Happy Mother's Day!

“She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: "Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all." Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.”



~Proverbs 31: 25-31


I remember vividly the day that I found out I was pregnant with Baby J. It was a total and utter shock. I had been getting sick at work for several days, and since I worked at a daycare, the thought that it was because I was pregnant never entered my mind. Someone suggested that I should take a pregnancy test, so reluctantly I went to grab one on my lunch break. To my surprise, the result was positive. I ran down to my boss, showed her the test and asked if I could run home.


I called Bryan on my way to the house and told him to come outside. I handed him the test, and I specifically remember him looking at me and asking, “What is this???” When he turned it over, he saw that it said “Pregnant”, and he developed a huge grin on his face. What an exciting moment that God had allowed us to share…


I had been told that I would have a hard time carrying a baby from my Doctor back in Ohio. I had multiple cysts and some major imbalances in my hormone levels (I am sure those of you that know me would never guess that from all of my random crying haha), so they told me that getting pregnant would be the easy part. Within a day of taking that test, the bleeding began.


Thankfully, the doctor’s office got me in for an appointment early the next morning. I had an ultrasound and was able to see our baby at 5 ½ weeks. Everything looked great and we were able to see our little peanut swimming around. They helped reassure me that everything would be fine and they would keep a close eye on everything. October 9th would become my due date.


The bleeding turned into spotting and eventually stopped. I was blessed with morning sickness for the first 6 months of pregnancy…though this may not seem like much of a blessing (and I know I complained most of the time it was going on), it was a good sign to know that my pregnancy hormone levels were really high, being a constant reassurance that our little one would be okay. Just a couple months later, after some high blood pressure, twice weekly visits for stress tests to monitor Baby J and I, and bed rest, it was finally time for our little one to enter the world.


I was 9 days past my due date when they finally brought me into be induced. The thought of being induced was not appealing to me in the slightest, so my doctor started with a cream that helped get contractions started. Within an hour of the cream being applied, my water broke and things started progressing naturally, so I never had to use the pitocin. My family had come from Ohio to be with us, so Bryan called them at 4 a.m. to let them know that I was at 5 cm. They started getting ready and about an hour later Bryan called to tell them I was at 9 ½ cm…I am sure that is probably the fastest that my family has ever gotten ready at one time . When babies are ready to come out, they are READY! So after 9 hours of laboring, and only 20 minutes of pushing (did I mention that they made me breathe through 2 contractions before they let me push him out…pure evil), our little one arrived!


Baby J came into the world on October 18th at 6:26 a.m., and weighed in at 9 lbs, 11 oz., 22 inches long…a pure bundle of joy!


At times, I still cannot believe that God chose for me to be a mother. I quoted from Proverbs 31 at the beginning of this post. Though I know I fall short of being that particular woman, it is a great reminder of what I need to be striving for to be the best mother and wife that I can be for Bryan and Baby J. I don’t think that anyone can ever prepare you for what you are about to face with motherhood, but it definitely brings new challenges every day. I count it all joy to be blessed with both of my boys, and am so thankful that I am the one that gets to take care of them on a daily basis. Our time in Virginia has flown by. What a blessing to see Baby J grow and develop over the past year and a half…even this week he has been making huge strides in talking! I was picking up in the living room yesterday and he pulled on my shirt and asked me to “read a book”…totally random and out of the blue for someone that pretends he can’t talk haha…


Motherhood is not always easy, but it is the most rewarding job that God has given. So many women have been such an inspiration to me as I have watched them mother their own children, and I am thankful for the example that they have been in my life. To you, ladies, I wish you the happiest of Mother’s Day. Thank you for being a blessing to me, but more importantly to your children. May we all strive to be the example that God has given us in His word…


Much Love,


Jessica