According to babycenter.com, Baby Boy Slabbert is about the size of a Mango. A little over 1 pound and approximately 11 inches long.
At almost 5 months pregnant, I have started the tossing and turning through the night = bye bye uninterrupted sleep! I love feeling him move more often and watching my belly morph into weird shapes when he starts tumbling. I started imagining him as a newborn... how we'll decorate his room, how Vivienne will look holding him, all the teeny tiny diapers again... it's surreal.
The name hunt is so difficult. It seems there are so many more options for a girl than a boy, and I have a completely different mindset. With Vivienne, I searched for ideas that were very feminine, elegant, and unique. With this little boy, I'm just having the hardest time. We've decided not to announce his name whenever it's been chosen. From our experience with Vivienne, it's just best to keep it to ourselves, especially since I'm a pretty emotional prego. I didn't handle all the faces and comments very well when we were telling people her name was Vivienne at 5 months along. Everyone sure has an opinion!! I started seriously doubting that name towards the end, but I'm so glad we kept it.
She is such a Vivienne, which means "full of life". She is a southern girl who likes her fingernails painted and for mommy to put blush on her while doing make-up each morning. The babysitter is known as MISS Rhonda, and we are trying to keep that going for everyone she meets. She's a "Vivian Lee", a.k.a. Scarlett O'hare, if I've ever met one. (PS - we did NOT name her after the Gone with the Wind character).
Anyways, the name options remain secret. I guess that can be your big surprise when he's born (assuming that Johannes keeps quiet). I will say that there is one I really love. I hope it can be this little one's name, but so far I haven't convinced Johannes. Maybe one day I'll have a little boy who can carry the name. The meaning is what is so amazing to me.
It's crazy to think I only have 2 appointments left before I start seeing my OB every 2 weeks. There's a reason they start seeing you more often, and the reason is... it's getting close! :-) (I have to keep telling myself that). Still reading, praying, planning for a VBAC. I've had a lot of discouragement from trying because of the risk, but I have to keep giving them the statistics on c-sec risk versus VBAC risk. It is much much different. Whose to say, though. The biggest point is... I have faith in my God and I've asked Him to lead, guide and direct this delivery. I know he will.
On my final note of recent happenings, I have to share my recent Facebook post. December/January/February have been three really difficult months for me personally. I don't mean this is any bad or selfish way, but it has been a hard adjustment living in a small house with my mother-in-law for a month. We got along well, but it's just hard, even if it were my own mother or sister living with us. Then we got a phone call in the middle of the night on her 3rd week with us saying that her mother passed away. She wanted to go home, so she left a week early, which ironically was very hard as well. It's hard saying goodbye early knowing we probably won't see her again for 2 years. Then soon after, we got the dreaded stomach bug and it wreaked havoc on our home, especially for me being pregnant. Constantly in my mind, I'm thinking about the baby I'm carrying and how I HAVE to keep drinking fluids as not to start having contractions. I could not hold an ounce for 24 hours. That was my first stomach bug (at least that bad - I had a perception that you throw up everything and then it's over). Johannes then had his citizenship interview, which was one of the biggest events in our lives. He has been in the US for 9 years. Over $20,000 later, and after many many obstacles and difficulties, it came time to finalize it. It would have been easier and cheaper for him to come over illegally and stay. He would have never been questioned, detained, and interrogated... but we wanted to do it right, and after all of that... he's American! That was a very stressful time. A week later, he was in the hospital for a hernia surgery. Two days after his recovery, Vivienne got round two of stomach virus, then it hit mama. Oh, I prayed so hard for protection over Johannes, and God answered that. I did not want him back in the hospital because of ruptured stitches. The surgeon's office told us if he started having symptoms, to go to the hospital asap. The hardest part about that was having to take care of her on my own. I seriously respect single mothers doing this everyday, especially those with multiple kids, and especially those that are pregnant!
Anyways, through all of this, I have been really growing in my relationship with the Lord. I have been doing the Beth Moore study on Daniel and God has been changing my life. I have made a lot of commitments to the Lord lately, and it's been hard through all of the above to stay focused. I remember about a week ago, as I was praying, that I specifically thanked the Lord for all the people praying for me and asked God to bless them. This past Monday at work, I was approached by Debbie Smith in my church, leader of the Prayer Shawl Group, who presented me with a prayer shawl and handmade baby blanket (which included booties, mittens, a bib, and a hat). I wish I had the note with me to tell you what it specifically said, but it touched me to tears. I knew it. I knew I was being prayed for, even though I'm sure some of the ladies who helped with it did not know all that was going on in our house. The prayers were specifically towards my pregnancy and delivery, which was another huge blessing about the whole ordeal. In the middle of what we were dealing with, someone was not just praying for us, but praying for the baby and keeping my own prayers going for my delivery.
God knows the desires of my heart. I really want to do this. I want the Lord to start my labor on its own, prior to water breaking. I want the Lord to give me strength to labor at home for awhile. I want God to give me freedom from stress and fear. I am not against medicine or intervention, but I want the Lord to progress labor without the help of doctors or hospitals. It seems so much to ask for some of you readers, but maybe simple requests to the rest of you. To me, it's nothing for the Lord to grant those requests... but more than anything, I just want His will to be done. If it's His will that I have another c-section, I am content with that! So please pray for me to have peace with the final results. Pray that I stay healthy and the baby thrives. Pray that in the next two months, he will settle to the correct, head-down position.
Thanks for your continued prayers. I know I have pretty amazing prayer warriors. I hope you know you are also being prayed for, daily. I pray God's blessings on you. You just wait and see what happens!!!
