105 - Baby #4 Q&A
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Show Notes:
This episode is going to be a personal look into my life, my motherhood, and more specifically, this fourth pregnancy that I am currently experiencing.
Listen, my core purpose with this podcast is to provide you practical tools for an integrated life, and integrated means showing up and sharing all areas of my life and how my faith in Jesus is really the center of everything, in my work and my play and all other areas, and hopefully provide some practical tools along the way.
Today is going to be a little more laid back, more like a conversation with me. Let's pretend like we're out at a coffee shop drinking our favorite coffee, and we're talking about motherhood and pregnancy and all the things. I've gathered so many questions, and I'm really excited to dive in and answer them. And honestly, I haven't really prepared my answers ahead of time. I'm just gonna speak from my heart. I think it's gonna be fun!
For the full episode, hit play above or read through it below!
Okay, I’m going to jump right into the questions that you sent me. The first question that I got that definitely outweighed all the other questions like made up 50% of all the questions I got was:
Are we finding out the gender? Would we trust the ultrasound tech if we did?
The answer is no, we are not going to be finding out the gender this time. And yeah, we would probably not trust the ultrasound tech, even if we did find out the gender.
If you're not familiar with our story, we had gender surprises for our first two girls. We really thought they were boys and out pops girl number one, and then a few years later out pops girl number two. We were shocked. We get pregnant really quickly with our third. And my husband said, we just need to know the gender of this baby. If I'm going to be a girl, dad, I need to know.
So we find out, we have her write it down and we didn't look at the live screen or anything in the ultrasound, but we went to dinner that night and opened the envelope. And it said we were having another girl. Lo and behold, in the delivery room, out pops a boy. And the picture that was taken of my face when we discovered it was a boy went viral, it was crazy. We were all over the news. It was so much fun, but that is why I said on Instagram a few weeks ago, we are not meant to know the gender of our babies. The one time that we tried to find out the gender, it was wrong.
I do think that we would majorly have some trust issues with the ultrasound tech, and it's just fun now that we have two girls and a boy, it's just going to be so fun to be surprised this one last time.
Were you surprised with the pregnancy or was this your plan?
We were surprised, and it was our plan. So we were surprised because we didn't necessarily try for it to happen this soon. It was funny, I actually told my husband, as long as I don't get pregnant in 2020, we'll be good. Lo and behold, November of 2020 is when I took the pregnancy test and found out we were pregnant. And so it was definitely a surprise cause we were not trying, we were actually trying to wait a few more months and God had different plans. So we were surprised because it was early, but it also was our plan. We did want a fourth baby. We were thinking we would try probably January-February, like right around now, but I'm already pretty far along.
When this baby due?
Baby's due date is July 29th, which is funny because that was Lyndon's due date. Lyndon is our second girl. So, she came three days early on the 26th. We will see if they share a birthday or not!
Do you have a Christian doula?
Well, yes, my sister's my doula. She is a Christian. I am hoping that she will get here in time. We're talking about her coming in, like living here for a week around the time of my due date. But yeah, I think it's really. Actually okay, backing up a little bit. I only had a doula, and it was her, for Lynden's birth. It was only me and Will for Milly, and then Beaufort was me and Will and my mom and that was at it, I didn’t have a doula. The plan was for my sister to make it in time for Beaufort’s birth, but she couldn't get there fast enough, and so she wasn't there.
I will say it made all the difference with Lyndon's birth to have her there and to have a doula, that extra support person is just so helpful, and she's trained as a doula. How awesome is that? That your sister who loves the Lord, who's like your best friend is trained as a doula. I mean, it could not be any more lucky. Let's just hope that she gets there in time and she can come ahead of time.
Do you have any anxiety with this birth considering you were both so sick last time?
Yeah, so if you haven't heard our story, I got a really bad stomach bag. I was two days overdue with our third baby and I was throwing up all day and it was awful. I felt so sick. I couldn't keep anything down.
