December 28, 2009 - House Update

Yesterday we showed Evan where he is going to grow up and took a picture of ourselves in front of the house so that we can show him what we were doing when he was born. It was a pretty neat experience to all be there together!
Josh as been working tirelessly as usual...night and day trying to get this house done. Presently we have windows and doors installed, roof is done, interior walls have been framed, stairs are in and we have ELECTRIC - as of tomorrow! Soon we will start running electric and plumbing and he is working on figuring out our heating system right now. We are holding out for some nice sunny days...makes it a lot easier to work late - positive thinking as we head into the brutal winter months.
Here are some pictures from yesterday...

December 28, 2009

In 5 weeks I have learned many things. I wrote them down so I don't forget them!

- Life is more complicated but also incredibly rewarding. I treasure our memories from the past more deeply then I ever thought I would. I am so glad we had those years together! I can't wait to make new memories as a family but I now view spending time with each other from a different perspective!

- Crying is NOTHING compared to screaming...the key is staying calm.

- I don't actually NEED as much sleep as I thought.

- Running out to get something QUICK...is more like taking a trip.

- When it's time to eat..you better be ready!

- Quiet(no matter when, where or how)is amazing! If you get a spare moment...make it worthwhile.

- Reminiscing good memories helps you pull through present struggles.

- There is no rhyme or reason...it's more like guess and check. You figure it out as you go...because it's up to you.

- Everyone will advise you...You know your child so use your own best judgement.

- There is no RIGHT way...Meet his needs, love him and take time to enjoy it.

- It is only temporary...and one day it will all be gone. You make the moments memorable.

- The ride is fast. The twists and turns are many. Sit down, strap in and hold on tight! Don't forget your camera.

December 5, 2009

It's a Boy!!!

Evan Jacob Fravel
Born 11/25/09 5:32am
6lb 9oz. 201/4 in.

It has been an amazing 10 days since he came into our lives! I still look at him and can't believe he is our son! I am so grateful for him and for the joy that he has brought to our lives! Even at 3am when I feel like I can't take anymore, I look at his face and I know...Life is Good! Who needs sleep anyway?
Thank you for all your prayers and support!

Josh & Mary

November 23, 2009

We had so much success this past week! Josh was able to get the roof of the house FINISHED!!! That allowed us to get our next inspection and draw from the bank to continue moving forward with this little project! So happy for that! YEAH!(imagine big, bold letters). This weekend Josh and I intstalled the first 9 windows in the house! It was exciting to see them go in...it makes it feel more real! Now we only have 28 more to go! Last saturday, we went to a building auction and found walnut hardwood flooring for less then the price of carpet....so we bought it all! Can't really go wrong with that!

We are so excited to have an END DATE in sight for this pregnancy! We are scheduled to be induced next Thursday morning!!!! So excited for this...but still hoping baby comes on it's own before then. Today the doctor said I am now 4 cm dilated and told me the head is REALLY low! "Well No Kidding!" That would explain a multitude of things we've got going on! The Dr. was excited that I have been able to get this far on my own...it should make labor go faster! Obviously! Just hoping that it doesn't take much to make me go into labor if I do make it to the induction day!
Happy to hear the baby today with a great heartbeat again and moving all over...apparently the stress of the contractions is solely just bothering me!! Just waiting for whatever comes next...

Mary

November, 18, 2009

The porch and the roof are just about finished. Josh has had some help building the porch and putting on the rest of the shingles this week. Hoping to have this all wrapped up by tomorrow. Just love this porch already! This was the part of the house that we're the most excited about and put the most work into. We designed this space to utilize our needs as best as possible as we enjoy eating/relaxing outdoors and this space should give us the space to do that. The side is 10ft wide...and our intent is to put our patio furniture out here to sit and relax!
No baby as of yet! They took me off the medicine over 2 weeks ago and I dilated to 3cm and now here I sit. I have contractions and the whole nine yards every day but we can't seem to get it to move any farther. It has been a blessing in disguise...because while I have been just aching to deliver this baby we have been able to get the roof on the house. Fortunately this will allow us to have more time together as a "family" once the baby does arrive without the added pressure to get that part completed. They told me they will induce me at about 39 weeks due to the complications and pain that I have had thus far...I am really gonna do my best to hold them to that. I will be 38 weeks on Friday! And so the anticipation continues to build!

