Sometimes life happens in such a way that you know that you couldn't have coordinated to make it happen the way it did, and you know that God is there working through all of us to make something beautiful happen. Even small things that happen sometimes make me step back and say, "Thanks, God. I know you are looking out for me, even in the little things."
I have given some thought to what kind of furniture I would like to have for the baby. The crib is a challenge that I'm still thinking about. We'll need some modifications made to a crib, but we're not sure what style will be best for us and safest for the baby. I think I'd like a co-sleeper to place next to our bed for the baby to sleep in initially and hopefully for several months. For a changing table, I thought that a desk would be ideal. I would be able to reach the baby easily and have drawers to keep clothes and other baby items. If I had a desk, it could double as a dresser and I wouldn't need an additional piece of furniture.
I mentioned to a few people that I was thinking a desk would be ideal, since it was the only thing I had decided on at this point. I started casually looking online at desks with drawers. I wanted to find a desk that was sturdy, something with drawers on both sides, and with a large enough space for my chair to fit under easily. What I found from my searches online was that desks meeting these criteria were hard to find in the ordinary stores around, not to mention were on the expensive end as far as desks go. But with more than six months to find something, I wasn't too worried. Nevertheless, I started looking on Craigslist and skimming through garage sale listings. The longer I look, the better the odds of finding what I want, right?
Last Friday I got an email at about 9:30 p.m. from my cousin's wife, P. As part of her bargain-loving nature, P. regularly visits online buying/selling/trading websites. She happened to see that there was a large executive desk that someone was giving away for free, which had been posted at 8:55 p.m. that night. She thought of me and passed it along. So I check my email a little after 10:00 that night and send an email to the seller (he wasn't really selling it, but it is easier to refer to him that way) asking for the dimensions to find out if my chair would fit under it. The seller must have have been sitting at his computer when I sent my email because he had responded by the time looked back at my computer after I told Josh that I had sent the email. The seller and I exchanged several nice little emails in the next few minutes. I thought the desk would work: measurements indicated that my chair would fit, it had drawers on both sides, it sure seemed sturdy enough (the seller assured me that 3 or 4 people would be needed to move it), and the price was right!
So I found a desk that would be great! Wonderful! Now I just needed a truck, and 3 or 4 guys to haul it. And soon. I was competing with about 15 other people for this desk, so it was going to turn into who could pick it up first. Since we don't have a truck or 4 guys sitting around to do my bidding, I highly doubted it was going to work out. There will be other desks, something will work out even if this doesn't, I said to myself. I responded to P., thanking her for letting me know about the desk, telling her that I thought it would work out great if I had means to get it. She responded with, "You might try calling my husband. All the brothers are helping J. move this weekend." So I called.
My family, and God, working through them all, loves me. It just so happened that my four cousins were all together that night and were going to help do the last of the big moving for J. to his new house. They were going to be taking a truckload of scrap metal late Saturday morning. They were able to switch scrap metal yards they went to and pick up the desk for me. They brought it back to our house and managed to make it fit through all the doorways and got it into the extra room. All by 2:30 Saturday afternoon.
While it is only a desk, not something really truly fabulous or anything, I feel like it was meant to be, to use the cliche. Everything happened very quickly and seemed to click into place, as if it was already planned and we just didn't realize it. So now I have a place to change my baby's diaper and put its little clothes. I almost tear up when I think about it.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
1st Appointment
We had our first appointment today and everything went well. The only thing that I am mildly concerned about is that they do not have a scale to weigh me. So I'll do some research to find out if it is really all that important to keep track of, and also see if there may be a semi-convenient scale that may be available to me.
Josh was looking forward to seeing the baby because he thought they did an ultrasound every appointment, but I told him they usually only do one around 20 weeks. He was disappointed when I told him this, but my sister said they could probably hear the heartbeat this time. A woman from work who is pregnant said they probably wouldn't even try for the heartbeat until the next month, so I was uncertain about whether we would even get to hear the baby, even if we didn't get to see him or her.
It turned out that everything I had heard didn't happen and Josh was right. We did have an ultrasound and got to see the baby. The midwife said she likes to do that when it is the first appointment with your first pregnancy to check the calculated due date with the baby's development. She said our baby is right on track for January 10, 2009, which is the date they had calculated.
It was awesome to see the little baby; its head, arms, and legs. Its length is 28 mm and its head is 13.8 mm. We could even see its heart beating up and down in its tiny chest. She gave us three pictures to take home. It was clearer on the monitor when she was doing it than the pictures here, but at least you can see the basic shape.
It's really there and growing!
Josh was looking forward to seeing the baby because he thought they did an ultrasound every appointment, but I told him they usually only do one around 20 weeks. He was disappointed when I told him this, but my sister said they could probably hear the heartbeat this time. A woman from work who is pregnant said they probably wouldn't even try for the heartbeat until the next month, so I was uncertain about whether we would even get to hear the baby, even if we didn't get to see him or her.