Then my husband comes home from work that day at 5:00 PM with a fever of 103. And I sent him back out to Urgent Care and he tests positive for the flu—two strains of the flu. Literally he's like throwing up in the bushes outside and I have been sick all day and I'm trying to pack his bags. Like I'm barely making it to pack his bag. Thank goodness my mom was in town, she was watching the the two girls anyway—I’m taking way too long with this answer—but basically I sent him to his mom's house for the night. And then I go into labor that night and the next morning things really pick up and I meet him at the birth center and two hours later give birth, and he had to wear a mask, and this was like way before masks were even a thing. And he had the flu and then he had to quarantine in a different room of our house for 10 days after the baby was born, so I was on newborn duty all by myself for 10 days. It was crazy.
To answer your question, “Do I have any anxiety with this birth about it?” I don't. I really, thankfully don’t. I'm not afraid that we're going to get sick again. I feel like that was such a rare thing to happen then, like there's no way that would happen again, you know, even with COVID and everything I'm like, no, nope. And if we survived that, if we survived me having, I don't know if I had the flu or not. I don't think I did cause I never got a fever, but with me having some stomach bug and my husband getting the flu and we survived that I'm like, listen, we're good. We can do that. We can do anything. We’re fine. And the likelihood that will happen again is not very likely.
How far apart will your kids be?
Let's see Milly is going to be six. When baby’s born, Lyndon will be four, Beaufort will be two and baby will be a newborn. So roughly two years, but give or take some months because Milly and Lyndon are 26 months apart. Lyndon Beaufort are only 16 months apart. And then Beaufort and the new baby will be 30 months apart.
What was your hardest kid transition?
Definitely going from two to three because our third came so quickly on the heels of number two and then having a little three-nager in the mix, as well. I mean, when I gave birth to Beaufort Lyndon was not yet walking. She was still in diapers. She couldn't walk—I have really late walkers as babies, and it just was really hard taking care of a newborn and another baby and a three-year-old. It was just a lot. I feel like this time is going to be way easier because there's a 30 month gap. That's almost double the amount of time I had between Lyndon and Beaufort.
What kind of SUV will you be getting? Do you still love your Highlander for three kids?
Oh this has been such a big topic of conversation in our house. Okay. So we're just not really big car people. We have had my Highlander. It's a 2008 Highlander. We've had it for,
I don't know. I don't know how many years? 12 years. Yeah. 12 years, 10 years. Something like that. We've had it forever. Anyway, we have, we bought these Diono car seats. They're amazing. They're super skinny. They're more expensive than a normal car seat because they are super skinny, but we can stack our kids in three deep in the backseat of our Highlander, which is awesome because we didn't have to buy a new car when we had baby number three.
Now, we literally don't have a space for another baby. So yes, we will be getting another car. We are debating between and minivan, the Toyota Sienna, because it's the only minivan with all wheel drive or like a bigger Tahoe vehicle. What we're leaning towards at this point is getting a minivan for the next, like three to four years and then maybe upgrading to something with more trunk space. Eventually we'll see, this is only discussion. We still have to do some test drives. We're helping to get this decided and done by like early May.
So yeah, I really loved our Highlander and Diono car seats because I can reach back and like give every kid what they need, and I feel like when our kids are so close together in age, they're so needy. They can't buckle themselves. I have to hand them their snacks. I have to be very hands-on with them and driving. It would just be so much more difficult. I feel like with another kid in the third row, I don't want to crawl back into the third row to buckle that kid, but now Milly can buckle herself, but she certainly couldn't when we had baby number three.
How did you go from not wanting kids to now wanting a fourth?
Question of the year, question of my life. I mean, that's a great question. And honestly, the Lord, like I have, I literally have had a massive heart transformation. It's so hard to explain.