Novembr 11, 2009

My amazing husband just came home from working at the new house....it's 10:00 again! He is there late every night.....tonight we was apparently roofing in the dark...after I asked him nicely NOT to roof in the dark! Ughhhh!
Anyway he shingled all day today and took some pictures for me before it got dark.
The house is really starting to come together now. The whole front and side of the house will get a porch roof yet...just in case you are wondering why that looks funny. He plans to have the rest of the roof shingled by the end of the weekend! We'll see though - I laid low today because he wants to go to the building auction tomorrow and the more I am up the more I keep contracting.

I had a Dr. appt today and the Dr. said the baby looked great on the stress test during my contractions. Speaking of contractions....I had a lot this weekend/today and they have been getting more intense! They must have done something because this morning I was 3cm, effaced and the head is very low. I made a Dr. appt for next Monday but she said I will probably be back before then...Ahhh but then again who knows! I certainly can't figure this whole thing out! Just hoping I can continue moving forward with this at home and that it continues to go "easy" for me (using that term very lightly). Can't wait to meet this little one!

Josh has the roof sheeted and tar papered in. He was planning on stocking the shingles today and is working on closing up any loose ends to "dry in" the garage tonight! He will start to shingle tomorrow....unless something more "important" comes along! Last night he was there till 10:30ish getting ready for the masons today. He got them set up last night and they laid up the chimney and stuccoed it in 3 hours this morning. Moving right along here with this project! I will try to put a picture up later when he brings the camera home...He's still out there working tonight! So thankful for the BEAUTIFUL weather while we are getting all these exterior things accomplished!!

November 3, 2009 Framing the House

Here are some pictures of the house as it was framed up today! Tomorrow the second story will go up and we may even have a roof over our heads by friday night!?!?! It's crazy to stand and watch all this happen...exciting at the same time! Josh was there this morning at 5:45 and is planning on working till 9:00 tonight to get ready for tomorrow....his perservance is a sight to see! A few more days of this though and we will be under roof...we are really just trying to get to that point before he needs to take any time off work!





Riley had a great time today as well as he found a mud puddle "stream" and throughly enjoyed himself. I didn't mind...he had fun and his little life is about to be turned upside down so I figured why not! Mud like this was a surefire bet for a bath at the car wash though...he definitely didn't enjoy that!



I also included some pictures of the front porch that was completed back on October 21st. We REALLY enjoy outdoor living...so we plan to spend a lot of time up here! This is our "baby" of the house and an area that we really put a lot of time/effort in to create it just the way we had dreamed it up!

More pictures later this week...

Mary

November 2, 2009

I saw the Dr. again today and they took me off the medicine, off the bedrest and told me that I can resume normal activities. Yea! From this point on, if baby still decides he/she wants to make an early entrance then off we go! The waiting (and the discomfort) is driving me nuts, but we waited this long....and I am trying to keep it in perspective! Baby looked great again today in heartrate and activity. I see a doctor again on Wednesday so I will probably get to hear him/her again!

Josh is framing the house this week - It didn't happen last week, thank you rain! He framed the back wall of the house saturday, the front wall sunday and he and a friend stood up both walls today. Tonight he is framing the two side walls and tomorrow he's got a framing crew coming to stand those up and put the second floor on. Moving right along - roof trusses are scheduled for Thursday morning! Provided that a certain baby does not decide to arrive this week...our house should be framed up by the end of this week! Since I am off bedrest...I am headed there tomorrow to "help out". Just kidding...I am going to run errands and cook lunch! I will get some pictures of the house as well! So excited to be able to go back and be a part of this again!

Thank you again to everyone for your prayers in getting us through the last few weeks. We have a healthy baby waiting for us now...and we are quite anxious to find out the birthday!

