Low on Progesterone?

So, the dr called with my lab results, and my hcg (pregnancy hormone) level was acceptable, but my progesterone (the hormone that maintains the pregnancy) was low. How is that possible? My essential oil I use has progesterone in it! Anyway, my husband is going to get me a pill from the pharmacy, and in the meantime, I splashed on some extra Progessence Plus. Extra prayers are very much appreciated. Still spotting, but no cramping, and not heavy enough to get the dr worried, so that's good. I'm still worried, though.

Jesus I trust in You! St. Gianna, pray for us. St. Gabriel the archangel, pray for us. Blessed Virgin Mary, pray for us! God, please let this baby be okay! Amen!

Dana

April Fools? Not Funny, God!

If you're seeing this today or tomorrow, please say a little prayer for us. When I went to the bathroom this morning, I had a bit of brown spotting. I googled since the dr's office wasn't open yet, and it all looked very reassuring, but as this is baby #3, and I've never had that before, I'm going in this afternoon for bloodwork just to be sure. Then, repeat the hcg level on Thursday to make sure it's rising properly. The nurse on the phone repeated what I had read online, but it would sure ease my mind to have good labwork. We've just waited SO long for this baby!!! Anyway, maybe it's just God's not funny April Fool's joke? I hope so.

Thanks,
Dana

Modest Maternity clothes: Mission Impossible?

In an effort to minimize the impact on our finances, I've started shopping for maternity clothes now, so I won't have to go on a massive shopping spree all at once. Of, course, I'm only like 6 weeks, but I'm already developing a little baby bump (why???), and I DO have clothes from my other two pregnancies, but those were before I really had learned about the importance of modesty, especially while pregnant (when the Hand of God is actively working within to form the baby). Anyway, I've been converting some of my maternity pants into skirts (I've made 3 so far), but am seriously lacking in the tops category.

So, I've been looking online at different maternity websites. Most of what I've found is pants, really low-cut tops, and either sweaters or tank tops, or barely-there short sleeve tops. *sigh* Then, I found this website called Lilo Maternity that actually calls itself modest maternity! Yay! They have long skirts, 3/4 length sleeves, and even a 3/4 length shell to go under less modest t-shirts you might already have! Now, if only there were more options for solid color 3/4 length sleeve t-shirts. Why must they all have a pattern?  In the meantime, I'll at least have something appropriate to wear to Mass and court in June. :-)

Please let me know if you find a website or know of a store where you can buy (for under $30? - why are maternity clothes SO expensive?!) 3/4 length sleeve solid color maternity shirts!

Dana

More Exciting News!

We haven't heard our beloved Fr. Magiera's voice since he left Indiana for Arkansas last July, and with all the excitement here recently, we decided to call him tonight. It was SO WONDERFUL to hear his voice! My mom, Emma and I all talked to him on speakerphone, and after my mom talked for awhile, it was Emma's turn. Then, I mentioned to him that Emma had given up sucking her thumb for Lent, and it wasn't going well at all. Without missing a beat, he told her that when she sucks her thumb, it makes Our Lady disappointed, because she loves us all so much, and when Emma wants to suck her thumb, she should pray a Hail Mary instead, and ask Mary to help her. So beautiful! When he finished, Emma was in tears, and I explained how devoted Emma is to Our Lady, and how she often goes to her statue and prays while I recieve communion. He couldn't have said anything more perfectly suited to her, and we haven't seen him or talked to him since July! Emma got Fr. Magiera'd over the phone from Arkansas! ROFL!

On an equally awesome side note, he's coming back to Indy in May for a wedding, and promised to call while he's in town so we can see him, and it's even on a weekend we'll have Chocolate Chip! She'll be ecstatic when she finds out! I've already put it in my calendar! Can't wait to hug him! :-D

God Bless Fr. Magiera and all our priests! Keep them safe, and help them to grow in holiness, so they can lead their flocks to Heaven! Amen.

Dana

Light in the Darkness

In the dark, depressing, often stressful world that is my life these days, we now have a very bright light shining. A long awaited, much prayed for baby is on the way!!! The girls are both ecstatic to be big sisters, especially Emma, who I'm pretty sure prayed for this to happen even more than I did. It was so cute, the first time both girls were talking about the baby, Chocolate Chip was telling Emma, that she's Emma's big sister, and Emma will be the baby's big sister, and then I pointed out that Chocolate Chip will be big sister to both of them. Emma got SUPER posessive of her microscopic baby, and said "No, I'M the baby's big sister, not YOU!!!" Oh, my.

So, crazy story: I've posted before about how I'm a "crunchy" mommy, into homeschooling, essential oils, etc. Well, after 9-10 months of actively trying unsuccessfully to concieve, I asked one of my two oil suppliers if she had anything to help me concieve. She suggested I get Progessence Plus from Young Living (online for $50, but I get it from her at cost for $37.50). No joke. Just over 2 weeks of putting 2-4 drops on my arms and neck twice a day, and I'm PREGNANT!!!!!