It's literally like when I talked to friends who are not sure they want to have kids or are nervous about having kids are scared and they don't have them yet or they're, they're just not sure it's time yet or whatever. I just look at them and, like, I was there. I was you. All I can say is you don't know until, you know, like it is a massive step of faith that you have to take to have kids. It’s a huge step of surrender. And once I stepped into that, it's like, the Lord has totally shifted and changed my heart and given me the heart of a mother and it is so precious. I mean, it's, there's nothing else like it. And to be honest, I was having conversation with one of my girlfriends the other day. Like we're kind of crazy. We're kind of crazy for wanting a fourth. Like she's in the boat where she's like, I want a fourth too, I think. But like what? Like who are we? Like, we're sleep deprived. We're tired. This doesn't logically make sense.
And so I think for people looking from the outside and they're like, why? That doesn't make any sense. And part of me is like, I know, like I know it is exhausting and it's so much to give, but all I can say is God has sent something to my heart and we always wanted three kids each and we both just looked at each other and we're like, God wants us to have another one. Like, there's just no denying it. We were in unity about it. I can't even explain it, but that’s it was, it's a heart change that has happened. And then the Lord just does something, you know, when you're committed to following the Lord in every area of your life, it is an ongoing surrender. And I am in that place of surrendering my body again and my life again. And a lot of dreams that I have again. But if I know this is what God's called us to do and wants us to do, that He is going to fulfill my dreams more than I ever could.
Man, I gotta like get tighter with my answers. I just go on and on. Okay. Anyway, that’s my answer. It literally was just like a huge heart shift and it all came from the Lord's leading.
Nancy how are you feeling?
Exhausted. That is my answer. I want to take a nap every day. It's just been a rough first, even into second trimester. Just really, really tired and working on my sleep at night. I think that'll really help, but thankfully, no nausea, no throwing up. That has been a huge blessing. Starting to feel some puffiness and swelling. Also I'm hungry, like all the time. I just want to eat all the time. So hungry and exhausted.
Are you nervous with COVID?
Not at all. If I'm completely honest, I'm really not nervous at all. We're just living our lives. You know, there's just a lot of fear out there. I've talked about this a little bit here and there, but I just really feel like there is a spirit of fear on our country right now and it's not healthy and it's not good, and as a believer, I mean the Lord commands us to not be afraid like 365 times in the Bible.
It was crazy how many times He says that. And I've really been working on that because sometimes the fear can get you, it can get you nervous. But I think at this point, I'm not nervous about COVID or even getting COVID. I'm a lot more nervous about just the nasty things that people say or what people would think. But even that I'm learning to let go of, because I'm here to please an audience of one and I'm just working on living my life, walking in no fear and obeying the Lord and yeah, I'm really not nervous. I think another big part of that is—which I'll get to a little bit—we’re not having a hospital birth.
So a lot of the things that I think that are, I don't know, like nerve wracking or make you feel anxious have to do sometimes depends on the practice, depends on your doctor, but sometimes I think it could have to do with your doctor's language or just the atmosphere in the hospital. I feel like there's just, I mean, it has to be, has to be a very sterile place and like, I get that, but that's just not the path we've chosen. I think that has helped me to be more calm as well.
Did you share the news early on the podcast on purpose?
Yes, I did. I was really excited to share it here. It felt like I was sharing a secret with friends before sharing it publicly.
So yeah, it was really sweet to get all of your messages. Like I got so many DMs, they're like, “Oh my gosh, I just listened to the podcast." And I love how so many of you posted a congratulations comment, like on my hundredth episode, Instagram posts, but didn't actually say what it was about or like a wink or it was like, literally we had this inside joke or secret together, which was fun. I just really enjoyed that. So, thanks for listening. It's like a little reward if you made it all the way to a hundred.
Who was my hardest pregnancy with?
Well, not with this one. Well, we’re not at the end of this one, but so far, I would say, first trimester, this has been the hardest comparing all the first trimesters, but Beaufort overall was definitely the hardest because it just came on the heels of Lyndon. Lyndon was eight months old when I found out I was pregnant with Beaufort. So I just feel like my body hadn't quite totally bounced back and, yeah, I just felt really big.
How did you decide to go for a fourth?
