Healthy Living

I began a new healthy living journey just before the year ended. I began limiting food intake and portion control just before Thanksgiving and I received an early Christmas gift from my hubby soon afterward to help me track my steps. Needless to say, with all of the sweets and the fun holiday treats, Christmas was difficult and New Years was a tough one (I cheated more than I wanted to). However, since I began this new journey, I have lost 10 pounds!

I considered, but decided against, drastic changes to my diet. I wanted to give myself more realistic goals and make sure that temptation was not always going to be more convenient. Since the new year has begun, I have been walking five days a week. In the past 2 weeks, I have been doing yoga and pilates twice a week. Yoga for flexibility and pilates for strength.

I am so grateful to my husband for his encouragement. On his days off, he walks with me and doesn't let me skip a workout. When we have dinner, he helps me pack everything up before we are both tempted for unnecessary seconds. I am thankful for my friendship with Laura, who wanted help and accountability to do her yoga and has become an inspiration for me to keep up with it as well. I am blessed with my friend Emy, who loves pilates so much, she comes over to workout with me and teach me a good workout to start off with. Finally, Lindsay is such a treasure! She included me in her FIT group on FB, which is a perfect way to help motivate and remind me, through fellow believers, that He has called us to spiritual, mental and physical health.

God has blessed me with such an awesome community of people to help support me. He has also blessed me with a beautiful daughter who reminds me each day that she is watching me. Thank you, Lord, for your wonderful grace and your abundant gifts.

And thank you, friends, for your amazing support.

Love,
Jessy

3 Months Old!

Life is hectic, so I'm a few days late, but I still can't believe that AJ is already 3 months old! She is already such a big girl. Sometimes, when she smiles or gives me a mischievous look, the Lord blesses PJ and I with a quick glimpse of what she will look like in a few short years. Our little one is such an adorable and stubborn girl!

As far as progression and growth, AJ is now approximately 13lbs and wearing 3 month clothing (to specify, not 0-3mos or 3-6mos). She just hit the sweet spot, which means that I will probably be needing to reorganize her dresser soon and pack away the 3mos clothing! People are not kidding when they say these little ones grow so fast!

Baby Molina is trying to hold her bottle, but does not quite have complete control of her muscles. This means I let her try and it drops/squirts her face in about 3-5 seconds. This, to me, is still pretty impressive. Daddy is a little bit more active in pushing her, though, he often props her bottle up w/ Sophie the Giraffe or a blanket+a burp cloth for the first half of the bottle. It works pretty well as long as she is hungry and has a good latch.

Mommy was a little bit drained and inconsistent with pumping, so, she stopped at 2 months, but AJ seems content (most days) to have her formula. Other days, she simply wants to take in just enough for fuel (1-2oz) and play until she's tired. It's a challenge for mommy to be disciplined and patient to work with her, but she does keep to a relatively consistent schedule when we work at it.

It has been 3 nights in a row that we have had a solid 7 hours of sleep! That means AJ has a great schedule for us all to get good rest before our long days. Typically, we're waking up at 6am, eating, playing, sleeping and starting over at 10am. After that, through the late afternoon, her feedings are 3 hours apart.

AJ has her tough days, but we all do, and when I take a moment to step back and look at this beautiful life our Lord has given us, I have no cause for complaint. More and more each day, I am utterly grateful not to have a job to go back to. As difficult as it is for me to get everything I would like finished around the house, I know that it would be much worse if I weren't here. As a bonus to managing our home, I have this wonderful, smart, beautiful, joyful little girl to take care of.

Thank you for all of your prayers, encouragement and support. We couldn't do it without our incredible family and friends!

Love you all,
Jessy

1 Year and 2 Weeks

It seems I am running even further behind on my posts! I wonder how that could be? ;)

Anyway, it has been just over a year since PJ and I were married! My goodness, how time flies. Things are going very well at work. While hubby and I were vacationing in Tahoe, his other staff pharmacist was also out on leave and the store was completely dependent upon floaters! Some numbers were down, but the technicians did a fantastic job holding up the work flow! PJ was impressed and I was at peace to see his relief when he came home from work his first day back.

