We are just days away from meeting our sweet baby girl and I would love to ask for a few important prayers for my family as we head into a new season.
Health
Unfortunately, this year has been rough for us. Besides a few weeks in December, it seems like one of us has been sick with something for the past 4 months. Luke picked up his first cold end of November and it made the rounds through our family. We managed to stay healthy for a couple of weeks in December, around Christmas. And, then in January, when we went back to church, Luke picked up the flu. Then I got it. It seemed like only after a few days of me being healthy, Mitchell got something from work. Luke got it last week, and now, of course, I am starting to get sick with it. This is not ideal since I have limited time to get healthy before our baby girl gets here. I was really hoping and praying our family could find a way to get healthy and stay healthy so that she isn’t exposed to anything during her first few weeks and months of her life.
Please pray for us. That somehow, I can get over my cold in time and that we don’t pick up anything new. I am, at the very least, hoping by the time I have her that it will be the end of my cold and I won’t be feeling gross or miserable. However, I am also concerned about her being exposed to these germs and getting sick. Please pray for protection over our baby girl as she enters the world and will be exposed to new germs.
New and Exciting Changes
As we welcome our baby girl into our family, it brings new and exciting changes. We are so excited to meet her, welcome her into our family, and love her with all our hearts. This will be a season where we need grace for one another. We know that this is going to be such a blessing, but it could bring new challenges. We are aware that sometimes the first-born struggles with a new baby around getting a lot of attention. Luke is especially used to getting my full attention, and that could be challenging while I am recovering, breastfeeding, or taking care of our baby girl. We know that we will be lacking sleep and it is harder to function and be patient with each other when we are exhausted.
Even with the potential challenges ahead, we know it is worth it. We are blessed beyond measure to be able to grow our family, and before too long, Luke is going to love having a sibling and built-in friend.
Please be praying for patience, kindness, grace, and forgiveness during this season. Please help us to build each other up and care for one another. Help us to find time to show Luke that our love for him hasn’t changed and that he is just as special as he always has been to us. Help us to be patient and gentle when we have sleepless nights or we encounter any number of typical challenges new parents face with a newborn.
My MS
Thankfully, this past year, nothing too noteworthy has happened with MS. At least, nothing that I have noticed. I will have an MRI sometime in the next 2 to 3 months postpartum, I am hoping maybe I can delay it until the end of May. I am hopeful that I won’t have a relapse postpartum so that I can breastfeed my baby girl.
Please keep me in your prayers. It will be my first MRI after finding out that I have MS. The goal would be to find no new lesions in my brain. That would mean that the medication and pregnancy did a good job of keeping my MS from progressing this past year. Please pray that as my hormones change and I am sleep deprived, that it does not cause me to have a relapse. Many women with MS have a relapse in the first 6 months postpartum due to stress and hormonal changes. I can only imagine if I get another cold that might add fuel to the fire. I really would like to be able to at the very minimum breastfeed my baby girl for the first 6 months. It was such a special bonding time for me and Luke and I would like to do the same for my baby girl. If I have a relapse, I am sure it will be recommended that I go on medication and stop breastfeeding. That would be hard, but I know I will need to do what is best long-term.
Unknowns
There are so many unknowns ahead of us and I am hoping for the absolute best-case scenario. Maybe by some miracle, we will be blessed with two babies who love their sleep. We are hopeful that the change won’t be too hard on Luke. We are hopeful that my MS won’t act up, that my MRI will be great, and I can enjoy another year free of an MS relapse. We are praying that by some miracle our baby girl can stay healthy even if she is born while I am still fighting off my cold.
To be honest, my anxiety has been pretty intense this past week. I am nervous about these upcoming unknowns. I feel like the probability of all of these things going perfectly, is about 0%. However, I can’t predict what will be our biggest challenge. Also, there is probably a challenge or scenario that I haven’t thought of yet. We just can’t predict life and sometimes knowing that none of this is in my control gives me anxiety.
My goal is to surrender all of these things to God. To truly step back and know that he is good and he will provide and help me. My plan is when things get overwhelming or chaotic to take a deep breath, pray, and be patient. I need to remember that I can’t do everything on my own and to accept help from others. One of the most important things and probably something that will be the biggest challenge, is making sure I find time and space to be with God every day. To be in prayer, to be in his word, and to be close to Him.
I know that this scripture can be overused, but there is no better time to live by these words.
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:4-8
Next Update
I am not entirely sure when my next update will be since I am due to have my daughter in a little over a week. But, I hope to be back with more updates on how things are going, MRI results, and more on all things MS. Please feel free to check-in and message me on Facebook, or text me if you have my number. I will appreciate knowing that people are praying over me and my family!