I just stared at the positive pregnancy test in shock, disbelief, and excitement. My husband and mom have already plastered the news on Facebook (of course it HAD to be THIS Lent, that I give up Facebook! LOL), so I figured, I might as well share the news here too. Despite being more tired, peeing constantly, and the heavier, more tender boobs, it still feels surreal. It probably won't feel really real until the first ultrasound, which is on my dad's birthday (pretty neat - maybe a gift from him, in Heaven?). Anyway, we're all just so excited!

 



We got Emma a new book today at our new favorite Catholic bookstore called Angel in the Waters. It's about baby's development from conception to about 6 months after birth (going by the pictures) from baby's perspective. The pictures and the wording are just breathtaking! I may be hormonal, but I fight tears every time I read it to Emma. I would highly recommend it to anyone who has kids.


All Praise and Glory to Him!
Dana

Ahhhh...Adoration!!

 

My parish has this wonderful, new, weekly mom's group that starts with free babysitting and an hour of adoration, followed by coffee, snacks, and hanging out with the other moms. I went two weeks ago for my first real time at adoration (for more than 5 minutes of clock-watching, kid-whining, trying desperately to concentrate and pray), and couldn't go last week, but I did get to go this morning. It. Was. Glorious!!!

 

The first time I went was wonderful enough, and we were pretty much the only ones that came that week, so it was "just" the free babysitting and adoration. Today was our first time with the full experience. I didn't want to leave! It was literally Heaven on earth!

 

First, was adoration. Me, my mom, and about 6 of my friends went and just spent an hour with Jesus. I sat, and just talked to Jesus, prayed a rosary, sat quietly to see if He wanted to tell me anything, and read some of a book. The book, Consoling the Heart of Jesus, talks a lot about how Jesus just wants us to love Him, and keeping Him company, so I love reading it at adoration.



The rosary (follow that link for an informative article about the rosary), for my non-Catholic friends and followers, is all about meditating on the life of Jesus, every aspect, of which comes straight from Sacred Scripture. I usually have trouble concentrating as I try to picture the scene, and keeping my mind from wandering. In the Presence of Jesus, though, at adoration, I find it so much easier to visualize the angel asking Mary to be the Mother of God at the Annunciation, Mary visiting Elizabeth at the Visitation, the Birth of Jesus at the Nativity, Mary and Joseph taking the Infant Jesus to the Temple at the Presentation, and 12 yr old Jesus being found in the Temple.

Anyway, after adoration, we all went downstairs and just hung out. Father even joined us for quite awhile, and talked to us about how he went on a quest about 16 years ago to find the best chocolate in the Indianapolis area, and his findings. He's so funny! We also talked about Frozen, Tangled (can you tell we're moms? Chocolate and Disney movies! LOL), demonic possession, and realistic exorcism movies like the Exorcism of Emily Rose (great movie!), The Rite (haven't seen it), and the Exorcism (except for the spinning head and pea soup part, and the fact that it was a boy, not a girl).

All together, it was a wonderful, beautiful, uplifting, peaceful experience that I have every intention of repeating every week. If you're local, and want to share in this wonderful opportunity, we meet at Holy Rosary parish in Indianapolis from 9:30-whenever people leave (today it was about 1) on Thursday mornings.

God Bless!
Dana

Juice and Canvas Party

When it comes to creativity and imagination, Chocolate Chip is generally very, very lacking. Love her, but the girl is meant to be an accountant, physicist, or something that requires very little to no imagination. Needless to say, coming up with birthday party ideas for her is generally extremely painful. Last year, she ended up just having a "hang out" party, where it was basically just a playdate with cake. This year, my wonderful husband had a fantastic idea. I've become quite the fan of wine and canvas parties, and have a couple times, left him to babysit while I've gone to paint a tree full of owls, or most recently, the Blessed Mother. He came up with the idea for Chocolate Chip's birthday party last weekend to have a painting party. I added the Juice to his Canvas, and we came up with the Juice and Canvas. It was so fun!!! One of my friends is an artist, and likes to teach painting, so I asked her to lead the party.

What a deal that was! For $8 per kid, she brought the canvasses, paint, brushes, easles, set up everything, taught the kids to paint turtles (except for Emma, my rebel - she refuses to do whatever everyone else is doing, so she painted her own thing), and cleaned everything up before she left!! I would TOTALLY do it again. Plus, I didn't have to buy stuff for those crappy little goody bags that no parents like because all the kids had their painting to take home! It was awesome!

The kids with their paintings.

 

 

Didn't they come out AWESOME?!? Ages from left to right: 5, 6, 11, 10, 11. That's Chocolate Chip in the middle, my little shorty. ;-) The 6 yr old and the 10 yr old are brother and sister. They lived 3 houses down from us at our old house. The tall girl on the end is in Chocolate Chip's class at school. They all painted turtles (Chocolate Chip's choice) except for Emma, who painted a picture of her and her daddy inside a heart with grass, a flower, and blue sky.

 

 

Dana