A Snake

Warning: This post is: Real and True.  No comic relief in here.  Lots of Spiritual realm stuff.  Deep.  Exposed.

 

Read at your own Risk.

We saw this snake on Saturday afternoon while we were walking the Greenway.  He was perched in this little bush letting his lunch digest and Bill spotted him.  He was right at eye-level.

An interesting wildlife spotting considering the events that occurred earlier that morning.  I woke up early (5am-ish) wide awake with my brain on overdrive.  My mind wouldn't stop reeling, I couldn't switch it off.  All I kept thinking was, "What's wrong with me?  Why is my body not doing what it is supposed to?  what have I done, or not done, that I should be doing to start labor?"  You see, just two days ago at our doctor appointment, I was dilated to 4cm and my cervix was plenty thin for labor to be starting.  The doctor even called into the doctor on call for the weekend to let them know I'd probably be coming in, that's how confident she was that we'd have this baby by Saturday at the latest.  

But it was Saturday morning and I had NO signs of active labor starting.  It was Saturday morning and my mom was flying into town that night.  We were running out of time.  Why wasn't my body working?  What is wrong with me?  There it is.  Can you hear it?  The snake.  Satan.  Creeping in again.  I knew it was him because thoughts like this would NOT come from God.  I am fearfully and wonderfully made in His likeness.  My body is perfectly capable of labor.  Nothing is wrong with me.  I haven't done anything wrong.  But Satan was trying again, to creep in.  And I despised him for it.  It made me so. Mad.  

I rolled over into my hubby's arms and asked if he was awake enough for me to tell him something.  Just thinking about telling him made me start to cry, tears of anger and frustration.  He realized what was happening and just held me while I got it all out, and when the time was right, asked what was going on.  I told him everything - the thoughts that had been running through my head and how Satan was trying to attack again.  I told him I hated that he was trying it again, just like he tried at the beginning, right before we conceived, and now he was creeping in again, before the birth.  He reassured me and comforted me and prayed with me.  And we lay there for a few hours, just relaxing, coming to terms with things, fighting off Satan with our prayers and our strength from God.  

Hubby even took the day off work, to be with me, and to prove to Satan that he wasn't going to let anything more happen to me.  We had an incredible day together, enjoyed our morning sleeping in and decided to go for a walk on the Greenway to get some exercise in on a beautiful sunny day.  

And that's when we saw it.  

The snake.  

And deep down inside I felt strong.  I felt victorious.  

That snake didn't scare me one bit.  So I took it's picture, standing feet away from him as he stared at me.  

And on the way back by later, after laughing and enjoying our time on the trail, the snake was gone.  Nowhere to be seen.  

No evidence that he had ever even been there. 

Take that Satan.  

We won.  

Again.

The Proof is in the...

Pudding photo. 

Yup.  There it is.  Proof that I am still pregnant.  Due date?  Riiiight.  April 17th has come and gone, but you know what, I'm coming to terms with it.  I'm officially 41 weeks pregnant.  I still feel great, baby is still doing fine, so no worries. 

Just goes to show ya God is the one that decides birthdays, not doctors.  : )

Finally!

We have finally finished the room!  Well... who am I kidding?  It will never really be finished - there's always stuff that I will want to do to change and update it as he grows... but for now - VIOLA - it's DONE! :)

 This was taken from the door of the room...
And that swirly stuff above the crib?  No, that's not some awesome artwork I hand painted on the wall... that's the letters that spell out his name, which I 'liquefied' in Photoshop... can't be giving away the secret before he comes into the world now, can I?  ;)

This one is taken from the window in the corner...
Totally in love with that floor lamp - not only is it a nice, glowy light for night time feeding and changing, but it turns on by a step-on switch on the floor!  AND it was only $20 at Ikea!

This one is taken from the closet door, by the lamp.
.... and that's that!  It's all ready for this little boy to enjoy! 

Now if only we could convince him how cool his new room is maybe he would come out into this world...  :)

The View from Here

Decided to try some more walking yesterday to coax this little boy out.  Did about a mile the first time, with a friend of mine.  Then on the way home I had a couple contractions so I thought, "Heck, I'm gonna keep going!"  So I asked hubby (since he was now home from work) if he wanted to head out.  So we went back.  The first loop we did was about a mile, and this was the view from the 1/2 way point.  B. E. A. Utiful! 

 And this was the view more than once during our (3mile) walk that afternoon... it's springtime in Charlotte and these little guys are dangling from their little silk lines everywhere.  This one thought it'd be fun to hitch a ride on my belly. 

And the lesson I learned? - next time bring my real camera because the one on my cellphone... well, it kind of sucks. 

And no, baby is STILL not out.  Going back today for more walking... with my real camera this time.  :)

After the Attack

It's been about 9 months since the attack.  The horrible, expected, depressing, hard-to-get-through, attack.

