Prayers for a friend, and some other things

Most importantly, a friend of mine just had her third miscarriage.  Please keep her and her husband in your prayers.

K had her 6 month appointment on Tuesday and she weighed 14 lbs, 2 oz, which is a gain of almost a pound in a month.  She's 24 1/2 inches tall.  Her percentiles are staying consistent so the doctor is fine.  He was very impressed with her physical abilities (scooting, sitting).  K is taking about 5-8 ounces of formula a day and I am continuing to support her in slowly weaning herself from the formula.  I hope

We decided to wait a little while to move K to her own room, but we are moving her to her pack and play as soon as she falls asleep instead of letting her stay in the bed since it was preventing all of us from getting good sleep.

Tuesday was also my 31st birthday.  We went out to dinner and had sushi.  My sisters-in-law were in town this past weekend, and we went out on a date after K went to bed on Saturday night.  It was great to just have some couple time.

Prayers for a Blogger

Amazing Life asked me to pass along a prayer request for Maria at Living in Lewis Land, who lost her husband tragically this weekend.  The funeral is today at 11 am central time.  Please pray for their family, especially Maria and their 3-year-old daughter Gianna.

Need some prayers

I'm dealing with a situation right now that could use some prayers.  K is fine but I can't really get into details beyond that.

35 weeks

I'm 35 weeks today.  I've been a terrible blogger and commenter.  Life has been a bit crazy.

34 weeks

34 weeks u/s face picture

Last weekend was my shower in Houston.  My mom came over from Qatar so I got to see her and we even went shopping for things to get my dress made for my brother's wedding in June since I'll need a dress that I can nurse in.  The shower was great.  We got lots of great stuff and it was great to see people who I haven't seen in a while.  My BIL was even in town for job interviews because they are moving back after my SIL graduates from her doctoral program.  We are really looking forward to them living 4 hours away instead of 16.  I'll post shower pictures once I get them.

I had an ob appointment on Thursday.  The baby is looking fine but my belly is still measuring small (though I don't know by how much).  The dr was considering doing another growth u/s but she looked again at the growth u/s from 2 weeks ago where the baby was measuring ahead and decided not to worry.  They brought me back a little early for the appointment and I didn't know D was coming so he missed the whole thing.  We were walking out to the elevators and he came in.  I felt really stupid since he had drive from the other side of town and I had even switched the appointment so that he could come.  No update on gender; they didn't check this time.  We are pretty sure girl (and my mom went and bought girl clothes), but we aren't making guarantees until the baby is born.  We know the name that we are going to use for a girl.

I'm doing pretty well and not too uncomfortable other than just rib pain (the child seems to be hiding under my ribs).  The baby wiggles like crazy sometimes and my belly moves around.  I have about 5 weeks left (give or take two); we are preregistered at the hospital, the room is mostly ready (we still need cloth diapers but D's work is doing a shower for us next week so we'll see where we are after that).  I probably need to pack my hospital bag, but I'm not sure what I'm going to put in there and I feel like I'll need most of the stuff until I actually go to the hospital.

A friend of ours was in a motorcycle accident earlier this week.  He's out of ICU, but does have some internal bleeding and will be having surgery the end of next week.  Please keep him in your prayers.

A Spiritual Bouquet

For all our Sisters in Christ who are in the midst of their journey with infertility, loss, and adoption...please know you have our continued support, love, and prayers! 

Prayers needed

I got an email this morning that a woman who had just joined the young adults group at our church was murdered last week by her ex-boyfriend.  She seemed like a really sweet girl and I was looking forward to getting to know her.  Please pray for her soul and for her family.

Improvement (and some other random stuff)

I've had a better start to this cycle compared to previous ones.  I didn't really have cramps, just some back pain.  I stopped bleeding on after CD7, which is a huge, let me say it again HUGE improvement since I've been going to CD 10+ most cycles.  I don't know if the antibiotics had anything to do with it, but if they are the reason I'm not still bleeding (and I'll be even more impressed if I don't have post-ovulation bleeding) then I can deal with a funky stomach and metallic taste for another 6 months.

