OVER Halfway Baby!!!

Saturday, January 18th  officially marked 20 weeks friends! 

I know so many people are so on top of things with their first pregnancy but that has not been me!  It took me about 15 weeks to realize I was in fact pregnant.  So many people were wanting to talk about the nursery and the registry and showers and all sorts of things that had not even crossed my mind yet.  Once I established "I am pregnant, baby is in the womb' (maybe that had to do with the growing bump) -  I have JUST NOW began thinking 'what exactly do I need to do to prepare for a baby?!' 


So just a few things that I do not want to forget:



Things I crave:  Fruit, fruit, and more fruit!  Seriously, I wish I knew how much money we have spent on apples, bananas, strawberries (those 3 being my favorite), as well as pineapple and watermelon!  I cannot get enough.  Not only do I eat a lot of fruit but I also eat a ton of yogurt and granola!  If I wake up in the middle of the night hungry - yogurt is my go-to in the fridge!  Another absolute favorite is CHEESE - I love cheese & crackers, GRILLED cheese, cheese in my eggs, string cheese, and the list goes on!  I have also eat peanut butter by the jar - on my bananas, apples, bagels, etc.  I'd say the last thing I've craved the most is MASHED POTATOES!  Oh my word - I love em!



Things I do NOT crave:  Before I was pregnant, I typically drank a cup of coffee every morning and had oatmeal for breakfast.  Up until week 20, I wanted neither, especially the coffee.  The smell of coffee did not make me sick - I just had absolutely no desire to drink it and oatmeal seemed to make me incredibly nauseas.  Once I hit week 20 - I have started eating homemade oatmeal with fruit cut up in it every morning for breakfast; however, my desire for coffee still isn't really there (I did drink a half a cup a couple of mornings in a row though).  Another interesting fact of my pregnancy has been my lack of craving for sweets.  I have really had no desire for brownies & cookies (my faves) AT ALL and I have just now started wanting some sweets again but definitely not something I HAVE TO HAVE (like my fruit).


Random facts:

• We felt baby boy kick for the first time (not butterflies or the bubbly gas feeling but an actual THUMP) at 17 weeks and 2 days! 
• My nausea finally started decreasing around week 19.  I still feel nauseas some but NOTHING like the first 19 weeks of pregnancy hallelujah!
• Picking a baby name has been FUN.  Rance is extremely opinionated and wants a STRONG, meaningful name so he is naming baby boy!
• I may be slack in the planning department; however, I have not been slack on praying for little hootie!
• I had a bump that poked out at the very beginning of pregnancy; however, the real bump really POPPED at week 19!  Hello belly!
• It's been REAL hard for me to take (and especially remember to take) baby bump pictures weekly!  Something about a picture of myself is just WEIRD.

Baby pump viewing weeks 16 through 20:




Week 16



Week 17

Week 18



Week 19




Week 20

I think that's all for now!  21 weeks and 2 days down and I'm not sure how many to go!

*Hangover Hike*

What a day, what a hike, what a crew!


Hiking to the Hangover has been on the Shuler bucket list for quite some time.  We attempted to do this hike last winter but it was not successful.  When we got back from vacation in Nahunta, Rance looked online to see when the US Forest Service would be closing the access roads for the winter and it indicated Wednesday, January 1st.  Unfortunately at this point it was New Year's Eve so we quickly realized we would have to wait until springtime (which I'd then be 8 months pregnant) which would then get pushed to the fall possibly.  We were disappointed to say the least.  Rance ended up calling the US Forest Service that Wednesday to confirm the date and they indicated they would be PUSHING the date back until Monday, January 6th.  HALLELUJAH TO THE LAMB!!!  It was then that we picked Saturday for our big day hike to the Hangover. 


We were super pumped that Lindy, Autumn, Ben and Frank all wanted to join us on this adventure.  The really fun part is that it snowed all the days leading up to the big hike.  You know what that means?!  We walked through at least 6 inches of snow in many areas of the hike which made it more strenuous but so beautiful.  Not to mention, it was around 18 degrees when we started the hike that morning and I am pretty sure it did not get much warmer than the 20's the remainder of the hike.  This day was full of sweet conversations, lots of laughs, fun bonding time, singing praises to the Lord, and a serious physical workout over the entire body!  


