The Lord never ceases to amaze me. He is good.
Recap of the past few weeks:
We had an absolutely WONDERFUL time in Florida back in January. Jarrod was so excited to pack up and leave that when I got home from my last shift at work, he was pacing in the living room, car packed and shoes on ready to go right then as opposed to our plan on leaving early the next morning. Sweet man, he drove the majority of the way purely on adrenaline I think :)
Where did we go our first day? The beach of course! It was fantastic. Gentle breeze, slightly cloudy and warm. I've decided I need to get a sound machine that plays ocean sounds for our house, I forgot how soothing they are. We spent time in Jacksonville with the Reeds and visiting with friends. Jarrod had the awesome opportunity to preach at Deermeadows Baptist Church where he grew up. They were so encouraging and loving. The ladies of DBC through us a baby shower, LOTS of pink and fun. Thank you all!
We also went with the fam to Orlando to make one last use of our Universal Studios passes. It was an interesting trip, lots of people-watching since Eliaya and I couldn't really ride anything. People wear the oddest things to theme parks....
Spent the last of our time in the sunshine state with Gainesville friends and family. It was so enjoyable! It was amazing to see my little nephews for the first time, they're already getting so big! We had a great Sunday at Westside and really enjoyed hearing all that the Lord is doing in that family of believers. Jarrod was given the opportunity to preach Sunday night and spoke about Biblical family. That's an area we've been learning and growing so much in the past few months. It's really incredible, and disgusting, the depth and spread of the lies regarding family we've accepted from culture without even realizing it. Please pray for us that we would continue to reassess our beliefs, examining where they come from, and replacing lies with the truth of Scripture. We want to value family with the passion that the Lord does.
Okay, so after Florida trip we made it back and Jarrod hit the ground running with a J-term class on the Psalms. He absolutely loved it. And it was really helpful for me: we've learned how to read the psalms, no longer seeing them as eventually becoming repetitive and vague, but as very detailed accounts of the emotions David and the other writers went through at very specific times! There's so much more about the Word I have to learn.
Now Jarrod is back into the spring semester, he's taking another full load but one class is a conference during spring break, so his daily load is a little lighter. I am super appreciative for this, it has given us more time together, time to enrich our friendship and grow our marriage, as well as time to get ready for Eliaya.
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| 31 weeks |
Speaking of Eliaya... she's been in trouble this week! She's now about 4.5 pounds and has recently discovered the fun of reaching up towards my ribs. Anyway, Thursday night I had trouble sleeping because the braxton-hicks contractions were coming, on and off, every 10 minutes. Finally I was able to go to bed, only to wake up at 230 with more frequent, more painful contractions. I went into nurse mode, did all the things I knew could help stop braxton-hicks (changed position, bathroom, hydrated, walked around), but they continued to be about every 5-8 minutes. After an hour and a half of praying and pacing, decided to call the doc, fingers crossed hoping she would say just to let them settle out on their own, but knowing better. So at 445 Jarrod and I headed out to labor and delivery to get things checked out. It was kinda funny seeing my co-workers while being on the other side of things. I appreciate them, they took good care of us.
Long story short, I was hooked up to monitors, the contractions continued, and got a few doses of tocolytics (meds to stop contractions). When those didn't knock them out entirely, we decided I should go on some more long-term meds to keep them under control. Praise the Lord, Eliaya looked great on the monitor, I've not dilated at all, and we were sent home with orders to take it easy for a few days (hence how I finally have time to update this blog...)
Huge thanks to our friends and family who prayed for us yesterday and continue to do so. We know that the Lord will bring Eliaya into the world at the precise time He's already decided. Please pray that we would not give in to worry and would be prepared (well, as prepared as first time parents can be). Pray for Jarrod also, when we got home from the hospital he went on a bit of a freak-out about all the things we still have to do to get ready for her. It took some persuasion to convince him he didn't have to go on a midnight diaper run yet :) He is so excited about becoming a father, I praise the Lord for giving me a husband who loves me and wants to serve our family as Christ serves the church.
Well, thanks for reading! We pray the priestly blessing found in Numbers 6 for you all:
The LORD bless you and keep you;
the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
(Numbers 6:24-26 ESV)
Love,
the Reeds
