The question has come up often – “Who do you think he looks like?” Honestly, Jeremy and I have had a hard time seeing ourselves in Owen. We didn’t see either one of us at first. It took us pulling out our own newborn pictures before we saw the resemblance. Looking in the faces of Baby Jeremy and Baby Amy, I finally saw pieces of us in Baby Owen. So what do you think? Do you see me and Jeremy in him?
Baby Jeremy & Baby Amy
Baby Owen
Owen’s 1st visit to the church!
Today was a day of firsts. Sadly, we had another doctor appointment, but the upside is we stopped by the church so we could show Owen off around the office. It was great to see our co-workers and the community we have Bethel. This was also a good baby step for me. Taking Owen to the office is a small step towards actually taking him the church when it’s filled with people. I’m still trying to decide if I want to brave this Sunday. I would feel more confident if I was going in with Jeremy by my side, but because church is our job, he will have to work that morning. I’m not sure I’m ready to face the crowds alone. However, I will have to do it at some point, so I’m thinking it might be best to get on with it. But anyway, I digress. The stop by the church was a lot of fun. Not only do Nana & Papa work there, but so many of the people that mean the most to me. It was great to share moments with them and see them dote on Owen. I am a proud mama and I have very sweet friends.
Owen’s 1st walk!
As we were driving home in that afternoon in the lovely October sunshine, Jeremy mentioned that it might be fun to take the dog on a walk. We’ve been trying really hard to make Toby feel special as we make this lifestyle change. Toby has been great with Owen. I am thankful that Owen seems unphased by any barking Toby might make. So far they seem to like each other and get along! These sunny fall days are perfect for walks and I’m glad we went for it. It was a bit of an adventure. As soon we got Owen into the stroller, he promptly pooped and peed in his diaper. Then while changing the diaper, he peed again and ruined his outfit. The dog knew that we were leaving for a walk and was less than pleased that we put off our departure time. I felt bad that we were doing this walk for the dog and then it looked like we’re teasing him by getting all ready to go and stopping. We were finally able to get our walk in while there was still daylight, but not as early as we had hoped for. It was a lot of walking as a family and it felt good to be up and on my feet. I’m looking forward to maybe a few more walks like this before the winter rains really set in.
On a side note, I’ve wrestled with what to blog about on a general scheme. Originally, I thought it would be a good place for me to share my thoughts on being a ministry family. However, it quickly become an “anything” blog. I write about my baking, my friends, my family, my travels, my baby, etc. It’s pretty much whatever is going on in my head and in my life. I don’t want Owen take over my blog, but at the same time, he is a pretty big deal! Being a new mom, this little life is taking up a lot of my thoughts and energy. I want to share my journey because writing helps me process my world. So, I apologize if this turns into more of a baby/family blog. There will still be posts of all kinds, but I have a feeling a lot of posts will center around this new season life. Plus, Owen is just too sweet not to write about!
First Family Photo
On Tuesday, October 8th, we welcomed Owen Richard into the Scott family. Monday night, Jeremy and I checked into the hospital. The thought was that they would give me some Cytotec to help get my body ready for labor and on Tuesday morning they would induce me. Well, that plan didn’t really pan out… When I arrived at the hospital I was already having regular contractions. They debated if I even needed a dose of the medication, but they still decided to go forward with the plan. However, my water broke around 12:30am and the contractions started coming on strong after that. By 3:30am, I was having an epidural. The pain came on quicker than I expected – thanks to the meds. After the few hours of labor I experienced, I’m not sure how women can do all natural for hours on end. By before 7:00am, my contractions were so intense that our little guy wasn’t doing well with them. Each contraction was cutting off his oxygen supply and his heart rate would drop considerably during each one. At this point, they gave me a shot to stop my labor. The doctor on-call came in and told me because I was only half way dilated, she recommended a c-section. I was nervous and scared, but I knew that this was a possibility from the beginning. My doctor got into the office a little after 8:00am and took over for the on call doctor. My doctor wasn’t as interested in the c-section option. They monitored the baby’s heart rate and once things looked good, they gave me Pitocin. Once the Pitocin was in my system, I dilated quickly. 45 minutes of pushing was all it took for Owen Richard Scott to enter the world at 12:22pm. He weighed in at 7lbs. 5oz. and was 19 inches long.