Here we go....

Coondog, me, Gina before the hike began!

Rance, Frank and Ben

Celebrating 18 weeks of pregnancy by
climbing a mountain LITERALLY!

LOVE that Lindy brought her dog Ivy!

Can you find Rance's gum that he stuck on the tree to save for later?!?!

GROUP SHOT as we climb!  Molly (Ben's dog) came with us too!

Surrounded by WHITE!

my boo is amazing at capturing random moments!

Are we there yet?!  NOPE!  If you notice, it looks like I changed clothes a million times when really I was either shedding or adding layers depending on whether I was moving or stopping!

You cannot begin to imagine what I was seeing before me...

No picture on earth would do what we saw justice!

These 3 thoroughly enjoyed their time ON TOP of the hangover!  It was so brutally cold and the wind was UNREAL.

Rance and Frank look like they are on top of the world!  That's what it felt like.

me and Baby Boy made it to the TOP!!!



To think DADDY spoke this view and these mountains into existence!

Gina just taking a moment to capture the view!

It's such a TINY area full of rocks to stand on with a 360 view all around!

I'm sorry if I am boring you with pictures but I'm really not sorry! :)

I'll never forget how cold we were in this moment...

...we could not feel anything!  Thankfully it was only when we were standing ON TOP that we felt this way!

At this point, we had completed our day hike!

THANKFUL for our day together!

HIKE = SUCCESS!

If you are ever in Robbinsville or come for a visit and are up for a hike - this is the one to go on!!! 

Guess what the best part was at the end?!  Since Jess (Ben's wife) was unable to go with us because of little Wyatt not being able to handle the frigid temperatures - she had us a full pot of chili ready to eat at their house when we were done!  WHAT A BLESSING!





Gettin' personal...

Have you ever felt the Lord completely take over you and make His strength perfect in your weakness? 

This past Christmas, I was able to grasp an entirely new picture of Father's strength.  I debated on whether or not to write about this on the blog but since I am convinced that there is only a handful of you that read it anyways, I shall proceed.

I mentioned in my recap of 2013 that this past year was full of physical attacks.  The week we were in Nahunta for Christmas was definitely a period where those attacks climaxed.  So here is an overview of what happened...

On the Monday night before Christmas, we all headed to bed as usual except for my daddy.  He has a lot of trouble with heel spurs and this Monday night he was in a lot of pain.  My daddy rarely takes medicine but he had a prescription (which he has taken sporadically in the past) specifically for his heel spurs.  He took the medicine, ate a tangerine, and headed to bed only to break out in hives within minutes of being in bed.  Obviously he was having an allergic reaction to something but at the time - the ONLY odd thing he ate that day or did was consume the tangerine before bed.  My mom called a friend that is a family doctor and she asked if he was breathing okay, etc.  She said he needed to take Benadryl immediately and stand in a cold shower in order to relieve some of the itching.  Unfortunately, my mom realized she was out of Benadryl and proceeded to call my cousin Brooke who just happened to be at Walmart at 11pm at night.  Coincidence?  Nope.  She was at the house within 15 minutes.  After a few hours the hives went away and were completely gone by the next day.  It was sort of a mystery as to what caused the allergic reaction but my dad just decided he would not be eating another tangerine!

