Frogs and Snails, and Puppy Dogs' Tails...

That's what little boys are made of!

 It's a BOY!

Precious Profile Picture of Sawyer Matthias Folden!

On July 15th I had my 20 week ultrasound and we found out that we'll be welcoming a little boy into the Folden Family! While we would have been ecstatic for either gender (honestly, though I was really "feeling" a boy vibe early on), it really is exciting knowing that our son is on his way. We are praying that God will continue to bless this pregnancy and provide health and safety to myself and to baby Sawyer. This week I will have another prenatal appointment where I will have to get an early screening for Gestational Diabetes (which I had with Mackenna). If I have it again, it means a strict diet with barely any carbs or sugar! I am not too concerned about the screening because I don't mind giving up my carbs and sugar to ensure the health of my son. But, what I'm not looking forward to is the needle prick that tests my blood sugar! I remember with Mackenna, my fingers were so sore for the first few weeks!

Anyway, I am having a blast trying to design Mackenna and Sawyer's room. They'll be sharing a room at least for a year, but probably longer than that. So we are going with the colors: Green, Brown, and Pink. Colors they can grow with. Mackenna's side will be all girl and Sawyer's side will be all boy! Dustin is so excited to see it, which makes me excited to start on some of my projects.

Anywho, that's a quick update on pregnancy #2! Until next time!

Welcome Mackenna Grace!

Introducing Mackenna Grace
Born on April 13, 2010 at 10:14 A.M.
7 pounds 1 ounce and 19 1/2 inches long

I went into "pre-labor" on Friday, April 9th and we were sent home from the hospital on April 9th and April 10th for lack of progress. On April 12th around 1:00 AM we came to the hospital due to contractions that were closer together and were admitted! Praise the Lord! The plan was to be given Pitocin at 7:00 AM because my contractions still were not strong enough. At about 6:00 AM we were woken with a room full of nurses due to a serious deceleration of Mackenna's heartbeat. After finding baby's heartbeat again via an internal monitor, we were both watched very closely by our amazing nurses! Around 9:35 AM after another concerning deceleration of Mackenna's heartbeat the doctor called and said that the labor was causing too much stress on baby and ordered an imminent (but not emergency) C-section. At 10:14 AM, Mackenna Grace, was born! She is beautiful!

When she was born, she had a fever and was sent to observation in the NICU. Thankfully, I was allowed to nurse her and they would bring her to our room to feed. Her first round of blood work came back borderline, so the did another round later in the day, which showed an increase in a protein that indicated an infection. She was immediately put on antibiotics and was admitted to the NICU. Now, we are going to her for her feedings due to an IV in her umbilical cord and to decrease the risk of a secondary infection. She is doing great! Her temperature is staying around normal and when it is "high" it only hangs out around 99 degrees. She is eating well, responding well, and is known by the nurses as a "happy and alert baby."What joy that brings to a mother's heart! I have also been informed that she's won the "Cute Baby Girl" award. :-)
The plan is to keep her in the NICU and on antibiotics for 10 days. We are waiting for results back from a 48 hour blood culture that will tell us what type of infection we're fighting. We'll find that out on Friday morning. Her initial lumbar puncture screening came back normal, which is a HUGE praise! That means that the infection hasn't reached her brain. Right now, they only see infection in her lungs.

God's sovereignty has been so evident to us over the past few days. First, our doctor arrived to check on us right as Mackenna's first heart deceleration occurred and in the scariness of those few moments, it was a blessing to know that our doctor was there. I was on penicillin during labor due to a positive Group B Strep test and Mackenna's doctor said that she received both doses and that probably helped her start fighting the infection sooner. There was no way that we could have planned that, but God knew, and we are thankful. Also, the fact that I am able to breast feed and that Mackenna is eating so well. The colostrum will give her lots of nutrients to help fight the infection. Then, the Lactation Consultant said that my colostrum was very thick and rich, which is GREAT! Again, another blessing from God. Obviously I have no control over the quality of my colostrum! Another thing is that Mackenna was just assigned a hospital pediatrician because the pediatrician that we chose works with a different medical group. Well, the doctor that was assigned to care for Mackenna is so caring, compassionate, and thorough. She does not want to leave anything unknown. So, she's been taking extra steps to check every possible problem and to get Mackenna healthy. She wisely decided to do a second round of blood work, even though Mackenna's first round was only "borderline." We are so overwhelmed by God's obvious hand in this situation. Praise the Lord!

