Adventures Of Motherhood

Marriage. Some people think it’s just this thing that two people do when they love each other. Marriage is so much more than just loving someone so much that you want to be with them for the rest of your life. Yes, that’s part of it, but that’s not the whole thing.

Marriage isn’t always easy. There will be arguments and disagreements; there will be awesome moments and times with your spouse, too. Marriage is work. A lot of people think that once you’re married, you’re free to do whatever you want to do. Well, 1) kinda, but not really. Because now you have a lifelong partner to talk with and communicate with, and if you’re not in ‘sync’ with them, then comes a lot of miscommunication – which is not a good thing.

Yes, Marriage is an awesome thing! I love marriage! It’s also important that you find the right person! You get in a relationship to learn more about that person, and don’t just ‘date’ to date and mess around, date with the purpose or intention of marriage.

Marriage is getting up early for work, possibly coming home later, working extra hours, paying bills, making dinner, cleaning house, sleeping (unless you have a baby!😜), it’s not just living with another person. You have to work. Communicate with that person. If you don’t communicate, what happens? It can start in nonending arguments and fights, and usually ends in divorce…which is not a good or a happy thing.

When Brandon and I met, I had no idea that we would be where we are now. But I couldn’t be more thankful for who God has given me! And He blessed us with a beautiful baby girl! She brightens up our lives so much! She may wake us up at night, but she won’t be this little forever.

When I look at Brandon, I can’t help but think how lucky and blessed I am. God really does give you the best! And He gave me the best when He gave me Brandon! ❤️

I kind of never thought I’d get married and be a mom. I always wished and hoped that I would. And I couldn’t be happier that I am married to Brandon and a mom to our beautiful Anastasia! It’s not always lemons and sunshine, but it is always worth it. All the hardships, all the trials, it makes us stronger together. * That makes me think of the Superman/Supergirl symbol- that means “Stronger Together”. 😝 but seriously, Brandon and I have grown so much since we got married, even since we met. We have grown stronger together, and because God brings us even closer than I thought we already were.

God shows us new things every day. His mercies are new every morning. He gives us so much more than we deserve.

I can talk to Brandon about things that I never thought I’d really be able to talk to anyone about. I’m so thankful for the man He gave me in Brandon! I can trust him with everything.

If you can’t trust each other, than why did you marry in the first place? Trust is a very important quality in a relationship, whether it’s just a friendship or more than a friendship.

Brandon and I have been through a lot while being together, but like I said earlier, we come out even stronger together! I cannot wait to see him with Anna (Anastasia) as she grows up, and our (Lord-willing) future children! God has been so good to us! There are struggles, but God is always there.

I see Brandon with our little girl and my heart just melts. She smiles the biggest smile towards him, and I just…I tear up (happy tears) just thinking about it! It is a perfect and awesome moment to catch and just treasure forever. He says I take a lot of pictures, which I do- I admit! But when we look back at all the pictures I take, he’ll be thanking me! 😝

Marriage is a beautiful thing! I am so so thankful for Brandon! I couldn’t imagine being married to anyone else! He really is the one for me! Forever and always!

I know this blog post was a little on the mushy and sappy side this time, but there are just too many marriages breaking, and a reason is because people just don’t care anymore. They don’t care about the important things anymore. They just care about what they want, and once they get it, they’re done. They can’t and/or won’t commit to just ONE person. I have found my one person, and will forever be my one person! We have learned so much, and we are still learning things about each other!

I am so proud of my husband, he has gone through so much, and he’s still strong, and still going forward. We have tough times in life, tough and toxic relationships, but we get through. Sometimes we stay with the toxic relationships, even though we know we should get out of it, but we have our reasons for staying. Such as, “It’s been so long, I don’t want to feel like I wasted all that time, just to start all over again.” – that one was me. I know it wasn’t wasted time, although it may feel like it, but even though it was different, I did learn and grow through it. I have been so blessed with Brandon! I know I’ve said that a lot, but it’s so true.

I know this post is a bit long, and if you’ve read the whole thing, thank you! It’s just a little bit of my heart about marriage and relationships.

