great Aunt and so many fun things! You don't know when it's your time to go, enjoy the time that God has given you!

Then I turned 30! At the time, where a lot of women and friends alike dreaded turning 30, something happy clicked for me! I was excited! I felt more mature. I also felt like I was becoming more of the woman I was suppose to be. Trust me, I hadn't arrived and I still haven't but I felt like good changes were around the corner! Little did I know that in the near future that I would be learning some hard lessons which included going depression. But it also held good times, like going to Africa for the first time and reconnecting with my future husband and marrying him a couple of years later!

Later on in life it hit me! Why not celebrate the whole month of April as my birthday! It's the little things people. I don't have to go all out every day but like I said it's the little things.

Last year, my husband and I went to Ensenda for a house building trip on my birthday for several days. That was an adventure! And the day before we went, I found out that I was pregnant! What a birthday surprise that was! What a gift to be able to be in wonder at the miracle of life! It was very heartbreaking though when I lost the baby the next month.

So this year, this month, I'm taking it one day at a time to look for things to celebrate. So this is it so far:

1. April 1st, it was the first day of my birthday month! I went to see my OBGYN (I know fun!) and we talked about the possible cause of my infertility - a polyp acting as "natures" IUD. And the possibility of having it removed next month! So far, so good! Then I capped off the day, with having a "Black Girls Night Out" with my birthday twin (4 years removed) and her friends, for dinner and drinks!

2. April 2nd, I met a new group of girls who blessed my heart! We are all on a journey towards having babies. We have all dealing with infertility is some form or fashion. All of our stories are different as well as similar in so many ways. They were all encouraging. We support each other, root each other on and I feel like there is still hope for me!

3. April 3rd, since being a part of the ministry listed in #2, one of the ladies put a song on Facebook to encourage us. It's a song, sung by an artist named Meredith Andrews and the song is called Not For A Moment. It was just the song that I needed around the time I miscarried. It spoke to my heart of God's care for me and not for a moment did He leave me. I was reminded of that once again on this day!

4. April 4th, today is Coffee Friday! I decided that at least once a week, I could treat myself to a nice big cup of coffee, preferably a foo-foo drink. Today, I had a Salted Caramel Mocha hot coffee. It was mm-mmm good! I also got a call from my doctor's office scheduling me for my surgery!

This month, I have so much to look forward to and I'm thankful for each day I get to wake up, kiss my husband and start the day! So far, so good!

How do you like celebrating?

Love,

Mrs. M