Scripture Memory for 2009 - verse 4

It's hard to believe that we're on the 4th verse of this scripture memory challenge already! God has done so much in my heart and for my pregnant self through the verse from the first of this month. I love it so much:

O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me.
Psalm 30:2 NIV

At my 34 week check up, my fluid level, blood pressure, and baby's movement were all normal once again. I cannot tell you what a relief this is to me. If things are normal again this week, they're going to consider reducing the frequency of the tests. I'm happy to have the testing if I need it, but to not need it would be wonderful too!

For my 4th verse, I'm going to tag along with Beth and memorize Malachi 3:16. I love her explanation and outlook on the verse from her blog.

Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in His presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored His name.
Malachi 3:16 NIV

I want to give the Lord lots of good things to listen to and hear and less of the criticism and mean thoughts that He hates. How 'bout you?

Side note: Hubby is still sick and stayed home from work today. If you think of it, would you take a moment to lift him up in prayer for healing and a quick recovery from this crazy cold? Many thanks!!

Praise the Lord!!!

O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me.
Psalm 30:2 NIV

We have lots of people praying for us right now and God is definitely answering!! I am so glad to report that at the doctor's appointment this morning...

My fluid level has risen to NORMAL!
My blood pressure reading was NORMAL!
The non-stress test on the baby was NORMAL!
The blood work they ran on Monday was NORMAL!

I think I may have floated out of the doctor's office. I am so in awe of how quickly God answered these prayers - praise the Lord!

I need to keep doing what I'm doing to hopefully keep things where they are at so no change in the best rest/soaking situation. I am happy to keep those things up though since they are definitely making a difference. My blood pressure readings at home are still a little elevated and could come down a bit more, but I'm just so thankful that it hasn't gone up!

I can't say THANK YOU enough to all the people who are praying for us and we appreciate your continued prayers so that things stay where they are at.

Blessings and Love,

The Rest of the Story

Thank you SO MUCH for your comments on my last post concerning me and the baby. I am so appreciative of other's prayers and I can't express how much that means to me. So you don't think the worst, here are the basics of what's going on...

At my 24 week doctors appointment my blood pressure was slightly elevated. At the end of the appointment they had me lay down on my left side for a few minutes, took it again and got a normal reading. At 28 weeks the same thing happened. They had me come in the following week for a blood pressure check - more of the same. At that point we talked about what risks my high blood pressure meant for the baby and what could be done to help minimize those risks. I was put on partial bed rest (which for me means 2 hours on my left side 3 times a day) and some lab work was ordered, all of which thankfully came back normal. At 32 weeks they would begin doing a weekly ultrasound to check on my fluid level and a weekly non-stress test to make sure the baby is doing okay and isn't in distress.

My 32 week appointment was last Thursday and I'm very glad to report that the baby "passed" that non-stress test beautifully! We might have a little performer on our hands because I don't think I've ever felt the baby move so much in such a short length of time. It's almost as if the baby knew he/she was being watched (or in this case monitored) and really hammed it up. :)

Unfortunately at the appointment my blood pressure had risen a bit more and my ultrasound showed my fluid level to be a little low. In addition to my 6 hours on my left side, I'm also supposed to really increase my water intake and spend 30-40 minutes submerged in water twice a day. That helps push the fluid from my skin into my body, hopefully increasing the fluid around baby (I hope this isn't too gross for anyone!) They also had me buy a blood pressure monitor for at home and I'm taking my BP 2-3 times a day. So far it hasn't gone any higher and has even come down slightly - praise the Lord!

I have seven weeks left in this pregnancy and I really pray that the baby can stay in me until around 39 weeks. We've already discussed with the doctor that I will probably not be allowed to go past 40 weeks. My 33 week appointment is tomorrow and I covet your prayers for the following:

- That my blood pressure will not be any higher. I'm happy if it levels out but would love for it to come down closer to the normal range.
- That my fluid level would have increased to a 10, or at least not be any less than it was last week.
- That the baby would truly be doing just fine and once again do well on the non-stress test.

