I am EXTATIC to introduce to you all my little boy Jazer Scott Blatz!
Jazer, pronounced Jay-zr, was born at 6:27PM on Friday, April 12. He was 8 pounds 4 ounces and 21 inches long. Jared was an amazing coach timing contractions and rubbing my back through every contraction. Here's some interesting math: 19hour labor x 60 minutes per hour = 1140 minutes
My contractions ranged from 10 minutes apart (start of one to start of next) down to 4 minutes. So lets say every 7ish minutes. 1140minutes / 7 =162.8 contractions
Wow! That's a lot of back rubs! I remember the last contraction lasted 30 minutes because I pushed for 30 minutes and that contraction didn't stop until he was born!
My first thought when they lay Jazer on my tummy was: "He's here!" I looked up at Jared (teary eyed as he was) and said exactly that! Then I looked back at Jazer and just stared at him, I didn't even notice that he'd pooped on me! One of my next thoughts, quietly to myself was: 'He doesn't look like me!'
While the doctor was stitching my 2nd degree tear, and telling the nurse: 'can you hold this here so I can stitch this to here...' Jared and I confirmed his name would be Jazer. I had come across the name in my Bible reading as a city name mentioned in Numbers (21:32). It means 'helpful'!
So that's briefly how it went! Since then we've been doing a lot of learning! We've both been learning about feeding (I'm nursing) and I'm learning how to soothe him when he cries. This poor boy has a hard time getting his burps out, so we're finding out what does and does not work for him. I have now known Jazer for 3 weeks and this is what I've figured out:
Jazer likes: Daddy time, baths, Catnip & Fennel, the snugli carrier, being carried on his tummy, soft blankets, being held, movement, lights, windows, his soother, foot rubs
Jazer does not like: being cold, getting out of the bath, hitting himself in the face, stuck burps, a dirty bum, a hat or hood over his face
That appears to be all I have time to write! This little man sure keeps me busy with feeding diapers and getting things done!
Jazer with Daddy in his first sleeper
Jazer snuggling with Mommy
One of Jazer's many adorable expressions caught on camera
A onesie bought by Jazer's Grandma Reimer
We got this onesie in a gift bag from Anna's House. I thought it was perfect!
So, as I'm nearing the end of this pregnancy, I have been reflecting a lot on all the things that led me to this point. I tried looking back in my journals to see what I'd written in years past, but they are such a mess I quit trying to find stuff. So to those of you who journal, I would highly recommend putting tabs in your journal or journaling in a binder where you can sort the papers. My most recent journal I sorted into these categories: Personal, Spouse, Baby, Family, Friends, Ministry, Church notes, Work, Community, School, World, Dreams, Prayer Summit, Cell, God Moments. I wish I had always journaled this way. It is so much easier to go back and see what you prayed and how it was answered. I HIGHLY recommend journaling!
Somewhat related to journaling, in School of Ministers we have talked a lot about what we believe and why we believe it. I have really appreciated these classes and discussions, but often after classes like these I find myself saying: 'I could never remember all that!' I then use that as my excuse not to share my faith with others; allowing fear to control my actions. This has frustrated me long enough and now I have decided what I am going to do about it! I am writing down what I believe, simple as that! I have my little netbook beside me when I'm doing my studying and Bible reading. When I unravel a truth, or find a verse that clearly states something I believe, I type it in under a point stating what I learnt. I just started this yesterday, actually, and I am already starting to feel like I'm learning things about my faith, for myself; not just because the pastor says so. Oh, I also put a text box at the side of the page for questions to research or ask a pastor to explain.
Discipleship has really been on my mind lately; how to share my faith with others and help them help others and so on... (We actually had a really good message on it this weekend, I'll post a link when it's up). As I'm nearing the end of this pregnancy, I've been reflecting on the journey that brought me here. It's amazing to see how much I've learnt and grown through all of this. I am honestly so grateful that God took me through all that, he's taught me so much, and shown me so much. I have met people, talked to people and maybe even helped a few people in their journeys as a result of having gone through 44 months of waiting. The 2 biggest things I'd say I've learnt through all this is that God is faithful and I can trust him no matter what the situation looks like from my perspective. Knowing that sure doesn't make it easy though!