I think Will and I just knew. We just talked about it and we had actually decided to like, pray about it intently for another three months or so before, actually trying and listen to the Lord. And then we took a pregnancy test and I was pregnant, so we didn't even have to do that.
Your debt free journey—give me an update and how you factor children into your debt free journey?
That's a great question. So being debt free has been something that's really important to Will and I. For so many years we have been working towards that. You know, we got debt free completely, our house and everything when we were 25 and 26, which is nuts. And then we bought the house that we're currently in and had a huge down payment on it, but we've been working to pay that off and we're hoping to pay it off this year.
So the bottom line is, Dave Ramsey said this once and I just really appreciated his priorities and perspective, he said “Don't plan your family around your financial freedom or your debt free journey. You plan your debt free journey around your family.”
Family is more important than anything. And so if you want to have a kid, you have a kid, you work around that, like you keep your priorities straight. Like the Lord and your family are more important. Now there's nothing wrong. If you say, “Hey, I want to become debt free before I have a kid.” If that's what you want to do, that is so great. As long as you know that your priorities are straight, because anything could happen. I mean, you know, life happens and so you could have medical bills or you could have something come up and postpone that, but then you're like eternally postponing your family. I just feel like for us, family comes first.
And so yes, we're going to have to get another car. We will buy it used, we will pay for it in cash. We will not go into debt for it. We will have to buy it, and it will slow down the payoff of our house somewhat this year by probably several months, honestly. But you know what, that's okay, because what's more important—a baby or paying off your house? Baby, 100%. So I feel like, and I hope that I'm like addressing the question in the way that you asked it, but really it's about the heart of it and keeping your priorities straight and definitely staying strong with your debt-free journey. We're wanting to, you know, pay cash for this car. Sell our Highlander, and then put that cash on the house and then continue to pay off our house hopefully by the end of this year and stay focused while also knowing, Hey, if things come up with baby, like that's the most important thing.
Can you share about maternity fashion because I'm struggling with it?
I am not the one to ask about maternity fashion. I live off of hand me downs. Honestly, I just, I just don't feel like it's worth spending so much money on maternity clothes when you literally live in them for 10 months and maybe a few months after. I live in my maternity clothes a few months after, I'll say like a year, right? I don't know. I just literally have lived on so many downs.
I bought maybe two or three items per pregnancy for myself. So I have racked up a pretty good staple wardrobe this year. I think I'm trying to lean towards obviously using everything that I already have, maybe buying like one or two really special pieces, because this will likely be my last pregnancy and I want it to feel special and honored and cherished, but that's basically it.
I really just aim for comfort everyday when I'm at home. So mostly in leggings and maternity t-shirts or sweatshirts.
How are you savoring this pregnancy while having other littles?
This has been such a big challenge, such a big challenge. I think just like my mental space, I'm trying to quiet my mind at the end of every day and just pray for the baby and thank the Lord for the baby, and that's all I've got right now because it's just really hard, if I'm honest, to get through the day sometimes. With three little kids and the way that I've been feeling, it's been a real struggle. I mean, even today, it was a homeschool day and about lost my mind and then Will was working from home and I just had to say, “I have to go lay down. The kids have a timer, they're playing in the playroom, but like I need a minute.”
And so it's just hard, but I think I'm hoping that as I feel better and get better sleep, I'll be able to savor it a little bit more. Okay.
Hospital or birth center?
Neither. I've actually decided to do a home birth this time, which is kinda crazy to say, kind of hard to believe, but we have found a great midwife. She’s super experienced and she's awesome. So I think I'm going to have a baby at home, which is crazy. You know, my sister had a home birth last summer and it was so beautiful. It felt, so it really put my mind at ease as far any doubts or concerns that people have about home births, experiencing it firsthand with her. And then another friend of mine whose birth I got to photograph. It's remarkable. I mean, it's a beautiful thing to have a baby at home. And it's really just America that has so many hospital births. So many people all around the world have home births all the time, and midwifery is way bigger in a lot of other countries. So it's just interesting. I've learned a lot, but we'll see, we'll see how I feel about it and how it goes after it's all said and done, but I'm personally really excited. Again, that's another reason why I feel not worried about COVID at all, because it's just going to be in our home, you know? And she'll be so comfortable.
