Drea Wood

Catching up – 1st Trimester & now 2nd

Written on 04/23/2012 by Dreawood in pregnancy

(In case you missed our announcement read this post -it sums up the last 9 months of our lives and is a wonderful testimony of God having the Perfect Plan.)

I thought I would go ahead and write up a post about the pregnancy so far :) & of course where I am now.

This pregnancy has been different than my other 4. Some will say, that means its a baby girl… I on the other hand know all to well, how each pregnancy no matter the sex – can be different. In fact all 3 of the boys resulted in different pregnancies and well, we can all clearly see… they all came out boys :)

That being said.

I do think this is a boy.
Regardless of the 170 beat heart rate baby had at the 1st ultrasound… or the fact things are… different.

I have had for the 1st time a very heavy dose of nausea. I battled this a TINY bit with Owen but not to the degree this one has been. The only thing that would calm it, was to eat. What is bad though is that eating a small healthy apple… or something low in calories DID NOT CUT IT. It was as if baby wanted a heavy potatoes and gravy meal, with lots and lots of calories.

You do what you got to do. I would rather eat, than feel sick. So I ate.

The 1st 9 weeks or so – I found myself in bed at 11pm at night, eating a meal… then at 3am waking up starving!!! nauseous… with no other option but to eat again. It was actually frustrating at times because I felt as if I could not satisfy my hunger.

Those who know me, know I am a health nut and count calories like crazy… so to know in my head the amount I was consuming, was difficult for me. I have tried with this pregnancy to ignore that though and realize that my body must need this… and even if it didn’t need “quiet as much” as I was giving it, it would still be ok.

I also survived on LEMON head candy throughout the day – esp. at church – I always got hungry in worship & I couldnt really break out a meal there :) – my weirdest craving so far has been WHITE BREAD too. Oh yes… I broke down and asked Travis to bring me home a loaf of CHEAP WHITE BREAD. We have baked our own bread since last Nov… and have yet until that day, purchased store bread… oh how pregnancy has changed that haha…. I am still craving it however, not nearly as much now.

Despite eating every 2 hrs – at week 12 I had only gained 1 lb since finding out I was pregnant. So that was a relief. Although I think the past 2 weeks I’ve put on another 5 HAH! who knows tho. I am avoiding that scale ;-) – Have yet to step on it since that week :)

That being said as of 13 weeks or so, I have felt MUCH better. Only on occasion do I feel sick… and when I do, its easily fixed with a light snack now.

I am finding I don’t have to eat super late any more and most nights I don’t wake up starving. If I do, its something that I can usually bypass now.

The 1st trimester besides constantly eating… I also have battled severe fatigue… by noon my entire body felt drained and as soon as Owen went down for his 1pm nap, I was out. I literally could not wait to sleep.

I could take a 2 hour nap in the afternoon and by 10pm I was out and slept until 8am. It was crazy!!

It worked out that my husband was unemployed during that 1st trimester ;-) – as he was home to help with the boys as I rested.

The fatigue has not ended unfortunately… although some days are better than others. I have not had my vitals checked since week 10… so when I go in at week 17 – I hope to find out if I am battling anemia. I had problems with low iron with my 1st pregnancy… so it is possible.

Over all though I feel well.

I have had some mild breakouts recently too – which is another reason I think BOY! :) – but you just never know. The breakouts have not been nearly as bad as they were with Owen. With Owen at this point in my pregnancy, I was battling 16 year old acne! I did not have a “glow” at all with him… because of that. However, I feel my skin over all doesnt look to shabby this time :) – and my hair is growing like a weed!

Ligament pains has been an issue this time though – but its tolerable. If I notice an increase in it, I just try to rest.

I am just so thankful all is going well and that besides a few discomforts the pregnancy is progress as it should. I have a lot to be thankful for.

Now to answer the question, how far along are you?

I am 15 weeks :) – well almost, in like 2 days.

They calculated my due date according to how big baby was. Because my cycle was so irregular we honestly have no clue when this happened. Just a general idea. The Doctors couldnt calculate it with the regular 28 day cycle wheel this time :) – which I am thankful for honestly, cause that thing is not accurate at all!

Around week 20 they will do an ultrasound to determine the sex.

So yes… we will find out :)
Will we tell?

Maybe…

No, we will ;-) – although I am sure ill drag that out too.

