Welcome....Here's a glimpse of our happenings!

The verses that have REALLY spoken to me (Sarah) lately....



"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock." Matthew 7:24-25



Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. I Peter 5:8-9



From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.' Acts 17:26-28



May the words of my mouth and the mediation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock, and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14



So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. Walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess. Deuteronomy 5:32-33



God, our God, will take care of the hidden things but the revealed things are our business. It's up to us and our children to attend to all the terms in this Revelation. Deuteronomy 29:29 (The Message)

About the Friesen's....

We are Marc, Sarah, Luke, and Kate Friesen. We were married June 5, 2004. We have one son, born July 21, 2008, named Luke Andrew -- now 4 years old. We also have a daughter named Kate Christine -- born June 6, 2012. Marc is working at Cessna as a Senior Accountant, and Sarah stays home full-time with Luke. Sarah also gets to work very part-time at home for Graber Backhoe -- an excavation company AND VERY part-time at our church. We LOVE being a part of Grace Community Church here in Newton, KS. We lead a Community Life Group of other wonderful couples. Marc thoroughly enjoys long-distance running and Taekwondo. Sarah thoroughly enjoys walking -- especially when the weather is nice to take Luke and/or out in the stroller. Thanks for reading our blog!

Friday, May 25, 2012

Nuts (as in mentally), Depressing, Blah, Blah, Blah....

I obviously haven't posted in awhile, and I have once again failed in my promise to deliver specific blog posts. But, here's a post for you. WARNING: It will contain ZERO pics. It will be possibly depressing to you. BUT, if you hang through it, there will be a bit of good news at the end of this post. I wasn't originally going to make this public because a) I don't want pity and b) I don't want advice. BUT, to prevent myself from going nuts (henceforth the title of this post) and to possibly avoid any looming depression, I'm going to start typing. I think this might be my "out." AND, some of you who are my very close friends have not yet heard this. I truly have been quiet the last couple of weeks. Don't take offense. I was merely on guard from previously mentioned things (pity, advice) Here goes.... Some of you may remember almost 4 years ago (at the end of my pregnancy with Luke) that I had a bit of high blood pressure for the last 3 weeks of my pregnancy. It was never "dangerously" high. I had no other symptoms. It was cautionary. I was put on restricted activity. I ultimately was induced at a little over 38 weeks. Luke's been fine since birth :) My blood pressure immediately returned to normal once he was out. When I got pregnant with this child, it was most certainly in the back of my mind -- the high blood pressure. But, everything was going fine. In my mind, I was thinking that this time would be different because I wasn't working....not as nervous about delivery, etc. etc. etc. I was W.R.O.N.G.... The day after Mother's Day, May 14, I had a routine prenatal doctor's appointment. I thought everything was fine. I felt good -- other than being hot (NOT at all unusual for pregnancy). Yep, if you haven't figured it out yet, my blood pressure was elevated. After the normal appointment, the nurse came in again and took it again. Yep, it was still elevated. Like with Luke, it wasn't dangerously high, but it was elevated nonetheless. However, this time, I was only a little over 32 weeks along (with Luke -- it was 35 weeks). My initial reaction contained some tears. Fortunately, I was able to hold off on all out crying until I got to the car and called Marc. SO, for the last two weeks, I've been on restricted activity -- with an almost 4 year-old -- NOT exactly easy. I've been monitoring my blood pressure several times a day at home. Fortunately, here at home, in the air-conditioning, while doing VERY little, my blood pressure has stayed normal. If I do too much or spend too much time in the heat, it does go up. SO, inside the house I am -- again, with an almost 4 year-old. Luke's been an excellent little TROOPER. Other than showing some signs of boredom, his behavior has been awesome. Admittedly, he's been watching more videos than I would ordinarily let him (he doesn't complain about this one). I've had 5, yes 5, doctor's appointments since then -- including the one right after Mother's Day. Honestly, I believe I'm being a bit over-doctored; however, I know they ultimately have my best interest (and the baby's) in mind. My dad's been awesome in that he's driven to Newton several times to watch Luke for me. Another good friend took Luke during another appointment. And, one of our favorite teenage baby-sitters, J, has been here twice, and she'll be here again next week for yet another appointment. LOGICALLY, I know that there are WAY WORSE pregnancy (and life, in general) problems to have. While this could potentially be serious, we're not there yet. I'm obviously being watched closely. LOGICALLY, I know that once this baby's here, I will forget all of this (much like I have with my pregnancy with Luke). We'll love this baby and move on with our lives. However, with all logic aside, my feelings are getting the best of me. I'm a MESS. I'm not fun to be around. I'm perhaps in one of the foulest moods of my life. I'm filled with self-pity. I'm hoping in my mind that the almost depression I'm feeling now will ward off any potential post-partum blues or depression. I feel incredibly let down by my body -- in other words, why can't I just gestate and give birth to two kids like a normal woman? Marc and I have already previously decided that this child would be it for us (for various personal reasons of which I won't go into publically). BUT, this little blood pressure situation (second time around) has CONFIRMED the decision that this will be my last pregnancy. While it makes me a little sad to say it, I know that this has to be it. I am NOT one of those women who can easily birth many children. To top it all off, what few times I have been in public (in the last two weeks), nearly always, somebody I don't know comes up to me and says, "You look like you could give birth anytime." (or something like that).... Thanks! I'm short...there's no place for this baby to go but out... I'm thankful I haven't been rude to any of these people (I'm surprised I haven't). That wouldn't exactly display a good Christian attitude (though I'm not sure this blog post is displaying it either).... I'm currently at 34 weeks today. My doctor's goal is to get me to 37 or 38 weeks. My personal goal is 36 or 37 weeks. Again, LOGICALLY, I know that the longer the baby is inside, the better. The baby will breathe better, feed better, and maintain temperature better if she's in there longer. BUT, mentally, I'm not sure I can make it to 37 weeks. We'll see.... It will be a scheduled C-Section since Luke was born that way. As of right now, we don't have a date scheduled. They're (the medical team) is taking it appointment by appointment. The few people that we have mentioned this to (before I decided to make this public with this blog post) have said, "If you need anything, please let us know." Honestly, there's not much right now. I am able to fix meals. My house is a total pit, but I can do the basics (laundry, dishes, etc)...Marc has, for the most part, finished the nursery. The main thing we could possibly need (and so far, we've figured it out) is somebody to take Luke when I have these 5.5 billion doctor's appointment. I'd rather he not go with me though if I did have to take him, he'd probably do fine. NOW, to the good news....if you're not depressed and tired of reading.... I did have a sonogram yesterday -- just to double check the baby's condition. The good news is that the baby is absolutely fine and is growing properly (no problems with the placenta -- which can happen with high blood pressure). I asked the tech (after about 5 minutes) to tell me if she saw ANY evidence that this baby could be a boy (we were told a girl at 20 weeks -- we've been planning on girl). She laughed and said, "Oh, I already saw....it's a girl." After a bit, the baby moved in the right position for her to once again show me that it was indeed a girl. If it was a boy, we would love him just the same. Marc would be simply repainting a nursery -- which I know he would just love to do (insert sarcasm here). SOOOOOOOO, since we revealed Luke's name before he was born....here's to revealing this baby's name.... **Kate Christine Friesen** Our friend Nicole actually came up with Kate....we've had no problem liking it. The middle name has taken a bit. Everything Marc suggested, I couldn't get myself to really like. Everything I suggested, Marc couldn't get himself to like. Some of the girls in our small group asked me what my middle name was. I responded, "Christine." They suggested we use that. At first, in fact, for several days, I didn't even mention it to Marc. Though I liked the sound of it, I just couldn't wrap my head around having part of our daughter's name from me. Perhaps it was a self-confidence issue? Finally, I mentioned the idea to Marc. He liked it. By that time, I had started to like it. Ultimately, we agreed on it. Thanks for listening!!!!! I feel a bit better -- though I'll probably cry yet tonight :)