Fast forward to the Thursday night after Christmas.  Before going to bed, my daddy ended up taking another pain pill for his heel spurs and headed to bed.  At 3:30AM, he woke up, threw the covers off and realized he had broke out in hives from head to toe.  He immediately jumps up out of the bed to grab the Benadryl but becomes so dizzy that he asks my mom to grab it because he knew he needed to sit back down.  Within seconds she gives him the Benadryl and a glass of water and as he is swallowing the second pill, he drops the glass of water and falls backwards on the bed and begins gasping for air.  At this point is when my mom screamed at the top of her lungs for someone to call 911.  I grabbed my phone immediately without even knowing what was going on and called 911.  As Rance, my brother and I all headed to my parent's bedroom - it only took one look to see that my dad could not breathe and it wasn't good.  I ended up handing my mom the phone to answer a million questions with 911 (and to distract her b/c she was panicking) and Rance and I got on each side of my dad on the bed.  I began praying fervently.  Rance and I were talking to him and trying to keep him conscious and begging him to breathe but he was gasping for air with each breathe probably only getting a 1/4 of what he needed at that point.  Rance and I decide to sit him up to see if that would help him get more air and as we are sitting him up - his entire body turned blood red from head to toe and his body started having convulsions.  In that moment, I was convinced my daddy was having a heart attack.  I have never seen anything like it in my entire life nor have I ever felt so helpless yet so incredibly calm at the same time.  I was begging the Father to rescue him and to free his body.  As his body jerked he then became extremely stiff, began foaming at the mouth, and it was as if his airways were closing up to the point of no return.  He could get NO air.  In that moment, I thought he was dying and that there was absolutely nothing I could do.  His eyes shut, he completely stopped breathing and his body became limp...absolutely lifeless.  I looked at Rance and said 'is he gone?'  Both of us had NO emotion in that moment.  My mom was screaming and shaking him and begging him not to leave her.  It all seemed surreal yet it was SO REAL.  I kept giving my mom orders to keep her distracted and focused and told her to grab a wash cloth and start wiping the foam out of his mouth.  His tounge had swollen so much she stuck her finger in his mouth to open up any airway she could and began breathing in his mouth.  At this point we let his body slide down to the floor.  It felt like an eternity but out of nowhere he let out a breath.  In that moment, my cousin Brooke came running in the house and she was like a guardian angel on the scene.  The three of us (her, Rance and I) worked together doing everything we could think of.  You could feel NO pulse at all on his wrist at that point.  My mom grabbed fans because his entire body was pouring beads of sweat.  We were asking him to open his eyes and look at us and you could eventually tell he could hear us but could not respond.  He still was fighting for air.  When the ambulance finally arrived, his blood pressure was 78/0 - rock bottom.  All I knew to do was to pray...

As the ambulance pulled out - Rance and I got dressed and headed to the ER.  Fast forward to an hour or so later and the doctor called all of us back to see my daddy.  We were told (before any testing was even done) that my dad had had an allergic reaction to the pain medicine for his heal spurs.  The doctor said had my daddy not taken the Benadryl when he did, he would have died.  Basically, after those convulsions when he completely stopped breathing had to be the time the Benadryl began to kick in to cause him to have his next breathe minutes later.  The doctor said there are usually 3 happenings with allergic reactions - the first time, was like Monday night - treatable.  The second time it happens, you can die and the third time, you will die.  He said typically when those reactions happen in your sleep that it's too late by the time you wake up and that you are already gasping for air.  The fact that my daddy woke up just in time to be able to get Benadryl in him is a miracle.  Not to mention, the reaction on Monday night is what allowed Benadryl to be at the house in the first place. 

Of course my family was so concerned about me being pregnant and through some major trauma but I could not make anyone understand that I was okay.  Yes, I see those images in my head everyday.  Yes, I'll probably never forget what I saw.  But let me tell you what I am confident of, the girl on the bed that morning at 3:30 am WAS NOT ME.  For anyone that knows me, I do not respond to a trauma scene, I always flee but that Friday morning the Lord did the impossible in me.  My teammate in life (Rance) and I worked together and were able to stay calm and think clearly in the middle of one of the scariest situations we have ever been in in our lives.  My weakness is a situation like this yet the Lord made His strength so perfect in my weakness and enabled me to respond well.  My daddy ended up staying in the hospital all of Friday and part of the day on Saturday but then was able to come home.  I am grateful Rance and I were at home with my parents when this happened and I thank the Lord for His graciousness through it all.

By the way - ALWAYS HAVE BENADRYL CLOSE BY.

CHRISTmas Recap

Since I have yet to do a little Christmas recap, I want to take a quick minute to do that since one of the purposes of this blog is to keep a written journal of our story and this journey that the Lord has us on so that we can always look back and recall all God has done and so that our children can see the story of their mama & daddy!

