What can I say, my critters love me….and Brando and Petunia have no doubt felt slightly neglected the past two weeks, but also curious about the new noisy wiggle worm that smells soooo interesting!

We had a great weekend, with a visit from Hannah and Jordan and Heather and Karl!  I prepped Jonas by telling him that these are mom and dad’s friends that love him already and will be part of his life forever!  I love knowing that he will have numerous wonderful adults influencing him as he grows up. I’m so thankful to have so many wonderful friends that I can rely on (and have already relied on) for advice, encouragement, prayers, and practical help.  All of you who read the blog, and many of you who don’t all make me feel like I have a huge, loving extended family (even bigger than my actual huge, loving extended family ).

And here are some of my favorite pictures from the weekend.  (notice that Grandpa Jerry could not keep his eyes open!)

I work on-call for a mental health agency in the big city, and have been working night shift sporadically ever since I returned post leg break. Work will be changing in the next two weeks as we move location and method of service delivery.  I am thankful for the job, but am concerned about so much change right before the baby gets here.  I have also been hired on two days a week as a therapist at another mental health agency in t-town, and will begin training for that on the 25th. It will be nice to have set hours, but again, stressful amidst the pending delivery Luckily both of my employers are aware of the baby and intend to give me time off when he comes, though it’s without pay, so I won’t be able to go more than a few weeks-maybe a month.  At least it’s not full time. 

Just yesterday I noticed that I can see movement through my belly when the baby moves.  I find this very exciting and have caught myself spending minutes staring at my midsection waiting for another bump.  I have resolved to try not to do this in very public places.

On another topic, I left work a little early the other night as I had a cold and was feeling very crummy.  It was a night shift so I got home at around 4am to discover that Josh had put away all of the christmas decor, including the tree, had cleaned the house, assembled the crib and cleared out the nursery of clutter that had accumulated over the holidays.  It was a delightful suprise and coupled with the baby shower that I had attended earlier in the day was a huge reminder about the changes that are mere weeks away.  It was lovely to sit  in the chair in the nursery and contemplated our son, our life together so far, and all the events, suprises, and challenges Josh and I have to look forward to as we embark on parenting.

The christmas tree is up, and the days are almost ready to start getting longer…thank the Lord!  I am feeling very optimistic about my leg healing, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to walk in the boot by the end of the year.  I occasionally practice a few steps without crutches. Today is exactly one month since I broke my leg, and I decided it was a great time to get back behind the wheel.  So after a brief test drive around camp I drove myself into town and ran a few, very short errands, one of which required a drive-up so I didn’t have to get out of the car .  I have told my employer that I will return to work on Monday.  Thankfully I am only scheduled for two shifts a week, so I’ll get to ease back into it;  It has been at least a month since I was awake for more than 12 hours at a time, and work will require far more than that .  Pregnancy is going well, we have 11 weeks until we get to meet him!  Our little boy (who remains un-named) kicks and wiggles constantly, which is very fun.

I’m writing this in the middle of a truly winter scene.  The sun is low in the sky casting beautiful light into the kitchen, despite the fact that it’s only 1pm.  The dog is curled up as close to the wood stove as he can get, trying to warm his bones after playing outside in the 15 degree weather.  And the cat is purring, having found a warm place to sleep, after first trying out the keyboard and the desk.

Despite the beauty of the winter scene, and the several days of sunshine, it has been a challenging few weeks.  It began when I broke my leg walking in the woods around the house.  This was followed by a 4-night hospital stay, surgery, and many days spent with my leg elevated on the couch.   It has not been easy and my emotions have been fragile as I am forced to alter all aspects of my life for my traitorous bones.   In the midst of my frustration there have been numerous people who have been a great encouragement and practical help.  Josh has risen to the challenge and been the best partner I could imagine, bringing me everything I need, endless pillows, icepacks and cups of water, starting fires to keep me warm, coming home at lunch to care for me each day, and when his last weeks of school were taking all his time in the evening, arranging for friends to stop by and check on me.  He has let me be sad but always focused on any progress I have made, emphasizing that this too will pass.

Friends in Yelm have made multiple visits to the house, brought several meals and even arrived with cleaning products in hand and cleaned our entire house.  Claudia has walked Brando each day and come over most evenings to check on me. Friends farther away have called frequently to check in, and when able made the long trek to see me.  The Rogers helped Josh and I settle in at home when we first left the hospital and loaned us a great deal of medical equipment.  The Sommermans provided great care through the long Thanksgiving weekend, even giving up their downstairs master bedroom for the 5 nights we were there.

The fact that I am most grateful for is that despite all the medication, sedation, and trauma, our son, not yet born, has been unharmed.  As I lay on the couch I pass a lot of time attending to his kicks and wiggles, scarcely comprehending what life will be like when he arrives in 12 short weeks.  I fear for myself- that I won’t yet be healed, that the pain I experienced with my leg will pale in comparison to labor, that my low moods will be difficult to handle, and that with a baby in the house our patients with one another will wane.