If you’re in a relationship you know you shouldn’t be in, for whatever reason, don’t be afraid to get out of it. If you need to, talk to someone, a pastor, a friend who is a good influence and will tell you the truth and won’t sugarcoat things. And get out of there. I’m praying for you. If you need to talk, or need a friend, have prayer requests, don’t hesitate to let me know. Thank you so much for reading!

Have an awesome day! And an awesome weekend! 😊

Being a mom is not a “half-hearted” thing. It is an all or nothing. If you’re not going to put much into being a mom, you shouldn’t really be a mom. If you were just messing around, and don’t want children, don’t do it. Or at least put the baby up for adoption, or maybe you have a friend or family member that has wanted children but can’t, give the child to them. Someone who will put everything into the child to make sure they have a good home, and someone who will take their time for the baby!

I’m not saying that you won’t put the time in, if it were to happen, I’m just saying that it takes a lot of work to have a child and to be a mom. It’s not easy. It is very worth it, but it’s not always easy. It will get harder as they get older, in their teenage years. My little girl is only a little over three months old, but I know it gets harder in the teenage years.

I wasn’t always the best daughter, and yet, my amazing mom never gave up on me. She was always there for me, even though I disappointed her many times, I’m sure. I’m so thankful for my mom (and dad)!! They have been amazing parents and grandparents! 

When my mom was here, when we were waiting to have our baby at the hospital. She was there for me. She was there when we went out walking up (a ton) of hills. But we did have fun with it! We laughed, we made memories. My mom (and dad) aren’t big picture takers. But I try to take a picture with them every chance I get, even if it’s just through FaceTime and I take a screenshot. I love those memories.  I will cherish them forever. 

When my mom was here, after our precious Anastasia came, and after being in the hospital five days after and recovering, and finally being able to have Anastasia (“Anna”) in our room after being discharged from the NICU – my mom was finally able to see the baby in person! I love seeing my mom holding a little baby! And it meant even more to me to see her holding my little girl. I took so many pictures of them together! I take a lot of pictures anyway! I love taking pictures, and having those memories on print! We may remember them later, but I love looking at the still-picture of little Anna smiling up at my mom! It seriously melts my heart! And smiling up at her daddy! I love it! There are no words to describe what we felt when we first our baby on the outside. And when we could hold her for the first time. Really hold her!

Brandon couldn’t hold her in the NICU for the first day or two, only I could for skin-to-skin contact. One night we had a male nurse, and he allowed Brandon to hold her, and to see his face when he got to hold her… Even before he held her, when. the nurse said he could hold her, his face just lit up like a Christmas tree (when all the lights work haha)! And to see him holding his daughter, our daughter…my heart melted! Brandon is such a great daddy! It takes more than just a mom to be a parent. Children need both parents in their lives.

When they don’t have both parents in their lives, the child(ren) miss it. They always have questions about why they don’t have a mom or dad, and where they are and what not. Yes, there are some great single parents out there, and there are legitimate reasons for why some are single parents – they may have lost their spouse unexpectedly, and what not. There are reasons for it, but a child NEEDS BOTH parents.

I love my husband so much, and I fall even more for him when I see him with our daughter! Even if we didn’t have little Anna, nothing would change how I feel about him. Brandon is my person. I am so thankful for him, I wouldn’t trade anything for him. Brandon and Anna are my family! 

It’s still weird, sometimes, that I actually have my own little family. But it’s one of the best things ever!! I may not always be the best mom, but I will always do my best and give it everything I have! Being a mom and wife – I give my everything to! I hope one day, when Anna grows up and she becomes a mom someday, she will be able to look back and say that I was the best mom, like I do with my mom. And that Brandon was the best dad! We may not be perfect, but we are doing our best! And we will ALWAYS do our best!

We are so thankful for our little girl! I thank God for her and for Brandon every day!!! I am so blessed! God is So Good!!!

Again, thank you for reading my blogs, I know I’ve been a little behind the past few weeks, but I hope to get back in the swing of things and write more. If you have any questions or just want to talk, need a friend, have any prayer requests, I’m here for you.

Have a great day!!

Okay, so I don’t know about you, but people who are fake, hypocritical, two-faced….they annoy me. They annoy me so much that I really do not want to be around them. At all. Especially when you can tell that they are fake, and they are pretending like everything fine, and that they aren’t fake, it just bothers me.