I told D that I was done bleeding and he laughed at how happy/proud I was, but he doesn't have to wear feminine hygiene products for 2/3 of the month (ex. last cycle with 20 days of bleeding out of a 30 day cycle).  If I manage to make it to P+14 or 15 (which is of course a long way off), I may actually get my hopes somewhat up.  However, even if we don't actually conceive, I will be thrilled just to not be bleeding all the time.

Prayer buddy (and all the rest of you wonderful ladies), please pray that the bleeding will continue to stay away.  Also, please pray for my first cousin once removed, she has Stage 3 breast cancer.  My grandma is really worried about whether she'll lose her sister (my great aunt) if her (my great aunt) daughter loses her cancer battle.  We went to visit my grandparents today since we were in town (they live about 6 hours away so we always try to visit when we come even for other things), and she started crying when she was talking about it. 

Thursday and Friday, D and I went with a friend and his kids (plus his nephew) to a great waterpark in Central Texas (I bet any Texan would know where I'm talking about).  We had a great time, but it was hard to see D with our friend's almost three year old since I haven't been able to give that to him.  The good news is that D and I could definitely handle taking a 3 year old to a waterpark, just the two of us.  I got slightly sunburned and so did D (even after putting on sunscreen), but it's not too bad.

My mom is in from overseas and is at our house for the next week.  Last time she was in was for my surgery, and I spent most of the time sleeping or feeling nauseated.

The baby, a little boy, that I'm going to nanny for was born earlier this week.  I'll probably start working in about a week since the dad will be out of town for flight stuff and her mom won't be able to come to town.

Job Update, etc.

The family that I talked to on Friday who are adopting a newborn in the next month or so and are also having a baby in December, would like to hire me to watch their children.  However, this job wouldn't start until sometime  (up to a month) after the first child is born, which hasn't actually happen yet.  A very cool thing about the family is that they also go to my church and attend the same Mass that I sing at.  I still need to figure out something temporary to have income for the next month or two.

I'm still having brown tinged CM, but thankfully I'm not having the bleeding like I was.  I'm on P+12, so I'm trying to decide if I should attempt to test should I make it to P+14.  Anyone have suggestions?  I'm not feeling very hopeful for this cycle after the bleeding.

I was thinking about doing a novena to St. Joseph for those whose husbands need prayers so that they can become more of the spiritual head of the family, like St. Joseph.  I probably will wait until June 12 to start it so that I can finish on June 20, Father's Day, which seems fitting.  I know that there are a number of other bloggers that are struggling with this, and I know I need to focus more on praying for my husband.

There was some talk a couple weeks ago about doing a prayer buddy thing for those of us who are still waiting to conceive and/or adopt.  I think it would be a very cool idea, but we'd need to work out some details.  If anyone is interested, let me know and give me some suggestions on how you think we should do it.

Need some job prayers again

I need to find a new job.  The family I was nannying for was offered free child care and financially had to decide to go with that.  I'm working through May 26.  I need lots of prayers to find something very soon.

My u/s results didn't get fax from my local ob/gyn until yesterday (Friday) at about 4:45, so I haven't heard from Dr. H yet.  I did have some wonderful 10KL last night, but we haven't had used any days of fertility yet. Hopefully we can find some time today.  Maybe it's just a mature follicle not a cyst.

Ouch

This cycle has been weird.  CD 1 started off with about 15 minutes of pretty heavy bleeding, but then went done to pretty light flow.  CD 2-5 were light flow too and it's only been the past two days (CD 6 & 7) that I've had my normal medium flow.  I'm also having some pretty sharp pains that come and go (and have only happened really in the evening the past three days or so) in the area of my right ovary.  Since it's not consistent and hadn't really bothered me during the day, I haven't called PPVI but I'll call if it continues into tomorrow.