Is it hard doing the Contentment Challenge while preparing for baby?
Not really. You know, I did the first couple of weeks, I got sad. I was like, oh, I can't buy like cute maternity stuff. I get like, this is my last time since my last first trimester, I want to buy some things. I want it to feel special, and again, it was just the re-wiring of my mind saying it's special no matter what. Whether I buy something or not, this is special. And I am trying to just focus on that. And now that I've done that and have gone without shopping again, I'm like, okay, I really don't need anything. Like I said, I planned to buy one or two like special pieces towards the end of the pregnancy, but that's it, you know? It hasn't been as hard as I thought, I'll put it that way.
What are you most excited for while you wait for baby? And what are your plans for delivery?
I think I answered most of the plans for delivery with the home birth question, unmedicated at home. I'm most excited to find out if it's a girl or boy, I am really excited for that moment. Just I'm so excited for either option, like genuinely excited if it were another girl or another boy. So I can't wait for that.
What is your age and what are the ages that you gave birth for each kid?
So I'm 34 right now and I'll be 34 when I have this baby. Starting with my oldest—I was 29 with Milly, 31 with Lyndon, 32 with Beaufort, and then 34 with this one.
Do you have any names picked out, or list of names that you're working through?
Oh, no, I don't. Y'all okay. Well, I will say this. We have one boy name. It's kind of ready to go, but I don't know how I feel about it anymore.
We picked it out for Milly when we thought that she was a boy as like a backup name. Actually, we had picked out Beaufort for Milly. We thought she would be Beaufort and that was not the case, but we had like a second boy name we thought would be Lyndon. That was not the case. So we still had that boy name. I don't know if we're going to use it or not. Some people are asking, would you use Rosie again? If this was a girl, a girl, baby. And I don't know that we would, I don't know, because Beaufort was going to be Rosie and we called him Rosie the whole time. And so now it, it felt weird to like, give him that identity.
And now this is another baby I'm like, but that was Rosie, you know, it was just like weird. So we don't know. No names.
On your blog you said this was your last biological baby. Would you adopt?
Yeah, so we, we feel pretty sure that this is our last biological baby, we feel pretty confident about that. We would adopt. You know, it's funny because I look at our life and I'm like, who am I like, who is this girl pregnant with her fourth child talking about adopting like that? To me, it's like, my brain starts to flood out of my head. And I'm like, that is not me. That's not the life that I thought. And how would we have the capacity for more than four children?
Will and I were talking the other night and we were like, right now, God's given us the capacity for four and a heart for adoption. And that's what we're just going to sit with for a few years, who knows, we might adopt an older baby one day. Maybe God will just call us to really like help fund adoptions of our friends around us, and maybe the calling of adoption on our life was like, for that more specifically, or maybe he'll bring another baby into our lives later on. I have no idea. I'm just trying to stay open to His plan and not mine. Cause I'll be honest, five babies sounds like so many babies. Like I never would have ever, ever, ever thought or dream that.
So I'm just trying to stay open with it. I don't think that it would be for several, several years and it's going to have to clearly come from the Lord. But we, like I said, we have just always had a heart for adoption. I've always, really felt strongly about it and wanting to adopt. So just trusting that if that is our path and God brings us to that, that he'll give us the capacity for that too.
Are there any new things you feel like you need for this baby? Or are you all set?
Definitely all set. I mean “need”? No, I don't need anything for the baby, especially in my experience, babies don't need anything, but maybe some diapers, but I will say I have my eye on a few things that I haven't had in the past that I just want to have this time around.
The Spectra pump. I think I want to replace my really old, used Medela pump with the Spectra. The changing pad that's like really popular these days that you can just wipe down instead of the cushion ones. I feel like that would be nice to have, and then maybe getting a new car seat. That one's still to be determined. We might have enough, but I'm not sure.
Okay. How do you prepare for not knowing the gender?
