Major Pain!!!

Last night I experienced something that I can only pray doesn't come around again... It was the most excruciating back pain I have ever experienced in my life, only about 100 times worse! 

Jarred and I were sitting in the living room watching some SVU and around 9pm my back felt really sore.  I opted to try and stretch out in bed to see if changing positions/locations would help.  No go.  It got worse... I was constantly changing positions from laying on my back, to hunched over the bed, anything I could think of to try and reduce the amount of pain I was in.  Jarred had offered me Tylenol when I first went back to the bed, but me being the stubborn person that I am, declined the offer.  Around 9:30 I was screaming for Tylenol and orange juice!

I consume said Tylenol and oj and then proceed to re-position over and over again for about 5 minutes.  I finally decide to hop into the shower and see if the warm water will relieve the pain. About 5-7 minutes later I'm laid out in the shower floor, almost in tears, because I couldn't take it...

And then IT happened. I knew what I had to do ... I had to vomit.

So, I'm in the shower floor, leaning over to the toilet and give back everything I had eaten/drank for the past 6 hours. I don't know how Jarred heard me all the way at the back of the apartment with the bathroom fan (that sounds like a jet engine) whirring away, but bless his heart, he found me... Soaking wet, head in the toilet and there was nothing he could do for me... I felt so bad for both of us! Me for the pain/puking and him for the lack of anything he could do about it! What a pair!

So, I hop back through the shower to rid myself of the puke feeling, and endured the back pain for as long as I could.  Once I couldn't take it anymore, I called the OB/GYN... The doctor was really nice, considering it was 10pm, and was asking me all kinds of questions... "How far along are you? Are you able to use the bathroom normally? What kind of pain is it? How long has it been there? Is it stronger on one side? etc. etc." Finally after all the questions, she tells me to take 2 more Tylenol and sip on water (I had let her know I vomited) and if it didn't get better within an hour to call her back.

Praise the Lord that it got better, because I was really scared there for a little bit! I had heard of women who have "back labor" and their description of the pain was the exact pain I was having.  Here I am, 28w2d having what could possibly be "back labor" and I nearly had a meltdown! I can not imagine delivering this baby a full 12 weeks early! That thought scares me to DEATH!

Well, on to the remainder of the day.  Hopefully it will be uneventful and Jarred and I can spend a Saturday just being together!

Lindsey

Crazy Wild Life!

Wow! What a whirlwind of events! Life is just simply blowing my mind right now!

We moved into our new apartment about 9 days ago...and while we still have a sea of boxes to wade through in what will soon be the baby's room, we're making definite head-way! Prince is most assuredly pleased with his new dwelling and really enjoys having a big sliding glass door he can stare out for hours at a time! He's also extremely full of himself, what with all the extra room to run around! Even though he's past the 10 year mark, he acted like he was 10 months old the day we moved in!

When we left PA last fall to move to OR, we downsized drastically. We rid ourselves of much that wouldn't do anyone any good being packed up in boxes for who knew how long (at the time!).  I had a garage sale that much to my dismay didn't go well... I used to work in retail and actually had the garage set up like a little boutique (totally made me happy!), but I think it intimidated many "yard salers"... So much of the stuff we opted to not keep ended up going to family, friends, and the Chambersburg Goodwill. I'm just glad that people can use the things instead of us having to sort through what is wanted vs. un-wanted at this point!

This past week, we took the gift card that my two aunts and grandmother gave us at the Baby Shower to go and get the travel system from Babies R Us! We had a coupon for 20% off any one item in the store that didn't exclude the system we wanted, so rest assured I JUMPED all over that! We ended up saving $40 on that thing! YAY us! My mom also shipped us the wonderful gifts that I received at the Baby Shower that was thrown for Baby Murphy back in Texas. It was too much fun getting to unpack everything and remember who gave the kid what and hang up the little clothes (even if I have yet to wash them... that's coming though) and put the books on the closet shelf! It's almost surreal... no, it is definitely surreal... to think in just a few short months (less than 3 now!) there is going to be a new addition to this little Murphy family! Crazy!

Speaking of Crazy and New Additions... We've been trying to get the RV sorted out for sale.  Cleaning and a few small repairs were in order before we could post it on craigslist.org (p.s. who doesn't love craigslist.org!). Before Jarred begin the listing, he looked through the auto section to see what all was going on out there.  He ran across the most crazy posting ever! A LITTLE BACK STORY INSERTED HERE:  When driving across the country a month or so ago, we discussed at some point (4-5 years down the road) getting a Chevy Tahoe. I love the look of them, Jarred wanted an SUV that was a 4x4 that he could play with and possibly put a diesel engine in... But we both agreed that since we've got 2 cars that are paid for, we'd wait until the right time came along. BACK TO THE ORIGINAL STORY: This posting was for a 2001 Chevy Tahoe. Jarred is clicking through the ad and at the bottom the lister states "Willing to Trade for RV"

...