Josh & Mary

October 30, 2009

I saw the specialist yesterday and got more then expected when the Dr. came in and flashed a 4-D image on the screen...completely throwing me off guard and captavating my attention! I couldn't really concentrate on what he was saying after that! Had we known we were going to get to see this Josh would have certainly come with me...luckily my mom was there to share this experience and capture the first image of her grandchild too! After I wrapped my mind around the idea of what I was looking at, I was able to pull my mind together enough to ask the doctor some questions. He had all good news for me. The baby currently weighs 5.2 lbs which is normal and all organs/systems are functioning correctly. Heart was beating at 153 BPM. Should the baby come before term after my medicine is discontinued monday...there is no apparent reason that he/she will need any extra attention then a full term baby! Praise God! I will continue to have a weekly stress test until delivery because of the elevated level of amniotic fluid, but even that has decreased to a borderline level.
Once again today I turned down the opportunity to find out the sex of the baby - as much as I do want to know! I did see some hair on his/her head, tiny fingers and an amazingly cute little face that I can't wait touch! As we continue to revel at the life moving around inside of me...we can now visualize what he or she will look like! After three aganozing weeks, to know that the birth could be so close or so many weeks away yet is like torture - however I will try to be content and enjoy the time!

So I had to force myself to close my eyes last night and stop looking at the pictures so that I could go to sleep only to pick them back up again this morning and start staring again. I carried the pictures to breakfast with me this morning just so I could keep looking. How can it be possible that you can love something this much before you actually even see it? Words don't seem adequate!

October 26, 2009

Boy or Girl?!? We still don't know but it's driving me crazy now! One of the nurses called baby a girl today - but I've had others that said him too and we've had the feeling of boy the whole time. The surprise in the delivery room is going to be incredible!!! I can't wait to find out! I've got clothes for each already packed in my suitcase and we have no preference either way! We just can't wait for that moment! I can hardly stand it anymore!

I had another Dr. appt today and it went well. The stress test showed the baby's heartbeat was good - right down the middle at 140! Dr. said, as of today they will stop this medicine next monday at 35 weeks and see what happens!!! I do have another Dr. appt. this Thursday with a high risk doctor though...so I guess he will get a say too! I am measuring at 3 weeks bigger then my due date every visit, due to the extra fluid so they can't get a good estimate on how big the baby is. Therefore I will get another long ultrasound on Thursday to measure and evalulate growth and development. We established during the hospital stay that the baby is bigger than normal for gestational age....anxious to see where we are at now! He/she was 4.1 lbs 3 weeks ago. I keep wondering if I was dated wrong??? Or do we just have a really big baby? Can't wait to have this test and see where we are at. With every day that comes and goes - I still can't believe we are having a BABY! I feel like I need to pinch myself all the time and I can't stop looking at my belly in the mirror cause I can't believe it's there. It all seems surreal! I keep waiting for it to really HIT me!

House update - Josh was working at the land till 2:00 last tuesday night, went to bed and got back up at 5:00 to pour concrete on the porch all day wedneday. His state after that was complete exhaustion! However, the porch is done and today everything was backfilled and regraded. Now our driveway up to the house isn't as steep. Josh will start framing our house this tuesday or wednedsay! I was able to go up a little bit today to see what's happening and I am just amazed. I still can't believe that all this is happening at once! I feel dizzy just thinking about it but it almost wouldn't be "us" unless we were doing something this crazy!?!?!

I will add another update if anything changes on thursday! I would add pictures of the house but Josh left with the camera this morning. We weren't expecting RAIN last night - thank you lovely weather report! So he ran out in a hurry this morning anticipating quite a mess at the new house! Oh Glorious Mud!

Josh, Mary and Baby Fravel

October 19, 2009

My Dr. appt went great today! There were no surprises and no changes! Despite all the contractions/pain this week that made me think otherwise. He/she sure keeps me guessing! So one more week of the same - More meds, modified bedrest (basically just taking it easy), and a whole lot of contractions that lead no where but drive ya nuts! I equate what I feel like right now, to that of a bomb waiting to go off - but that being said I wouldn't trade it for ANYTHING else in the world!

We can't wait to meet this baby...but we are living up the extra chance to get to get as much accomplished as we can before all we wanna do is sit and hold this little miracle! Although I am excited for the first glimpse of our child....what I can't wait for more than anything else is to see Josh's face when he holds our baby for the first time! So grateful that we will have that opportunity now that baby looks healthy! Thank you again to everyone for your prayers of love and support! We are so grateful that we have made it this far!

On another note, Josh is working like a mad man at the land - still there in the dark last night and tonight getting ready to pour concrete for our front porch on Wednesday. Looks like they will have GREAT weather! So bummed I can't help out this time. He is doing an amazing job with this house...and for the last 2 weeks working at it alone. He wanted so badly to share the progress with me today and begged me to come up. I reluctuntly let him put concrete boots on me (cause I can't bend over)and walked up onto the first floor to take in all that he has accomplished. His diligence is INSPIRING!
We are standing in the kitchen of our new house. We wanted to have something to show this child someday..."this is what your parents were doing around the time that you were born!" My concrete boots are the best!