Before I found out we were pregnant, I always said: 'When I get pregnant, the world will know! I'll shout it from the roof tops!' But when I did discover our little miracle, my first emotion wasn't joy, it was fear. Yeah, maybe there was a little joy mixed in there, but fear was a lot more prominent than I expected; maybe that's why I had to read the test a dozen times! I didn't realize I'd built a wall around my heart, a defense mechanism that kept me from getting my hopes up. Even with a positive test, there are so many 'what ifs'; a false positive, a miscarriage, the baby dying at birth... it terrified me! As a result of that fear, Jared had to take me to the emergency room more than once because I'd worked myself into a panic of 'I might be losing the baby!' We did start telling people quite early on that we were pregnant, I was trying so hard to be positive and let this sink in and become real. What really stung was when we'd tell people, and they tell us we shouldn't be telling people yet this early. So even being pregnant has been challenging and scary at times. But God is faithful and I know I can trust him. He has been and will continue to use this journey to make me a better disciple.
So we are in countdown mode, 17 days until my ultrasound due date (April 4th), 22 until my original due date (April 9th). I am currently feeling a lot more excitement than any sort of fear. This is probably the only time in my life where I've said: 'Nope, that needs to hurt a lot more.' (in reference to my braxton hicks that I'm hoping will soon become contractions!) I see so many blessings as I walk through my house. It's hard to believe it's real. 'MY baby will sit in that car seat. MY baby will wear those adorable cloth diapers. MY baby is going to sleep in that bassinet.' People keep teasing me: 'Sleep while you can! Once baby is here, you wont ever sleep again!' I can see their perspective, but it's probably a lot tougher to see mine. My house has been quite for the last 4 years. There have been many nights where I would have given anything to be woken by a baby's cries, just to know that I had one. I know in reality, there will be days or nights when I wont feel so reflective, I'll get tired and frustrated. But I'm praying now that God will remind me of what it took to get there.
Wow I had a lot to say today! Well, I took some pictures and a short video for my far away friends. This is me at 37 weeks. I've been told I have a pretty active baby so I took a short video of my tummy so you can see for yourself! I hope you can tell what is me breathing and what is baby moving. Abby also makes a short appearance to look up at me like: 'what are you doing?'
There are a few questions that I get asked a LOT lately. So in case you are wondering these same things I will answer them for you!
Q: Do you know the gender of the baby?
A: Nope! We are saving that for a surprise! As far as people guessing the gender, votes are heavily in favor of it being a boy. Some people judge by how I'm carrying, which is quite low. Some people judge by heart rate which is a perfect 140bpm! So, though I find myself often referring to baby as 'he', we really have no idea.
Q: Is your baby room ready?
A: Nope! Jared's parents have been doing a LOT of work in our basement for us and it's looking AWESOME! No, we're not planning to have baby's room downstairs! But what will be baby's room, upstairs, has been used a a toy room and napping room while I've been doing daycare. So everything that's in baby's room now, needs a place to be before we can move baby's stuff in. We're also planning a small renovation for the room, and will be touching up and repainting it. It's not a big deal though, if baby's room isn't ready when baby gets here as a good friend of ours, CK, is lending us a bassinet so we can have baby in our room for the first little while!
Q: Are you ready for baby? Do you need anything?
A: People have been SO helpful and SO giving. We have been given SO much stuff and it has all been a huge blessing! I am so excited to use it all! My moms, sister, and Grandma F. have given me a good supply of gender neutral (and baby boy) sleepers which is AWESOME! Once baby comes it'd be nice to get more gender specific outfits, but I do have a good supply of sleepers! We have the big items like crib and car seat and stroller so I'd say we're ready. All the cloth diapers are washed and ready. I would like to get one of those cushion/mattress looking things for the change table...? What are they called? Can you get them at Walmart? Anyone have tips on bottle types or brands? I am planning to nurse, and I have been given a few bottles already. But I'd love for Jared to be able to feed the baby too.
So those are the top questions I get asked! And now for my 33 week photos kindly taken by my wonderful husband!