Jarred ran to get me so I could look at the posting. I had to laugh at it, there was no way that someone out there wanted what we had AND was willing to trade us for something we wanted! So I said to Jarred, "that's pretty incredible! If you want to go for it, send the guy a message!" Fast forward to the next day, Jarred gets up and lets me know that plans for the day had changed. (We were supposed to be in Reading at 10:30am for the cable guy to hook up our plan.) I was to go back to the apartment with the dog. Jarred was going to finish working on the RV and drive it up to Reading later that afternoon, and this guy was going to bring the Tahoe to the airport so we could all check each other's vehicles out and see if we wanted to do an even trade. An hour and a half later, Jarred and this guy come back from the tag agency and we now officially own a 2001 Chevy Tahoe and that guy owns a whole pile of headaches!

Tell me that's not totally crazy!!!

Plus, after all the trading vehicles business, we headed over to another craigslist poster's home to check out a dining room table! I loved it, Jarred loved it, we bought it, tossed it in the back of the Excursion and headed home... New (to us) table! New (to us) Tahoe! CRAZY WILD LIFE!

Lindsey

No Longer Homeless!

I had posted last time around that we were officially "homeless"... we are not "homeless" any more! YAY! We were planning on finding a house to buy up in the Reading area, but decided against that idea... at least for the next 12 months... We'd like to get to know the area better and really find that prime residential area to have as a (what I'm hoping will be) permanent settling down place.

Jarred and I went apartment hunting this past Thursday and discovered a few things about Reading: 

1. Downtown Reading is NOT where we want to be... I'm a fan of grass and the sea of concrete was absolutely depressing.

2. While there are some gorgeous older homes in Reading that have been converted to multi-family dwellings with TONS of character and curb appeal, I do not want to risk hauling a new infant and myself with all of our things up 1000+ flagstone steps in the dead of a Pennsylvania winter where any solid surface can become a sheet of ice.

3. I'm completely ready to have a place to live, even if it means paying a non-refundable up-front pet fee plus an extra $20 per month for my dog to live with me.

All that being said, we are the proud new tenants of a 2 bed/2 bath ground floor apartment with a washer/dryer in apartment, a swimming pool, and a work out facility for which we will be paying through the nose for the next 12 months! YAY!

We can now officially have a nursery for this child, whom is kicking the ever-livin' out of my belly button right now!  Next weekend we'll be hauling all of our stuff out of storage and up the two-hour trek to Reading, PA to get settled in! Come on "nesting", kick in quick so I can set up our new home fast!

What An Adventure!

Thank the Lord it is done! We're officially homeless... well, we're staying with Jarred's parents right now until we can find a residence in Reading, PA. The journey across the country certainly had it's highs and lows. We definitely learned to roll with the punches, but we still ended up with a few black eyes...

We started out on Thursday morning in high spirits and full stomachs. By the end of Sunday evening, I was ready to kill something! Fortunately there was an annoying fly in the RV that refused to die that I finally killed on that last day, so I was satisfied! I must say, spending 4 full days and nights in a car and on an RV with two guys plus a male dog will absolutely drive you crazy! Even more so if you are pregnant!

Through all the blown out tires, spindle/bearings going bad, and fuel filters needing replaced, we are officially in the state we are residents of! Praise the Lord, because I could NOT have handled a single minute more on the road, I would've gone insane!

Lindsey

It Is Done...

Well, it's official.  We have accepted an offer from Quest Diagnostics for a pilot slot in their flight department.  Jarred's first day of work with Quest is Monday, July 12th.

I know in my previous post I was pretty nervous and scared of this outcome.  I had really come to be comfortable in this place and really rely on the friendships Jarred and I have made... But now that I've spent some time praying for peace with whatever outcome came our way, I'm much more at ease with what's about to happen. 

So, next Thursday, July 8th, we will roll in the awning, lift up the jacks, and hitch up my car to the tow dolly to drive back across the country... That will be the second time for us to make this trip in 8 months! Good Grief!  Jarred has already arranged for a close family friend to drive back with me... being 5 months pregnant doesn't make for a super comfortable ride/drive 11 hours out of the day!

I guess that's about all I have to say about that for now... Just thought I'd share that we have officially accepted the offer set forth.  Lord, be with us through this turbulent transition!

God Has Blown My Mind...

Well, there is a LOT on my mind... I've had almost a full 24 hours to digest some information that totally rocked my world, flipped it upside-down, poured it into a blender, and mixed it all up...

About 8 months ago we trekked across the country from the east coast to the west coast.  At first I consoled myself with the constant mantra "We're only here for a little while, we can always move back... this isn't a permanent move, etc."... and that's how I got by from November through April. 

Back in April, Jarred had an interview for a pilot slot at a company based in PA... I was THRILLED!  Things were sounding really good, we had a 1 in 8 chance of getting a slot out of the 1000s that applied to the company... It was looking very promising!  So, Jarred comes back to the west coast after the interview, feeling really good about everything and I'm mentally preparing to move back... Packing away the loose things on the RV, getting someone to drive back with me in one of the cars, etc.

The day finally comes when we have our answer.  A big fat NO... "We've decided to go with someone else, but appreciate your interest.  If something else opens up, we'll be sure to call you. Blah Blah Blah"

I was CRUSHED.