Falling in love with this little face!
I don’t want to be one of those people who go into all the gory details of their labor. The labor process was totally different than I expected and I’m still amazed that my body could push out a little human. It’s amazing and strange. Life definitely changed the moment they put our little baby on my chest. It wasn’t an overly emotional experience for me. I think the emotions have settled in over time. One night this week, Jeremy and I were showing each other pictures on our phones and cameras. We were laughing and commenting on how cute Owen is. I felt like a parent. Here we were looking at our baby’s pictures like he was the greatest thing on Earth. I felt the tears coming. Another insistence of emotions sneaking up would be when I was texting my sister. I was commenting on how good things were despite the ups and downs. She responded by saying that God is good and again, I felt the tears. God is so good. We are so blessed.
It hasn’t been an easy journey. In the hospital, we were told that Owen was jaundice. He’s foot was poked each day, but they released him and told us to make a doctor’s appointment for the following day. This lead to a long process of daily doctor’s appointments and blood draws. It’s been hard to see him struggle and honestly, it’s been hard being out of the house every day. Today is the first day since Owen’s arrival that we’ve been home all day and that Owen didn’t have to have his foot pricked. We do have another appointment tomorrow, but I’m hoping that it will be last for a while. Because of the jaundice, Owen also struggled with being too sleepy to eat. His lack of interest in food led to him losing 10% of body weight which is the line for intervention when it comes weight. We’ve had to supplement with formula, but I’m happy to announce that Owen’s weight was up at his last appointment and his appetite has perked up. I’m really hoping for good news tomorrow when they weigh him.
There are so many milestone moments I could continue to blog about – that feeling when we loaded him the car and took him home or seeing Jeremy become a dad. I could write an endless blog about how amazing my husband is. He has been by my side through this whole process. We are truly a team! When Owen wouldn’t stay awake to eat, Jeremy would help me coax him awake. Jeremy has taken countless diaper changes and has snuggled and love on his son in the most adorable ways. Jeremy is a great daddy.
I’ve been so blessed! Jeremy is an amazing father. Our family has been so supportive of us. We’ve been brought meals from friends and our MOPS group every day. It’s been so great to not have to worry about dinner each night. It’s so 1950’s to bring a meal to a family with a new baby and makes me grateful for our community. Even though the hospital experience wasn’t “fun”, I had wonderful nurses and a doctor that made me feel like I could do anything. Overall, I can do nothing but sing praises! God is so good. I look into the face of my son and I don’t know what I did to deserve such an honor. I continue to be blown away by this new season of life and the little life we get to share it with!
Well, this is it! The last post I will make as a family of two with a little dog. At our doctor’s appointment this morning, my blood pressure was high and I’m accepting this as standard. No big shock. Because of my blood pressure, my doctor would like to induce next week. Monday night, I will check into the hospital so they can give me drugs that will help my body get ready for labor. Early on Tuesday morning they will induce me. At this point that is the plan.
It’s weird having a plan… It’s odd knowing that this weekend is our final weekend before parenthood takes on a whole new meaning. It just feels strange. I knew our little guy had to come at some point and honestly, I wasn’t too hung up on the “when”. It’s just crazy to think that our lives are about to change. It’s like standing on the cliff about to jump… As ready as I am, I’m not sure I’m really ready for this, but it’s a little too late for that now! There is only forward. The whole bringing a little human into the world is mind boggling!
