Noah’s Birth!

It has been such an exciting journey to watch God’s miracle of new life He formed inside of me!  I loved feeling all the tiny kicks and elbows and watch my belly grow and grow! 

Being my second pregnancy, I had many more Braxton Hicks contractions with Noah’s pregnancy starting around 34 weeks than I did with Jax.  These Braxton Hicks seemed to get stronger and stronger the closer I got to delivery as well.  They most often always came in the later evening after putting Jax to bed and when I’d be doing dishes and cleaning up the kitchen.  I didn’t think much of them because they would come every night but then stop after going to bed.  The four evenings before Noah was born these contractions were getting stronger and slightly uncomfortable.  I would be sure I was taking some relaxing breaths and try to take the pressure off my tummy by leaning forward on my elbows or hands and knees.  It wasn’t terrible pain, but I tried to practice relaxing so my body was ready when it was real labor!  The last week before Noah was born, I was nesting like crazy (and so was Ryan!) and we were trying to finish up small projects around the house, cooking a few more meals to freeze, and getting everything in order and cleaning!  Oh and I might mention that we also bought a minivan on Monday night!  It was exciting and Ryan found the perfect one that we wanted!  God truly blessed us and gave us a great value for our trade in and the price of the van.  We didn’t get home from buying the van until after 11pm that night and we were pretty exhausted though!  The days Ryan was off I had a to-do list for each of us which he nicely put up with me wanting everything done! 

I saw my midwife Jami on Tuesday, April 29, and we talked about labor and birth plans which was exciting and made it feel really close!  Jami was the first midwife I saw this pregnancy (I saw three total at the birth center), and I love them all!  I really feel like they have become my friends, and Jax adores them and they love him too!  I can’t say enough about how wonderful and amazing and encouraging they are to me and Ryan!  Ryan and I both had appointments with our chiropractors on Thursday morning, and Jax came with us too.  As I told my chiropractor what I had been experiencing that week, she definitely agreed it was all signs of prelabor and baby Noah was very low compared to the week before.  When he would actually come, of course, no one knew how soon but my body was showing all the signs of preparing for real labor!  I told Ryan it is going to be a lot harder to tell when I’m actually in labor this time because of the mild contractions I was experiencing for days but then would go away.  I had peace knowing Noah would come in God’s perfect timing, but I didn’t really think he would be coming early since Jax was 6 days late.  On Friday, we had all our carpets steamed cleaned by a great  company that only uses steam (no chemicals) which was really great!  Ryan went all out and moved all the furniture out of our living room so they could clean all the carpets and moved smaller pieces of furniture out of our bedroom.  It looked like we were moving, and I was hoping I didn’t go into labor while our house looked like that! haha  Ryan cleaned ceiling fans and I even dusted and was cleaning shutters and windows and everything in sight!  (That doesn’t happen like ever…)  Ryan and I were both nesting and good thing because we didn’t have much more time left!  Friday night after Jax went to bed Ryan and I got all the furniture put back and our house was looking back to normal plus cleaner! I was having quite of bit of contractions in the evening but this wasn’t much different than I’d had all week.  I was on the computer working on some meal plans for after Noah was born when my mom would be helping us, and I was having quite a few contractions while I was sitting.  I hurried and finished up what I wanted to do and decided I better go to bed since the contractions were uncomfortable (not really painful) and it was later than I needed to be awake of course!  I was tired and fell asleep pretty easily!

Jax and Melissa saying goodbye to the Highlander just before we were going to buy the minivan!  It was a faithful car to us! 38 weeks

My last pregnancy picture before labor!  39 weeks + 1 day

I woke up around 4am on Saturday, May 3 with contractions.  They were not very painful but they were strong enough to wake me up from sleeping (and being a deep sleeper that’s hard to do!).  I looked at Jax’s video monitor since I was awake and saw he was laying completely sideways on his bed with his feet hanging off just above his bed rail.  I decided to go into his room and move him a little so he didn’t fall off!  I walked around the house for a few minutes and had a few more contractions but not very strong so I decided to go back to sleep.  I was able to sleep on and off but I’d wake up with a contraction every 10-15 minutes or so (I wasn’t timing them exactly) and I would go back to sleep between contractions. 