October 13, 2009

Yesterday I went to the Dr. and had a stress test done. Something that was supposed to take 30 minutes turned into a multi-hour ordeal as my child was being uncooperative. I have commented throughout this pregnancy at how active the baby is. That was clearly evident yesterday when they couldn't even get baby to settle down for a 4 minute stretch of time to measure a baseline heart rate. The Dr's and Nurses in the office seemed to get a good laugh out of it. Anyway because it failed the stress test, I had another ultrasound. During this ultrasound they were looking for evidence of the baby performing a series of movements within a time period, checked for any abnormalities and watched a cycle of baby "practicing breathing". We passed that with flying colors! Baby still looks very healthy and is just itching to get out here. I had another shot yesterday to slow down the contractions too. The Dr. said that 34 weeks is where we are trying to get to and then they will more or less let nature take over. Without going into details, all the "things" that precede labor have already happened so it's really up in the air. I have read that even after all this happens you can still go a couple weeks or labor can begin quickly. So we'll see - I'm just walking around on pins and needles. It's ironic though how this baby has us tiptoeing around it before it's even born.
Since last Monday we have learned a great deal about being flexible! We bought diapers - a lot of them, packed the suitcase for the hospital and started watching a childbirth video so we have some kind of idea what in the world we are doing! We never did make it to any classes and it's too late now!

I was taken back again this morning when another staff member from the school where I was working last Monday called to see how I was doing. The principal has kept in contact with me and has been letting everyone know of my progress.
What is amazing to me though all this is the amount of support that we have felt. The meals, the chauffeuring (thanks Mom), the calls of concern, e-mails and prayer have all been just so greatly appreciated. It has just been awesome to feel that support. Thank you everyone, for blessing us in this special way!

October 8, 2009

We came home from the hospital last night around 6:00. It was just such a relief to be able to move further than 2 ft from the hospital bed again. Feels awkward to be walking around. Anyway I am on modified bedrest, which means I can move/walk around the house a bit but I need to be off my feet for the most part. The contractions are still VERY much there. I feel them pretty strong and everything is very tight and pretty uncomfortable all the time. I take the meds every 4 hours round the clock to try to keep the contractions from getting stronger, which would then cause me to dilate and go into full blown labor. I will have a stress test and see the dr. again on monday unless something happens before then. Until then I am just taking it easy (whatever that means). Only time will tell...Dr. said I could have it in a couple days or I could go to full term. So we will wait and take comfort in knowing that God is in control of the situation and he is taking care of this precious baby until we can!! Praise the Lord we have such a strong support system. We can't wait to show this baby how much they are loved!! Thank you to everyone! Love to you all!

Josh, Mary and Baby Fravel

October 7, 2009

Finally got a good nights sleep on some sleep meds they gave me last night. Then they took me off the Magnesium Sulfate this morning at 7:30. Literally a few minutes later the contractions started up again and they were coming fast and pretty strong for just starting up. Trying Buterol for a couple hours until they can give me the Procardia safely. Just going hour by hour and see what happens today. We feel very encouraged and blessed by the fact that we know that the baby looks and sounds very healthy. Trying to just go with the flow and thank God for what we have been blessesd with! I will update when I know more...laying here for 45 hours so far..I need something to keep me busy! Thanks for all the support!
Mary

Oct 6 - Update

I met with the High Risk doctor today and had two ultrasounds....Josh left to go back to the land so he wasn't able to see any of it. Bummer! Anyway the doctor was able to find out that the reason for my early contractions. There is an excess of amniotic fluid which is causing the muscle to expand and contract prematurely. He informed me that it explains why my girth is measuring "Big" (his words). Gee thanks so much!
The good news of the day is that the baby's chest and stomach look great. He said the ultrasound showed good evidence that the baby's sucking and swallowing reflexes are functioning properly at this point. This is excellent! Those reflexes need to be working properly to be discharged from the NICU. In general, he said the baby looks excellent overall! he other good hews of the day- the best news of the day is that the baby's weight is 4.l lbs. A whole 1 lb bigger than the average gestational weight for 32 weeks. We are still working on keeping the contractions down however...if it should come early we have a VERY positive outlook already!!!
At 8:00 tonight I also get my second steroid shot for the lungs. Great that we will have gotten both of those in and given them time to work. Then I come off the Magnesium and see what happens - hopefully they stop!
Thanks for all the prayers!