That's the beauty of it is you don't prepare. You cannot prepare. You literally just, I mean the only way you quote unquote prepare is you have gender neutral everything, but we already have a whole wardrobe for a little boy and a whole wardrobe for a little girl. So there's really nothing that we do other than just surrendering.
Like Lord, you have chosen this little one for our family and then just preparing your heart, I think, and your mind to get excited for whatever happens in that delivery room, which is really sweet and exciting.
How did you find out? How did Will react?
I took a pregnancy test when I was a few days late in November on a Sunday morning. He had taken the girls to church. Beaufort had woken up with a cold and so I kept him home and I took a pregnancy test. I literally was like, I could not shake it. It was on my mind and I was only like one or two days late, I think. And I was just like, buddy, we're going to the grocery store. I threw him in the car, went and got a pregnancy test, came right back home and I took it and it popped up pregnant immediately. And I was shocked, I guess it was almost like the Lord was helping me kind of know that this is about to happen because I just really had this strong urgency to take this pregnancy test. But then I was also shocked.
And so I wrapped up a present for Will and told him that I had an idea for Christmas for the kids and was like, I just want to give this to you. And then I set up a video camera—I should share the video of Will—and I gave him this present and then he just died laughing. I mean, he literally was like, what, what? And then he just laughed for like two minutes straight. It was great.
What will you do differently this time around?
I mean, home birth is the biggest difference, and I think I hope that I'll be a little more laid back about keeping baby on such a schedule and kind of follow baby's lead a little bit more. I am for making sure that they're obviously getting enough milk and staying on schedule, but I also have seen enough circumstances, enough mamas to know like it's okay to be a little bit more chill than I was the first few times.
How far along are you?
The time this episode comes out, 19 weeks.
How have your first trimesters changed baby to baby?
Milly's was definitely the easiest. I had pretty good energy levels with her. I felt waves of nausea here and there, but that was kind of it. I felt really good. Lyndon’s I was really tired, I wanted nap all day. I was very, very sleepy sleepy with hers, but not very sick. Beaufort’s, also tired, not sick at all with Beaufort and then this one not sick at all, but I have been flat out exhausted, like my most exhausted tired sleepy pregnancy has been this one.
Words for your followers trying to conceive?
This, this is just so tender and, and honestly kind of hard to speak to because if I'm honest, it's not my story. It's not something I've walked through, but I can tell you that I have had some very close and dear people to me walk it, and it is heartbreaking. And all I can say, I don't have the right words to say, but all I can say is press in to the Lord on the darkest of days when you don't feel him, when you are completely hopeless. He's there and he has hope for you, and he has a plan for you and your family that is good. And just keep after His heart and He will give you promises and He will give you things along the way. And he is the miracle worker and I have seen it firsthand in my friends, and sometimes it's hard probably to hear that and hard to believe that when you're in the thick of waiting, but that is the power of testimony.
My best friend tried for five years and kept feeling like the Lord was saying to not do any kind of treatment like IVF or anything and it was five grueling years. And it was really hard to be honest on our friendship because I was having babies and she was waiting and literally after losing a few babies and a really dark, dark season, she had a beautiful pregnancy and gave birth to a beautiful baby. And I share that because I think testimonies can sometimes build that hope and keep you hanging on when it feels like, is it going to happen for me? Because it happened for her, but is it going to happen for me? And I just encourage you, you know, I don't know if this is the right thing to say or not, but I just encourage you, keep listening to the Lord. And what he's saying to you, because the Lord gave my best friends specific promises that were literally her lifeline to hang on to His promises and say like, we have to keep fighting for our miracle, and she did. And she saw it happen. Yeah. But just keep pressing into him. He has good for you. And one of the things, and my sister also went through a really like two and a half years of trying to conceive. It's just, it's so hard. It's not something that I have walked through and experienced, but it's something that I've witnessed in some of the people closest to me, and my only encouragement is for you to keep pressing into the Lord and asking him to be your strength and to be your hope because He will take you through this season, and seasons don't last forever.
