Reflecting on 2018

2018 : What a year! 

These days between Christmas and the New Year are some of my favorite to be still and reflect on past year before embarking on the new one.

Reflecting on 2018 and giving thanks to the LORD for the many blessings ~ new life ~ new beginnings!!

Grace and mercy through the peaks and valleys!

"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." Ecclesiastes 3:11

"Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." Lamentations 3:22-24

"He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:29-31

"See, I am doing a NEW thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." Isaiah 43:19

There have been so many "new" moments and milestones of 2018 that I want to remember and thought sharing "A Year At A Glance" would be helpful even more for my heart to remember on some of the hard days -- the good times! As I went through my pictures from 2018 a few weeks ago to find a "few pics" to be printed to give some family members with their Christmas gifts (since printed pics seem to becoming a lost art), the photo man at Costco gave me my box of 200+ prints and I told him this was me picking out some highlights and he said, "Well it seems that you've had an amazing year!" and that's when it hit me that this year really has been one for the ages. Here is a highlight reel of some of the high moments that I want to remember. There are challenging moments tucked in before and after a lot of these -- don't be fooled that life is without those. I can say that I am thankful for the hi's and the lo's and the growth opportunities from all of the above.

In 10 years of marriage, we have moved 7 times and had 6 pregnancies and given birth to 3 babies and now live in a home that we don't plan on moving from anytime soon (aka: B says he wants to become grandparents here) and it feels that our feet are LANDING to the ground in a way. It's a sweet feeling to stop for a moment and take a deep breath and thank the Lord for where He has brought us and the strength He has given us to get here ... and at the same time, thank Him in advance for giving us our DAILY BREAD and what we need to run the race well in this next season.

Some days we look at each other and wonder how we are going to do it and the truth is we are not going to be able to in our own strength. That's why we are clinging to God's Word and choosing to press in to HIM and each other! Thank you to our community of family and friends to love, pray and encourage us on this lifelong journey!!

2018 At A Glance

January

New baby : Beau Piper Nall born on December 27th

Happy New Year as a family of 5!

February

Disney World as family of 5 (with an 8 week old!!)

New job for Daddy B

March

Nelson got to play on a baseball team for the first time

18th : Celebrated Daddy B's 36th birthday

Beach for Spring Break ~ got to meet my beautiful niece, Raleigh Louise!

April

Easter at the Beach

15 Year GPS Reunion with high school friends

19th: Celebrated Natalie Joy's 4th birthday

May

Nelson graduated from Pre-K

31st: Celebrated Mommy's 33rd birthday

June

Natalie participated in her first ballet camp

Beau and Mommy to Salt Lake City for the Young Living Convention

Camp Suzie and Pops in Chattanooga ~ summer fun!

July

Family of 5 plus Suzie and Pops to CVP Family Camp

Swim lessons for Nelson & Natalie

Beau Piper started crawling

Daddy B managed an epic yard renovation

August

7th: Celebrated Nelson Caleb's 6th birthday

Nelson and Natalie started a new school

Nelson -> Kindergarten

Natalie -> Early Childhood program

26th: Beau's baptism

Daddy B's men's baseball team won 3rd straight league championship

September

Natalie started gymnastics

13th : Celebrated our 10 year anniversary!!

Team Nall hit the SILVER rank with Young Living

October

Beach for Fall Break with the fam

November

10th Annual Thanksgiving at the Nall's dinner with friends

December

25th: Celebrated Jesus' birthday in our home as a family of 5!

27th: Celebrated baby Beau turning ONE!

"I lift up my eyes to the hills --

where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip--

he who watches over you will not slumber;

indeed, he who watches over Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD watches over you --

the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

the sun will not harm you by day,

nor the moon by night.

The LORD will keep you from all harm --

he will watch over your life;

the LORD will watch over your coming and going

both now and forevermore."

Psalm 121

What a year! To God be the glory!!

Beau's Birth Story

Here we are on the eve of our baby's birthday and this mama is feeling ALL the feels. So reminiscent all day of what we were doing one year ago. We had enjoyed Christmas morning as our family of four (B, Whit, Nelson, Natalie) and then Mom, Dad, and Aunt Abby joined us for the fun in the afternoon. They spent the night and we enjoyed some sweet family time together on the day of Tuesday, December 26th. After lunch at Burger Up, I went to The Factory for one last acai bowl and juice before I had to stop eating at 2:30pm on that day. I knew I better load up on the goodies beforehand because I had strict instructions not to eat before the induction. 