Also, just an FYI - my doctors are not considering this preeclampsia, which is really a huge praise in and of itself. That would bring more risk to me and probably to the baby as well. It's been explained to me that preeclampsia is a triad of symptoms, one of which is high blood pressure. Since I don't have the other two (and am praying they don't decide to show up!), they've diagnosed my condition as Pregnancy Induced Hypertention (PIH).

I'll have to do a separate post about bed rest which has been an interesting situation to adapt to - even if it's only partial bed rest!

Again, THANK YOU for your prayers and concern. I will update tomorrow after I get back from the appointment. Blessings on your Wednesday!

Prayers for Kelly, Scott, and Harper

I stalked Kelly's blog all day yesterday awaiting the birth of her first baby, Harper and was devastated when I heard of the baby's complications following her birth. Things are looking better this morning but please lift this sweet family up in your prayers.

Kelly's dad is also posting updates at his blog.

Cranberry Fruit Conserve, Pumpkin Dinner Rolls & A Prayer Request

Apparently this is now Laura's recipe blog since that's what I seem to be posting right now. With Thanksgiving on Thursday, I guess food is big on my mind these days (not to mention that I seem to be eternally hungry thanks to a growing baby!). Today I made Cranberry Fruit Conserve. I don't really know what a conserve is in the food sense, but I use this recipe as cranberry sauce. I'd never made cranberry sauce until I hosted Thanksgiving dinner two years ago, was on the hunt for recipes and saw this on Barefoot Contessa. It looked simple enough and tasty so I decided to give it a try and I loved it! It's definitely tart but has sweetness in the background that makes it so good. Now I make it every year whether I'm hosting Thanksgiving or not.


Cranberry Fruit Conserve

Ingredients
* 1 (12-ounce) bag of fresh cranberries, rinsed in cold water
* 1 3/4 cups sugar
* 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
* 1 orange, zest grated and juiced
* 1 lemon, zest grated and juiced
* 3/4 cup raisins, optional (I omit these)
* 3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, optional (I omit these, too)

Directions
Cook the cranberries, sugar, and 1 cup of water in a saucepan over medium-low heat until the skins pop open. Add the apple, zests, and juices and cook for 15 more minutes. Remove from the heat and add the raisins and nuts, if desired. Let cool, and serve chilled. (photo compliments of foodnetwork.com)

My mother-in-law is hosting Thanksgiving this year and I am taking rolls and an apple pie. I already have the apple pie ready to bake off which I'll do tomorrow and I'm going to try a new recipe for the rolls. I seem to really be in the mood for pumpkin and I found a recipe that incorporates pumpkin into homemade rolls...


Pumpkin Dinner Rolls

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup warm water
2 cup warm milk
¼ cup butter, softened or melted
2 cup mashed cooked pumpkin (or one can of pumpkin.)
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup wheat germ (can omit and use flour instead)
10-12 cup all-purpose flour (could also use a mixture of whole-wheat and white flours)
7 teaspoons dry yeast

In large mixing bowl, combine sugar, water, milk, butter, pumpkin, and salt. Mix well. Add wheat germ, 7-8 cups of the flour, and yeast. Mix, and then continue adding flour and kneading until dough is elastic and not sticky.

Place dough in greased bowl; grease top of dough, cover with a towel, and set in a warm place until doubled (about 1 hour). Punch dough down and divide into thirds. Divide each third into 16 pieces and shape into balls.

Place on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise until almost doubled, about 30 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes, until tops are golden. Brush with melted butter as soon as they come out of the oven. (Note: These rolls usually look somewhat dry when first coming out of the oven. Wait about 15 minutes and they will look and taste beautiful.)

Yield: 4 dozen rolls
(photo and recipe courtesy of moneysavingmom.com)

I'm going to halve the recipe, since we're not having a large crowd for Thanksgiving and I've heard that these rolls are best when fresh.

And finally, I am having an ultrasound tomorrow morning to look at our baby's heart. The doctors don't think there is anything wrong with it but because of the baby's position during our last ultrasound they couldn't get as detailed of a look at it as they'd like (we did get to see the 4 chambers and see the heart beating so we know that much is fine). So it'll be a short ultrasound but I'd appreciate your prayers for it. Please pray that the heart is strong and healthy and that baby cooperates for the ultrasound...thanks so much!