I now have a free weekend ahead of me. I’m still on bed rest, so I’m not going to travel the countryside or do anything too zany I’m hoping to get a lot of rest and just enjoy the down time while I can. As strange as it sounds, I’m looking forward to having some time with my Toby Dog and loving on him while he is my only “baby”. I want to rest as much as possible so I can be as ready as possible for the upcoming labor process. I know that you can’t “hoard” rest, but I want to make the most out these last few down days. As a result, I will put my blogging aside after this post. I will, of course, post something once our little guy is here and make the grand announcement.
I look forward to writing in the future about this whole new aspect of my life. I love to be honest on my blog about the challenges and struggles I face as well as the good times and the people I get to share life with. I know that being a mom will add more color to my world and give me new experiences to blog about. I know it will effect my home life and my ministry. Things will never be the same. I look forward to walking this new journey out with you along for the ride. So please, stay tuned! Exciting times are ahead!
Hospital Trips & Bed Rest Entertainment
Seems like things are getting exciting as the end of this pregnancy draws near! The last couple of weeks, my blood pressure has been high. A week ago on Wednesday, I had been seeing some flashing lights and had a headache, so I was given my first experience with a non-stress test. I didn’t know that was how it was going to go down at the time. Since it was after hours, I had to go to the hospital that is attached to our doctor’s office. I thought they would slip me into an exam room and just take my blood pressure, but no. I was hooked all to all the monitors and supervised for a while. My blood pressure was fine while I was in the hospital and I was eventually released. On Friday, at my regular doctor’s appointment, my blood pressure was still high so my doctor decided she wanted to see me back sooner than my next scheduled appointment. She said that if my blood pressure didn’t go down we would maybe talking about inducing. She’s hesitant to go that route because she really does want our little guy to come on his own.
Yesterday, we drove up to our appointment where again my blood pressure was high and after four readings they finally got a result they liked. At that point, I was told to be on modified bed rest. I can get up and do stuff around the house, but the main point is to be chill, relax and don’t stress (good luck with that). Our doctor also wanted another ultrasound to measure the baby. She said that I was measuring small, but because the baby has dropped so much it’s hard for her to get an accurate reading. The ultrasound appointment was made for today.
I will admit that I was bummed when they put me on bed rest. I was planning on teaching my class and volunteering at Bethel as long as I could. In fact, Tuesday before our appointment, I was getting stuff ready for my class and attending MOPS. I decided I was going to live my life as normal as possible until I was told otherwise. And yesterday, I was told “otherwise”. Jeremy was very sweet and took me out to lunch after the bed rest news. It was my last meal “out” before the baby comes. I splurged at Red Robin and got a chocolate milkshake and a cheeseburger. Jeremy also stopped to pick up my all-time favorite Disney movie, The Little Mermaid, which was just released on Blu-Ray. He is taking good care of me.
Now on to today… The ultrasound went well. Baby is measuring just fine and is weighing in a guesstimated weight of 7lbs. 3oz. When I heard the weight, I definitely thought that inducing sooner rather than later doesn’t sound so bad. That’s a good weight! What should have been an in and out appointment today got derailed by more flashing lights and another headache. We asked if a nurse could take my blood pressure before we left the office and…. OF COURSE… it was high! The nurse had me lay down and she took the reading again and it was lower. However, my doctor sent me over to the hospital for another non-stress test and some blood work. It’s the craziest thing, once I was over at the hospital, my blood pressure went down a LOT – like the lowest readings I’ve ever had in my life. No clue why, but I’m very good at the up and down readings. After waiting what felt like an eternity for the lap results, we were released. It seems my Wednesdays are now spent doing test at the hospital. Not a trend that I am enjoying.
I debated even writing this blog because I can be so private about medical stuff, but at the same time, word is eventually going to get around that I’m on bed rest and people will ask why and explanations will need to be given. So, I’ve reached a “who cares” kind of attitude. Plus, when my blog is all about the things bouncing around in my head, this is one of those things… Kind of a big thing. I’m curious if Friday’s appointment will add a new chapter to the drama or if I’ll just be sent back to bed. Who knows! I’ll keep you posted!