I used to be fake, in a way. I used to fake being happy, when I was probably the most miserable I had ever been. “Fake it till you make it”, right? Only if you keep faking it, you really aren’t making it, are you? Faking it is not a way to live. It’s barely even living. We don’t want to fake anything. Fake being happy, fake being a the sweetest person or faking that you like everyone when in reality you don’t like that many people at all; but yet you fake to like them anyway. I know a couple people like that, and all I can think when I see it is that they must not be happy at home, must not have a happy life, and must be really miserable. Thing is, I don’t know what is going on their life, or why they are the way they are, all I can do is pray for them.

Being real…sometimes we, as moms, pretend to be happy when we are actually really exhausted, and just want a break. We want to get out of the house. No, I am not pretending to be happy right now, I am very happy with my husband and my little girl, and our family! Life isn’t always easy, but I am happy with my family! God has blessed me so much!!

Moms have a very busy and non-ending workload. Moms are never ‘off the clock’. We are always clocked in. Some days are easier than others, but no matter what, we can’t give up. We have a husband and a child depending on us.

I just want to remind us that we need to be real with people. if we have a problem with someone, we should talk to that person; don’t let it keep going and your dislike for that person get worse and what not. Talk to them. If you can tell that they don’t like you or something, talk to them, ask them if there was something you did or whatever the problem is. Be real with people. Talk to someone. There are people you can talk to. Talk to your husband about what is bothering you, tell him that you’re tired and would like a break, tell him whatever you need. Take a hot bubble bath, take a little nap while he watches the baby, tell him what you need. It will be okay. For better or for worse. Right?!

I know it has been awhile since I have blogged, but mom life got a bit busy! I will try to do better though! Writing is something I do, or try to do, to relax. Writing helps me get things out! Sometimes I think I write better than I talk, if that makes sense. I know I’m kind of all over the place in this blog, I’m sorry. My mind is kind of all over the place tonight.

But on a happier note, our little girl is two months old! She turned two months old yesterday! It’s crazy how it has already been two months! There’s been a lot less sleep and a lot of tears, but I wouldn’t trade them for anything! I love my husband, and I love our little girl! Sometimes it is still hard to believe that I’m a mom, but I love it! Especially that I’ll be celebrating Mother’s Day this year! This time last year, I did not think that I would be celebrating it the next time it came around. But I love my little family! God has blessed us so much!

This is a shorter blog than my others, but I just want to remind you, maybe even challenge you – be real this week (and every week). If there is someone you think doesn’t like you or maybe it’s something that you don’t really like, talk to them. Just a thought. If there is anything you need me to pray for, I’m here. Send me a message.

Do you ever feel like a failure? Failure as a wife? Failure as a mom? I know how you feel, because I feel like that too, on occasion. It’s not a good feeling. Many times, we often feel like a failure, no matter what we do. We don’t have to be a mom or a wife to feel like a failure. There are fathers and husbands who feel like it, too. There are other people who, in their jobs may feel like a failure, sometimes. It doesn’t mean we are a failure though. Sure, we may fail sometimes, or just not do as well as we hope, but we are not failures. We are just learning as we go. We are always learning something in life. We are always being taught, whether we think it or not.

Life is filled with many lessons. We haven’t even scraped the surface, I’m sure. We have so many things to learn. Not just in being a parent, although that is a very important one, but in everything. What are you learning now? Are you a student striving to get that diploma? You learn many things in your classes, in your studies; at least I hope you learn what you read and study in class! Are you a lawyer or a nurse? They are always learning things also; my point is, we never stop learning no matter what occupation we are in. There will always be something for us to learn.

As a mother, there are things that I am constantly learning. It is not always easy to be a mom, even to a newborn. Everyone thinks that newborns are easy because they sleep all the time! Which is mostly true. But when they sleep, you need to make sure that their breathing isn’t being blocked by anything, and that they can still breathe, Sometimes my daughter will only sleep on me, while I’m holding her. I will try to put her down, and she’ll immediately wake up and not be happy. I will pick her back up, and she will, again, immediately go back to sleep like I never laid her down in the first place.

The hard parts of being a mother is sometimes just letting your house be a mess. You may be thinking, “What?!?! I hate my house being a mess!! It has to be spotless!!” Well, if you’re like that, than being a mom will definitely be difficult for you! Because even before I was a mom, I know how it is when you have children. It is very rare that you have a clean house, and when it is mostly clean, it doesn’t last very long.

