But... What's Gonna Happen Tomorrow?

So much life at this moment is going so well, & I know that God has orchestrated so much good for my family in the last few months. 

~My real estate business has swelled & I'm really starting to gain confidence as a business woman.  I'm sure this is what I want to do & look forward to my future in real estate.

~Michael got a promotion at work. He's now basically the head of the entire Insurance Continuation Program for all Colorado AIDS Project offices in the state of Colorado (we also have offices in Ft Collins, Colorado Springs, Grand Junction & Boulder, in addition to Denver). He's a rockstar!

~Our baby is growing normally, as much as we can tell at the moment & we have a wonderful support system for having this baby. I haven't had really any of your typical pregnancy discomforts. My one complaint is that I have despised coffee since becoming pregnant, & that fact makes me a bit angry. But body, you love coffee!?!

~We put our house on the market at the beginning of April, & we had an offer within a week, & were under contract in 10 days. We close May 29th. What?!? I know! That's what I said! By the way, did I mention it's a full price offer? We are getting much more than we thought. Oh, more icing to put on this cake, the buyer doesn't want to have an inspection. He doesn't care what might be wrong with the house, he just wants to buy it. Um... really?!? This kind of stuff doesn't happen!

And there's more, really, but in the interest of time & losing my readers, I'll stop there. But trust me: We are blessed & God has shown His goodness to us in abundance the last few months.

But there's this one thing. This one thing that is not going as smoothly as the rest. We are unable to find a house we want to buy! The market in Denver right now is crazy. Few houses on the market, & those that are decent are shooting off the market & under contract in a matter of days. Denver is the 2nd leading city in the nation for lowest days on market for homes, according to the Denver Post just last week. That means homes are selling fast!

So, it seems we've sold our house, but now have no idea where we will be after we move out. How long will it take for us to buy? Where do we live in the meantime? Will we be in our new home by the time the baby's born? What if we can't find anything? Suddenly my thoughts are uncertain, anxious, stressed. Two seconds ago I was feeling thankful and blessed. What happened?

Why are we so quick to forget the good & stress about the uncertainty? Why are we so quick to become anxious about what's ahead? God did all this great stuff in the past, but what about tomorrow? Is He trustworthy? Does He really care? Is He really going to work everything out? I remind myself of God's people in the Old Testament. He brought them out of slavery in Egypt, & within a matter of days they were grumbling because they couldn't find water. Then they grumbled because they didn't have food. Then they grumbled because their feet hurt. Well, I don't know about that, but it sure seems they did a lot of grumbling right after God did a miracle for them! But you know what? God provided. He gave them water. He gave them food. He gave them leaders, & a beautiful, abundant land to live in. He did not neglect His people, even though they didn't trust Him. He says to them in Joshua 1:9, "Be strong & courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

He also says, "For the Lord God is a sun & a shield, the Lord bestows favor & honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless." ~Psalm 84:11

In another more well known verse, God describes how trustworthy He is:

"The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, 

he leads me beside quiet waters,

he refreshes my soul.

He guides me along the right paths for his name's sake.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod & your staff, they comfort me...

Surely your goodness & love will follow me

all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

~Psalm 23

What is this in me that makes me think God doesn't really have my life in control? He IS trustworthy, He is strong, He is able & willing to care for me & for you, in good times, & in times of trouble. The Bible is full of explanations of God's faithfulness & ability to provide for us, His children. I know God will take care of us, & when I feel the anxiety & worry coming up, I will remind myself that God is with me wherever I go, He will not withhold good things from me, in Him I lack nothing, He will lead & refresh me, & He is full of goodness & love for me. Wow. Now that's a remedy for anxiety & worry if I ever heard one.

Thanks for sticking it out with me, I know this post is long! May you be blessed & may any chains of worry or anxiety or stress be loosed by seeking the Lord who has good for you, who loves you, & who wants to be your provider. Let me leave you with this.

"Then, turning to his disciples, Jesus said, 'That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life- whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear. For life is more than food, & your body more than clothing. Look at the ravens. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds! Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And if worry can't accomplish a little thing like that, what's the use of worrying over bigger things? ...Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need. So don't be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom.'" Luke 12:22-26, 31-32

 

AMEN!!!

Our Baby “Plan”

Note: If you don’t care to know some of our detailed labor & delivery plans, this probably isn’t the post for you. =)

We’re 16 weeks along today! Wow we’re almost half way there in this baby-making adventure we’ve started. It’s hard to believe that we’re this far along. But from what I hear there’s this phenomenon that happens once you begin to have kids: Your life begins to disappear faster than you ever thought possible. Well, here we go. It’s started.

As we get further along, it’s time to start thinking about the dreaded L-word. Love? No. Long nights? Not yet. Labor. Yikes. Breathe. We have a plan, & many people are curious what it is. And when they find out, they’re even more curious why the hell we’re planning it the way we are. Well, I’m glad you asked.

I’ll put it out there for you: We’re planning to have this baby naturally with no medical interventions in a birth center. The only Colorado free-standing birth center, Mountain Midwifery Center (check out their website here) is in Englewood, which is pretty close to us. A birth center offers most medical equipment you would find in a obstetrician’s office. We’ve had 2 appointments with our midwives & I’ve gotten your basic blood tests, blood pressure taken, & we’ve heard the baby’s heartbeat. There are a few things that birth centers don’t do, including taking high risk moms, ultrasounds (don’t worry, we’ll go to a doctor’s office to get the gender-revealing ultrasound!), epidurals, or c-sections. 