Sister Date
It’s hard to believe that September has flown by so quickly. It started off with a big BBQ at our church where my hubby got to hold snakes and get dunked in the dunk tank. I very much enjoyed watching him squirm and splash! Actually, he didn’t squirm too much when it came to the snakes. He is very good at playing it cool. I think I did most of the squirming from my seat where I watched him. The month has been full of coffee dates, dinner dates, lunch dates, shopping adventures and family gatherings. Even though I started my maternity leave on the 12th, I’ve never been at a lack for things to do. So many people to see and places to go before my life gets a smidge more complicated.
Tonight was the perfect closing to Social September. My sister and I met up with some sisters from our church that we’ve been friends with for a very long time. There are a lot of similarities between us girls. Our age difference is almost the same. I can very much relate to Jessica being the older sibling and April can relate to Natalie being the younger sibling. We’ve connected on a sister level and it’s a special relationship. It’s been a long time since we had a “sister date” where the four of us got together, so tonight was the long awaited night. Let me tell you, these ladies have busy schedules and they were hard to pin down, but it was totally worth it. We met at a local coffee shop and sipped warm beverages while enjoying good conversation and catching up with one another. It was a great closing to a fun month.
Now I’m not really sure what October holds. I have a few ideas, but the timeline is really up in the air. October is birthday month for the Scotts so we’ll have three family birthdays, plus the arrival of our little guy. I’m sure October will be social just like September, but in a different way. This month I’ve been trying to see everyone before the baby comes. Next month, they’ll all want to see the baby instead of me! No matter what the occasion, I am blessed by the friends and family that I have in my life. I have loved each moment spent with them this month!
I found myself daydreaming yesterday as I laid down for my afternoon nap. I really haven’t given too much thought to what our little guy might look like. If I was perfectly honest, I think most newborns look funny. The only ones that I’ve gushed over being super cute are the ones that I have a personal connection to. For example, my niece and nephew were some of the cutest newborns I’ve ever seen. For the most part, though, newborns just look a little weird. I’m not a huge fan of the newborn phase anyway because I’m worried I’m going to break them. But… I will soon have a newborn around this house and I wonder who will he favor in appearance. Will he look like me? Will he look like Jeremy? Will he look like an alien until he grows into his features? I really hope for his sake that he looks like Jeremy because Jeremy was an adorable little guy. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see! Until then, I thought I would post some pictures of Jeremy and I from our little days and give you some visuals of what genes our little guy has to work with!
Little Amy
Little Jeremy
It takes more than one time for me to learn a lesson. The last few years God had really called me out my ability to trust him. Being a natural worrier and an anxious soul is a continuous battle for me. If I say I trust God then why do I worry so much? Why can’t I let go of the details? My words say one thing, but my actions and thoughts say another. Right now it seems that there a lot of things that I can worry about. On a lot of different levels, my life is unsettled. Dwelling and worrying aren’t really solutions. Most of the things that are up in the air in my life can’t be solved quickly and really aren’t dependent on me. It’s just so hard to sit by and trust that it’s all going to work out. However, I am reminded of my reading in One Thousand Gifts by Anne Voskamp. She has this illustration of a bridge and how we go over bridges all the time without really contemplating their structural integrity. We cross over them with little to no thought. We just trust that they are going to hold, because they always have. Right now I see a lot of bridges before me. They lead to the unknown places and may even look a little wobbly to me. However, God has carried me over many bridges before into unknown territory and the bridges have held. They didn’t collapse underneath me. He has been good, he has been constant, he has been stable. I have no reason to doubt that these next bridges won’t hold when so many bridges in my past have stood firm and taken me further on this great adventure with the Lord. I take on an attitude of unbelief when I worry and when I doubt. True trust is walking forward, crossing bridges, going into unknown places knowing that God is there and God is good. I wish I could learn this lesson and have it stick. I deeply want to let go and trust God. In fact, in some moments I feel that I have achieved that trusting calm, but then I take it back. I go right back to where I was. Back tracking is not the faster route to what God has in store me. The funny thing is I can be so fickle. Right now I’m wrestling with all these thoughts and all these emotions and trying my hardest not to let fear dictate my life. There are moments, though, where I give up. Mainly, because I’m too tired to worry anymore. In these moments I have a “que sera, sera” attitude – what will be, will be. There is no need to invest so much emotional energy into things that I can not control. It’s a daily choice or even a minute by minute choice to cross the next bridge and trust that with God it will hold.