Everyone so far says girl. Really only because I HAVE ALL BOYS. Its just assumed “its got to be a girl next” – but really, if we had a boy, id be so excited too. Sure Id love a girl… one day. The idea of it is exciting – however… I know boys :) – and I would love for Owen to have a brother 2 years apart, like Caleb & Taite have each other. I just think that be really fun to have a household full of boys. THEN, maybe… if I can muster the energy :) – we would have a 5th (years later!!)… and then, possibly.. that one could be the little sister, for all her big brothers to take care of. THAT to me, would be so cool :) – I obviously cant pick… but either way. Blue or Pink, it will be a blessing.

So heres to, the exciting of finding out…. and for those who are curious what the boys want.

Caleb wants a brother.

Taite said he wanted a brother until recently. He now says he wants a sister :) – Owen, well he could care less ;-) and I bet if he had to pick right now at age 2 – he’d pick neither HAHA! He loves being the baby.

I hope to take a bump pic every wednesday btw – so look for one tomorrow. The ones in this post were taken at WEEK 9 & WEEK 12 (I think) – so its a little dated :) – way outdated in fact. I look much more pregnant now. Its evident for sure ;-) – in fact I had a lady at Ross ask me when I was due. So you know, when you show enough for strangers to ask that question – you officially are showing! Which is kind of a relief… Im passing that “weird thick waist inbetween stage” you usually go through much longer hah…

Ross btw. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. It will be my go to store for maternity clothes for sure! They have amazing dresses and tunics for under $15.00 – which will be usable throughout the pregnancy and also after baby. Can’t beat that.

:) My favorite thing so far with this pregnancy, besides the obvious joy of a new bundle coming, is when people who don’t know me, find out I am expecting and they ask “is this your 1st” (this of course is only asked when I am alone without the boys) – when they find out its the 4th, jaws or eye balls usually react :) – with a “you look way to young to have 4!” ;-) – always a complement IMO. I’ll take it!

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Downtown w/ the Rents

Written on 04/23/2012 by Dreawood in family

Saturday we ventured to our towns downtown. Was nice. We have a very sweet downtown, full of fun shops and places to eat. I just enjoyed the fresh air and walking around.

Here are a few snap shots from the trip (note: this is the 1st time in a while Ive used my old point and shoot camera, I guess last weeks busy session schedule wore me out carrying the heavy gear)

My mom & the boys

I hopped in :)

Today is our last day with them before they head back. So off to prepare for the day :) – even tho it is crazy cold here in GA! I think the low tomorrow is suppose to be 35F! where did spring go?

& In case you missed yesterdays post with our announcement… you can read it HERE – it may explain why I have such a belly in the above photos :)

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Perfect Plan

Written on 04/22/2012 by Dreawood in family, ministry, struggles, travis

Can I tell you right off, that God has such a perfect plan for His children.
Even during those times none of it makes sense.

Let me see if I can break this down in the shortest possible way, without confusing myself or anyone else. Although I really doubt this will be short :) – but if you want to know the whole story, read along.

1) June 2011 my husband was asked to resign as Pastor at a church we had served faithfully for almost 4 years. When this happened we had NO CLUE what we would do. Our 1st thought was “we’d have to go move in with my parents again…” – but we knew that be so hard on them, esp since our family had grown. So we searched for other options. It was a very hard and crushing time. We were heart broken things were ending the way they were – and felt such sadness over the situation.

2) During the next month 1/2 we were so unsure where God would take us… or what to do. We bought as much time as we could and even though the odds were against us, we got into a program that takes in hurting Pastors and their families… In this program they love on you, provide a home and time to get back on their feet… 100′s of Pastors apply for it each year, in fact I think that year 300 had applied… and yet only a handful get in, when we got in there were only 8 families? maybe 9. Travis knew about the program from following their Pastor for years. He respected him greatly.

3) August 2011 – 2 months after my husband was asked to resign.. he did finally go through with the request… despite the fact he did nothing biblically wrong. We knew us being there with the leadership against us, would do no good. So we left… and felt totally confident the Lord wanted us to go into this program in GA – and step out of ministry for some time. All that being said, we now know what seemed so wrong… and so hurtful and bad.. the Lord meant for good. We would of never “chosen” to go through things that way… but God saw the bigger picture.

4) Mid Aug 2011 – we moved to GA and began our journey in COR.