Listing the blessing that I have experienced amidst my leg breaking is evidence that despite my frustration we are in the hands of a loving God.  One who does not intend for bad to happen to his children, but promises us that he will work all things together for good, for those that love him and are called according to his purpose.  I don’t know if “work together of good” equals “work together for best” as I have seen too many irreconcilable tragedies happen to loved ones to ever believe that our pain can be mended with doctrine and words.  The mystery of healing remains that…a mystery, but the weaver of this tale is Christ; and despite my confusion and discontent I’ll keep trying to rest in him.

3:58pm – The following is an email I sent to a few people this afternoon – we’ll try and keep you up to date over the next few hours as things change.  Lydia should be out of surgery pretty soon…

2:30pm – Yesterday afternoon Lydia was out on a walk around camp when she was walking down a very small but very steep hill. She felt her leg brake and she slowly fell to the ground. She was yelling for help for about 40-50 minutes before a few people down at my office were in the parking lot and thought they heard something in the wind. Our food services manager Mike started driving around to find out where the yelling was coming from. He found Lydia not too long after and went to go get more help and Lydia asked him to call 911. When I got there it wasn’t too much longer until the local first responders got there and an ambulance followed shortly afterwards.

We went into the ER where they put her in a room and checked on the baby (everything appears to be just fine) and took X-Rays. After a few hours they splinted her leg and we moved upstairs to the orthopedic floor to spend the night and waited for surgery sometime today (Thursday). It’s a pretty nasty break, both bones above the ankle and below the shin broke a few times with a fracture going down to the ankle. Lydia’s OB doesn’t practice at this hospital but there are OB doctors from the hospital who are taking good care of us – we did a full ultrasound this afternoon and nothing was wrong at all!

So – now (2:30pm) Lydia is in surgery for the next 2 hours and recovery until somewhere around 5. There is a labor & delivery nurse in there with her monitoring the baby’s heartbeat. We’ll be here until Saturday or Sunday, and Lydia would love visitors if your free – we’ve got a nice private room waiting for her when she wakes up. Her pain level has been about at a 4-5, hopefully recovery will go well and painless over the next few days.

We would appreciate your prayers. For pain, for the baby, for the surgery, the recovery…. I’ve got both cell phones, feel free to call – we’ll anwser if available and tomorrow I’m sure Lydia would love to chat (but we’ll see what it’s like).

-Josh

Sent from my iPhone

Its been quiet here lately on the Rogers Family Blog, we’ve been living the day to day aspects of Lydia’s first pregnancy and aside from a decrease in morning sickness there hasn’t been much deemed “blog worthy” for a while. Last Thursday however, represented a milestone known to any who have gone through this experience before, and thats the big week twenty doctor’s visit.

With this most recent visit comes a new opportunity for ultrasound, and generally this is when they are able to determine the gender of your baby… we were excited to find out! Obviously there are only two outcomes here, but we’ve been waiting for weeks now to find out what this visit might hold… while naming discussions abounded in plenty in the YEARS leading up to pregnancy, once everything started our debate slowed as we knew there would be an opportunity for our ideas and suggestions to become more pointed and fruitful.

So, according to the goofy ultrasound machine’s photographs – we’re having a BOY!

After having several days to digest this, I would say its safe to assume that both of us are very excited, and everything has become so much more real than just a week ago – suddenly we can begin to imagine what this little life that’s forming might look like once it begins. The (very) young Mr. Rogers appears to be doing very well and is in the process of making his big debut early next spring!

I have developed a system.  I wake up briefly early in the morning and eat a few saltines and on work days, or days when I have to get things done I take the anti-nausea medication prescribed by my OB.  I then try to sleep another 30 min or so till that kicks  in, then slowly get out of bed, braving the day.  The medication doesn’t render me “well”  but it calms the violent sickness and allows me to eat, which I’m told is good for the baby .

I know this is way in the future, but someday if we decide we want another child, how am I supposed to care for this one while I’m feeling this way?  I guess that just brings up the point that I’ll have to do a lot of things that I wouldn’t do now because of the difficulty or discomfort.  As I begin to contemplate the vast change this baby will bring to my life I can feel my “old friends” panic and anxiety rearing their head.

I’m leaning on faith-that so many women before me aren’t lying when they say mothering is worth it; that though I’m not exceptional I am certainly adequate in this department; that children are God’s blessing, and that I will learn more about the character of God as I go through this.

My fingers are crossed.

Sarah and I sat together this evening at the Mariner’s game (they lost) and we enjoyed finding all the pregnant ladies in the crowd.  Speculation ensued on weather I would be a “cute” pregnant lady or just uncomfortable….Sarah was encouraging, but I have my doubts.  We also took note of the wedding ring on a necklace trick for when fingers swell…good idea.  I also tend to notice random children more these days too, and what the parents are doing with them, protective, yelling, teaching, stressed out?  Having my own baby still feels very far away, but as of this weekend there are only 29 weeks remaining.  I need to get ready!

Well, all big news hits the internet eventually…..