This last week all the staff of Bethel Church took off for our annual staff retreat. This is a trip that I have attended every year with the team, but this year Jeremy and I decided that it would be best if I stayed home. With our little guy being full term, it didn’t seem like a great idea for me to drive 4 hours over the mountains away from my doctor. It was hard to send Jeremy away because there was a lot of “what if” wonderings. I dreaded the thought of having to call him and say “Come home quick!” Lucky, for me, nothing too eventual happened while he was away. Also, my mom came out to spend the night with me just in case something did happen. I’m blessed to have a family that takes good care of me.
It was strange to have the whole team off doing something that I am normally a part of. It’s odd to not be included after being in the loop for so long. Even though it was a different experience for me, I actually really loved staying home. The older I get it seems I become more of a homebody. I love being home. On Sunday after Jeremy hit the road, I gave my house a good cleaning and a fresh start for the week. My mom came over every night around 7:00pm and we would talk for a few hours and on Tuesday night we watched a movie together.
Sister day! Note the new scarf!
Now I didn’t just “stay” home all day, everyday. On Monday, I met up with my sister mid-morning for Starbucks and what I thought would be a trip over to Walmart once we were finished. That morning as I was getting ready, the weather was so fall like – gray and chilled. I decided to wear my new boots and as I looked at the outfit I decided I needed some scarves. All I have is wintery scarves, nothing light. I told April about my need for scarves and she explained where she usually gets hers. I tucked this knowledge away for “another day”. Our conversation was all over, about anything and everything. Then we started to talk about Chipotle and how we both haven’t been there in forever and how it sounded good! Well, it was only 11:00am and we both had no plans for the rest of the day, so we took off to Olympia to treat ourselves to a yummy Mexican lunch! It was amazing! The only downside was the fire alarm briefly went off while we were eating. No one evacuated the building so we assumed that it was a fluke thing. For a few minutes we ate with the deafening alarm. It eventually did turn off and I do believe no hearing damage was permanent. Since we were now in the “big city”, I decided to go scarf shopping! Nothing overboard, I just got two new scarves and it helped to fulfill my need to go fall clothes shopping. We hit Walmart on the way back home, so all items on the to-do list were taken care of.
On Tuesday, my mom offered to take to me to breakfast a local favorite. Again, I had no pressing plans for the day, so it was nice to get out for a short while. Any day that starts with a plate of pancakes is a good day! When I wasn’t out and about hanging with my family, I was home doing things that I love. I tidied the house, read books, wrote in my journal, made no bake cookies for my Wednesday night class, took naps! There was a never a shortage of things to do around the house.
I think the best part of this pre-baby maternity leave is I have plenty of time to go out with those I love, but I also have plenty of time to be quiet around the house. I love staying home, being in my comfy clothes and just working on my to-do list at my own pace. While I know being home with a baby will be different than this current season, I think I could really be one of those stay at home moms in the future. I am so content when I am home. I’m not missing the hustle and bustle of busy days. This has been the perfect way to enjoy the gray days of my favorite season. I really do love staying home.