When you’re a mom, sometimes you just ignore the mess in your house, and just hold your precious baby! Just look at your baby! God gave you that baby! You grew that baby inside you, and you brought that baby into the world! That baby is a blessing!! They won’t be that little for long! Even though they may keep us up at night a lot, treasure those moments with your child! Again, they won’t be that little for long and you will be begging for them to be that little again, so you can just hold them and love on them. When they get bigger, teenagers don’t quite let you hold them anymore. Children are a blessing and a gift from God! Treasure them!

Don’t feel like a failure! Everyone has those feelings, but everyone is always learning something new with every child, even if they have quite a few. Every child is different, which means the parents have new things to learn with every individual child. No, it is not a bad thing, everyone is different. God made us all different! God made us all special!

Don’t feel like a failure, don’t give up. If you fall down, get back up! Don’t stay down! You aren’t alone! If you feel alone, pray first! Talk to God, then maybe give someone a text or a call; talk to your husband, or your mom or your dad! They’ve been through it, they have experience, they can at least give you advice, or just say that it will be okay, and that you’re doing a great job! Which I’m sure that you are! But don’t give up!

Moms, don’t give up! It just popped in my head that in about a month, it will be Mother’s Day! It will be my first one to celebrate it as a mom! It will be different for me, but I am also excited! Just the fact that I am a mom! God has blessed so much with the family He has given me! With my parents and my siblings, and now my own little family! My husband and my little girl! They are all blessings in my life! We haven’t always gotten along, but we are always there for each other, when and if we can! I am so thankful for every one of them! Especially my mom and dad!

If my mom and dad had given up, if they had given up on me…who knows where I’d be, what I’d be doing… I am so thankful for my parents and to my parents for not giving up on me. I know I probably haven’t been the best daughter at times, but they still loved me and they didn’t give up on me. Thank you so much, Mom and Dad!

There are so many people out there who don’t have parents, or they don’t know who their parents are, or those who have broken homes. My heart breaks for those people, I wish I could help every one of them. If I was rich, I would get a big house, or as others would call it, a mansion or a castle, and I would take every one and take them in and take care of them and give them a home. I would do it in a heartbeat, There are so many kids in the foster care system. Who is helping them? Yes, the foster care system is fine, in most cases, but those children – they still needs homes. They want homes. They want someone to want them and to love them. What are we doing about them?

Okay, so this blog post has gone a little off track from where I was planning, but what I still mean what I say. I would take all those children in and take care of them if I could.

I will end my blog post with this, no matter what, don’t give up! Don’t give up you as a parent, or whatever your occupation may be, and don’t give up on your children! They will make mistakes, but love them! And tell them that you love them! We may show it in our actions, but our children still need to hear the words. Even as babies, as newborns, they need to hear it! I still tell my little girl who is six weeks old, that I love her! She may not know what it means, but she will know that I love her! That little girl in the picture below depends on me and her daddy! We will not let her down, we will do our very best not to, anyway! When you have a baby, your whole life changes! In a good way, but your whole life changes! Don’t give up!

If there is anything that you need, or want me to pray about it, let me know! I will pray for you! 

When I was still pregnant, I would be given advice about after pregnancy, such as, “Don’t feel guilty about sleeping when the baby is sleeping”. Does that sound familiar to anyone?

Did you ever find yourself ever taking that advice or tip? I do, every once in awhile. Instead, I’ll work around the house and try to get it looking nice for when my husband gets home from work. Isn’t that what every husband wants when he gets home from work – to walk in the door and see a clean home? Which yes, he understands that we have a new baby and everything and that I should rest when I can, but sometimes I just have to clean the house.

Sometimes I won’t be tired, so that’s when I’ll try to get things done around the house. I’ll admit, if I need to rest, sometimes I’ll sit on the couch and write or watch something on Netflix or a movie that we already own. That’s resting, right?! I know it’s not the same as sleeping and getting literal rest, but sometimes I just can’t sleep. Especially when there’s so much to do around the house. Laundry. Dishes. Vacuuming. Just cleaning, in general. When the house looks relatively clean, I sleep better. So wouldn’t it be more productive and/or ‘healthy’ if I sleep after I get some work done, so I’ll sleep better? I could be totally wrong/backwards, but I don’t know. It kind of makes sense to me! But then again, I think many things make sense to me that do not make any sense to anyone else. I’m just special, I guess.