Our neighbors are having a little boy! We are so excited because it has given us more opportunity to chat with them; they even came over to talk about newborn stuff when AJ was just a few weeks old. They were so kind! I do hope this will give us another chance to invite them over for dinner. Please pray that we would have the opportunity to invite them to church and to encourage them in faith.

Mommy has been having one heck of a time adjusting to new "normal." That is, every time I think I have her figured out, she switches things up on me! It's okay though. We definitely have our tough days, but she is challenging me and encouraging me more and more each day in godliness. It is quite humbling.

Just a quick update for now, but we are very excited about the Christmas! We will be celebrating on the 20th with my side of the family. Then, for Christmas eve, PJ's family will be joining us for our church's Christmas Eve service before we join the rest for the annual party. I am excited to join them for Midnight Mass for the first time, as well. AJ will have a busy first Christmas!

Happy Christmas, everyone!

Love,

Jessy

One Month Old

                                      

AJ turned 1 month yesterday! What a roller coaster it has been. PJ has been back at work for a week and a half now and it has been somewhat of a tough transition, but we are hanging in there.

When I refer to the roller coaster, I am mainly talking about my emotional state. I never realized how difficult being a mommy was going to be. Nothing comes naturally- feeding, sleeping, schedules, feeding patterns- nothing. 

I'll start off with the fact that I was not (and still have not been able to) produce enough milk to feed or keep up with her. It was really difficult to talk about and there is still some fear and anxiety about the fact that I have to suppliment and bottle feed her. She will not nurse and the screams she cries out when we try do not help my body's stress. (*Please note: I love and appreciate you for wanting to know how we are doing, but please do not advise me in this regard, I have spoken to lots of friends and family who have or are currently experiencing these decisions, and we have already made ours). 

We started to get a somewhat consistent "routine" down and then she began her 3 week growth spurt, so everything was thrown off. When the spurt was over, she decided that she liked the shorted periods between feedings, so she took advantage of the suring the day. I can't complain too much about her sleeping, though, because she does AMAZING in the car/out and about. She also goes for long stretches at night, so PJ and I are both doing well with the amount that we sleep.

We have had our ups and downs, but I cannot say that we are without tons of love and support! I have had a few diffiult days where I don't seem to be myself, even when we're out with friends. Yet, the Lord has been faithful to remind me how much of an incredible blessing my family is. AJ is healthy, we have not had to deal with medical issues, hospital stays, medications, or any other complications. She is a good sleeper, she can't (as a newborn) sleep through the night, but she sleeps well enough to give hubby and I the sleep we need to get through the day and she rests prety well in the morning; this ideally would be a good time for me to do my Bible study and catch up on my chores.

PJ and I have a beutiful, healthy baby girl. We have a huge support around us to give us date nights and encurage us in this new adventure. We really cannot complain about this stage of life we are in. We can only pray and ask God to grant us the patience we need as new parents and the discipline we need to be intentional with our time. 

                                     

Thank you for your love, encouragement and prayers! We would not be able to do this without you!

November is For Thanksgiving

Let me preface this by saying that I do love Christmas. I love winter. I very much enjoy celebrating the first coming of Christ our Savior - which I am grateful for 365(6) days a year.

I will now proceed to note that I am the person who rolls her eyes while walking through stores that play Christmas music and have Christmas sales in October and November. Why do we have to skip over Thanksgiving? Why do we have to jump so quickly to the end of the year? Can we enjoy this month of gratitude instead of feeding into this progressively selfish and materialistic culture by shopping for gifts and making wish lists?

FunFact: Jingle Bells was originally written to be a Thanksgiving song. The Christmas Holiday steals gratitude and songs! 

Rant Over 😊

AJ's Arrival

Wow, it's been almost a month since I've updated everyone! I can't believe how time goes by so fast! 

Well, after I told you all about the tough time I was having with the anticipation, I went in for a NST (non-stress test) on Friday morning. It was non-responsive, the nurses were unable to get a consistent read on AJ's heart rate, so the doctor sent me over to be induced. I was admitted around 10:30am. 

My parents were there soon after, and PJ finally arrived around 11:45. I was not dilated at all, so they started me on Mesoprosal (1 of 3 doses given every 6 hours) at 11:30. Having the moniters on to watch my contractions and her heart rate, it was difficult for me to move around and the nurses had to keep adjusting my position. Needless to say, I wasn't resting very well, and I wasn't progressing very quickly. 