I woke up before 7am with Jax and was continuing with contractions every 10 minutes with a few coming a little closer together.  My contractions were not getting any stronger or closer together so we decided it would be fine for Ryan to go to our raw milk pick-up and the farmer’s market that morning.  I cooked bacon and eggs for Jax and I and would just take a break about every 10 minutes and breathe through the contraction.  I made sure my Momma was close to her phone just in case things picked up so she could come take care of Jax.  This continued until around 9am while I was busy in the kitchen, and then the contractions started spreading out more and more and had pretty much stopped around 11am.  Once Ryan got home, we got the groceries put away and finished up some things I wanted to get done- getting milk into dehydrator to make yogurt and picking up the house.  Ryan and I had planned on having my Momma babysit that evening so we could enjoy our last date night for a while.  Since my contractions stopped, we decided to continue with this plan. 

I decided to clean the bathrooms and then clean the shower before I took my shower.  While I was cleaning our bathroom, my contractions started coming back a little stronger around 4pm but I was trying to ignore them since I was in the middle of finishing cleaning!!  My Momma got to our house just after 4pm since she was planning to babysit Jax for our date and she had just come from a shower in our neighborhood.  I took my shower and got ready for our date and told Ryan we might as well go on a date since my contractions had just stopped earlier in the day anyways.  Within a few minutes, my contractions were about 7-8 minutes apart and the painful part was about 30 seconds and getting stronger.  I decided it probably wasn’t a good idea to go drive somewhere in the car just in case this was real labor and I was having to lean forward on my elbows and breathe through each contraction so I didn’t want to be in the car.  I felt completely fine between contractions and could finish getting ready, walk around the house, and finish doing things.  My labor with Jax was so different and I experienced back labor with Jax so I never felt like I had a nice break between contractions; I felt like I was constantly in pain.  This labor I felt so great between contractions that I wondered if this was real labor.  My contractions continued getting closer together about every 3-5 minutes, and Ryan and my Momma were telling me to call my midwife (looking back they were begging me to! ha) but I was still in denial I was in real labor since I felt great between contractions and didn’t feel like I was dying when a contraction came!  I agreed I should call my midwife after I finished giving my Momma some instructions about watching Jax.  I would be telling her something, then breathe through a contraction, then finish telling her! Haha!  I called my midwife Jami at 5:35pm and told her what was going on and explained how great I felt between contractions.  She told me I needed to come in if this continued and that this labor could be very different because I had back labor with Jax.  Jami was at a restaurant and told me she was getting her food to go unless I called her back saying we were on our way and she would just leave immediately.  Ryan started packing the car and I was getting a few things together in the time between contractions.  Jami called me back at 6pm, and I had 2 contractions less than 3 minutes apart while I was on the phone with her.  She calmly told me “yes, you need to come in now.  And if your water breaks or you feel like you need to push on your way, call me.”  I wasn’t too worried as I was still hoping this was active labor!  haha Silly me!  Jami told me I could eat some protein on my way, so Ryan fixed me some apple slices and almond butter to eat in the car. 

I kissed Jax and told him we should be home in the morning with baby Noah!  We got in the car about 6:15pm and headed to the birth center!  It finally started feeling real and I was excited to meet my baby boy who I had prayed for and been waiting to meet for 9 months!  I had regular contractions in the car, and I laid down in the back seat so I could move into different positions during a contraction.  I still felt great between contractions and texted some friends to be praying for our labor and delivery of baby Noah!  Ryan missed the exit and Jami called me just before we got to the birth center to check on me!  We got to the birth center just before 7pm, and Jami met us at the front door!  Jami then told me she wasn’t sure I was going to make to the birth center since my contractions had been so close together but we made it!  My contractions seemed to slow down on the drive while I was laying down.  Jami checked me and I was 6cm and 90% effaced and Noah’s head was very low (about 0/+1 station)!  I was glad I was in active labor!  My sister met us at the birth center a few minutes later, and she was our birth photographer!

At the birth center! (7:29 PM)

The most AMAZING labor coach and hubby!  I could not have done it without Ryan’s support, encouragement, and love!

My sweet sister!  She was a great support and help during labor!  She also captured all the wonderful pictures we will cherish!

Jami told me I could get in the tub whenever I was ready since my labor was progressing well.  I decided to get in the tub between contractions and the water felt amazing!