On the days that I actually have plans to get things done, like I’ll actually have a list of what I want to get done or at least get started that day, those are the days that my daughter is actually awake and doesn’t want to sleep at all during the day, so I’m usually doing something with her. Holding her. Playing with her. Just talking to her, so she can listen to my voice.

There’s also something with that, too. Those times where she is awake, even when she is sleeping, I don’t want to lose those moments, those times to just hold her, to play with her when she’s still little and will let me hold her and just love on her. Because I know that she won’t be little forever, and she may not let me hold and love on her that much. I’m hoping that as she grows up, she will still want to do things with me, like just go out and shop or get some ice cream, or make something together (like a smoothie or milkshake! – I love making smoothies and milkshakes!) and sit on the couch and watch a movie together. Just spend time together. Have mother/daughter dates, and kick daddy out of the house (or at least out of that room!) and have a girls night sometimes and what not! 

I want to make as many memories as I can with my daughter! I want to make as many memories as I can as a family too! Not just me and her, but with her daddy too! I’m all about pictures and capturing the moments! Yes, we have our minds to remember things and moments, but seeing the pictures, the big smiles on our faces, it does so much for someone. Just to see the smiling faces again.

When we lose a loved one, what do we when we miss them? We usually go back and look at pictures and memories and reminisce on those memories, right? They will usually make us smile again, sometimes it’ll make us cry seeing them, but we need to remember the happy times we had with that person. Pictures say so much! 

I know some people get annoyed with me and how many pictures I take and feel like I’m constantly taking pictures, but it’s just how I am. I’m not constantly taking pictures, I do take a lot of pictures, but I’m not constantly taking them. I love pictures, and I love looking back at them, and remembering those memories, like a trip that we took together or a baby’s first…insert whatever the first thing is, or whatever it may be. We don’t have forever, and while someone may take ‘too many pictures’ to you…one day when that person isn’t here anymore, you may be thankful for all the pictures that they took.

I’m not trying to be depressing, sorry it kind of turned into that, it was not my intention at all. But it is true, we need to cherish the memories. We don’t need pictures of everything. Even if we do take pictures of everything, you don’t have to post them so everyone sees absolutely everything of your life. You do need to keep some things for just you and your family. Keep some for your personal family album, or whatever it may be. Don’t broadcast everything about your life. I used to kind of be like that, I would post about everything I did. I didn’t think I did, but my family said and thought I did, and after awhile, when I grew up a little more, I realized they were pretty much right. I didn’t post Everything about my life, but I did post a lot.

Anyway, I have gotten a little off topic from where I started, sorry about that! I tend to do that a lot! Oops! Anyway, I was just trying to say that, yes, we women should rest when the baby is sleeping, or just hold her when she is awake, even if she falls asleep in your arms, it doesn’t hurt to keep the baby there! You don’t have to put her down somewhere just because she falls asleep. Hold the baby! Cherish those moments where they lean on you! You are the mother (or father, if any men read this, I don’t know if there are any men that do, but if there is…) of that child – cherish those moments! You won’t have them that long, they won’t be that little forever! 

Four weeks ago today, I was in the hospital in labor. Labor is not an easy thing. I am so thankful and blessed that Brandon was there!! He was amazing! He was there for me through it all! I’m so glad God gave me my husband!

Time really does fly! Like I said, four weeks ago, I was in the hospital. Our baby girl will be a month old in three days. That is just crazy to think about! I can’t believe she has been on the outside of me for almost a whole month! I don’t know about you, but I’m still trying to wrap my mind around that! It doesn’t seem like long, but with a baby – well, it still doesn’t seem like long, because sometimes it feels like just yesterday, I was at the hospital to have her. It really is crazy how fast time flies!

Sometimes I may want to put her in her cradle or little bouncer seat or on the couch, so I can get some things done around the house, but I also want to hold her at the same time. I do have a little carrier thing, but even with that, I’m still kind of limited with things that I can do around the house, with movement and such. Sometimes though, the holding her does win over the putting her down and letting the house wait a little longer to be cleaned or straightened up.

