25 weeks and growing...

It has been one eventful week in the Porter household. These pictures were taken the night before we were told that I needed to have immediate surgery to remove my gallbladder. Needless to say this will probably be the last belly shot with no shirt! (There are one too many incisions and stiches for the weak eye to see.)

The last few days have been very draining as I try to recover from surgery and still maintain enough energy to grow our baby girl. I returned home from the hospital two days ago after a two night stay in the labor and delivery unit. My contractions have stopped, the pain from surgery is slowly fading and i have been able to get up a bit more frequently without the help of my loving husband. Hopefully in the next couple of days i will be able to be pretty much back to normal. We still don't know when i will go back to work, but are hoping for Tues. or Weds.
Ben has been wonderful! From the minute that we heard I needed surgery he has encouraged me and supported me in every way possible--from reading me Psalms to learning how to unplug me from the various machines they had me hooked up to every time i needed to go to the bathroom to being ever so patient with me everytime i needed something that was not within arms length. I could never have done this without him.

Thank you all for your constant prayers. We have truly felt carried in every way by them. As we waited for test results in the hospital it was so comforting to know that we were not in this alone. We are so thankful to our Heavenly Father for sustaining me and our baby girl through all of this. His faithfulness and mercy are new every morning and we experienced that more clearly during this time.

Yard Sale'n, Apple Pick'n, Car Buy'n, Swing Danc'n

Yard Sale'n: Cherry end-table, baby-bath tub, wicker basket, and a baby-carrying backpack for $10. We got up at 6:00 = no pics.


Apple Pick'n: Carrying on an Oster family tradition (Anna's maiden name), we ushered in fall by going apple-picking. Instead of going to the big commercial apple-picking farm in St. Louis, Eckerts, we found a fantastic little family-run orchard and had a wonderful time with our friends the Hathaways. On a gorgeous day, we got a lot of apples and a lot of pictures, and even had a picnic under a large tree. Check out the Pictures link for additional pics.

Car Buy'n: On the way home from picking apples, the Hathaways dropped us off at a dealership where we picked up a new car. It's a 2000 Subaru Outback. We're having a baby, and we've got a wagon. How bout that.

Square Danc'n: To top it off, the family of a girl involved in RCF at Lindenwood Univ. (Lauren Beasley) threw a big autumn party, complete with chili, apple cider, a bon-fire, and - giddy up - square dancing! We had a real caller leading us through some nice dosey-does, prominades, see-saws, and the occasional caterpillar. Just kidding about the caterpillar. Here is Anna and another favorite RCF gal, Kami Jones.

Just another Saturday in STL. Wish you were here...

I'm grow'n a baby!

Anna's thoughts from a day at work.....

So I was sitting at my desk and little Ms. P was kick'n away, getting her daily exercise and I began to seriously think about what was taking place within me. So many times I find myself referring to our daughter or chatting with other women who are pregnant about their babies but seldom do I think about this phenomenon literally. I speak of it all in general terms. "Oh yeah, we're having a girl. " "She's been moving around quite a bit today." But I fail to think about all of the little details and intricacies that are taking place to develop a real, live little baby girl inside of me. I forget that there are little nails on her 10 fingers and toes. I forget that her personality is already forming and she can smile and suck her thumb. I forget that this is all very real and not just an idea that we talk about that will change our lives forever!
Now some of you may be thinking "ummm...she's been pregnant for how long, over 5 months, and she is only now just figuring out what is going on?!" Well, it isn't so much that I have never thought about pregnancy it is just that I find myself looking at the big picture and forgetting to concentrate on the details. So, when I actually stop and think about the details of it all, it fascinates me. It is amazing to me that God would create women to be able to grow and nurture a child. It is amazing that after just 10 months a perfectly designed and developed child is born and is capable of living a full life. How crazy is that?!

Dates

Before coming to seminary many people advised us to set aside one night a week for date night. After having a fairly slow two years in Asheville we assumed this would be fairly easy to accomplish. As we enter our third year here we now see how easy it is to go several weeks without setting aside some intentional time together. So, in the midst of our busy fall schedule we are trying to get out and do some fun things around St. louis especially because everyone says that dates are far and few between when a new baby comes along.
This picture was taken at a quant little restaurant in Webster Groves. St louis is made up of several little townships and this is one that we have found and really enjoy. It has a small town community feel about it. When we are there it feels like we are back in Charlottesville for the evening and not living in a huge city in the mid-west!
This was a dessert date. Ever since our daughter came into the picture i have developed quite the sugar tooth. We spent the evening catching up, making plans and dreaming over coffee, yummy key lime pie (Ben's favorite) and a warm, fall berry pastry. We came away so relaxed and refreshed. It is amazing what a good dessert and cup of coffee can bring out.

Gas Party

As gas prices have dropped slowly, I've been telling Anna that we should throw a party when it dips below $2. Driving home Wednesday night, we passed 8 or 10 gas stations all proclaiming the news: the time has come! So here it is. This is a blog party. Glad you're here.
Hey all you east coasters, remember the good ol' days when you could buy gas for only $1.99?! Yeah, we've been hanging out at the gas station all week, purchasing gas for the mere fun of it because it's so cheap. I mean, it's practically free.

PS - I felt the baby kick for the first time this week! The doctor says we've got a pretty active little girl in there. I'm wondering what that means exactly. Soccer player? Dancer? Spaz?

Little pink booties

Our baby girl already has her daddy wrapped around her little finger. The other day Ben picked me up from work and in the front seat of our car was a bag from BabiesRus. I couldn't remember placing a bag like that in the car so out of curiosity i asked Ben if he had put it there. He said, "Oh yeah, i had to stop and buy some things for our little girl." He had picked up a tiny hooded sweatshirt, a tank top for next summer (that he was proud to say he had made sure she would be able to fit into) and his most prized find-- two pair of Nike booties, a pink pair and a white pair. He was so proud of himself, and I loved it! A daddy's girl already.

Have you picked a name yet???

[B] Here's the latest picture of Anna's little buddha. This was taken Tuesday, the day of Anna's 20-week appointment. So even though I always thought that pregnancies lasted 9 months, technically this is the halfway point. Everything looks good - heartbeat of 150 bpm, good measurements, etc. We have been given the paperwork to fill out for the hospital , so that when we arrive on that fateful day for delivery there will be no inquiries about insurance cards and social security numbers and allergies and stop asking me questions, my wife is having a BABY...

Also, someone has generously donated a diaper (yes, one diaper) to our cause, and it is currently sitting on my desk. This is making me a bit nervous. One, because I think it is mocking me, sitting there clean and folded as if it will always be so harmless. Two, because the space it is taking on my desk is serving as a tiny little model of the way this newly made person is going to lay claim to everything I once thought was my own. Hmmm, I guess I'll just go ahead and give up on the whole self-centered thing now. Well... maybe...

Here's Anna, as she looks to those of us that see her on a regular basis (she actually doesn't walk around holding her shirt up above her belly very much, truth be told). She's been feeling great, looking great, and is hungry pretty much all the time - which is good, because the doc told her she needs to be putting on weight. Little P is kicking lots, but I have yet to feel anything happening. Anna did have a bowl of chili the other day, which apparently led to a bit of a tantrum in there. So we have confirmed that our sweet little baby is in fact sinful. What do ya know.

When anything else comes up, we'll keep you posted. (Ha ha - that was a little blog humor. I'm trying to work on my fathering skills.)