Just before getting in the tub! (8:06PM)

I’m in the tub with Ryan helping me during a contraction and my midwife Jami is on the right. (8:28 PM)

My contractions really started spreading out to at least 10 minutes or more after I had been in the tub for a bit.  Our wonderful birth assistant Sally came in about this time since Jami was delivering another baby.  Sally said I needed to get out of the tub and try to get contractions to pick back up.  Sally was just amazing, and she has worked with births for 30+ years!  Sally had me get in the bed on my sides and when a contraction came, all three of them (Sally, Ryan, and my sister Natalie) would move in and rub my feet and back.  It was really helpful to get me through the contraction and keep my body relaxed!  I had a few strong contractions on my sides, but they were not picking up like we wanted.  Next, Sally had me try the ball but this didn’t seem to help either.  As I was talking with Ryan and Natalie, I realized my contractions were getting stronger at home when I was up and walking around and doing things around the house.  So, I got up and briskly walked around the room.  This worked and just before 10pm my contractions were getting much stronger and closer together!  Part of me wanted to stop walking around at first because I could tell the contractions were getting more and more painful but I wanted to have my baby soon!

Ryan helping me through a contraction (9:51 PM)

It was time to get back in the tub!  I was entering transition and this was the most difficult part!  Ryan kept me focused and encouraged me when you feel like you can’t do it!  I couldn’t do it but the Lord’s strength and grace got me through!

Jami checked me and I was 10 cm dilated and I was feeling ready to push and meet my baby boy!

Sweet hubby kissing me during some intense pushing!

I pushed for about 8 minutes (felt much longer! Ha!) and our sweet baby Noah Christopher entered this world at 11:14 PM!  My bag of water didn’t break until just before Noah was born at 11:13 PM.  God answered our prayer of not wanting my water to break since I was strep B positive!  He is so good!

Our first glimpse of baby Noah!  Pure JOY!

Proud Daddy’s first time to hold his son!

Thank you Nat for all your support and help!  We love you!

Noah Christopher weighed 8 lbs 6 oz and was 20.5 inches long!  He is perfect and a miracle of God’s creation!  We are in love!

Noah is ready to go home and meet big brother Jax in the morning!

Going home!

We got home about 4 AM and were tired and ready for some sleep!  Big brother Jax climbed into our bed around 6-something and was so excited to see his baby brother home with us!

Jax was so proud to hold baby Noah for the first time!  He had been waiting for this day for many months!  Jax was so still and quiet holding Noah!  He didn’t move a muscle!  He’s such a wonderful big brother!

We love you baby Noah and are so thankful God blessed our family with your little life!  Your big brother Jax adores you and wants to hold and snuggle you any chance he gets!  Mama can’t get enough of your cuddles and I’m smitten with your tiny body, sweet smell, and your big brother who loves you so much my heart could burst!  Daddy adores you and you love being in his arms and hearing Daddy talk to you!  Thank you Lord for blessing our family with two precious boys!

Baby Boy’s Name and Pregnancy Progression Pics!

Baby Boy #2’s name is….

Noah

“Rest and Comfort”

 

Christopher

“Christ bearer”

 

Shearer

 

But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
    slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
Turn to me and have mercy on me;
    show your strength in behalf of your servant;
save me, because I serve you
    just as my mother did.
Give me a sign of your goodness,
    that my enemies may see it and be put to shame,
    for you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

-Psalm 86:15-17

Noah means "rest and comfort."  His name has lots of meaning to us, and we are thankful for Christ's comfort, rest, and peace that we have felt.  As you may know, Ryan has struggled with significant back pain for the past two years due to a herniated disc in his back.  We have been praying and pleading with the Lord for healing and relief of pain for Ryan.  At times, it felt like a difficult road as we continued to pray for God to take his pain away and continued to wait and trust the Lord's strength, peace, and comfort would carry us through this time.  We wanted the pain to be gone quickly and for Ryan to feel back to himself.  The Lord taught us to wait on Him and find our comfort in Him alone and He would meet our every need with or without a physical healing.  Ryan received two steroid spine injections which would initially give him relief and ability to return to normal life activities (mostly) but the pain would return and at times be very severe.  We prayed for a permanent healing since we knew there was a limit of 3 steroid injections and it wasn't a cure, just masked the symptoms for a time.  As many of you know, Ryan had tried several different treatments- physical therapy, spine decompression machine, stretching, different chiropractors, anti-inflammatories, etc.  The mid summer of 2013, Ryan tried another chiropractor we had been recommended because his pain was returning after the steroid injection.  Ryan began noticing some improvement after his treatments with the chiropractor and felt he was experiencing more relief that he had with any other treatments.  He continued to see this chiro and doing stretching at home and we could see a big difference.  When his pain was getting worse, he would see the chiro and experience relief.  By the end of 2013, we had noticed a huge improvement in Ryan's pain and he wasn't in lots of pain after work or a day of being out and on his feet!  By God's grace, Ryan's back pain began improving right about the time Melissa was in her first trimester of pregnancy.  This was God at work because Melissa was really tired at the end of the day in the first trimester, and Ryan was feeling better to help in the evenings!  Ryan will have some pain in his back, but he has not experienced any of the severe pain in many months.  Praise God for His hand of healing!!!!  Praise God for his comfort, rest, and peace that He brought to us during this time and continues to remind us of His faithfulness!  Thank you for your prayers for our family!  Please continue to pray with us that Ryan has complete healing and for the pain to stay away.  God is so good to us even through trials!  We are thankful for this miracle and had tears of thankfulness to the Lord for His comfort to us as we reflected on 2013!