These moments won’t last forever; she will grow up and not want to be held anymore – this way, she can’t tell me to put her down, because then sometimes she does cry because she does want to be held! That won’t last forever! Some days, she may not even want to be near me, or at least not in the same room. Although she may keep us up at night sometimes, I am treasuring every moment I can with our little girl.

It is still taking some getting used to calling her my daughter when I talk to others about her and such, but in a good way! I still can’t believe I have a daughter! She’s mine! I have a daughter! It really is amazing what the body can do – I mean, your body can grow another human baby inside you! How amazing and crazy is that!?!? Yes, it is painful at the end, but it really is worth it! I find myself looking down at my daughter while I’m holding her, or even just when she’s sleeping (Yes, I watch her sleep!), it’s just so precious and they look so peaceful when they’re sleeping. But anyway, I find myself looking at her, and I’m just in awe of how awesome God is and how thankful I am that He gave Brandon and I our little Anastasia! Which her name means “Resurrection” – which I think is actually kind of funny, since we just had Easter! He is Risen!

For those who don’t know and since I’ve been asked many times (and no, I don’t mind being asked), we got her name from my family. It was my great grandmother’s name, and my name Stacie is a derivative of Anastasia, and my mom said that sometimes she wishes she named me Anastasia and just called me ‘Stacie’ for short, but she didn’t. I’ve always loved the name Anastasia since I was little! It is not from the princess movie ‘Anastasia’, although I do love that movie, that is not where we got the name!

Before we know it, Anna (what we call Anastasia for short) will be one year old, or two years old, she’ll be middle school, high school, going off to college, getting married, and we will have so many memories with her. And we are going to cherish all the memories we can. So many times nowadays, many people don’t care about treasuring the memories with anyone. Even with our children. I don’t know about you, but I want to be there for every memory that I can be. I will be her cheerleader, her best friend (hopefully), someone that she can come to with anything (especially since I’m her mother), I hope she’ll come to me when she needs something or needs or wants to talk.

I want my daughter to know that Brandon and I will be there for her whenever she needs us! As long as God allows us, which we hope is for quite a while! We love her so much! It’s true what they say, you really can’t remember what it was like before you had them. I couldn’t remember what it was to not be pregnant, I thought I had been pregnant for forever! Now I can remember what it was like to not have our little girl! We love having her on the outside!

I loved having her on the inside and feeling her move inside me, and all the tickles and flutters she gave me! But I love having her on the outside also! Seeing her move her arms around and the little noises she makes – they’re the cutest! I love everything about her!!

Cherish those memories, because you truly never know how much longer you will have. We don’t know what tomorrow holds, but we know Who holds tomorrow. Treasure those memories! Have as many as you can!!

Three weeks (and one day). Three weeks ago, I was in the hospital waiting to have our little girl! I was having contractions pretty close together, we were in the delivery room waiting to dilate all the way and/or for my water to break on its own.

My contractions had actually started the night before, March 5th, around 10:00. I was so thankful to have my mom there with me. We were trying to wait it out at home, and stay home as long as possible so we wouldn’t be at the hospital longer than necessary. We ended up going to the hospital around 2:30am. We were admitted into the hospital, but after a 2-3 hours, they discharged us because I hadn’t dilated past a 2 or effaced anymore. I was effaced at 99% and it hadn’t progressed anymore.

My husband, my mother, and my mother-in-law were with me, we didn’t want to go back home just to have to turn around and go back. We stayed in the waiting room/lobby and waited it out some more. We went back and forth between sitting and walking around the lobby. During the contractions, I would either hang/lean on to the side railing on the walls or my husband. We waited another couple of hours before going back and seeing if they would re-admit me.

They re-admitted me, I had to dilate to at least a 3 or greater before they would take me to a delivery room. The next time they checked me, thankfully I was dilated to a 3-4! I was finally being taken to a delivery room – where we waited for me to dilate the rest of the way. We were at the hospital all day, we had no sleep, at least 36+ hours of no sleep. When we got to the waiting room and settled, we were able to rest and try to nap before the real work started. I did get an epidural; I didn’t want to, but I realized I wasn’t as strong as I thought I was, and I changed my mind and decided to do an epidural. Next time though, I am planning on sticking it out and doing it without the epidural.