Rance and I love being intentional about our time with others and also our time with one another.  BOTH are important.  One of my favorite memories in the month of December was partyin' it up with my Tuesday night discipleship group.  These girls are precious and although they are all at different places spiritually "to this end I labor" (the Apostle Paul says in Colossians 1:29) when referring to presenting every man perfect (spiritually mature) in Christ Jesus.  I long for them to grasp the Father's plan - for their ultimate desire in this life to be to Know Him and to continually be conformed to the image of His Son, and for them to understand that the great commission is not only to share the gospel but to MAKE DISCIPLES. 

We study the Word a lot but we PLAY a lot too :)  AND this night we PLAYED and laughed until we hurt!  Lindy was in from college pretty much the entire month of December so she joined in just like old times.  It has been a joy to watch her during her first semester in college and to hear what the Lord is constantly teaching her. 

Hello Kaitlyn, Anna, Gina (Autumn), muah, Coondog (Lindy), Savannah

Goobers!

Of course everyone brought a FREE to $5 gift for some Chinese Christmas!

 

And these two did their man thang!  (We always send them to the basement after dinner)

Hilarious they are!

We thoroughly enjoyed a fun time with Marla, Devin, Kenleigh and Rance's mommy for a little party time too.  Unfortunately, Rance got VERY sick on the Friday before they came over on Saturday. He was not able to enjoy himself very much that evening but still cut up and enjoyed ourselves.

A PRESENT to the both of us but we had to decide who go to keep it?!!  ERRR! (jk)

What could it be?!

Baby Shuler gift from Nana (Rance's mom)

*FAMILY PICTURE*
LOVE Kenleigh's expressions

And I LOVE her sweet dimples!



Kenleigh and her daddy!

On Sunday (22nd), after hitting up the Urgent Care in Bryson City for boo bear - we headed to Nahunta for a week for Christmas.  The first few days Rance was very sick but by Christmas Eve, he was feeling like himself again.

Our ANNUAL cousin picture!

And another ANNUAL picture!

Love this picture of my mama & daddy
(but how awkward is that bridal portrait in the background??? I'm not a fan of it)

Group shot!

Love our picture traditions except Rance was missing from this one!

CHRISTmas day starts early at the Pittman household!  We wake up at my parents house and the 5 of us thoroughly enjoy a morning together.  Rance shared from the Word, we opened presents, and then Rance and I got to SURPRISE my parents and brother with the news that we are having a BOY!  My mom could not believe I had kept it from her for the previous 5 days but I CAN KEEP A SECRET people!  We have several family members come by for breakfast and we bounce around from house to house seeing family too.  I love the quality family time the most and seeing cousins and aunts and uncles that I do not get to see all year.  

Rance, my brother and my daddy!

Another ANNUAL Christmas picture with my cousin Brooke & CJ!

I love my mama!

...and I Love my pookie pie!

 

The day after Christmas I was able to have quality time with a couple of dear sweet friends from college!  I met both Sara and Elizabeth (whom I called partna) my freshman year in college.  Sara was THAT girl that I saw everywhere and when we finally talked - we just clicked!  Elizabeth on the other hand was the girl I sat next to in my very first math class in college and we ended up taking every college class together from there on out all the way through graduate school!  We both ended up with a Bachelor's and a Master's in Accounting AND we started working for the same firm right out of college.  Sara now has 2 boys and Elizabeth has 1 little girl!  It was so much fun catching up with these girls. I am super thankful we can always pick back up where we left off.



 

 

One favorite highlight of being in Nahunta for a week was FINALLY getting to spend some time with MANDY.  During 2013 our schedules did not line up together well but we ended the year with quality time praise the Lord!  I am not sure how I went all through Christmas without taking one single picture of us but I did snap a shot of the sweetest baby gift from her & Brandon that really made my heart explode!

 

Baby boy has been prayed for a LONG time!  I love God HEARD from the very beginning...



Rance and I are separate A LOT when we are with my family.  I know I do not write much about what he is up to but he is generally on the farm bonding with my brother or my dad or both! 

 

We spent a few more days in Nahunta after CHRISTmas but there will be more to come on that later.

Until then - Happy NEW year!