Christopher means "Christ bearer."  Christopher is a family name (Melissa's dad, brother, and cousin) and legacy we wanted to pass onto our baby boy.  Our prayer is for Noah to come to know Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior of his sins and to bear the name of Christ in everything he does.  We believe God will use Noah in His mighty plan, and we pray Noah surrenders his life and his desires to Christ.  Romans 12:2 says "Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”

Melissa is feeling great and loving this part of pregnancy with feeling baby Noah move lots and watching him grow (as her belly grows)!  Jax is so excited to be a big brother and was proud to announce baby Noah's name to our parents!  It is so cute how Jax says "No-ah" and "Kistopher"! :-)  We are looking forward to meeting baby Noah Christopher in May! 

Noah’s 20 weeks profile!

Baby #2’s Gender Reveal 12/19/2013

It’s a BOY!!!!

We are adding a baby boy to our family!!! YEA!!!

Belly Progression:17 weeks!

20 weeks!

21 weeks on Christmas Day!

25 weeks!

29 weeks!30 weeks!

33 weeks!

37 weeks!

39 weeks + 1 day! (2 days before delivery!)

Our Journey to Baby #2

It is awesome to see how God works in our lives and how He holds everything in His hands!  “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)  We desired for our children to be close in age, and after having Jax, we left our family planning in God’s hands.  He truly is in control anyways so we trusted God’s plan and will for our family.  We got pregnant pretty quickly with Jax, and we imagined (Lord willing) that our next child would be about 2 years younger than Jax.  Well, my fertility took longer to return than we thought. I continued breastfeeding Jax, and Ryan and I decided to let him wean when he was ready which can further delay fertility in some women.  At times I questioned this decision but I felt this was an important issue for me, and I wanted to leave God in control and trust His timing was perfect.

In January 2013, our pastor preached a sermon on fasting and talked about how fasting can change our heart as we deny ourselves a physical need/habit (food, media, Facebook, spending, etc) and seek the Lord and hear from Him.  Our pastor challenged us to fast and pray for two things: 1) our city and God to work in our city and 2) a personal request on our heart.  I knew immediately the Lord was calling me to fast and pray for our future child.  I did a short fast from food and an extended fast from Facebook (I think around a month or so).  I began praying for God’s will and for His plan for our family to be clear to me.  I asked Him if His will was for me to be pregnant again or if He would add another child to our family in another way.  I wasn’t sure God would give me a clear answer on this or tell me to wait, but I continued to pray and seek the Lord.  At same time, I was in a Bible study of Genesis through Bible Study Fellowship.  As I was reading about Abraham and Sarah, I saw God’s faithfulness to them in fulfilling His promise of giving them a son even though Sarah was 90 years old and Abraham was 100!  It was simply amazing to see God’s power through the impossible and His faithfulness!  Through this study and prayer, I felt God clearly showing me He would give us another child.  I shared this with Ryan, and we were excited to watch how God would work.  I felt it would be soon, but God’s timing of soon isn’t the same as mine!  These verses greatly encouraged my heart over the next months:

“I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” –Jeremiah 32:27

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” –Isaiah 41:10

“ ‘Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?’ says the Lord. ‘Do I close up the womb when I bring to delivery?’ says your God.” –Isaiah 66:9