I’m trying to not make all posts on here about the baby, but with only three weeks left until my due date, it’s one of the main things on my mind at the moment. It’s hard to believe that our little guy is full term and could come at anytime. I didn’t give the baby “arriving” a whole lot of thought until the last week or so. Now it seems so real. Any time. Crazy! Early or late?!?!?! It’s a giant mystery and I’m waiting on the edge of my seat to see what happens next. I’m really trying to just take each day as it comes and enjoy it for what it’s worth. As much I as I would love this little guy to meet the outside world, I’m making the most of each pre-baby day. It’s a season of my life that I will never get back. Time with friends and Jeremy one-on-one seems sweeter knowing that change is around the corner.
Installed Car Seat!
This last week, Jeremy and I both had baby related projects around the house. Since Jeremy is heading out of town for a few days this week, he wanted to make sure he had the car seat installed in case I needed to take a trip to the hospital while he was away. The actual installing of the car seat wasn’t too difficult, but the directions in the manual were confusing. At one point the book said the best spot for the baby was in the middle seat of the back seat, but every picture showed the car seat behind the passengers seat. We took a poll and did some research and found that which seat doesn’t matter too much. We started with the car seat in the middle, but it rocked a bit there, so we moved it behind the passengers seat where it seemed more secure. The next day I went to load a plate of cookies in the car and I realized just how inconvenient loading around a car seat can be. I was flustered and Jeremy just laughed at me. This will be our new normal, so might as well get used to it now. I’m rethinking how I load the car from here on out! It does seem strange driving around with a car seat in the back, but I think it’s preparing me in advance and I like being prepared. As prepared as I can be.
On the same night that Jeremy tackled the car seat, I started to pack the hospital bag. I’ve had everything for baby ready to go for a while, but I hadn’t started packing for myself yet. I had read that by 8 months you want your bag packed because you never know when you’re going to need to use it. The only problem is I have a limited wardrobe and some of the stuff they wanted me to pack I will need to use in the next month. I can’t just tuck it all away and forget about it. My compromise was packing everything that I could now. I packed a bag full of snacks (non-perishable), I packed movies and a deck of cards. I packed all the toiletry items I could as well. I had purchased travel sized shampoo and stuff like that the week before so I wouldn’t have lug my own stuff around. I now have a list posted on the closet wall with all the items that still need to be packed into the bag and where they can be located. I have a section in my closet of clothes are separate from the rest. These are the clothes I still plan on wearing for the next month, but if need be they can be thrown into the bag fairly easily. Since I’ve never done this before it sure has been an interesting process trying to figure out what I’ll want and need. There are lists out there of what to pack and I followed them as closely as possible.
Forever Friends
Our doctor’s appointments are usually on Fridays so we spent our morning yesterday up visiting our doctor. Things are looking good. It’s weird to go now on a weekly basis. Jeremy was a sweetheart and drove me up to Seattle to have a lunch date with my forever friend, Maggie, after our appointment. While I ate lunch and gabbed with Maggie, Jeremy did research on the possibility of buying a new camera. My current camera puts a line on our photos and I have no idea why. Anyway, we’ve been talking about upgrading and I guess now is the time. After my lunch date, Jeremy showed me what he had been looking at and we continued to compare and contrast. There are a lot of details we’re still debating on. No camera has been purchased as of yet, but it was just fun to spend the day together. It was very kind of Jeremy to drive me up north. Normally on these lunch dates I’m on my own for the drive up and down. It was nice to have him around to chat with. Especially since we’ll be a part for a few days this next week. With hunting season and this short trip, I’m making the most of any time I get to spend with just him in September.
Well, this update has gotten long! There is a lot going on in our lives and things are never dull. Even though time is flying by, I am enjoying the mix of activity and quiet that has become my new schedule. I know that an even “newer” schedule will soon emerge with the arrival of our little guy, but until then I am thankful and content with where things are at right now. God is in control and I’m learning that all my “what if” scenarios only make me mentally tired. Sometimes focusing on today is all I can do and that is good enough.
Amy Scott's Thoughts 