My youngest brother stopped in for the night yesterday on his way "home" (since my parents are living overseas, he doesn't really have a home) on the way home from college.  It was good to see him since I hadn't seen him since Christmas.  I'll see him again in August on his way back up to school.  He's working at a Catholic teen camp this summer and then going to Ghana for a mission trip in July.  Please keep him and the group he's going with in your prayers.

There has been so much wonderful news in the Catholic IF blogger world lately.  Congratulations to Sew, Jeremiah, and Thankful.

I need to work on hope in the Lord for myself like TCIE and Kaitlin talked about.  I've been feeling a bit down, like it's never going to happen for us (even with my FCP and Dr. H saying we have good odds).

An email should be going out about the Southern blogger get-together soon.

Giveaway, etc.

Living God's Will recently gave away a book called "Longing for a Child" by Kathe Wunnenberg.  I won but when I got the book I realized that I had already won the book from a different giveaway about 6 months ago.  I really like the book and although it's not specifically Catholic, it's Christian.    So comment on this post if you would like to win the book.

At adoration yesterday, I felt compelled to offer up my sufferings for three particular bloggers and carry the cross for them if they shall become mothers before me.  I hope that my prayers for them are answered (and soon, they've all been waiting a long time).

I think I'm starting to get sick.  I woke up during the night with a sore throat.  I was wiping noses of the kids I nanny for a lot on Friday, so that's probably where I caught it.  I've actually not had too many colds lately, so I'm probably due for one.

My body is still being a bit odd.  My period seems to be starting and stopping instead of just normal flow.  Hopefully my body will normalize after this and I can have a reasonable cycle.

Prayer intentions

I have been thinking that it would be nice to have a way to have everyone's prayer intentions all in one place, especially so that it would be easy to print out.  I made a Word Document in Google Documents and I have shared it.  Here's the link http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AZ5klzkacsy2ZGRrZGtwenJfMWRmOTZrcGR2&hl=en.  I made it open for everyone to edit, so you can add your prayer intentions too.  I'm going to link to it in my sidebar (see the Prayer Intentions in the right sidebar), and everyone is welcome (and encouraged to add a link too).  To add the link, just go to Customize, then Layout and click Add a Gadget.  Choose Link list and title it something like Prayer Intentions and put in the link above to point it to and name it something like Prayer Intentions.  Add the link, save and you're done.

I hope that this is something that people will use.  Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Just waiting

I'm about P+8 or 9, so a new cycle should be starting Sunday or Monday.  I hopefully will have just a started a new cycle right before my surgery, but it might be pretty close.  My bbs just started hurting again.  This is the third or fourth month that I've had it, but I hadn't had any bb pain in the months before and I don't know why it suddenly started happening.  I'm over halfway between my surgeries.

The sad situations that TCIE and Sew makes me feel even more down that I already was.  Please go give them some support and keep them in your prayers.

Patron Saint and Novena Plan

In the Patron Saint 0f 2010 drawing done by Where Angels Blog, Elizabeth, Mother of John the Baptist was chosen for me. Of course, Elizabeth dealt with infertility until advanced age, but finally conceived her son, John (the Baptist). Her feast day was yesterday, November 5.

Since my surgery falls on the feast day of St. Juan Diego and the day after the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, I'm planning to do a novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Right now, I've just got spotting, which is normal for me on CD 8.

Sad trip

Tomorrow is the funeral for my friend's brother. It's actually going to be the first funeral I've gone to. Please continue to keep his family in your prayers.

St. Teresa of Avila, Pregnancy and Infant Loss Rememberance

Today is the feast day of St. Teresa of Avila. She was my Confirmation saint so I have a special devotion to her. I didn't manage to start a novena to her on October 7, so I'm starting it today. Today is also Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. Please pray for all those who have lost children today.

http://theapostolateofhannahstears.blogspot.com/2009/10/saint-teresa-of-jesus-october-15.html

Novena to St. Teresa of Avila

by St. Alphonsus of Liguori

( Pray especially beginning on October 7 and ending on October 15 , the Feast of St. Teresa.)

