Building Our Family

Because Matt and I started this blog so that we could capture the memories and blessings that God has given us throughout our lives I thought that it would only be right to share about the two biggest blessings that God has given us and how He brought them into our family.

Logan

Matt and I were so excited to start our family and when we got pregnant with Logan in June of 2007 we were thrilled. Logan was due March 17, 2008. I spent a lot of my pregnancy reading book and websites about pregnancy, birth and babies. We registered at Babies R Us and Target and prepared the nursery for his arrival.





We found out that we were going to have a BOY on October 30, 2007. All of my life I pictured myself having a girl first, but when I got pregnant I just knew that we would have a boy. I guess you could call it “Mother’s Intuition.” When the ultrasound tech said that we were having a boy it just seemed so right. We were very happy to hear the news and could not wait to tell the rest of the family.



As the months rolled by I was feeling great! Some aversions to a few different foods, but other than that this pregnancy was easy. I was having no complications and Logan and I were both growing right on track. I was working at Jameson Hospital at the time, so my days were being occupied by work and the evenings were being occupied by naps, spending time with Matt and trying to get as much sleep at night as possible while waking up to go to the bathroom every two minutes.


I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions throughout much of this pregnancy and the doctor said that this was normal. However, on February 29, 2008 my Braxton Hicks turned into true labor. I was at work and had been having contractions all day long, but they were not painful and were coming very sporadically. It was my last day of work and I attributed it to the stress of the last day. I was on my way home from work and stopped at Sheetz for some gas and to grab a chicken sandwich. As I was sitting at the pump I decided to call the midwife, Jan Agnew, and let her know how I had been feeling. By this time the contractions were closer together and stronger, but still not coming very regularly. She told me to go home, relax and eat dinner. That should help to ease the contractions. I was only 37.5 weeks at this point. God had a totally different plan for that evening.

I got home a little after 5 pm and was eating my sandwich on the couch when my water broke and let me just say…the contractions came extremely quickly and brought me to my knees. I don’t remember if I called Matt or the midwife first, but I was to head to the hospital for them to check me out. Matt was at work and had to call a friend to come pick me up and take me to the hospital because I was in so much pain. Once I had gotten there at 5:45 pm this friend’s wife met us and stayed with me until Matt got there. My contractions were coming on stronger and more quickly and I had my friend call Matt several times to make sure he was on his way and to HURRY!

I was 6 cm when I arrived at the hospital. Logan was coming fast! I asked for an epidural and they wanted me to wait until the midwife got there to check me. Matt finally arrived around 6:15pm and the midwife said that I was 9cm and was not able to get an epidural at this point. WHAT!?!?!? No epidural! This is not what I had planned. I was not prepared in my mind for natural childbirth, but here I was and Logan was not stopping for anything or anybody. During this time the nurses were strapping me to monitors, asking me about my history and taking my blood. Matt asked the midwife if there was a chance that the baby would be born on Leap Day and she said, “Leap Day, he is going to be born in about 5 minutes.” WHAT?!?!? Boy she was right. Several pushes later and out came the most beautiful precious little boy that I had ever seen. It makes me teary just to think about it, although, I was so overwhelmed at the time I did not cry.




He was born at 6:46pm on February 29, 2008 (Leap Day) and was 6 lbs. 8 oz. and 19 in. long. We were so excited to finally have our baby boy in our arms. What a miracle. God is so good. My mom was in the waiting room and came in to see Logan a little bit later and my sister arrived shortly after that.

We kept Logan’s name a secret from everyone throughout the whole pregnancy and now we could tell the world. His name is Logan Richard Ran. Richard is after my father, Larry Richard Anderson, who passed away on November 13, 2004.

We could not have been happier to meet this little boy who we had been talking to and praying about for 9 months. Logan was finally here. He was perfect! He was God’s tiny precious gift to us and we were from that day on no longer a family of two, but now a family of three!


Emily

Matt and I always wanted to have a bigger family and thought that it would be nice for the children to be about two years apart. When we found out that we were pregnant with Emily on May 20, 2009 we could not have been happier. Emily was due January 29, 2010 and Logan would be almost 2 years old.