By 1am, I was almost dilated 2cm, they still weren't reading her heart rate very well, and I had already had my third dose of medication. The doctor needed to insert internal monitors, which required him to break my water so he could attach one to her head. She was still really high, and I was determined not to have an epidural... It was a painful procedure, but having my water broke, I was up to 4cm by 3am. At 4, they started the pitossin. 

Now the medications were forcing the start of my contractions, which were consistent, and causing back labor because AJ was facing forward. However, I was stuck at 4cm for quite a while. Until about 10am Saturday morning, to be more precise. Now, I had been up since 5am Friday, not expecting to be induced; I had been in a hospital bed for 24 hours and awake for about 29. 

After the internal monitors were put in and the midwife informing me that AJ was still pretty high, I was able and encouraged to move around. So, I did. From about 2am on, I was moving, repositioning, dancing, doing squats, everything. I was exhausted and in more pain than I could bear, having such little strength left and the inability to eat since I was already on pitossin. I caved. I knew I didn't want IV drugs because AJ would get them, too, and would be lethargic and difficult to bond with once she came out. I had the epidural at 10:30am. 

Now, I thought that I would regret it, but I do not. I was able to take a 2 hour nap, allowing PJ to get some rest, as well; and my labor started speeding up because I was so relaxed. By lunch time, I was starting to feel the contractions a little more, so the nurse checked me so she could try to get the doctor back to set up more medications, as long as I wasn't at 8cm, yet. I was! 

I was so excited to be so much closer to meeting AJ! The nurse checked me again at 2pm and I was fully dilated. She told me that they were going to let my body labor doown for about an hour, then I would start pushing. It all felt so surreal. Just a couple of hours earlier, the doctor told me that I may have ot have a caesarian section, now I was progressing well enough and would be pushing her out within an hour. 

3:00pm hit, 5 contractions and 10 minutes later, AJ was out and I was able to cuddle with my little bundle of joy :) Induced on Friday morning, baby by Saturday 10/03/2015 afternoon, home by late Sunday afternoon. not too shabby! 

Anticipation

I want to thank all of you for your prayers and support through this entire journey. Pregnancy has been quite the experience, especially paired with being a newlywed. I am incredibly blessed with a supportive and encouraging husband who loves me and leads me well. We have been overwhelmed with the wonderful church family God has given us and cannot imagine being anywhere else right now. Our family have been amazing through our marital transition and we are both blown away by their generosity. 

With all that being said, I am still a fleshly human being, and it has been a very difficult week as we wait to meet our little girl. PJ and I both came early, so naturally, our families assumed that I, too, would deliver early. I expected myself to be late, but deep down, I have realized I did want her to come early and I hoped to be holding her in my arms already. When my birthday came and went, when the weekend came and went, when my expected due date came and went... I was pretty disappointed.  

The hormones have been taking over my reactions and I have pretty much been at the brink of tears for the past week. I have been tryng so hard to be grateful for the extra time the Lord has given me to spend alone with my husband; to welcome the pregnancy overtime, thanking Him that we are both healthy and there have been no complications; and still working hard to become a better house-wife, finding a routine for myself that will be completely altered once AJ does arrive. 

I have challenged myself to pray through my discouragement, to smile and accept the love coming from our friends and family when they ask me the same questions, to dive deeper into the Word and distract myself until the contractions come, but it has been a difficult week. I have been filled with discouragement and impatience without allowing the Lord to soften my heart and accept that those who are asking the same questions and sending me the same messages are showing their support and wanting to be encouraging. 

Through each time I've sat down to pray, I have confessed my hardened heart and saught out His grace to give to others and the fruit of His Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22). Last night, He answered my prayer, and it was as if He flipped a switch. 

PJ and I were reading and I realized that He is granting us more time to prepare, He is giving me people who want to love on us and bless us and do life with us, He is reminding me what we are to be characterized by and what the fellowship of His church is for. I woke up feeling so refreshed. God is so good and I am so grateful to all of you for your prayers! 

I also want to apologize if any of you have felt that I was giving you the cold shoulder or was being rude to you. Thank you for your grace and understanding. 

Love, Jessy :)