Wonderful Week!

We have had another wonderful week. My sweet precious mother came on Tuesday to stay with us through Saturday morning and she was much needed and very welcomed! She had Michael salivating at the mouth with everything she cooked us. We had steak (yes I said steak) one night and one of the best roasts I have ever put in my mouth the next night with squash potatoes and carrots. Mom, COME BACK!!! She also made a Dairy Queen run every night so let's just say that I didn't exactly loose a record amount of baby weight last week! She did everything while I did next to nothing so I feel very energized to start this week with just me and my two precious children!

Allie and Joshua are doing great. Joshua continues to grow and is doing everything he is supposed to developmentally at this little stage in his life. It is always nice to hear the doctor say that they are right on schedule! He is becoming a little spoiled now that he realizes it is much nicer to be held than to sit by himself. Allie still loves him to death but has asked me to put him down a couple of times this week.

Michael has the day off tomorrow which is fantastic! I love having him home with us and I am sure we will be blessed with a wonderful family day tomorrow. I miss he and Allie right now because they are at church while me and Joshua are shut in the house! Man I miss church and can't wait to get back to my little church family!

Look How Big!

I absolutely could not believe how big Allie looked to me after Joshua was born. She was my tiny little girl before, and now all of a sudden she looks like a toddler that is growing up way too fast! She does get more beautiful with every day, and a little more sassy too! I have to say though that she is one of the sweetest toddlers in the world and anyone who knows her would have to agree! I love this little dumplin!

State Farm Commercial

I feel like I could be on one of the new State Farm commercials. My quote would be, "You know where pure exhaustion and lingering pain from a c-section meets I don't care because I have the two most beautiful children in the world, you could say I'm there!" I will have to add that I have the most wonderful husband in the world as well. He has done so much to help me in the last week and a half and I know that most husbands wouldn't come close to being as good as Michael has been to me! I have started pulling the night shifts alone which aren't bad compared to Allie, but there are at least two night feedings followed by changing poopy diapers followed by having to scrounge in the dark for clean clothes because somebody decided to pee all over himself. I am learning to shield a boy when he doesn't have a diaper on the hard way:) Allie is continuing to do wonderful. She is getting tired of me not being able to pick her up. She told my "boo boo" on my tummy to go away today. She has not shown any jealousy towards Joshua though and I am extrememly thankful for that! Joshua had a good Doctor's visit Friday. His bilirium levels continue to go down on their own so he seems to be in the clear! He now weights 7pnds 7oz which is over a pound of weight gain since we left the hospital. My mom says I have high calorie milk:) Anyway, that is the goings on of the Hataway home. We are extremely thankful around here these days!

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Little Man

Just a little update. Joshua's bili numbers were down another three points yesterday! Praise the Lord. We go back tomorrow for a final check and hopefully they will have gone down some more which means his body is fighting it like it is supposed to. I have a few pictures of little man, and a very forced picture of him and Allie which goes to show you that a two year old will not take a good picture if you MAKE them do it!

My Testimony

I can't believe I haven't shared how good our awesome God was to me through my birthing experience. Of all of you who know me well, you knew that I was very ancy about another c-section. Many people do not realize what a major surgery this is, and facing this again was a little scary for me. Well, about an hour before my surgery I started to get really scared. I mean really scared. I started breathing really heavy and feeling dizzy. I really thought I was going to pass out. I told myself, "come on Dana. Pull yourself together. You don't have a choice in this. You HAVE to go through this surgery." And as Christians you know that when we rely on ourselves to pull through tough situations, not much happens. Then I realized, "I am trying to do this alone!" So I called on our Almighty God, "Please send that peace that the world knows nothing about. The peace that passes all understanding. Please let it take over my body!" I kid you not, within minutes my heartrate was way down, I felt calm as a cucumber, and when the nurses asked me if I was ready I answered with a very confident, YEP! Not because I was tough, not because I sucked it up and did what I had to do, not even because my sweet husband was there with me. It was because my Friend Jesus took me by the hand and said, come on little sister, let's do this together! Praise the Lord for His tender mercies, and thank God that he hears even the most feeble prayers!

Turn off the lights please!

Joshua had another appointment this morning and because he looked so good the doctor wanted us to turn the bili lights off! I am so thankful! He was my little trooper in his little bili bed. I think he actually liked the warmth of it. He already weighs an oz over his birthweight which is fantastic! By the way, he weighed 6 pnds 14 oz and was 20 3/4 inches long. I don't think I ever posted his stats. Now the moment you have all been waiting for, PICTURES! There are more to come!

Good News

Joshua's bilirium levels dropped over two points so he is on the road to being jaundice free!! I wish everyone could see how precious he is. He was awake for about two hours straight today and we just played with him. Everytime I would talk to him his little legs and arms would just start going crazy. He was crying this morning and Allie kissed him and he just stopped crying and looked at her. What a great big sister! She has adjusted so well and he is not bothered at all by her toddler behaviors:) I promise more pictures tomorrow!

I guess everything couldn't be perfect!

Well, right after I posted this afternoon I recieved a call from our pediatrician that Joshua has jaundice. Home Health came out today and set him up a little bed that has blue lights so that we can get his levels down. It is nothing serious and with this treatment he should be just fine. He is so cute in his little bed!

He's Here!!!

Praise the Lord! We have had such a wonderful last four days that it is hard to describe. I have to say that on Thursday I was probably more nervous than I have been in my whole life. My last c-section, although it brought my little Alliebug, was not a very pleasant experience. I have prayed and prayed that the Lord would bless me with an easier experience this time, and He has graciously answered that prayer. The c-section went wonderfully! Joshua came out kicking and screaming. He looks just like Allie did to me, but there are various opinions out there. Our pediatrician told us today that he looks like me! My stay at the hospital went without a hitch. Allie fell in love with him the moment she saw him. And on Saturday, we came home as a family of four for the first time. We are elated! Michael has been a huge help to me since we have been home and hopefully I will have my mom coming soon to finish out my recovery time. Speaking of my mom, SHE WAS HERE!! I cannot tell you what that meant to me! So, enough of the story, I know you want pictures right!!! There of course will be more of these to come in the near future!