After a short mourning period, I decided to throw myself full-throttle into our life here in Portland.  Jarred and I became more involved with our church; we were teaching Children's Church one Sunday a month, we were covering Sunday School classes for friends who had things planned.  We really got more into hanging out with other couples in our age bracket and in our same stage of life.  We started to blossom and thrive!

For once in our life, as a couple, we really found our niche.  While living in PA, we never cultivated relationships like these.  There were several reasons of course... At our home church we were the only married couple under the age 37... We were babies in a sea of elders... But I really believe that if you don't get involved in your church and work for it, it will never work for you and provide what ever it is you are looking for.  So we never got involved with small groups that were couples in our same boat.

Plus, being so close to family, there was always someone to sit and talk with, or somewhere to do something or other.  We had no real reason to go looking for friends!  But moving to a place where we didn't know a soul really helped us grow closer and become more dependent on God and what He was doing in our lives.

So, as I was saying before I digressed, we have really come to adore these people and really see them as a part of our family... or maybe we are a part of theirs!  I honestly believe that God didn't provide us that job back in April because I made an idol out of it. I hadn't learned what He wanted me to learn yet and I was too focused on what that "JOB!" would mean for our little growing family.

And now, here I am, getting back to my original point, that God has flipped our little Portland branch of the Murphy family upside down and presented a possible opportunity that would take place almost immediately if He sees fit to allow it. 

I'm scared to death.  I have grown so attached to all these amazing couples, with the same kinds of values as us, who are growing their little families, and genuinely want us to be a part of their lives.  I also don't feel like I've chosen sides between my parents and Jarred's parents.  Way up here in the NW we are far from all family.  I really want our baby to grow up knowing both sets of grandparents equally.  I was prepared for visiting each side several times a year and dividing holidays up equally between PA and TX... what to do now?

I guess that no matter what the outcome, God is in total control and He does have a master plan for us.  All I can do is pray that His Will becomes my heart's desire and pray that my nerves be soothed and my worries turn to praise. 

Lindsey

The Great Diaper Debate!

When Jarred and I first found out we were pregnant, we decided to keep things extremely simple and minimalistic.  We chose this path for several reasons:

1.  We want to be as cost effective as possible. We'd like to save money for Baby Murphy's college fund and we can best do this if we actively keep our spending to the necessities.

2.  We live on an RV.  Read - We have very little space to work with.  We really enjoy living on the RV, but babies do have lots of things they need (clothes, diapers, a place to sleep, spit-up cloths galore!, etc.).  We are not willing to have baby stuff crammed into every possible place for the simple fact that you cannot eat a onesie, nor can you take a shower with a box of diapers.

3.  We really want to raise our children with an attitude of appreciation for what they have and an understanding that we don't NEED everything we WANT.  Of course our kids will not grow up with out a few toys and doing some fun, cost enduced, activities, but I want them to understand that you can have just as much fun going to a park, playing with tupperware, and using your imagination.

Now, with all that being said... Jarred and I agreed upon disposable diapers when we discussed the matter.  We haven't go a washer/dryer on board and it wouldn't be cost efficient to go to our laundromat every other day... We can buy the diapers we need, when we need them; we won't have to live with infant waste (our RV park dumptser is just across the alley), and they are much less time consuming for those who are unfamiliar or unpracticed with diaper changes.

However, we spent some time with friends, Katie and Ryan, on Sunday evening. They have a 11-week old daughter, Julie, who they cloth diaper during the day and use disposables on at night.  I must admit that the amount of products on the market today regarding cloth had me somewhat dazed and confused, so I steered clear as much as possible.

After Katie helped me to understand the differences between pre-folds and flat folds, diaper covers and rubber pants, my idea wheels got to turning! The concept of cloth diapering was really appealing to me! Spend about $500 to get your stash of different sized pre-folds and diaper covers (for birth thru potty training), cloth wipes and a few connectors and you are set for this child and the future children as well! Brilliant! Especially since, on average, disposables can cost you upwards of $2000 per child...

Major drawback... you really can't leave soiled diapers for longer than 48 hours... and we don't need the extra expense of driving back and forth to the laundromat, cost of the washers/dryers (which for a load of diapers would be nearly $5.00 each time) and the hassle of me dealing with that everyday. They say new mothers are very tired and I am going to plan for that scenario...

But the subject still intrigued me, so I continued with my research.  And wouldn't you know that I came across ways to handwash cloth diapers in a way that would ensure cleanliness! (It goes even farther than that!) I then came across hand-cranked mini washers that use pressure to force soil and filth from clothes (or diapers!) that fits on your counter top! Perfect for RVs! They also make these "dryers" that are actually "spinners" which can spin almost all the water out of fabrics, allowing them to air-dry in only a couple of hours!

My head is still cranking away at the doors this opens up! Jarred is still against anything but the ease of disposables... I can understand, they're fool proof and have the ability to contain blowouts a little better if you can't change the baby right away... But Jarred is also a cost-savy man.

We still have about 4.5 months until Baby Murphy makes his/her appearance and who knows, I may be able to convince him that cloth during the day, disposables at night are the way to go!

Wish me luck!