11 comments:

Amy said...

I'm sorry you're having to deal with this, Sarah. I can imagine how hard it is to be still during the day while you are home with a kiddo. Hang in there! Hoping these last few weeks will go fast for you!

And... I love her name! (Sophie and I share a middle name, too!) :)

Candice said...

Oh hon, anyone would be down having to deal with this stress....not to mention pregnancy hormones raging! That said, it sounds like the baby is doing great and that is the most important thing! You CAN make it to 37 weeks!

I love her name and I can't wait to "meet" her!!

Melissa Jensen said...

HUGS to you!! I totally understand!! Both my pregnancies were hard with lots of complications. Give it to God, sometimes every single second, He is so good and faithful but I am positive that you are in lots of prayer about precious Kate!! Thanks for the update and I will be praying, in fact I just said a prayer for you sweet lady! Hang in there momma, you can do it!! And keep the shows/tv coming for Luke. I had NO ONE to help with Landrey when I was preggo with Hollis and that was my saving grace and she did not complain either. Don't feel guilty about it, I know I did b/c that was NOT my first choice for her but looking back, it was what got us through some rough patches. Sending love!!
p.s I still remember talking to you before I had Landrey and I was set on NOT having a C-Section and it just was not going to happen. You had one with Luke and essentially had "prepped" me for it, even though I thought it was just never going to happen to me. Bless you Miss Sarah b/c you have blessed so many others and probably do not even know it!!

Diana said...

My heart... and many, many prayers... go out to you and that little one. You know the Lord has you wrapped in His loving arms regardless of what will be. Rest in the knowledge that God is ever-present. You will get through this. Lord, please guide the doctors' decisions and give them Your wisdom as they watch over Sarah and baby Kate's progress. We pray in the Name of Your Precious Son, Jesus Christ, Amen. Hugs and blessings sto you, mu bloggy friend. ♥

Diana said...

Ugh. That last line is supposed to read: Hugs and blessings to you, my bloggy friend. ♥ LOL!

Amanda said...

Oh Sarah, I'm so sorry you are dealing with these extra stresses! I'm so glad the baby is looking perfect and healthy - I'm just sorry you aren't feeling that way yourself (haha, those words don't really even exist at 9 months pregnant, huh?) I love the name Kate!!! So so cute! Can't wait to meet her.

flower power momma said...

congrats on the new daughter to come. such a joy and blessing she will be to all of you. i'm sorry for the blood pressure elevation, it's okay to be frustrated by this.
and those tears dear, let them fall. you'll be healthier for it.
i'll be praying for you.

flower power momma said...

p.s love her name. my oldest daughter is a Kate. Kathryn actually, named after her paternal grandma, and we called her Katie, but in her early 20's she switched it to Kate. Plus all 3 of our kids have a family name for a middle name. what a sweet heritage to carry on.

More than just okay said...

So sorry to hear of your troubles.

And love the name. Anna shares my middle name (Lynn). It's a neat connection between you and her.

Momma H said...

Praying for you, Sarah. I spent 5 weeks in the hospital on total bed rest (not even up for showers!!) before David was born - by C section. I can totally relate to the nuts feeling. (Oh yeah - my confinement was over Christmas)!
So cry away and don't feel guilty. Those hormones are the nuts makers. Praying for baby Kate, Luke and Marc also. God, please hold all of the Friesens in the palm of your hand until and after Kate gets here. In Jesus Name.

SarahT said...

I'm so sorry you are going through all of this. You can do this! You are a strong woman and this season will pass quickly. You are amazing! And I love her name!

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