Life at Home

First of all, I can not thank everyone enough for all the prayers that were given for Micah for so many weeks now. God is good and we are so thankful for the miracle we are experiencing with Micah in our lives!

We came home Wednesday around 1:00pm. Micah's blood tests showed that he was jaundice so the hospital sent us home with what they call a "Billy Bed". It basically looks like a little tanning bed for babies. Mom & Dad don't like the bed very much because we can't hold him near as much as we want to. Micah THANKFULLY doesn't mind it too much. In fact I hope he can adjust to a crib mattress that isn't heated ;o) We are also thankful that we can bring him home at least. In the previous generation, I guess they would treat the baby at the hospital and send Mom home. That would be REALLY hard!!!

Anyways, we're all doing well and thankful for so many blessings!


The Billy Bed


Grandma putting Micah in his Billy Bed

Baby Marty is here!

Micah Dean Marty was born on May 3 at 6:45 pm.

7 lbs 12 oz

20.5 inches

Mom and baby are both doing great!

Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers!

Unbelivable Miracle

Made it. Hardest thing I've done, but so worth it. Have I told anyone lately how awesome my husband is? Here was my mantra during the labor.... FOR GOD DID NOT GIVE US A SPIRIT OF TIMIDITY, BUT OF POWER, LOVE, & SELF DISCIPLINE (2 Tim 1:7). God is good.... Thanks so much for all your prayers! Micah, Matt, & I are all doing well.

Baby Marty Is Here!

Micah Dean Marty was born on May 3 at 6:45 pm. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 12 oz. and was 20.5 inches long. Pictures to come!

The day has arrived

This is Matt and this is my second post...I will be taking over the blog for the next couple days. We eagerly woke up to a phone call at 4:31 AM telling us it was time to go the the hospital. On the way to the hospital Kayla enjoyed her last solid food for a while (leftover PF Changs, a banana, and some chocolate muscle milk (for the baby)) We arrived a little after 5 AM and while we were checking in we were greeted by Kristin Haak (friend of Matt from grade school and high school). To say that she took care of us would be a huge understatement. We are in what seems to be the VIP room at St. Johns. We have quite the set up and space. This is almost as big as our apartment in Anaheim.

We started the pitocin at 6:50 AM and the waiting begins....

Eye Brow Wax... Bad Idea...

OK... so I'm not a big 'primper,' but Matt insisted that I go get a pedicure yesterday. Very sweet of him to try to treat me a few days before the big day. I went all out and decided to get my eye brows waxed, too. That was where I made the mistake....

So fast-forwarding to today, I went in for my usual monitor at the perinatal center. My blood pressure was a little high (surprise, surprise) but my nurse - whom I've grown to love - thought my eyes were a little puffy. The combination of getting my eye brows waxed and having a few "OH-MY-GOSH-I'M-ALMOST-A-MOM-FOR-REAL" moments where tears were shed, did make my eyes a little puffy. I tried to explain, but my wonderful nurse was concerned and called the doctor to come down to see me. My appointment that usually lasts around 45 minutes took around 2 1/2 hours. So I learned a lesson today... if you are diagnosed with preeclampsia, don't get your eye brows waxed! ;o)

37 weeks today. Baby is no longer considered a 'preemie' but rather officially FULL TERM. Praising God for that. Monday is the big day... Prayers are always appreciated!

Less than Two Weeks?!?!

So I met with the Specialist today, and he set a date for induction. May 3rd. So Baby Marty will probably be here May 3rd or May 4th... CRAZY! Less than two weeks away. So are we ready? How can we be!? Part of me wishes I could go longer and let baby come when ready, but I guess we're already pushing the envelope a little, so Dr. Morris is inducing me earlier.

Matt & I just finished our Masters classes last fall. One of the final classes we took was something along the lines of "Doctrine of Vocations." The whole idea is that God doesn't always show up in HUGE obvious miraculous ways, but he often works through unassuming people. He gives everyone different gifts that they can use to serve each other. So right now, I'm going to trust that God is working through these doctors & nurses to do what is best for the baby (and me too).

Thanks again for the prayers.... the count down is on!

Doctor Switch

Well, God continues to show up during this whole process. Why am I ever surprised?! I haven't written a lot on the Blog about it, but maybe given a few hints to the fact that I was struggling with my doctor a little bit. I had left the office in tears on a few occasions (the hormones probably didn't help) and just felt really confused. She calls herself a realist, however some of the things she said maybe were not necessary in my book. She sent me to a high-risk pregnancy specialist when she diagnosed me with the preeclampsia. Whenever I would go to see the specialist, Dr. Morris, I was always leaving his office feeling good. But I would go see my other doctor and she would paint a much grimmer picture. Last week's visit with my normal doctor was another upsetting once and Matt & I have been contemplating switching doctors, but even just the thought of finding a new doctor I could trust so late was stressing me out. Anyways, we went back for another appointment to see my normal doctor on Monday and she let me know that she had talked to my specialist, Dr. Morris, and he was willing to take me as a patient if I would rather that. WOW! Talk about falling into my lap! I wasn't sure if that was an option but I guess it is!

So that's the latest scoop from my end. Thanks for all the prayers! Keep 'em coming!

PS - 36 weeks today! Praise God!

Backyard Demo

One more thing I forgot to mention about our weekend.... our backyard got ripped out. For those of you who have seen our backyard, you know what a disaster it was. No place for a baby to be. For those of you who haven't seen our backyard, consider yourselves lucky. I'm sure it was beautiful in its day, but since has become dangerous and a big ole eye sore. There was a pool that had been filled in. The pool area now had some out of control plants growing in it as well as concrete with HUGE cracks everywhere. It took 3 dump truck loads to get all the concrete and junk out. WOW! Luckily, I was at one of the showers and didn't have to stress over watching it all happen! God is good!

The Blessings Continue

Family... Gotta love 'em!!! My brother Brandon and Rachel his wife were down from Minnesota for the weekend! What a fun treat to be able to see them! It was fun to have someone to sit around with. Brandon doesn't sit much though. Brandon, my other brother Heath (lives in St. Louis area), and Matt did some projects around the house. Can't forget... my little nephew Trace also was helping! He's a pretty good help for a 2-year-old! THANKS FOR ALL YOUR WORK GUYS!

This weekend I was also SHOWERED with love, kindness, words of encouragement, AND gifts. One shower was thrown yesterday by my friends Kelly & Anne. Matt coaches with both of their husbands, so we've got our own little "coaches-wives-club" thing going on. It was very sweet and generous of them to throw me a shower. The shower included mostly people from Lutheran South where Matt teaches. We got some pretty cute football items from a bunch of 'football moms.' Boy or girl... I have a feeling Baby Marty is going to LOVE football! I just hope basketball is up there, too! ;o)

Today I had another shower up in St. Charles where Matt grew up! It was a wedding/baby shower. Not both for me... I've been married almost 3 years now. Matt's sister Amy is getting married June 12, so we had a joint shower - wedding shower for Amy and baby shower for Baby Marty. It was a very beautiful shower thrown by some of my mother-in-law's good friends. Very fun!

We have another doctor appointment tomorrow. Praying that everything goes well! I'll keep you posted!


Look at this cute cake! I was WAY impressed!


For all of my friends in Michigan... this pic is for you!!! Anne, one of the girls who threw the shower is from Michigan and this was her son, Jonah's.


Anne and Kelly


Rachel & Cristen... my wonderful sister-in-laws!