Between 4-4:30 that afternoon, my water broke. So about 4:30, I started pushing. I pushed for two hours, than I spiked a fever, and we also found out there was some infection in the amniotic fluid, and she was also stuck, and so we had to have an emergency C-section. Also something I didn’t want. I did not want an epidural, and I ended up getting it. I did not want a C-section, but I ended up having to have it. But everything turned out fine in the end. They took her to the NICU to be safe because of the infection that was found. They put both of us on antibiotics, and they wanted me to be fever-free for 48 hours. If I had a temperature in between those 48 hours, than those 48 hours would restart. Which happened once. I was already exhausted, not being able to get much sleep in the hospital, and when they told me that the 48 hours had to restart, I cried. I just wanted our baby and to be out of the hospital. Also, daddy was still able to cut the umbilical cord, even though it was a C-section! He was pretty proud! This was our first family picture, also right before they took her to the NICU.

We ended up being in the hospital for five days. Five long days. We were happy to finally be able to go home. Also, since the flu outbreak had been so bad this year, we weren’t allowed any visitors except the two that were with us during the delivery. And Brandon and I were the only ones allowed to go in the NICU, so both our moms weren’t able to see her in person until we were discharged from the hospital. They could only see pictures and the NICU had a live video that we had our own username and password and such and we could see her when we weren’t there, and our moms and whoever else we gave the information to could see her! It’s not the same as seeing her in person and being able to hold her, but it was something!

Luckily though, we had really nice nurses, during the day and the night nurses. They had to poke me four times with the IV, because the first one didn’t work, then he second one ended up being in for too long, so it wouldn’t let the antibiotics flow through the right way, then my third one burst my vein, which by the way – it really hurts!! Then the fourth and final one was in less than 16 hours.

So on March 6, 2018 at 7:14pm, at 19 1/2 inches long, and 7 lbs and 1oz, was our little girl Anastasia Hope! We are both proud parents! We have some rough nights with her, but they are worth it! She is worth it! I just got to keep telling myself that! I’m just kidding! She IS worth it! We love her very much and wouldn’t trade her for anything or anyone! My husband is one proud daddy! I love seeing him with her! It’s one of the sweetest things!!

It’s not super detailed, since I don’t want to give every detail of the birth, and I’m sure you don’t want to know every detail either, but that is the gist of it! Thank you for reading! Also, thank you for all the prayers from while we were in the hospital, they were very much appreciated!

Becoming a new mom is definitely a roller coaster. It’s an amazing feeling and it’s also a little bit of a scary feeling! But something that makes it less scary – is who you have to share the life with! I have been so very blessed with the man that I call my husband. He is a great husband, a great man, and a great daddy to our little girl! It has been only a few weeks, but to see him with our little girl – it melts my heart every time! He is so in love with our baby!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton

It has been both my dream and my husband’s dream to have a family, to be a mom and a dad. I’m going to be completely honest with you in my blog, okay? The man who is now my husband – we were pregnant before we got married. No, we did not get married because of the baby.

We met April 14, 2017. One of my very close friends contacted me and said she had someone that she wanted me to meet. I wasn’t completely sure about it, as I’ve had my share of heartbreak. Who hasn’t, right? So I asked my friend some questions about him, which unknowingly to me, he had been sitting there next to her at the time that she texted me. I don’t know if he was actually reading the conversation between her and I, but he was there. My friend had recently gotten married in November 2016, where both me and this guy she was trying to set me up with had gone to. We did not meet at the wedding though. Even though it was kind of funny later, when we found out that we had both been there and he had actually sat in the row in front of me during the wedding.

When my friend had told me that he was there, I had vaguely remembered seeing him, but not really anything else about him. As I was at the wedding for her, and not to meet someone, although it is a bit awkward going to a wedding alone, just saying! But anyway, about five months later, my friend texted me and told me that she had someone that she wanted to set me up with, or at least meet. I asked some questions, she said he was a really great guy, he had also had heartbreak and was ready to meet someone – a potential someone to spend the rest of his life with. She had also been talking to him about me. Not sure all what she told him about me, but it was enough that he said yes to wanting to meet me, so it must have been good things!