While I was cleaning today I decided to thumb through my journal from Ghana, landing on the last page to see where I left off, I read about the attack.  It made me mad.  It made me tear up just a little bit.  But then I thought to myself; wait a minute.  Stop.  Look at yourself.  And I let those tears come.  But those tears didn't come in pain or sadness, they ran down a face that was smiling because we WON.  We were brutally attacked, but we survived and we were victorious over Satan and his stupid, evil, sneaky ways. 

The moment I stepped foot back on American soil after living on the mountain-top in Ghana, and saw my husband's beautiful face (smiling from ear to ear) at the airport, Satan started to wriggle in.  I was SO excited to see him after being away for 10 days.  But Satan knew that if he timed things just right, he could wriggle his way in between us and start attacking our marriage.  And it worked.  For a couple of days, it worked.  I withdrew from my husband, not entirely, but enough to give Satan room to get comfortable sitting in between us.  I was scared, Satan used fear to get at me.  I was scared that if I let myself get too close to my husband, then I would feel 'farther away' from Ghana and the relationships I had built there.  Satan was telling me I couldn't have both.  I couldn't experience the amazing God-Love of the relationships I built in Ghana and have an amazing marriage to my husband.  I knew it was Satan, but I didn't know what to do about it.

So after some praying (LOTS of praying), some guidance from our amazing friends, the Garrets, and a lot of 'faking-it-to-make-it-even-though-I-didn't-feel-it' - it started to work.  I drew nearer to my husband, relying on him for strength and love and knowing that those stupid lies Satan told me were just that - STUPID.  My husband and I grew so much stronger in our marriage through the attack.  We became much more communicative (which is saying a lot, because we communicated pretty well already), we became more in-tune to each others' spiritual realm and well... let's just say we made sure there wasn't any room for Satan to get between us anymore... literally.  :)

And now it's 9 months later and we anxiously await the arrival of our little boy. 

Take that Satan.  He thought he could get between us, but we were victorious!  Thanks to God being on our side, and our amazing friends the Garretts, we ARE the victors.  Satan lost at his attempt to crumble our marriage - we are stronger now than we ever were in our relationship AND we have a precious baby boy that we get to raise up in the light and love of God.  We've got a life that we will raise up to know about Satan and his sneaky ways, and how to defeat him.  We were victorious over Satan, we ARE victorious over Satan, and our little boy will be to - whose name means, "Young Warrior Anointed by God."  There isn't a better name in the world for this little one, and we're sure of it.  For out of those circumstances, came an amazing blessing from God that we will forever remember.  Every time we say his name, or look at his sweet face, we will remember that through everything, God is with us and we are victorious over anything Satan tries to throw at us.

They're Calling for Rain Tomorrow

"They" being the meteorologists in the Charlotte area.  In fact, tomorrow is the only day it's supposed to rain this week - well, starting tonight and into tomorrow.  Thunderstorms actually. 

Why do I blog about the weather, you ask?  Well, since you asked.... 

June 18th, 2006                                                      Richland, MI
Forcast: Rain                      Outcome: Rain
Significance: Our Wedding Day

July 24th, 2006                                                      Charlotte, NC
Forcast: Unknown               Outcome: Torrential downpours
Significance: The day we rolled into Charlotte, our new home, with our U-haul in tow

 

(okay, so I didn't take any pics during the downpour, but this was our apartment) :)

August 19th, 2008                                                  Charlotte, NC
Forcast: Chance of Rain       Outcome: Morning Rain
Significance: The day we moved into our first house

 

(yea, didn't take any pics during the rainy part of the day, but this is our first house) :)

So what's the big deal?  Well, every major life event we've experienced together, it has rained.  So maybe, just maybe our little man will come during a storm?  Wouldn't that just be the icing on the cake.

 

(oh, and as I added these pics I remembered.. it rained the day of our photo session, but cleared up in time for the shoot!)

Maybe we'll try some labor-inducing stimulants tonight just for fun... a little spicy food perhaps... some squats.... a walk or two... hmmm... anyone have a trampoline I can use?  JUST kidding (about the trampoline!)    :)
As for the professional opinion (the OB) :  Today was our 38 week checkup and baby boy is measuring nicely, estimated to be 7lbs 5oz.  He's head down and dropped into the 'position'.  I'm still only 1cm dilated and 75% effaced, BUT doctor says the numbers don't matter - I could go into labor at those numbers.  In fact, he said that he doubts I'll make it to my due date.  He said I could go into labor tonight, or in a couple days, it's a waiting game at this point.

After the OB we headed to our weekly chiropractic appointment (I've been getting adjusted throughout the pregnancy and it's amazing how good I feel because of it!)  After telling that doctor the news, he asked if we wanted the 'magic' adjustment.  (There's a couple places on the spine that they stop adjusting once you're pregnant, because it induces labor.  When it's time to have the baby, they adjust those spots again).  We said YES!  We're ready to meet this little boy.  Chiro. told us that on average the patients that get the 'magic' adjustment go into labor 12-48hours afterward.  So... we'll see!

We're excited to meet you little boy - come out and play with us soon!