Yeah, I know I'm a little late for a Christmas post, but things were busy! I have also not been keeping up with my pregnancy pictures. I'll have to take one today after church. I'm WAY bigger than in these pictures, and I have a new due date! I am now due April 4th rather than 9th! Yeah, a week's not going to make much of a difference, but it's nice to think that baby could come earlier! Since Christmas, I've jumped back into school twice a week, which has been good. Less homework gives me a little more time for baby prep! Oo! Speaking of baby, here's a cool story: So we decided that we would like to do cloth diapers with baby and started our diaper supply using money we got for Christmas. We only had 4 shells (plastic pants equivalent, cloth diapers are much different now!) and a bunch of liners (the absorbent cloth you fold up and put in the shell). For sure not enough! So I started looking online for second hand cloth diapers in good condition. I found an add selling an entire collection of hardly used cloth diapers and accessories for a fraction of the price! I emailed the advertiser daily for a week with no response. I was getting discouraged. So I prayed: 'God, if we are supposed to get these diapers I trust you to work it out somehow.' I did not email again. Saturday I got an email stating that someone else beat me to it and was coming to pick them up. Boo. Sunday evening I got another email saying the lady had never shown up and if I still wanted them, and could pick them up today, they were mine! So I recruited a driver and we made the 1/2hr trip to the city and got the diapers! AMEN! Yup, our God cares about diapers too! Lol! This week marked the end of daycare for me, which is really sad. I think it'll hit me more next week when 'my boys' don't come. They were SO good! We had a really good last day together, a few hiccups along the way that actually helped in reassuring me that I have a lot of helpful 'parenting' experience from watching kids for the last 4 years. Baby comes in 7ish weeks! Woo! We are so excited! Jared's parents have been here all week working on the basement, and it looks awesome! With no more daycare, I can clean out the toy room and overhaul it into a baby room! We've also received a TONE of baby stuff from some wonderful friends and family. I was not expecting all that! I have bins and bins of stuff, including a few things I just hadn't thought of! Big thank you to SW, AS, TD, EB, JB, EF, CK and everyone else who's already been so helpful! But speaking of helpful, I should be a helpful wife and see how much cleaning I can get done before Jared comes back from his fire call! Have an awesome week! I'll get new pictures up soon!
As promised, here is my 21 week picture which I got Jared to take after attending his Fire Department Banquet!
Speaking of the banquet, something funny happened while we were there; at least I thought it was funny! The hosting fireman was just getting everyone quieted down to start the evening when there was this super loud 'BEEEEEP!' Then: "911 to Steinbach Fire....something something... structure fire...something... Please respond!" All their pagers were going off in unison! So they all left, leaving us wives, girlfriends, and 1 husband (his wife is the only female fire fighter on the crew) sitting alone at our tables! I was sitting with 2 wives and we were saying how we really hoped it would be a false alarm or we could be sitting here a while! Well lucky for us it was! They came back within, maybe 30 min or so and we had a somewhat cooled down supper!
I have a whole new respect for fire fighters and all that they do. They have to get up and go at any moment, fight a fire, or remove someone from a severely damaged vehicle, or save a life, then just go back to whatever they were doing before like nothing happened! Like this last night, or more this morning around 1 Jared got a call, responded, came back to bed, then got up a few hours later and went to work! Or earlier this week there was a car accident where extraction was required to remove people from their vehicles, one of whom was deceased. How do you just resume 'normal activity' after seeing and dealing with something like that? Jared was not on call for that accident, but he is on call for car accidents this week.
Oh! We were blessed yet farther in the purchase of the Pathfinder! When we received the Pathfinder and Jared was sorting out the final details and giving him a certified cheque, the man selling us the Pathfinder, gave us extra money to shampoo it as he hadn't had time to get it done himself. That was really nice of him! Then he added that him and his wife threw in a little extra for the baby! Super nice! We thanked him without counting the cash he laid down and they continued their dealings with changing the plates and such. I counted it later and they had given us a HUGE gift in a 3 digit dollar amount! For some reason I feel hesitant to write the actual dollar amount on here, but WOW!