To be honest, I wasn’t quite sure about it. I had lived in another state at the time, but I thought why not? I hadn’t seen her in a while, and we had been wanting to get a trip together to see each other again. I had that weekend off, so I mentioned it to her, and she had told her husband and the guy she was wanting to set me up with, and they said that was perfect, so we had it planned for that weekend. It was a Sunday that she messaged me, and I met him that next Friday, five days later. During those days in between, I was excited and nervous at the same time. Anyone know what I’m talking about?! And even though I wasn’t quite sure about it, the days at work seemed to drag on more than they already did. Plus, I was excited to see my close friend again, and her husband (even though he’s a Duke fan)! P.S. I’m a University of North Carolina fan.

As I said before, I wasn’t quite sure about it. For one thing, I didn’t think anything would come of it. I knew it’d be great to see my friends again, and at least make a new friend, if anything. I didn’t think anything would come from meeting this guy. I heard he was kind of really nerdy and likes video games, and to be honest, I never imagined myself with a guy like that. I didn’t want someone who always sat on the couch and played video games when he didn’t work. But God works in mysterious ways!

That Friday, April 14, 2017, we met! We were both a little quiet at first. Both kind of listening to the other talk to the mutual friends who were setting us up or at least getting us to meet. At least, I was listening to him, and trying not to be nervous. Because even though, I wasn’t really expecting anything to come from meeting him except maybe a new friend, you still get nervous when meeting someone new like that. Or am I the only one?! The picture below was our first picture together!  

Well, that night, we ended up hanging out at our friends house and watching a movie, then talking for a little bit after that, then calling it a night. He asked for my number that first day/night we met, and it just continued from there! Even though we didn’t do much, we didn’t go out and have a fancy dinner and go out and see a movie, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. After a little while, I was able to really relax and just be myself. I was myself at the beginning, I was just more relaxed after a little while! We talked, we laughed, we had fun! It didn’t have to be anything fancy or cost a lot of money for us to have a good and fun time! I love just being together and spending time together and talking, getting to know each other. And that’s what we did! And for my whole time there on my trip, we saw each other every day. I did not want to leave and go back to reality and my job. But alas, I had to. It was a hard goodbye.

Just a couple days later, on my next day off and on his day off, we met halfway from where we lived, and spent the day together. He was the first man to ever drive a couple hours just to see me and spend time with me! That alone made me feel really special! That day, April 19, 2017, was our first official date! The first time it was just me and him together! We both didn’t really know how the other would be with just the two of us together, since the other times we had been with friends. But it turned out to be just as amazing! Just like him! The picture below was our first picture as an official couple!

He even drove eight+ hours just to go to my friends wedding, who he didn’t know and the only one he would know was me, and I couldn’t even sit with him during the wedding because I was in the wedding. That has to tell you something about the man. Also, that the wedding was only a few weeks after we met, so even though we felt like we had known each other for our whole lives, we still didn’t know everything about each other. Things with us just clicked, it was nice!

Then that weekend, after the wedding, I ended up moving to where he lived. I used to live there before, but it had been a couple years since living there. I didn’t move back for him. I had gotten a job there, one that I had worked at before we moved away. He was just a bonus of moving back! Then a few months later, we find out that we are pregnant. Yes, it was before getting married. Things were serious with us, and we weren’t just messing around. Things did move quicker than we had planned, but we did really love each other, even though it was going a little fast. We both were genuine with each other. We still are. We got married August 19, 2017. It was a little rough, financially – life usually is, especially when starting out with someone. We had just a little ceremony, and we are going to have another one this year, since many family and friends weren’t able to make it.

As I said earlier, we did NOT get married because of the baby. We got married because we genuinely loved each other, and we still do, and we will love each other ’till death do us part’. He is an amazing man, an amazing husband, and an amazing daddy! 

We welcomed our little girl into the world on March 6, 2018! She ended up being five days late, but she is here now, and everything is great, and she is a healthy little girl! We are so in love with her! We couldn’t be more proud of her and our little family! It is a little rough and different adjusting to a new addition to the family, with her being on the outside instead of the inside, but it’s a good different!

I am sorry that this blog post is a little on the long side, but most first blog posts usually are, right?! Hope you enjoy reading my blog and my story! Thank you for reading and supporting us!