It turned out that everything I had heard didn't happen and Josh was right. We did have an ultrasound and got to see the baby. The midwife said she likes to do that when it is the first appointment with your first pregnancy to check the calculated due date with the baby's development. She said our baby is right on track for January 10, 2009, which is the date they had calculated.
It was awesome to see the little baby; its head, arms, and legs. Its length is 28 mm and its head is 13.8 mm. We could even see its heart beating up and down in its tiny chest. She gave us three pictures to take home. It was clearer on the monitor when she was doing it than the pictures here, but at least you can see the basic shape.
It's really there and growing!
Saturday, June 7, 2008
The Cat is out of the Bag
While Josh and I originally thought we would wait until going to the doctor to tell everyone, neither of us was all that committed to this plan. With my increasingly noticeable and annoying nausea and food aversions to spur our change of heart, we decided that we would make the pregnancy public knowledge. I was getting tired of keeping it a secret anyway.
The most memorable announcement was made to Josh's family. We arrived at his cousin's graduation party and said hello to the grad and the family that were enjoying themselves in the yard outside. We had decided to try to corner his parents to tell them first, and then let it spread around to grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. His mother was inside so Josh helped me in the house to the kitchen where the family ambushed us with a lovely chorus of "Happy Birthday," as it also happened to be Josh's birthday. At the conclusion of the song, calls of "Speech! Speech!" resounded around the room. So Josh, not one to miss a prime opportunity to shock, announced in a loud happy grin, "We're having a baby!" Suddenly, there were gasps and furtive looks at me for confirmation. Some were brought to tears, and some seemed to have missed the news entirely. Josh's godmother was so intent on getting to him to give him a hug and personal birthday wish, she had to ask him again what he said when she released him from her embrace.
But there was one problem; Josh's father was not inside when Josh had dropped the bomb. Someone noticed his absence and went out to the bring him inside. As soon as Josh's dad appeared, everyone started another chorus of "Happy Birthday" and repeated the entire scenario to give Josh's dad the benefit of the same delivery of the news, except this time everyone was not shocked but looked expectantly at his dad, who didn't miss a beat and congratulated Josh and I.
Reminiscent of our wedding receiving line, the family paraded by Josh and I, hugging and congratulating us.
Later, one of Josh's uncles made the comment to me that when he and his wife had announced their pregnancies, it didn't seem to be such a big deal. I responded that it all must be in the presentation of the news.
Even though I was sure that his mom and sisters must have already suspected, only his sister-in-law and brother had made any connections. So I guess I hadn't been as obvious as I had thought.
None of our other announcements were that dramatic or memorable. The only other thing that I thought was interesting was that my sister said she was not surprised because she was expecting us to announce any day since we got married. Her husband, on the other hand, said it surprised him because he still thinks of me as the 9-year-old kid sister I was when he first started dating my sister, so obviously it would be weird for me to be pregnant.
So I'll have my first appointment next week. Until then.
The most memorable announcement was made to Josh's family. We arrived at his cousin's graduation party and said hello to the grad and the family that were enjoying themselves in the yard outside. We had decided to try to corner his parents to tell them first, and then let it spread around to grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. His mother was inside so Josh helped me in the house to the kitchen where the family ambushed us with a lovely chorus of "Happy Birthday," as it also happened to be Josh's birthday. At the conclusion of the song, calls of "Speech! Speech!" resounded around the room. So Josh, not one to miss a prime opportunity to shock, announced in a loud happy grin, "We're having a baby!" Suddenly, there were gasps and furtive looks at me for confirmation. Some were brought to tears, and some seemed to have missed the news entirely. Josh's godmother was so intent on getting to him to give him a hug and personal birthday wish, she had to ask him again what he said when she released him from her embrace.
But there was one problem; Josh's father was not inside when Josh had dropped the bomb. Someone noticed his absence and went out to the bring him inside. As soon as Josh's dad appeared, everyone started another chorus of "Happy Birthday" and repeated the entire scenario to give Josh's dad the benefit of the same delivery of the news, except this time everyone was not shocked but looked expectantly at his dad, who didn't miss a beat and congratulated Josh and I.
Reminiscent of our wedding receiving line, the family paraded by Josh and I, hugging and congratulating us.
Later, one of Josh's uncles made the comment to me that when he and his wife had announced their pregnancies, it didn't seem to be such a big deal. I responded that it all must be in the presentation of the news.
Even though I was sure that his mom and sisters must have already suspected, only his sister-in-law and brother had made any connections. So I guess I hadn't been as obvious as I had thought.
None of our other announcements were that dramatic or memorable. The only other thing that I thought was interesting was that my sister said she was not surprised because she was expecting us to announce any day since we got married. Her husband, on the other hand, said it surprised him because he still thinks of me as the 9-year-old kid sister I was when he first started dating my sister, so obviously it would be weird for me to be pregnant.
So I'll have my first appointment next week. Until then.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)