Just like with Logan, “Mother’s Intuition” kicked in and for some reason I felt like we were going to have a girl. Matt was going back and forth and finally before we had the ultrasound guessed we were going to have a boy. We went for our ultrasound on September 11, 2009 and Emily was not cooperating very well. The ultrasound tech said that she was pretty sure that the baby was a girl. I asked her how sure she really was. Could we go out and buy clothes or was she not that sure? She said that she was 90% sure, but we could have our doctor check at our next appointment which was a few days away. The ultrasound tech was right. The doctor confirmed that we were having a GIRL! How wonderful to have a boy and a girl. We were ecstatic.



This pregnancy was much different from Logan’s. I had morning sickness for the first three months which was not very fun. Just nausea, but no foods appealed to me at all. I started to get Braxton Hicks again during the second trimester and had a lot of pain in my joints and back because of the way she was sitting inside. I was pretty uncomfortable by the end of this pregnancy. Also, because we were busy taking care of Logan we did not have a lot of time to prepare the nursery, get the clothes washed and organized or get out all of the baby equipment. Thankfully, the nesting bug kicked in and with about a month to spare my mom came up and helped us clean and get organized. She was a lifesaver.


Because my pregnancy with Logan was nowhere near textbook I was nervous about how I would know if I was in labor. Around 35 weeks I called the doctor because I was having a lot of contractions over a 2 hour period, but with two big glasses of water they subsided. I still had contractions daily, but it wasn’t until the night of January 9, 2010 that I called the doctor again. This time I was 37 weeks and 1 day and the doctor, Dr. Tate, told me to come to the hospital for her to check me out due to my history of fast labor.

My mom was up visiting that night and Matt had just left for work when the doctor told us to come in for a checkup. My mom drove me and Logan over to the hospital and Matt met us there. The doctor checked me and I was only 3cm and 75% effaced. This is where I was at my appointment with her the day before. However, she did not feel comfortable sending me home because Logan was early, so Matt and I stayed the night.

During the night my contractions started to subside and we were starting to get disappointed thinking that we would be going home in the morning and I was embarrassed that this might be false labor. God had other plans for us, however. At about 5:15am Sunday morning my contractions started back up again, but this time they were getting more painful and I felt a lot of pain in my back. The doctor arrived later that morning and checked me. She said that I was between 3-4cm and felt this was enough change to go ahead and book the OR. A nurse checked me about 10 minutes later and I was already 5cm along. I was going to have a planned C-section this time because of some of the complications I had during Logan’s birth. I started to get nervous and overwhelmed.

The nurse came in to get me prepped for surgery and in the meantime Logan was coming over with my mom and sister so we could see him before surgery. I was sad to leave Logan, but very anxious to start the surgery and to see this new little life that had been growing inside of me. They took me back around 10:20am for the spinal and Matt came back to support me after I was ready. The surgery started and Emily was born at 10:47am. She was born on January 10, 2010 and weighed 6 lbs. 15 oz. and measured 20.5 in. long. Matt and I were both brought to tears when they held her over the curtain for us to see. They whisked her over to the pediatrician for her examine and before we knew it they were bringing her over for Matt to hold. She was finally here and she was beautiful. From now on we are no longer a family of three, but now a family of four!




After the surgery I was wheeled back to my room for the recovery and Matt brought the baby back to my room after she got her bath (he was in the nursery taping the bath so that I could see it). We laugh because Emily was born on January 10, 2010. We stayed in room 10 and she was born at 10:47 in the morning. Logan, my mom and my sister were in the waiting room throughout the surgery and they were now in my room awaiting Emily’s arrival.

Logan looked a little sad when he first saw the baby, but soon started pointing at her saying, “baby.” I got to hold her for the first time and cried for a second time. She was such a sweet little bundle of joy and I was so excited to be her mother.


Just like with Logan we kept her name a secret. Logan knew, but could not pronounce her name, so he wasn’t about to spill the beans. Matt told my mom and sister that her name was Emily Lynn and we celebrated her birthday in the room for the rest of the day. Emily shares my same middle name.

I was in the hospital until Tuesday and was ready to bring her home. We walked through the door to start this new adventure that God had placed before us. How blessed we feel that God has given us two children to love and nurture and we pray that one day they will both receive Him as their Lord and Savior. We love you both so very very much!