5) From Aug – Oct – Travis had a severance package with the former church, that held us over financially. Even though the program we were in was there for us – being able to pay your own bills is helpful, and we were glad we were able too. After his severance ran out… we were so unsure what we would do in order to contribute financially. Travis had applied for countless jobs at that point… none of them had come through. Jobs such as UPS, FedEx, that sorta thing… nothing permanent… just a job to provide some income during this season. While you are in this program they ask that you don’t seek another ministry position until you graduate the program. However, with Travis having 3 degrees, ALL of them in “ministry type areas” – finding a “normal” job, was easier said than done…

6) 1 month after his Severance ended – Nov 2011 – I was offered a job with BOBA photographing their line. I had tried promoting my photography business around town but it was difficult. Even though Im a professional now and not new… no one knew us. So it was hard to get the word out. I tried everything, from sending letters to local businesses, advertising on peoples facebooks, and so on. I got some jobs but not enough to support our family. Being able to work for Boba was the perfect solution. I am so thankful for them!

7) I also began to earn a good amount of money through sponsored post on my blog…. enough to cover our groceries and some each month! Such a blessing.

8) Jan. 2012 – Even though Travis had not worked since Aug 2011, except for doing some occasional painting for a local business man, we were in the best financial shape we had ever been. Almost totally debt free… none of it made sense :) – but it was just really cool to see.

Now….

9) In Feb. 2012 – I found out something interesting. During the time we are here, we have to go through some pretty intense counseling and group time with others in the program… things surfaced that we had never dealt with in our marriage and lives… that we really needed to… but because we were serving in full time ministry, the focus on these things was never a priority… we always poured ourselves into others, and so often put ourselves and our marriage on a back burner. Not healthy btw. We were, in the words of a guy here :) – “surviving” – which is so sad if you think about it… but so common for those serving in ministry…

Throughout the process, things have been very emotional… and the thought of expanding our family was last on our list. It just did not seem like the right time…

10) God obviously had other plans. Early Feb 2012 - I began to sense I was expecting and decided to take a test… sure enough it was positive… I decided to wait a few weeks to tell Travis… due to the situation we were in during that month being a bit tense and emotional… even telling him seemed “not right” at that moment. I held off until Feb 14th, Valentines Day… and finally told him that morning.

11) His 1st words “How is that possible?” – Well I can think of a way haha, but really… it was a shock. The month that this would have happened, was during one of the most emotional months we’ve had here… and for it to happen with us not even trying – is such evidence this is what the Lord wanted.

We however decided at that time, to keep it a secret from the world…

I wanted to share the news… but I was so uneasy about sharing it – with everyone knowing Travis was unemployed… our situation was far from ideal.

12) At around 9 weeks – we began to share it with those in the program we are in… I felt I could not share honestly with the group hiding it… and they all thankfully embraced the news :) – but even from then on, we were keeping it under wraps… from family even.

13) At 10 weeks I finally went to the Dr. I had to wait for medicaid to kick in… it after all was our only option, as we could not afford health care, AT ALL… It took 6 weeks for the medicaid to clear! despite them telling us it only take 10 days :) – good thing this was baby #4… and not #1… I think had it been our 1st I would of been slightly nervous waiting so long. I went in though and baby looked great… heart rate was strong – and baby measured perfectly. My vitals were good too. Here is baby’s 1st picture :)

14) Now lets rewind a bit. Back in Oct 2011 - Travis began filling out forms for a Law Enforcement Job. It was something he was always drawn too deep down… but because he felt God had called him to “full time ministry,” it was never an option. It was a long shot but he applied for a particular position regardless. Actually, this particular job was the second one he had applied for… with the first one, other candidates who had already been trained were picked instead. Being somewhat discouraged and disappointed, he decided to try just one more time. So, he filled out the application online and waited to hear something back. About 2 weeks later, he received a letter inviting him to come to do a physical agility test. This occurred in mid Nov. All through December he waited to hear something. Nothing… Not a word. Discouraged and disappointed again, he figured this was just not God’s will.

15) To our great surprise, Travis received a call in mid Jan, asking if he was available to come in for an interview… right before I found out I was pregnant. The interview went well, and they wanted to proceed to the next steps of the process, which meant extensive background checks, giving many references, getting a physical, psychological testing and evaluation, polygraph test… and so on. He did it all…

16) Yet here we were March 2012… and still had not heard back from the law enforcement agency. Each passing week we waited to hear if he got the job. Nothing.