Another Update!

Well, looks like we are going to meet Joshua a little sooner than expected. My blood pressure was up even more during this morning's doctor's visit. My doctor has decided to do the c-section tomorrow to prevent preeclampsia. They did a stress test on Joshua and he is doing wonderfully. WOW! I can't believe it. Please Please Please pray for me and Joshua that all will go well and we will both be healthy after delivery!!!!

Update

Well, my c-section has been officially changed to August the 20th, which means that in eight days I will be holding my precious son and introducing Allie to her baby brother. WOW! It has really sunk in this morning and I have started to utter the "God please just let he and I be healthy mentally and physically after delivery!" prayers about fifty times a day now instead of twenty. Michael is so ready and so excited. I have an appointment tomorrow so if all goes well there then my date will remain the 20th and we will be anxiously awaiting our little Joshua. Allie said she is going to say, "It ok, Allie here, you don't have to cry" to him when I am changing his diaper. She is so excited about having a real baby around here. She is very motherly so I am hoping that that will keep her from getting too jealous. Please pray for our little family that God will wrap His loving arms around us and bestow the awesome blessing of a healthy baby and mom!
Allie loves to remove the filling out of anything, ex. nutrigrain bars, peanut butter and jelly sanwiches, poptarts, etc etc., and put it all over her face!Pla;ying in Daddy's socks:)

De Ja Vu

I swear it was like being in the doctor's office pregnant with Allie all over again. Everything is going wonderfully. Baby is growing fine and heart rate is perfect. He is snug as a bug but has dropped into position. And then it comes. "but now what about this blood pressure?" Yep, it was high. It started creeping up last visit and just continues to creep on up. I can't say that I was disappointed though. The words that followed were, "I am going to try to get your surgery bumped up a week." Hallelujiah. I don't know for sure if this can be done but I sure do hope so! My Dr. told me to take it easy, then he said,"but you can't really stay off your feet can you?" He understand having a two year old all too well:) I remember everyone telling me to get on the couch when I was expecting Allie. I have been hearing those same things from loving family and friends this time. I promise I will try to rest as much as possible!
There is one thing missing this time though. My wonderful friend Amanda Mizell cooked me a fabulous meal the night that they put me on moderate bed rest with Allie and we ate off of it for three nights. She had to up and move away so I will not be enjoying her scrumptuous cooking this time. I so enjoyed it last time though Amanda!! And my sweet mother came to keep me company until my induction so that I wouldn't go crazy and she was with me the whole step of the way. I miss you this time mama!

My Sweet Husband and My Big Girl

Michael is so incredibly good to me. We had such a long weekend that by yesterday morning I was wore slap out!! We were blessed to participate in a wonderful annual meeting at Cool Springs this weekend and Michael preached yesterday at Mt. Zion so from Friday night to Sunday morning we were pretty busy around here. If I wasn't on the verge of giving birth I am sure that I would be able to keep up with my preaching husband a little bit better but yesterday I ached from head to toe. I envy the women that say they never felt better when they were pregnant because I cannot say that at all. I am not complaining though, I am extremely thankful for the opportunity to carry my son to full term. Well, Michael could see that I was tired so this morning he woke up and straightened up some and swept and vacuumed for me. After that long weekend for him he still had it in him to help his little (or should I say big) pregnant wife out this morning. Goodness I love that man!!

Allie has become quite the big girl. She spent the night away from home for the first time Friday night with Mimi and Grandpa and did just fine without me. Mimi said she sang herself to sleep and didn't ask for us the first time. She even stayed with them for the majority of the day Saturday and is already asking when she can go spend the night with Mimi again. I am so thankful because I have worried about how she would take having to stay away from home once little man comes. She also wants to use the bathroom by herself these days. She goes to the bathroom, closes the door, puts her potty insert in the potty climbs up and does her business. If I go in there to check on her she puts her hand up like "not done yet, get out of here please." I cannot believe she is getting so growny!!!

Arts and Crafts

I have been trying to keep Alliebug from wanting to go outside because it is just too stinkin' hot!!! It's hot enough without being 8 1/2 months prego! I try to only let her watch about an hour of TV in the morning while I clean up which means mommy has to turn into a toddler at about nine o'clock to entertain my little munchkin. We have been reading and building castles and coloring and today we did a little art work. Now granted, I am one of the least creative people on this universe and my art skills are at best questionable. But Allie is 2, so she doesn't know this about her mommy. She thinks that everything that I do is great. I love that about her. She praises me while Michael snickers in the background at my rendition of spongebob. Well today was colors and shapes day. She knows basically all of her colors and shapes but it doesn't hurt to "bring them to remembrance" as the Apostle Paul says right!!

Aliie's two new favorite sayings are:

"et me tow jew" or "let me show you". I don't know how to do anything right so she has to kindly show me the correct way of doing things.

"what 'bout it" when I am telling her not to do something. In fact, she is telling me that right now. I am trying to keep her from dumping suncreen all over herself and when I tell her not to she simply says "what 'bout it." Now she is saying "can mommy talk to me that way." O Lordy, give me patience and strength!!

And now I know why I get looked at like I am a creature from another planet when I venture out in public. I wanted to see just how big my belly is since no one seems to think I will possibly be able to carry Joshua another day and, drum roll please.....

This isn't even a complete side profile. I won't scare you that bad:)