Poor baby

Luke is sick- this time with a really bad stomach flu. He has had something for a few days and has not wanted to eat much. This morning he woke up at 4 and was really sick. We took him to the doctor, but there was not much that he could do for now.

Please pray that he gets well soon and that he is able to keep some of his food. He actually hasn't touched anything except a cracker and a little juice all day. I have been able to nurse him a little still too. I am grateful that he is not fully weaned yet and that I can offer him some comfort.

Bad Start

Someone hijacked an old email account of mine and sent out a nasty email. I am working on damage control now. Sorry if you got an unpleasant email! Please pray that this does not get any worse!

Home for Now

Bethany is home for now with surgery scheduled for Thursday at 2:15pm. Evan, her husband, has a full update here: www.bevany.blogspot.com

Prayer Needed

Please pray for Bethany, Nathan's sister, who has been sick since Christmas. Right now she is in a UCSD hospital waiting to get surgery to remove a cyst that formed in her liver. Please also pray for the rest of the family too, that we can keep up our strength to help out as needed- especially in taking care of he little daughter Clara, who misses her mommy very much!

Insurance Battle

Please pray for us. I am battling with the insurance still (2 months so far) to get reimbursed for part of the charges relating to Luke's birth.

Also, he was not showing as having been added to my insurance and the window expired a month ago. I added him online, but it looks like it did not go through or something. I was careful about it, but who knows what happened.

Ugh!

Oh, and he is feeling much better! Hopefully he will resume a nice sleeping pattern tonight.

Fatigue

Please pray for Nathan and I as we are beginning to experience a lot of fatigue. Today is Nathan's first day back at work without anyone to help me at home. Last week we had relatives here. (Thank you!)

For me, the fatigue is probably more emotional than physical. I have had a hard time settling Luke down, He has been crying a lot and I can't figure out why sometimes. I wish that there I am sure that this is standard for newborns and for new parents, but please pray for us as we find our way. The hardest time is right around dinner as we face the long night ahead. I am sure that part of it is me adjusting to all of the postpartum hormones. Hormones! I had an easy time with them during pregnancy, but now now.

Nathan's mom suggested that his crankiness is probably due to a very busy past weekend, and that he became over-tired. Looking back, I can see how that is the case. What I am used to being able to handle and what he can handle are two different things. So, we will try to keep our little semi-routine and be more mindful of how little he is. :)

Taking After Mommy

Well, I think that my son takes after his mom. He decided to wake me up a little after two to let me know that he wants out. This may be premature and end up as false labor, but so far contractions have been 6-8 minutes apart for the past hour and a half. I tried to sleep, eat, drink something, and walk around to see if they would go away (recommended in the Bradley birth method), but they have kept on coming so far.

Please pray for little Luke, that he makes a safe entrance into this world. Please also pray for me and for the birth team (Nathan, Kelly and Kathy) that our strength would hold up.

URGENT prayer request

Jen, a friend of mine from Church, see blog at MarkHu, just called saying that she is in the hospital. She is a little more than 29 weeks pregnant with her second little girl and the doctors are worried about the baby's growth. Having already had a preemie two years ago, she has been on bed rest already for 4 weeks. Now the Dr's have decided that they need monitor her around the clock. She will be at Good Samaritan Hospital in LA until the baby is born. Her mom is in town for the next two weeks and she has plenty of reading materials and music, etc..

Please:

-Pray for the baby (affectionately called "Littlest B," that her growth would improve and her heart rate would remain strong
-Pray for Jen and her husband Mark, for strength and peace now and for wisdom in the coming days/weeks

I will be driving up on Thursday, God willing and will be happy to bring any words of encouragement.

Here is a prayer for a sick child that may be helpful:

For a Sick Child:

O Lord Jesus Christ, Who came into this world as a little child, and Who, though Very God, was subject to Your earthly parents: Look mercifully, we ask You, upon her, and in Your great love grant her relief from her pain. Yea, O Lord, Son of God: Send Your holy Angel from heaven to guard, cherish, protect, visit and defend this Your child, Baby Hudson, sick in her tender age. Stretch forth Your holy right hand upon her: that, restored to the vigor of health, she may attain to fullness of years, and serve You faithfully and gratefully all her life and become an heir of Your Kingdom. For You are the Physician of our souls and bodies, O Christ our God, and to You we send up glory, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
Heavenly Father, watch with us, we pray, baby Hudson, for whom our prayers are offered and grant that she may be restored to that perfect health which it is Yours alone to give. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

We put in our Application

We saw a PERFECT apartment, meeting all criteria that we were looking for yesterday night. It has 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 car garage, laundry, and dishwasher and is in a great area. Please pray that they accept it. There have been other applicants.

Apartment Hunting we go!

This weekend we are looking for an apartment. Hopefully we will not be doing this next weekend also. :) We are pretty specific about certain things, so I hope that we will find the right place. We are looking for:

1. A place in Huntington Harbor (NW side of Huntington Beach with close coastal access and close to Nathan's work)
2. 2 bedrooms and at least 1 1/2 bath (I can negotiate on the bathrooms, but not the bedrooms)
3. Close to a nice walking area and not close to the freeway.
4. Adequate parking (please visit us- especially after baby comes!)
5. Within our budget
6. Close to a grocery store so that I can walk instead of spending money on gas.
7. Not a place that requires a one-year lease (this may be very difficult in our area)

That's not too picky, is it? :) If you think of it, pray for us to have wisdom and to compromise on things that we need to, and not compromise on things that we shouldn't. We'll I will post pictures if we find something.

A prayer request

Please pray for me and the little Jonesie. I got food poisoning last night and have been sick all day. I began to feel better for a while, but realized that that was only because I hadn't eaten anything in a while. I am trying to stay hydrated, but I still feel like I am not keeping enough liquids. Nathan is off to the store for some safe for pregnancy OTC medicine. This is tough too because I was supposed to have a very busy work schedule tomorrow.

Thanks!

Prayer Request

Well, as I am sure that many of you know, I have had some serious teeth problems over the past year and a half, and a lot of work done. Unfortunately, this has transferred to gum problems with the pregnancy. This is not uncommon. The dentists have named it "pregnancy gingivitis," and it stems from the changes in hormones and increased blod flow that occurs during pregnancy. My gums are sore pretty much all the time. I have been doing a lot to keep them healthy, extra brushings, flossings, salt water rinses, etc..., but I seem to be losing the battle.

At the moment, I am pretty depressed about it and worried. I don't want it to hurt the baby, or to do permanent damage to my mouth. Most of all though, I don't want to get so worried about it that I cause extra stress to the baby. This seems to be my Achilles heel when it comes to worrying. I can handle a lot of things, but I fall hard when it comes to this.

Please keep me and baby in your prayers.