17) As my pregnancy progressed I began to show – and so we began telling locals, as it was hard to hide. Just so you know, with 4th babies, your belly just pops right out… I look so much more pregnant now, than I ever did with my 1st three.

18) In April my dad told me he was wanting to come visit… it was his 60th birthday the end of April – and since they had not been since Nov… he figured it was a good time to drive down and see us. Him and my mom at this point did not know… I knew once they came, we’d have to tell… I was however fearful on how he’d take it, since Travis still… had no job.

19) April 17th, 2012 – My husband gets a call… they want him to come in for the final interview of the process for this job. The interview was scheduled for April 20th, 2012 – a day before my parents were due to visit.

20) April 20th, 2012 came… and my husband went to the interview… did in fact… get the job! He is no longer unemployed and will start his new job mid May…

Now ill stop with the counting :)

But can I just say. God has such a perfect plan.

When none of it made sense… when we were so unsure… questioning things… so confused… in a constant state of limbo… just waiting… for an answer. God knew.

He knew I would get pregnant when I did.

He knew it would come at a hard time…

He knew we’d be scared and unsure.

But He also had us right in His hands… and was so faithful.

He knew my anxious thoughts… I really believe because he knew I was nervous to tell my parents… due to the job situation – the fact they called 1 day before my parents visit, is as if God wrapped his arms around me and said “you can rest.”

We are so thankful for how God has provided for our family.

A year ago I would of never dreamed we’d be where we are today. So many things have changed.
We won’t be in full time ministry in the traditional sense for some time, if ever again…we just don’t know what God has in store, but wow what a mission field my husband will have! And that is exactly the way he sees it…God calling him to be what he has preached and encouraged so many church members to be for years… salt and light in a dark and dying world. We also believe, this has the potential to open so many possible doors… and while I am fearful in some ways of the danger his job will bring… I can’t help but have just an overwhelming peace, knowing God has a Perfect Plan. :)

& for those curious, how far along I am.

That will all be revealed soon ;-) may as well drag my feet a wee bit more right?

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Can you guess what this represents? reveal

Written on 04/21/2012 by Dreawood in random

If you have an idea of what this is, comment with your guess :)

Hint: So some of you have gotten it ;-) – although I sense a lack of confidence.

Let me say, that each item, although in some cases, there is more than 1 item, for example a stack of books or bundle of crayons :) – but each item, represents ONE OF US…. look carefully… and to those who may not know our children 100% – do know that Owen does not take a pacifier :)

Reveal:
Alright peeps :) If you haven’t guessed it. We are in fact expecting.

This photo represents 1 thing for the each member of our family.

1) Travis and his books/bible…
2) Me and my Camera :)
3) Caleb and his crayons (he loves to draw/color)
4) Taite and his leapster (so into games right now)
5) Owen and his Thomas Train
and…

6) A pacifier, just an item to represent who is to come :)

Now to read about how, why, what, huh? all the in betweens READ THIS.

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Sums me Up

Written on 04/19/2012 by Dreawood in Owen, photography, Taite

This sums me up pretty good right now.

Minus dry boogers on my upper lip ;-) – Poor Owen cant shake that runny nose lately.

Today was very busy… but it went well.
Although it was oddly chilly out!! We all had light jackets on and still felt cold (At least I did). Yet by 5pm or so, it was really hot.

Here are a few photos of the kids in Atlanta today.
We used this new CART I got to showcase on She {hearts} It instead of a stroller. I had to carry a bunch of BOBA boxes with me to the session… and this just made sense :) – I was able to carry all the boxes, plus Owen. Although when I went to the aquarium with this big thing I did feel a bit out of place. I look forward to sharing more about the cart though later… and possibly be able to give one away ;-) – that cart can hold 100′s of pounds, its amazingly strong.

Off to crash… here are the “few” photos I can share :) – the Boba ones will have to wait.

Who is that hooded fellow on the bench?

We joked he looked a little bit like Yoda.

We did splurge on lunch… since I didn’t have time to pack it this trip.
It was a neat little diner by the aquarium. Even had a juke box for you to use :)

Can you see the tired in my eyes?
I have a few more photos of Caleb in Centennial Park near a gigantic statue… but im to tired to download any more :) Off to get the kids in bed and hopefully rest some before heading out tomorrow for one last Boba session.

If im away for a few days its because we are busy with family. So until then, have a great weekend everyone.

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