October 6, 2009

One thing I know this beautiful morning is that we are blessed in ways I cannot imagine right now!
I will attempt to explain on 1 hour of sleep and type through the mangeled mess of cords, monitors and IV's spewing out everywhere.
Yesterday after lunch, while teaching 4th grade I started feeling "odd". Not sure what to do, I was coaxed into going to see the school nurse who informed me that what I was having contractions every minute. Josh came and took me to the hospital thinking we would be stopping at Lowes on the way home a of couple hours later. Slight change of plans! Basically the short end of the story is that I am here in the hospital till wed. night until fruther notice and will be on bedrest after that - Please pray for my sanity! I have had quite the array of medications and experiences over the last 18 hours....I won't go into details It's been uhhh...enlighting for what is to come. Basically, I am receiving steroids to help the baby's lungs mature and they are using magnesium to try to stop the contractions and "buy time" to give the steroids a chance to work on the lungs. The contractions just seem to keep coming though so we will just wait. I am waiting to meet with the NICU Dotors and the High Risk Maternal Doctors this morning. I guess they will figure out what the best course of action is going to be for my situation. I am currently 32 weeks - they are taking the Nov. 30th date now.
I am out of veins so that means that have to stop sticking me right?? Really, Everyone here has been AWESOME!

We have so much to be grateful for today! I am so glad WE are here! The baby has a great shot no matter what the outcome - but let's keep it in! Thank you for your prayers!
Mary

September 22,2009

Today the garage went up and we also have a chimney now! The masons did it in one day! Looks great! Yesterday we spotaneously went to New Jersey to purchase the vinyl cedar shakes for the house. We found a GREAT deal on Craigslist and jumped on it right away! We were only 10 mintues from the beach so we drove over to see that while we were there too. Only got home at 11:00 last night!
We have a very BIG weekend ahead of us! We have some AWESOME friends that offered to help us pour 25 yards of concrete for our basement floor this saturday. They offered their time if we could make it work this weekend! Praise the Lord for good fiends! We need some good sunshine that day!
We are also moving this weekend! AGAIN! Not thrilled about this - just trying to roll with the punches! We had to push our moving day to Sunday and Monday instead of Saturday so it's going to be a LONG weekend! Don't know how much moving I will be able to do this time but I can't wait to get settled in to the new house and get ready for the BABY!

September 15, 2009

Josh was at the land last night till after 10:00 digging out the footers for the garage in the dark. Today he poured the concrete for the garage footers and had a crane set the support beams on top of the Superior Walls. It looks like rain tomorrow so the masons will not be laying up the garage.

Our Mission Possible

The past few months have been a blur for us as we have been moving at warp speed. Let me try to explain...
We have always been pretty ambitous risk-takers but it came to a dramatic climax this year at the end of March. After much dicussion between us we decided to make an offer on some land with the intention of building a house. Not really believing that the offer would be accepted we didn't set our hopes too high. So imagine our surprise when 2 days later it was accepted and then...surprise 30 minutes later I found out I was pregnant after nearly 2 years of infertility. A miracle in EVERY way! So it was by contract that we put our house up for sale just 2 days later. Amidst the effects of a recession, miraculously in just 2 months we sold our home(the one we built together just 5 years eariler). Amazing! So morning sickness aside we started packing. In July we moved into a house that we intended on renting till our house was finished however a few weeks after we moved in.....it went up for sale and was SOLD! So here we are again....moving. Next week in fact! See I told you it was a blur...and this is the short version!
My husband....being the go-getter in our family, is taking on the task of building this house. Yes you read that correctly! He is doing most of the work himself, contracting all of it and we plan to finish this little endeavor sometime next spring. It has been quite the experience and one that, Lord willing we will hopefully not be repeating!
At 28 weeks pregnant I am dealing with.....well you can probably just imagine!

All things aside - At the end of the day, we just feel happy to be together, no matter where we are! We feel incrediably blessed to be traveling down this road - hard as it may be at times, and it is, I can't imagine life any other way right now! Watch as we try to navigate our way through this incredible journey!