First Day: O most amiable Lord Jesus Christ! We thank Thee for the great gift of faith and of devotion to the Holy Sacrament, which Thou didst grant to Thy beloved Teresa; we pray Thee, by Thy merits and by those of Thy faithful spouse, to grant us the gift of a lively faith, and of a fervent devotion toward the most Holy Sacrament of the altar; where Thou, O infinite Majesty! hast obliged Thyself to abide with us even to the end of the world, and wherein Thou didst so lovingly give Thy whole Self to us.

Say one Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be.

V. St. Teresa, pray for us:

R. That we may become worthy of the promises of Jesus Christ.

Let us pray: Graciously hear us, O God of our salvation! that as we rejoice in the commemoration of the blessed virgin Teresa, so we may be nourished by her heavenly doctrine, and draw from thence the fervour of a tender devotion; through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.

Second Day: O most merciful Lord Jesus Christ! we thank Thee for the great gift of hope which Thou didst grant to Thy beloved Teresa; we pray Thee, by Thy merits, and by those of Thy holy spouse, to give us a great confidence in Thy goodness, by reason of Thy Precious Blood, which Thou hast shed to its last drop for our salvation.

Say one Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be.

V. St. Teresa, pray for us:

R. That we may become worthy of the promises of Jesus Christ.

Let us pray: Graciously hear us, O God of our salvation! that as we rejoice in the commemoration of the blessed virgin Teresa, so we may be nourished by her heavenly doctrine, and draw from thence the fervour of a tender devotion; through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.

Third Day: O most loving Lord Jesus Christ! we thank Thee for the great gift of love which Thou didst grant to Thy beloved Teresa; we pray Thee, by Thy merits, and by those of Thy most loving spouse, to give us the great, the crowning gift of Thy perfect love.

Say one Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be.

V. St. Teresa, pray for us:

R. That we may become worthy of the promises of Jesus Christ.

Let us pray: Graciously hear us, O God of our salvation! that as we rejoice in the commemoration of the blessed virgin Teresa, so we may be nourished by her heavenly doctrine, and draw from thence the fervour of a tender devotion; through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.

Fourth Day: O most sweet Lord Jesus Christ! we thank Thee for the gift of great desire and resolution which Thou didst grant to Thy beloved Teresa, that she might love Thee perfectly; we pray Thee, by Thy merits, and by those of Thy most generous spouse, to give us a true desire, and a true resolution of pleasing Thee the utmost of our power.

Say one Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be.

V. St. Teresa, pray for us:

R. That we may become worthy of the promises of Jesus Christ.

Let us pray: Graciously hear us, O God of our salvation! that as we rejoice in the commemoration of the blessed virgin Teresa, so we may be nourished by her heavenly doctrine, and draw from thence the fervour of a tender devotion; through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.

Fifth Day: O most kind Lord Jesus Christ! we thank Thee for the great gift of humility which Thou didst grant to Thy beloved Teresa; we pray Thee, by Thy merits, and by those of Thy most humble spouse, to grant us the grace of a true humility, which may make us ever find our joy in humiliation, and prefer contempt before every honour.

Say one Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be.

V. St. Teresa, pray for us:

R. That we may become worthy of the promises of Jesus Christ.

Let us pray: Graciously hear us, O God of our salvation! that as we rejoice in the commemoration of the blessed virgin Teresa, so we may be nourished by her heavenly doctrine, and draw from thence the fervour of a tender devotion; through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.

Sixth Day: O most bountiful Lord Jesus Christ! we thank Thee for the gift of devotion towards Thy sweet mother, Mary and her holy spouse, Joseph, which Thou didst grant to Thy beloved Teresa; we pray Thee, by Thy merits, and by those of Thy most dear spouse, to give us the grace of a special and tender devotion towards Thy most holy mother, Mary, and towards Thy beloved foster-father, Joseph.

Say one Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be.