In other news, Jared wanted me to clarify that we bought the Pathfinder for more than just his work, as he actually will use it very seldom for that. He will only use the Pathfinder for work when it's the only means of him getting there. We also bought the Pathfinder, for the convenience of the car seat, and so I have options when he goes on fire calls. We have to have strategies in place whenever we go somewhere or I'll just be left stranded! The Pathfinder will also be a lot more convenient for camping and trips, or just carrying around all of Baby's stuff!
Anyway! I should go! I have homework, devotions, and house cleaning to do!
I have so
much to share! 3 very exciting things happened
in our lives over the past few weeks!
1. Seeing
Baby:
Today I am 21 weeks (5 months 1 week) and my tummy
is getting round! (I will get Jared to take a picture ASAP!) I've been feeling the
baby move over the last 2 weeks or so and Jared got to feel a kick just last
week! I was saying to baby: “Kick, baby; kick
Daddy!” Then Jared looked at me and
said: “What are you teaching our baby?!”
Valid point. But at this point, I
don’t think baby can understand our speech.
Anyway, on Friday we had our first regular
ultrasound! (We had one at just over 7 weeks, but baby looked more like a peanut
than a baby at that point!) It was
really neat seeing the baby on the screen, moving, yawning, and sucking its
thumb. Most people ask us at this point:
“Did you find out the gender?” We did
not. The technician wanted to tell us,
but I asked him not to. So baby’s gender
will be a surprise!
Baby Blatz profile, sucking his/her thumb!
2.Jared’s
job:
So there’s really 2 parts to Jared’s job as he
technically has 2 jobs!
1) First,
Jared was very excited to receive his pager for attending fire calls! He still has more training to do and will
only receive his level 1 Firefighter testing next November! But there are still a number of things he is
allowed to do on a call. He was also
given an emergency light for our car for when he gets a call!
It
was very exciting this week receiving a call just as we were about to get into
the car. So I got to go along! They call it ‘going in red’ when they have
their light on, honking and going through red lights and all that. It was pretty exciting! Then, once at the hall, it was cool to watch
them all gear up and pull out with for sure 5 trucks! It ended up being a false alarm, but it was
still fun to watch them gear up and head out!
2) Second,
Jared was offered a manager position at a finishing site! In case you don’t know, Jared works for a hog
company. So he’s been there now for 3
weeks I think and is doing great! He is
in charge of 5 barns and 1 employee. On
one of his first days, his worker, who has worked at this site for some time
already, pointed to our civic and said to Jared: “Is that all you've got?” Then he explained to Jared how the road to the
barn drifts up pretty good and our little civic would never make it
through. And that brings us to the next
point!
3.Prayer
to Pathfinder:
So Jared and I have been thinking, praying, and
talking about a second vehicle for a little while now, partially for easier car
seat placement and partially for drifted snow days where our little civic might
not get through. So Jared did some
number crunching and we figured out how much we could afford to spend on a
vehicle and what sort of vehicle we could afford long term, specifically
insurance costs. There wasn't much in
our price range. We took a Mazda for a test
drive and were disappointed. We knew our
budget was small, but we needed something we could rely on. I stopped scouring kijiji for a few days and
got some homework done. Then Sunday
morning I was up early and just thought I’d see if anything new had popped
up. There had! I didn’t get my hopes up too much as most of
the better vehicles were a good distance away and we don’t have terribly much
time to be trekking out all over in the evenings. When I clicked on the Nissan Pathfinder and
looked at the map I realized that not only was this vehicle in our price range,
insurance included, it was right close by!
Just up the street! Big answer to
prayer right there! But it got better!
We were able to go look at it that very
evening! The man was so honest and
upfront. The first thing he did was show
us anything about the vehicle that wasn't quite perfect. He told us about work he’d done on it and all
kinds of other things about this type of vehicle itself, he was a
mechanic! Then as we talked we also
discovered that we go to the same church!
And he’d been in a cell group with Jared’s sister previously!
We took the pathfinder for a test drive and were
quite impressed! We came back to discuss
price and they invited us in! He gave us
a great price and even offered a few extras like the hitch package, shampooing
the interior and something with the rotors!
Then they invited us to stay for hot chocolate and games! I saw their daughter and realized I’d met her
before at church! We played a game, wrote
out a bill of sale, and before we left they prayed for us!
Now have ANY of you had an experience like that
when buying a vehicle?