Dustin and I have already started growing together as parents and it such a huge blessing to see our relationship deepen in Christ as we care for our daughter!

I will be posting lots of pictures and updates as we continue on this journey of parenthood. To God be the glory!

04.09.10

So exciting... more pictures of Mackenna...

Yesterday I had a doctor's appointment and he couldn't tell if she was head down and in position, so I got a surprise ultrasound and the ultrasound tech gave me an extra glimpse of our little girl. What a blessing!

Ultrasound Video

27 Week Ultrasound of Mackenna Grace taken on 01.13.10

02.23.10

Tomorrow I will be finishing up my 33rd week of pregnancy! Time sure has flown by! Today when we were grocery shopping I bought some yogurt and told Dustin, "Do you realize that I will be on maternity leave before this yogurt goes bad?!?" I am sure that next week's grocery shopping will include an item with an expiration date beyond my due date... crazy! Since I have just started this blog, I thought I would post some pictures of our precious Mackenna Grace. The first two are from my 27 week ultrasound and the second one is from my 19week ultrasound. We may be bias, but we think she's pretty beautiful already!

02.20.10

Believe it or not, it was another busy week for the Folden family. Dustin had a couple meetings, his community center work shift, and taught on Friday night at Purdue Bible Fellowship and then supervised an all-night lock-in. Today, Saturday, is Dustin's all-day community center shift. He is going to be a tired boy when he gets home this evening.

How did I spend my evenings this week? Well, honestly, I slept. I have been finding much joy in sleeping lately. Working all day seems to zap the energy right out of me during the last trimester of my pregnancy. I wasn't ever really exhausted until now. I can't believe how tired I have been getting lately. But, my schedule has allowed me to usually get to bed by 8pm. I feel old!

I am now almost 33 weeks along in the pregnancy. That means we only have about 7 weeks left! While I feel exhausted most of the time, I also feel bursts of energy and an almost frantic urge to have everything ready for Mackenna's arrival (including having everything at work prepared for my maternity leave). If you mix the long list of "To Do before Baby Arrives" with the unpredictable emotions that seem to have crept up on me over the last few weeks and there are times when I feel extremely overwhelmed. I now understand the phrase, "I could cry at the drop of a hat." It wouldn't even have to be my hat, or a hat of my favorite sports team; if it dropped, I could cry! At times, I feel like an over-tired two year old. Of course, being the mature 25 year old woman that I am, I limit my whining and pouting. Usually, it's only Dustin who has the pleasure of seeing me whine and pout. And he usually just smiles, tries not to laugh, and gives me a big hug. Hugs from Dustin have been able to calm me, even on my more emotional days.

As we count down the days until our precious girl's arrival, we are continued to be overflowing with thankfulness to God for this pregnancy. We are reminded more each day about the importance of our relationships with Christ as we prepare for parenthood. I am faced with the reality that I will fail miserably without a humble dependence on God. Humility is definitely something I need to grow in. I am thankful that God is patient with me and doesn't give up on me, despite my utter depravity. I am thaknful that through Christ, I am no longer under God's wrath; I can have a genuine relationship with the Creator of the universe and can, by His grace, grow to be more like Christ. It's so easy to get distracted. Even this week, I started out meditating on God's Word and exciting about growing and changing, and by week's end I felt discouraged and discontent. What happened? My focus shifted from being on God to being completely on myself. My prayer for today is that God would help me refocus on Him and find my joy in the relationship that I have with Him through Christ.