A Bundle of Myrrh

Lord, Thou hast remembered me in mercy, and hast made me to obtain this gift and fruit of wedlock. If my present state is irksome, I know nevertheless that I am in Thy grace and that my state is well pleasing to Thee and obtained by Thee.

Thou who hast ordained and laid up upon me these pains hast also the might and power to assuage them. If my discomforts and worries should become to great and numerous, yea almost unendurable, still I shall not grow faint-hearted, but remember, O faithful God, that Thou wilt not suffer me to be tempted above that I am able, but wilt with the temptation also make a way of escape that I may be able to bear it.

Help me in the hours of labor, and gladden my heart with the sight of a healthy child. But if Thou hast decreed the end of my life in this state, Lord, let Thy will be done! I know that in that case I shall die in my calling; I shall die in Thy grace; I shall die in Thy arms; I shall die as Thy child; I shall die in peace, and Thou wilt usher me into the joy and bliss everlasting.

Meanwhile, O my God, grant me Thy Holy Spirit that He may keep me in good thoughts. Let this child grow sheltered by Thy grace until Thou wilt usher her into the light of day, and thus turn all my pains into bliss and all my sadness into joy.

Starck’s Motherhood Prayers

30 weeks 6 days along. Now come trips to the doctor every two weeks. This point always makes it feel like “we’re getting close!”. And I suppose we are. Everything is still going well with baby. She moves a lot all day and Phil is finally getting to feel her too. It seems all our babies get shy when Daddy gets close but sometimes he is able to sneak a thump or a kick.

I’m feeling pretty good but my energy is running very short these days. This week I seemed to go through an energy spurt, a little “nesting” phase. But my accomplishments were kept to those daily chores that without energy just keep stacking up. So nothing exciting, well, it was exciting to feel “normal” for a few days but I’m back on the couch this afternoon with back pains and no energy…and piles of laundry to fold.

When I get some free time I’m beginning to go through clothes the girls wore, sort it, start washing and getting ready for baby girl. I figure I should get to some of this now instead of waiting, plus it’s gonna take me a while to figure out how to get clothing etc. for 4 babies in one closet and set of drawers! There’s much to be done, but isn’t there always!

Rummaging through little baby girl clothing today I found this sweater and bonnet. It was given to me at a shower the church gave us before Lily Ruth was born. The woman who made it passed away a couple years ago at the age of 100. Interestingly, she was the Step-Grandmother of the doctor that delivered Gerhardt and will deliver this baby. Gotta love small town life!

Anyway, I’m in my 26th week now and all seems to be going well. It is getting harder to bend over. I find my feet having to get wider apart to reach the floor and it’s been so lovely to have “The Flux” shoot up into my throat every time I do this. TMI? Sorry! But this could be our hairiest baby yet!

Breathing isn’t easy and I’ve had some dizzy spells. My doctor told me to try taking Claritin for a while to see if that helps my breathing, dizziness and exhaustion. I KNOW these are very common during pregnancy without a possible allergy but they seem to be coming at a time I usually don’t struggle with them and I have some allergy symptoms so, I’ll try it. Otherwise not much is getting done around this house for the next 14 weeks!

14 weeks! Is that all?! This baby is sneaking up on us. The summer will fly by and she’ll be here before we know it. We’re finally getting close to settling on a name. I’m letting one stew right now so we’ll see if it sticks.

And I can see baby kicking now too which is fun. (No, not feet or anything…creepy.) I love feeling all the bumping going on in there. She’s definitely growing!

Yesterday we had our 20 week ultrasound and discovered that we will be having another baby girl!