SHOP OUR LOOKS

I want to start by saying thank you for taking the time to come to this space and read about our last 6 weeks with our sweet Jade. She is truly everything our family didn’t know we needed. Eloise is quite literally obsesses over her. To the point where I say at least 100 times a day, “lets give her some space please.” It really has been so amazing to see Eloise take to her so quickly. That doesn’t mean Eloise isn’t having hard time in other areas but we are glad it’s not towards Jade. I’m so very blessed to be able to share Jade’s birth story with you all!

The Story of Jade’s Birth

This is a little late but by the time 9:30 rolls around and Jade is going down all I want to do is crawl into bed and sit down to write a blog post keeps getting pushed to the back burner. As many of you know, while I was pregnant we were being followed by High risk and Hematology. For some reason my body does strange things whenever I get pregnant, Eloise came six weeks early (here is her birth story in case you missed). Overall I just don’t grow very big humans and my body can’t keep up with the amount of blood I need to be producing (that’s the very short version). Jade ended up coming a few weeks early for decreased fetal movements. 

I had a High Risk apt on the Thursday before we delivered, they weren’t happy with her growth and wanted me to have a non-stress test the following week. After talking with OB we both felt comfortable with her being delivered that Sunday rather than waiting and following up with High Risk again. 

Sunday morning, we checked in and didn’t have an exact time but they were shooting for noon. My OB was AMAZING! I loved her so much and really appreciated the time she took to talk us through the C-section again. You really do block a lot of things out. My absolute favorite part of the C section, besides meeting our precious girl, was while the surgery was happening our OB asked what music we wanted to listen to. I chose Hillsong United. I cannot even explain what peace having music brought. It was so nice to focus on something other than all the noises I was hearing.

My Scripture & Music

I kept saying the same verses that I did when Eloise was delivered “The Lord will defend you, you need only stand still”Deut 14:14. Between that verse and the music, I truly was in the most peaceful place. When she came out, the song Inside Out by Hillsong was playing. I remember hearing the line “everlasting your light will shine when all else fades.” When we got to her room that was the first song I played while I held her. Let me tell you there were a lot of tears. 

From there the day was peaceful thank goodness. Eloise went to transition and I didn’t get to hold her for 8 hours.  With Jade we got to go to the recovery room and I held Jade within an hour, what a joy and something I did not take for granted! The days in the hospital were actually amazing and pretty blissful. Yes, I was in pain and struggling, but I was just so thankful that she was here and healthy. It was such a sweet blessing that we soaked up.

The no visitors in the hospital was rough. We wanted Eloise to meet her sister desperately, but tried to just enjoy the alone time with Jade while we could. We were able to go home Wednesday morning and were there when Eloise woke up from her nap. I shared a little clip of Eloise meeting Jade, and since then I have watched those videos easily 100 times. They are some of the most precious memories to me! 

Heading Home

Once she was home, I was pretty terrified at first to be alone with the two of them. Now, I am feeling more confident! I’m able to get a lot done when I wear Jade. The Solly wrap is my personal favorite. It also really encourages Eloise to dive into creative and independent play. This is a great thing for her at this age. The biggest struggle is the balance of it all.

Trying to feed a baby while giving a toddler attention. In the midst of that, I am still running a business. I’m trying to love my husband well and keep our house from being a total wreck all the time. I definitely am having to let some things go and delegate tasks. This quote I saw one time and I feel it so perfectly describes the season of life I am in.

Imagine life as a game in which you are

juggling five balls in the air

work, family, health, friends, and spirit

work is a rubber ball. If you drop it

it will bounce back. But the other four balls…

are made of glass.

John Maxwell

I am aware that in this new season of life I am going to drop the ball, a lot. I am going to get stressed, feel overwhelmed, and struggle adjusting to meeting everyone’s needs, including my own. This quote reminds me which ball will bounce back and which ones might not. I know this may be a crazy analogy but YOU being here reading this blog post 6 weeks after I was hoping to write it is a prime example of the rubber ball bouncing back. I was hoping to be on it. To write this when everything was fresh in my mind and Andrew home those first two weeks. Well, the two weeks came and went and I never sat down to write.

Thank you for being here

 Giving you a huge THANK YOU for showing up for me even when I am a little late. It really does mean the world. Thank you for reading about our Jade’s birth story. Compared to last time, it was very calm and peaceful. I am happy to report that is just the way I like it!