V. St. Teresa, pray for us:

R. That we may become worthy of the promises of Jesus Christ.

Let us pray: Graciously hear us, O God of our salvation! that as we rejoice in the commemoration of the blessed virgin Teresa, so we may be nourished by her heavenly doctrine, and draw from thence the fervour of a tender devotion; through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.

Seventh Day: O most loving Lord Jesus Christ! we thank Thee for the wonderful gift of the wound in the heart which Thou didst grant to Thy beloved Teresa; we pray Thee, by Thy merits, and by those of Thy seraphic spouse, to grant us also a like wound of love, that, henceforth, we may love Thee and give our mind to the love of nothing but Thee.

Say one Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be.

V. St. Teresa, pray for us:

R. That we may become worthy of the promises of Jesus Christ.

Let us pray: Graciously hear us, O God of our salvation! that as we rejoice in the commemoration of the blessed virgin Teresa, so we may be nourished by her heavenly doctrine, and draw from thence the fervour of a tender devotion; through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.

Eighth Day: O most beloved Lord Jesus Christ! we thank Thee for the eminent gift of the desire for death which Thou didst grant to Thy beloved Teresa; we pray Thee, by Thy merits, and by those of Thy most constant spouse, to grant us the grace of desiring death, in order to go and possess Thee eternally in the country of the blessed.

Say one Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be.

V. St. Teresa, pray for us:

R. That we may become worthy of the promises of Jesus Christ.

Let us pray: Graciously hear us, O God of our salvation! that as we rejoice in the commemoration of the blessed virgin Teresa, so we may be nourished by her heavenly doctrine, and draw from thence the fervour of a tender devotion; through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.

Ninth Day: Lastly, O dearest Lord Jesus Christ! we thank Thee for the gift of the precious death which Thou didst grant to Thy beloved Teresa, making her sweetly to die of love; we pray Thee, by Thy merits, and by those of Thy most affectionate spouse, to grant us a good death; and if we do not die of love, yet, that we may at least die burning of love for Thee, that so dying, we may be able to go and love Thee for evermore with a more perfect love in heaven.

Say one Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be.

V. St. Teresa, pray for us:

R. That we may become worthy of the promises of Jesus Christ.

Let us pray: Graciously hear us, O God of our salvation! that as we rejoice in the commemoration of the blessed virgin Teresa, so we may be nourished by her heavenly doctrine, and draw from thence the fervour of a tender devotion; through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen

Prayers needed

A friend's 19 year old brother committed suicide today. Please pray for the family.

Quick stuff

My brother is going to the Divine Mercy Shrine in Poland this weekend and he is going to put in a special intention for all Catholic infertility bloggers.

D's best friend's wife (that we went to the wedding for recently) is pregnant. I'm happy for them, especially since she's a year older than me, but I wish that I wasn't still here in IF land.

Not getting any better

My grandmother's condition has worsened. I still can't find my diamond (I'm going to have to go fill a claim later today or tomorrow). It's pouring so hard that I'm worried that my house might flood (it almost flooded last year, we do have flood insurance). The grandfather of kids that I nanny for is having a major surgery, which I believe is related to his prostate cancer. I'm so upset right now, and I'm not sure if I can handle anything else. I need some prayers.

Stressed

My grandmother went into the hospital on Saturday due to heart problems. Her heart was beating a little too fast and then it would stop for 3-6 seconds, which would make her black out, and then it would restart. She's in the ICU, but she seems to be doing ok today and may be released tomorrow or the day after. Please pray that she will continue to do well. D and I were in town and were able to visit her along with a few of my other relatives. We got in late and I'm very tired.

This morning after putting my ring back on from washing my hands, I realized that my diamond had fallen out of my ring and I haven't yet been able to find it. I have it insured but I just want to find my diamond. I'm probably going to have to get the setting completely redone since I have it less than 3 years and it's been loose before.

Yesterday was also CD 1, so I'm handling the stress even worse than usual. It's starting to bug me when I hear about people who have spotting and end up being pregnant because I start thinking that it's a possibility, but it's never true for me.