He will make it clear what your next steps should be. And He ultimately is like the giver of hope and the giver of life, and so as my friend and my sister and several other people in my life have done that, I've seen these beautiful stories of redemption come out of those seasons of darkness.
Will anything change for you guys work-wise? Something has to change for me, I feel like. Right, I mean, I've been basically a stay-at-home mom while trying to do this podcast for the last six months and I just need some more help. So, but I also want to take like a full on maternity leave for like five months after this baby's born. So yeah. You know, nothing's really gonna change for Will. He's just going to keep working and doing his thing.
And then I think I'm just going to have to get some more help and lean on some people. And then I'm just really taking it like a step at a time. Work as really life-giving for me, but I also feel like the Lord's asked me to have Milly in this university model school, which means I homeschool her three days a week.
So there's just a lot of tension in me right now if I'm honest about like, “Lord, what are you doing in my life? What do you want for my work? What do you want for me as a mom? What do you want for me at home? What do you want from me as a wife?” It just feels like a lot.
And because it is, it is a lot to have three kids, my ages, and then being pregnant and then about add a fourth to this and try to have an online business and podcast and do it on the fringes with like very little help. It feels, it's too much right now. So I don't know if that means just like getting extra help or toning back my work or a different school or what. I'm just trying to follow the Lord's leading, so something will change. I don't know what the answer is, but you can watch and see as it unfolds. I'm not sure.
How do you handle the newborn stage with the other kids?
You just do it. I have no great words of knowledge here. Other than you ask for a lot of help. If a mother or mother-in-law is willing to move in with you for two to three weeks, say yes, a hundred percent say yes. Or month. I’m going to try to convince my mom or my mother-in-law to come live with me for like a month. Ask for help. Take all the meals. I don't have a meal train, you ask a friend and say, “Will you set up a meal train for me?” A friend did that for me. And I was so grateful that she asked me it was a great opportunity for me to do something for her. And I did it and it was a joy. And then I asked her if she'd do the same thing for me. So just ask for help. Be bold, just do it.
How can we be praying for you?
Healthy me, healthy baby, that the home birth would go very well. That spiritually, that I would be prepared spiritually, mentally and physically for this birth at the birth would be quick and easy, but also that my midwife would make it in time, that would be great. Beaufort was very fast. And yeah, I think just that the Lord's hand would be all over this story again.
How did you tell the kids?
We told them on Christmas Eve. We gave them big sister shirts and then we gave Beaufort a big brother shirt and they were really confused. They're so little, they didn't get it. We like totally explained it to them and then they got so excited, but it's and really sweet.
what’s Something that you have learned to do that you did not do with the other babies?
Hmm. That's a good question. I think when I'm tired, I'm more apt this time to just take a nap, like do what I gotta do to take a nap. Some days I physically can't, you know, got to go pick up a kid or do something and those are hard, but I think I've just tried to learn—and I'm still learning—I’m trying to learn to just take care of myself and my body and prioritize like the basics, like sleep, food, rest when I need to rest and moving my body. Like those seem so elementary, but literally they are so difficult to do with the ages of our kids. So I'm trying, I'm still learning. But I think with the other kids, I just kind of powered through a lot and now I'm like, okay, I just need to not power through. I need to just slow down, and this is okay.
Okay guys, this was such a long episode. I wanted it to be short. Sorry, But Hey, we're getting coffee together, right? So it's fine. Thank you for listening.
Thanks for sending in all the questions. I hope this is helpful in some way, and if not, that it was just fun.
Work & Play Cornerstore
So I figured for today's Cornerstore I would leave my three favorite pregnancy birth and baby books:
The Mama Natural Week-by-Week Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth, Supernatural Childbirth, and Babywise. For quick access, you can head to nancyray.com/cornerstore.
Psalm 121:7-8 says,
“The Lord will keep you from all harm. He will watch over all of your life. The Lord will watch over your coming and going, both now and forevermore.”
Thanks for listening, and I'll see you next time.