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” –Proverbs 3:5-6

“Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from Him.” –Psalm 127:3

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” –John 14:27

I continued to pray and wait on the Lord and trusted His faithfulness and His plan.  We undertook a healing diet called the GAPS diet to help heal some food sensitivities in our family and did the Intro diet from March to May 2013.  In May, we switched to the full GAPS diet and this has been great for us!  It was so wonderful how God answered our prayers for healing and how much this helped Jax especially!  Jax was finally able to tolerate some dairy products- homemade yogurt (from raw milk)!  This was so exciting for us!  Jax wasn’t a very picker eater before the diet, but this helped him eat some foods he wasn’t too fond of previously.  We found some new super foods that we liked- such as sauerkraut!  I felt my body was able to clean out toxins and further break sugar cravings.  I felt God used this diet to make our bodies healthier.  I learned even more about food and how God created our bodies and food to nourish us both during pregnancy and all of life.  I am also so thankful for the amazing farm (Yonder Way Farm) that provides the most amazing eggs, chicken, beef, and pork that I’ve ever had!

As Jax approached his second birthday, I started getting the questions more and more… “So when are you going to have another baby?”  “Do you want more than one?”  “Are you going to try for a second baby?” and the one I was most shocked by, “Most people have another baby when their first is two, so are you planning for another one?”  (I just had to laugh on the inside!)  Most of the time, it was from almost strangers and acquaintances.  I usually responded with, “Whenever God gives us another baby!”  If they continued to press, I would say “Well it hasn’t happened yet, but we will be excited when it does!”  Although this question had the potential to totally make me sad and wonder when God would bring another baby, His Word and His faithfulness upheld me.  I trusted His timing was best and His peace guarded my heart.  I embraced the sweet boy God had already blessed us with and wanted to cherish the time it was just me and my buddy Jax!  I felt one day he would have siblings to enjoy, but right now God gave me special moments with Jax!  Jax sure has stolen our hearts, and Ryan and I are thankful for the joy he adds to our life each day!

One evening, Ryan asked me if I had taken a pregnancy test recently, and I told him I would take one the next day.  Well, on August 28, 2013, Ryan came home to this:

The test was positive!!!  I was so excited and couldn’t wait to tell Daddy!  Jax and I went to the store and bought this balloon and a card for Ryan!  Ryan must have been pretty sure I was pregnant because he showed up at home with these:

He didn’t know I was pregnant before he got home but I guess God was telling him first!

It was a joyful time in our house praising God for the new life He created inside me!  God answered our prayers, and He showed His continued faithfulness to us!  The first Sunday after we found out we were pregnant (September 1, 2013), our pastor preached his sermon on fasting and prayer!  It was basically a follow-up sermon to the one he preached in January and he talked about how God was using fasting and prayer to change the lives of several people in our church family.  Was this a mere coincidence?  I think not!  The Lord reminded me of His faithfulness as I trusted His timing and He reminded me of His peace, strength, comfort, and love that I had experienced over the last year!  God is so good and provides for our every need.  I cried and thanked God for this gift of new life and for the greatest gift He could give me – His presence that never leaves me!  This time I decided to fast from Facebook and focus on praising and thanking God for our new tiny baby He was forming in my womb!

The Lord brought immediate joy to me as soon as I found out I was pregnant and complete trust that He was in control of all things.  Although I knew there was no promise of everything being okay, I had an indescribable peace and lack of common fears I experienced in the early days of my pregnancy with Jax.  I knew this was from the Lord and He was giving me an incredible joy and not allowing Satan to steal my joy with fears of the unknown.  Even though we would not be seeing our midwife until about 9-10 weeks, we could not wait to tell our family the exciting news!  We also decided to skip the early ultrasound and just plan on doing the 20 week ultrasound; again a totally different peace and trust in the Lord that I had not experienced before.  God is so good!

“For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”  -Psalm 139:13-16

“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” –Deuteronomy 31:8

We shared our exciting news with our families when I was 5 weeks (September 6-7)!  We showed up at our parent’s homes, and Jax held a chalkboard sign that said “I have a SECERT.”  When he moved the sign, his shirt said “Big Brother Jax 2014.”  They were surprised and it was a really fun way to tell them!  We called or FaceTimed our siblings too!  It was a blast!

Baby Shearer #2 is due in May!  Thank you Lord for this sweet new blessing!  Jax is excited to be a “big budder” and asks a lot about “baby”!