Soon after we found out that our baby was a girl, we decided on her name, Molly Samantha Ness. We love the name Molly because it seems so sweet and meek. We chose 'Samantha' to honor my cousin, Samantha Baxter, who passed away suddenly in a car accident at the age of 17 on December 31, 2009 (the same year Elam passed away-- a difficult year for our family!). My aunt Johanna, who kept up with Elam's story and loved us/him so well, has been so strong as she has been walking through the daily process of grieving her beautiful daughter Samantha. So we wanted to honor both her and Samantha. Also, we chose the name Samantha because of it's meaning, "God has heard", because we know that God has heard and generously answered our MANY prayers over the last couple years for another baby. The story of Hannah in the Bible was meaningful to me during that process, and we had thought about using the name Samuel as a middle name for a boy. And Samantha is derived from the name Samuel. We are SO grateful for our little Molly Samantha and we absolutely can't wait to meet her! I still marvel at how God has been so generous to give us another baby. Not that I didn't think He was generous, but I feel so very blessed to have this privilege, one that I did not earn or deserve.
We've had a few pregnancy scares in the last couple months (but everything is OK!). In April, I started having Braxton-Hicks contractions, which I never got while pregnant with Elam. At the same time the contractions showed up, I started feeling a lot of pressure and had other symptoms that made us wonder if I was actually in pre-term labor. So we went to the hospital, and found out that Molly was totally fine and I was not in labor. They suspected that I may have actually had a small kidney stone! As long as Molly was safe, I did not mind! Thankfully, if it was a kidney stone, it wasn't a bad one because I was never in excruciating pain and the discomfort was gone in a week or two. I still have a lot of contractions, though. A few weeks ago, I started having them really frequently, which again was a sign of possible pre-term labor. Since then, I've had to decrease my activity level, quit exercising, stay hydrated, and put my feet up a lot. My OB prescribed a mild medication that can stop the contractions. It's actually a blood pressure medication, so it could make my blood pressure drop too low, leaving me feeling dizzy and lightheaded. I looked up the drug online after she prescribed it and saw that is a category C drug, which means it's not generally considered safe for pregnant women. So I'm not going to take the drug and just try to work through the contractions, resting when I need to. I'm working on easing myself back into mild exercise if my body will allow it!
Also in the last few months, we decided to pursue a completely natural, drug-free birth for Molly. To help with that, we decided to hire a doula (labor assistant). The one we chose, 'Beulah the doula', is awesome! She's very experienced and supportive of whatever decisions we make. As a doula, she will help with relaxation and natural means of pain-relief. She'll also reassure us and help us make decisions in the labor and birth process. Ben and I have been reading a lot of books about labor and birth, including a couple books on different methods. It's been very nice to learn so much, especially about how birth is a natural process that God designed my body to do, rather than a scary, risky, medical emergency-waiting-to-happen. Until I started learning more, I was pretty scared of the idea of giving birth, let alone doing it naturally, but now I'm just really excited about it!
Also, I have to brag on my husband for a minute. He has been so encouraging about natural childbirth, and he's determined to be the best labor coach I could ever ask for. He's been reading several books (on his own intiative, I might add!) to prepare, reading many parts he finds interesting out loud to me, and we're going to be practicing the relaxation methods together over the next couple months. I feel very blessed to have such a supportive, encouraging, and proactive husband! Through this entire pregnancy, I've been thrilled to watch him get excited about our little girl, pray for her, talk to her, kiss my belly, be protective over me, and prepare for her arrival. Not only that, he's been so patient and helpful when I've not been feeling well and when my activity has been restricted. I'm overwhelmed by what an amazing family God has blessed me with!
Over the last few weeks, Molly has gotten significantly stronger and more active. I love feeling and watching my belly move. Every day, I could (and have) easily spend a lot of time just sitting on the couch or laying in bed just watching. It's the most amazing feeling (and probably one of the strangest feelings, too). In April, a crisis pregnancy center in the area was offering free ultrasounds to train their staff, so I had the privilege to see my little girl again. She was doing very well, and I got to watch her yawn and move around for almost an hour! I'm not scheduled for any more ultrasounds during my pregnancy, but my doctor is willing to let me have one whenever I want it to help put my mind at ease, knowing Molly's ok.I'm so excited to be in my third trimester. It's even more exciting that it's now June... I can now say that I will be full term NEXT MONTH! I might even give birth next month! The next couple months are filling up fast with birth classes, a baby shower, more reading, and LOTS of preparation for Molly's arrival. I'm especially excited about my baby shower. When I first got pregnant with Elam, I was really looking forward to the fun of registering and having a baby shower. But, although I registered for a few things just in case, I never really got to experience all that with that pregnancy. So it's really exciting that I will get to experience that soon and celebrate our sweet Molly with friends and family!
Well, I think that pretty well sums up what's been going on with my pregnancy the last couple months. Life is good! Please keep praying for our little Molly. Thank you! :)
Easter 2011
29 weeks (June 1, 2011)