Job update and a prayer request

When I resumed working at the end of July, I indicated that I'd be filling in for my former employer for 5-8 weeks. I'm not sure if anyone else is doing the math, but 8 weeks would have put my last day at last Friday. And yet here I sit at my desk with a pile of work around me and no sign of a replacement.

My purpose for writing this post is two-fold. The first reason is to explain my continued absence from the blog world. And the second is to ask for your prayers.

I have committed to continuing to work through October. However, October begins next week and after that there are 4 weeks until I'm finished. That's 4 weeks to interview, hire someone, wait for that person to start (i.e. 2 weeks notice at their current job), and then train them. I hope this doesn't sound cruel, but I feel that I really need to stick with my deadline. When I signed on for this I never imagined that I'd be bringing in Halloween treats for my co-workers - I thought I'd be long gone before jack-o-lanterns ever started making an appearance. I'm used to the idea at this point, but I'm done playing the if-you-don't-hire-someone-I'll-just-stick-around-forever game. To complicate things a bit further, my employer has yet to even advertise the position. I had a verbal commitment that the job would be posted on Sept 4 which was 3 weeks ago - obviously that didn't happen.

I don't know their reasons for not posting the job opening, and maybe they are very good reasons, but it's a little hard not to feel taken advantage of at this point. While I am very flattered that they apparently like me so much that they don't want me to leave, I'm am unhappy that their end of the bargain has not been upheld. I am a people pleaser and I have a very hard time with confrontation and doing anything that I feel will upset another person, so imagine my joy about having to put my foot down about this. Ugh...

My prayer request is that God would bring someone quickly for this job. When the job finally does get advertised (and that is a prayer request of its own!), please pray that the interviewing and hiring process would be swift. I ask your prayers for the person that God already has for this job - that their mind will be sharp and prepared for all the training they will receive. And finally, please pray for me because some days it is very hard to come to work with a positive attitude and give my best effort. God has done a lot of work in me through this temporary assignment and I'm confident it's been a part of His plan all along. I am so thankful and blessed for that, but I am also ready to move on to the other plans He has for me.

Whew! That was kind of heavy, wasn't it? I'll try to bring something a bit lighter and more fun next time I post, but I wanted to share what's been on my heart and going on in my life right now. I love that prayer can be such a connection in the blogging community - thanks in advance for yours!

Blessings,

Working Girl

Last May I left the work force to pursue the life of a full-time homemaker. I had worked full-time since graduating from college in December 2001, but knew that the work force was not where God had called me to be long term. I always knew that I'd never be a career girl. So when God opened some doors for me to "stay at home" and use my time and talents to keep our home and take care of my husband, I was thrilled to say good-bye to the 8 to 5 life.

I gave six weeks notice at my job and trained my replacement for two full weeks before being officially finished there. My replacement, "Jenny" was a sweet, kind, girl with a huge heart for the job. I couldn't have selected a better replacement and I knew I was leaving the department in good hands. We emailed periodically through the summer when she would have questions or need some advice and by fall, Jenny was an old pro.

Last week Jenny was killed tragically. It was a huge shock to the community, to my former employer, and especially to her family. It's very, very sad. I visited the office on Thursday last week to see how people were doing and express my condolences. While I was there I was offered my old job back. While I am not looking to return to the work force permanently, I had already felt God's prompting to help out this department if they expressed a need for it.

So, starting tomorrow afternoon, I will be returning to work part-time for the next 5-8 weeks as my former employer transitions into a new day-to-day routine without Jenny. A permanent replacement will be hired but it probably won't be for at least four weeks due to a very busy time of year for the department. If you happen to think of me tomorrow around 1:30pm mountain time, would you say a quick prayer for me? I am nervous about whether or not it will be strange to work in this environment. Of course I didn't know Jenny as well as the other employees since I had not spent the last year working with her, but her death was so untimely that you can't help but feel heartbroken by it. My sincere hope is that I can help this office in their time of need and pour God's love out on their very broken hearts.

Please pray...

for this sweet couple. William and Glenna are hoping to adopt their first baby who was just born yesterday but the birth father wants to terminate the adoption rights. I am heartbroken over what they are having to go through, but have faith in our miraculous God that He can turn this around for good. No matter what the outcome, I know that God has them in His hands. Thanks for your prayers...