When I say we’re having this baby in a birth center with a midwife, most people think of chanting, hippies, & primitive delivery methods. Well you can stop freaking out. A midwife is a very normal human being with education, a license, & I will assure you she will not be chanting over me. In addition, the birth center is literally on the same property as Swedish Medical Center, a perfectly normal, relatively hippie-free hospital. The birth center focuses on natural childbirth for women with healthy, normal pregnancies. The birth center is not against hospitals, c-sections or epidurals, rather they (and I) just believe that most women don’t really need them. God forbid anything happens & the baby or I need medical intervention, we could literally walk up the street & check in to the hospital (not that I would at that point, but I could). So breathe & believe me when I tell you we’ll be safe. 

The main reason for using the birth center is the fact that most medical interventions for birth these days are just plain unnecessary. I don’t want surgery, I don’t want a huge needle stuck into my spine, I don’t want to have this baby without ever having felt a contraction. I am a woman. My body is made to have babies. I hear that labor might not be the most enjoyable experience I’ll ever have, but in my opinion, it sort of comes with producing a baby. I can do it. You can do it. 50 years ago, all women had to do it. I’ve never heard a woman say, “I had my baby naturally & I wish I wouldn’t have.” Instead it’s, “I had a bad hospital experience & wish I would have tried to have my baby naturally.” In my mind, giving birth naturally has got to be one of the most powerful, beautiful, & strengthening experiences one can have as a woman. To bring a baby into the world on my own power, with the coaching of my husband, would be simply amazing.

Soapbox Moment: Don’t even get me started on inductions & pitocin. Read about it here if you’re interested, but basically pitocin, given to women not progressing in labor "fast enough," speeds up contractions, to a point where most women need an epidural because the contractions are so much stronger than normal. The epidural slows down labor because it’s an anesthesia. The poor baby is caught in the middle, wondering if it should speed up or slow down. Fetal distress (or confusion I would say) is more common with pitocin, along with an increased heart rate for baby. Which is why there is such a high connection between using pitocin as an induction and then ultimately delivering via C-section. May I remind you that a C-section is a major surgery. But a very healthy & normal intervention, right? =/ Yet as of 2006, 1 in 5 babies were induced, & as of 2011, our C-section rate is above 1/3 of all births!

All this said, I’m not naive enough to think that everything is going to play out perfectly into this plan I’m forming in my mind. Ask my friend Amanda what it’s like to have an experience that doesn’t work out according to your plan. She also planned to have her baby in the same birth center, & she ended up having an emergency c-section. Talk about not what she wanted. And it was a difficult process for her to come to terms with how her actual experience didn’t match with her imagined experience. I’ve learned so much from her, & the one of the biggest lessons is to have a plan, but to be flexible if that plan should change. Hence Our Birth “Plan.”  Knowing very well our plan could change, I am ready to embrace whatever experience God has planned for this labor & delivery.

One caveat I hope you’ll understand is that my position on birth does not mean I think any mother who chooses to birth their child differently than me is less of a woman, or wrong in my mind. And I realize there are situations where any of these interventions is truly necessary: Pitocin, epidural, & c-section! I truly believe every mother will try do what she thinks is best, as best as she can, & who am I to say that is right or wrong? I’m just saying I really believe in this natural childbirth thing, & this is the best choice for me & my baby. I hope you all know me well enough to know that I am not trying to sound or be judgmental. =)

In short, here are some of the reasons I’ve chosen to have a natural birth at a birth center:

• During labor, a midwife is with me at all times & also there to deliver the baby. There’s not a doctor I’ve never met rushing in last minute to stare at my spread eagle & deliver my baby.
• There’s no restrictions during labor- I can move around, eat, drink, & do whatever I feel is best. I’m not restricted to a bed because my legs don’t work.
• Speaking of bed, why do women deliver lying down? Doesn’t that work against gravity? At the birth center, there are multiple options for labor & delivery positions.
• After birth, baby will be placed directly on my skin. There’s no rushing the baby off to weigh & examine it without ample time with mommy & daddy first. This can also help baby learn to breastfeed quicker.
• Moms are usually discharged 4-6 hours after birth. No spending nights or endless hours in the hospital.
• The center offers many classes to get parents as prepared as possible, including Natural Childbirth Prep (4 week series), Breastfeeding, Newborn Care, & Healthy Pregnancy.
• Did I mention it will actually be cheaper than delivering in a hospital? Not that that’s the only reason to go with a birth center, but it’s nice!

So there you have it. Feel free to comment with your opinions, fight back, tell us how crazy we are, wish us luck, or any combination of the above. But most of all, I hope we all wish for healthy moms & healthy babies.

We are Havin' a Baby!

If you haven't heard the news, the Hollars are preggo! In short, we're due September 29th, we're 15 weeks today, we are finding out the gender around 20 weeks, we're using a midwife & birth center instead of a hospital, I've been blessed to feel pretty well, & I will paint a room pink if it's a girl. That should answer most of the questions people ask. Oh, and one more thing. When you read that your body will take 6+ months to get pregnant after going off the Pill, DON'T BELIEVE IT.

We are excited, nervous, scared, terrified, elated, happy, anxious, worried, surprised, & thrilled. That about sums it up. Expect lots more blogs & pictures!

Here are some fun baby events that have happened so far:

We told my parents around my dad's birthday with this card:

 We made a dinner for our friends to try to get them to guess our surprise:

BABY back ribs

BABY greens

BABY carrots

BABY red potatoes

 Just in case they couldn't get it (which they did), we made a crossword & my friend Amanda made jello for dessert in baby food jars:

Some of my beautiful girlfriends! And my sister. She's beautiful too =)

 Finally, we had a family brunch to celebrate my aunt & grandma's birthdays, along with the baby surprise!

 

We're thankful for all our friends & family who has been so supportive! This baby is lucky to have such wonderful people around it. Ok, I can't wait to find out the gender so I can stop calling this thing "it." =/

Until next time! xoxo