Q & A

Okay - here a few answers to your questions with some pictures of a cutie in between!

1. Several of you wanted to know about my infertility and announcing I was pregnant.

We started trying in fall of 2005. I got pregnant in July 2006 but miscarried pretty quickly. We kept trying and then in fall 2007 started fertility treatments. I did Clomid (still trying to lose the 20 lbs I gained on that) and several IUI's. Then God did a miracle in April 2008. You can read more here. I'm also 35 so I was no spring chicken trying to get pregnant.


2. You wanted to know about my pregnancy and delivery and more about what happened to Harper.

I had a great pregnancy. I was very sick for about 15 weeks and I had a lot of back pain and heartburn and towards the end I could barely move.........but I loved every minute. :-)
My labor and delivery were actually great until we found out something was wrong with Harper. I was induced and I got my epidural before I ever felt a thing. It was GLORIOUS! I recommend it to everyone. It was a great day - all of our family was there and we were enjoying hanging out. I pushed for an hour and little Miss H just wasn't coming out. So they had to do a forceps delivery. When she came out - she was blue, wasn't crying or breathing. I didn't panic at first because I thought it was just a hard delivery and she would be okay. A bunch of nurses and NICU nurses came running in and were working on her. I started to get nervous but still didn't think it was serious. A couple of hours later the NICU doctor came in to tell us that she was VERY, VERY critically ill and there was nothing he could do for her there - he had to get her air lifted and basically he didn't know if she would make it. I'll never forget how I felt at that moment. Time just stood still.
Harper had pneumonia in her lungs. It was never determined exactly why - I had a fever towards the end of my delivery and it's possible I passed on an infection to her. I don't spend a lot of time worrying about HOW this happened. God has used this whole story for His glory and Harper is home and healthy and that's all that matters.

3. I laugh REALLY hard at this one but several of you wanted to know where I shop.

First of all - I have never felt MORE un-stylish and frumpy than I have in the last year. I'm old and out of style and I know it. I love clothes but I'm tight. I get most of my clothes (SERIOUSLY) at Wal-Mart. Or Forever 21 or T J Maxx. If I'm feeling crazy and want to spend a little more - my favorite store lately has been Gap. So it doesn't take a lot of money to look cute. I'm also totally a dress girl. I rarely wear pants or jeans. (except for right now and I rarely wear anything but pj's and yoga pants). ha!

4. You want to know about my faith and testimony (and hopefully this answers the question of if my parents are as great as they seem):
I was raised in a Christian home. My dad actually wasn't a Christian when I was born. My mom was. She would beg him to go to church and he told her "she should have married a preacher if she wanted someone to go to church with her"........(God SO has a sense of humor). When I was probably 3 or 4 - my dad got saved. And he has lived his life for Christ ever since. He went to seminary when I was 9 and has been a pastor for almost 25 years. My parents are two of the most Godly people I know which is one reason my faith is so strong.
I was saved when I was 6 years old (January 13 (my due date), 1980). (I hadn't thought about that until just now - how those dates matched up). ha! I spent my whole life in church but when I went to college (and I went to a Baptist college) ......I think I kind of started to drift away. I didn't go wild but I only went to church on Sunday mornings, really didn't have a quiet time, I was just a laid back Christian. That carried on through my single years. I felt like I didn't belong at church when I was single. (I'm sure a lot of you feel that way). I hated Singles Sunday School so I dropped out and I was actually pretty mad at God during those years. I was a spoiled brat who wanted a husband. Sometimes I think if my faith would have been stronger then.....He would have brought me a husband sooner.
But in the last few years - God has been working in my life. Scott realized he wasn't saved a few years ago and after he accepted Christ - that started a big change in our lives. And God just keeps building my faith. He has NEVER left me. Everything that happens ......just prepares me for what is next. I could go on and on and on about this subject but maybe I'll elaborate more later. I will say that all that I've been through - I've never loved Jesus more. If you want to know more on this subject - e-mail me - I'd love to share more with you.

4. What about Dawson?

Dawson is still with my parents. He is SOOOO happy there. We miss him and he will be coming home soon. I just wanted to get in a groove with Harper before I brought Dawson into the mix. I'm finally feeling comfortable with taking care of H by myself and we have a schedule so Dawson will probably come home soon. He may not want to - the country is WAY more fun than here.

5. Will we have more kids?
Right now - my answer would be no. I'm so happy to have Harper and we went through so much to get her. I never thought I would have an only child but most of my close friends are only children and are very happy. We'll wait until Harper is at least a year and then make a decision. I'm just so thankful for one beautiful daughter.

6. How do I find time for blogging/facebook/e-mail?

Right now - I'm nursing a lot and we spend a lot of time on the couch and I have my laptop next to me and I do a lot of one hand typing. It gives me something to do while I'm feeding her. Also I want to try hard to keep up with it because I will NEVER scrapbook (just don't have it in me) so this is the way I can keep a record of our lives. I also take advantage of her naptimes to clean, do laundry, put on lipstick (I used Merle Norman spice sachet lip pencil - best color ever), or use the computer.

7. How did I get "Blog Famous" and what's the deal with ads?
I hate this question because I am NOT famous. It's really bizarre to me why anyone would want to read my blog. I started it about 3 years ago because I wanted a way to scrapbook our lives and I thought MAYBE our parents would want to read it. For the first 2 years or so - I never had any comments and I probably had 50-100 hits a day.
I've been thinking a lot lately about the prayer of Jabez. In 1 Chronicles 4:10, Jabez prayed "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request. That kind of sums up my blog to me.
For the last year - I have prayed that God would let me be a light for Him and that He would give me away to share about Him. Out of no where - I started having more and more people on my blog. I have no idea how it happened. Before I had Harper - I had about 5000 hits a day on my blog. I honestly believe God knew it would help me to have people praying for me through a trial and that I would try to use it for his glory..........so the day after Harper was born - out of NOWHERE - I had 100,000 hits in one day. And it's been incredible ever since. I have heard from people all over the world. It is NOT about me or even Harper. God just has been able to use our story to show his Love. He likes to use (VERY) ordinary people to do extraordinary things. And I'm as ordinary as they come. :-)
A few months ago - I thought I would try out BlogHer and see what would happen. I would blog every day no matter what and if I could make a little money because of it - why not? If they take off the ads - I'll still keep blogging every day so it's just extra. I filled out an application (I think they aren't taking applicants any more right now but keep watching) and basically it is based off of your traffic. I'm not getting rich by any means but it's just a little extra money to shop for clothes at Wal-Mart with. ha! It's a great program if you get the chance to use it!

8. Last one for now............ How did we get Harper's name and where do I get all of her monogrammed stuff?

Go back to this post to read about the names. I get all of her monogrammed stuff off ebay or etsy. I don't have a "favorite" place to get them. I usually look for inexpensive custom things. A lot of what she has were gifts. Since we may only have one child - hand me downs aren't that big of an issue. I'll find a few lucky people who name their babies Harper and they can hit the jackpot. ha!

I'm sorry if I didn't answer your question but this was getting long. I'll maybe do another question post soon!!!!

P.S. There is a blogger Rachel and she and her husband are unable to get pregnant so they are planning to adopt from South Korea. Her husband is in seminary and adoption is VERY expensive so she is doing some fundraising to help pay for it. As a PK and someone who struggled with infertility - the least I can do is tell you to go and sign up - she is doing some GREAT giveaways!!!!! The link is here.

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