Why was I getting induced you may be wondering? I had an extreme liver condition (Intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP)) at the end of Nelson and Natalie's pregnancies. Your liver enzymes (AST and ALT) should be in the teens and mine went over 600 with Nelson (delivered him at 40 weeks, 1 day) and went over 800 with Natalie (delivered her at 37 weeks)...needless to say, they were watching me like a hawk from start to finish with the pregnancy with Beau. We had Nelson and Natalie 20 months apart and then had three miscarriages so with Beau, I was with a high risk doctor in addition to our midwife and OB. I was going every couple of days in those last weeks of pregnancy with Beau to have blood drawn to make sure all was well with my levels. My pregnancy with him was about EXPECTING MIRACLES from the very beginning and the fact that I did not experience the extreme ICP at the end of pregnancy with Beau was in and of itself another one of the miracles we saw firsthand -- the doctors and midwife had never seen anything like it. 

It was so odd (in the best ways!) to not experience the itching around week 35 (like I did with Natalie) and around week 38 (like I did with Nelson). It was a gift from God that Beau did not flip to the breech position around 36 weeks like Nelson and Natalie both did (both were flipped by via the Webster technique with a chiropractor). Such a blessing to feel normal. To sleep great. To not have ANY issues!! My pregnancies with Nelson and Natalie were smooth and uneventful up until those last two weeks prior to delivery (had the extreme nausea with Nelson, Natalie and Beau) but it felt so bizarre to feel SO well the duration of Beau's pregnancy -- I could certainly feel every single prayer from each of you that were praying! 

So given the history of my liver with Nelson and Natalie's pregnancies, my high risk doctor, OB and midwife were in agreement that they wanted me to deliver Beau before 40 weeks. My due date was December 28th ... so as we entered into that week before his due date ... we had a good chat and decided that if he had not come on his own before then -- I would go in on the night of December 26th to get things rolling with the induction and he would be born on December 27th. Right there at the very end with the last blood draw before the weekend of Christmas, my levels started to rise (but still NO itching...thank the Lord) and we had a peace that this was the right thing to do. Induction had been a curve ball when we had Nelson because we were planning for a home birth (you can read his birth story here) but then when it happened again with Natalie and went as smoothly, we knew I was a good candidate for induction with Beau -- given my personal history. It is not for everyone but in certain situations is a blessing.

OK...so now that you have that background, you can see why we were planning to be induced and that was such a positive thing. Tuesday could not have gone better. Earlier in the day I had written out some of my favorite and most powerful Bible verses on notecards and was reading them and re-reading them like I was getting ready for a test. Giving birth is like a marathon and you have to be ready. I had my "New Beginnings" playlist on Spotify that I had listened to and added songs to for the duration of the nine months of pregnancy. I had my favorite meals that day with Burger Up and Franklin Juice Company!! That night (one year ago to the day) we were watching the new Beauty and the Beast with the family and enjoying priceless time together...that wild feeling where you look around at your family and realize in a matter of hours, the new little person will be joining you!! Who in the world will this baby be? Is this really happening? This is too good to be true! So around this time (8:30pm...I went upstairs to our room to go over my lists again and check them again and again. Adding my essential oils, heating pad, Bible verses, toiletries, and all of the last minute little items) Also enjoyed re-reading my notes from counseling sessions on preparing for this time. It is no joke going into a birth after three losses. It is a full on BATTLE of the mind and I knew I had to be prepared. I had prayed, prepared, and planned for this moment and now was the time to GO birth this baby in the mighty name of JESUS. Then Brandon and I said goodbye to the fam and got in his car and headed downtown Nashville to Centennial Women's Hospital. I vividly remembering listening to a few voicemails from soul sisters on the way there (still saved on my phone to this very day) and read the Jesus Calling devotional and a few others that were ALL about expecting miracles -- chills head to toe. 

I have a screenshot still saved on my phone that night from the part in Jesus Calling that says, "Do not fear your weakness, for it is the stage on which My Power and Glory perform most brilliantly. As you persevere along the path I have prepared for you, depending on My strength to sustain you, expect to see miracles -- and you will. Miracles are not always visible to the naked eye, but those who live by faith can see them clearly. Living by faith, rather than sight, enables you to see My Glory." Psalm 63:2-5, "I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you." 

We met our midwife there at 10pm and started the check in process. God blessed us with amazing nurses that night and each and every detail fell into place. And the fact that this was my first time to be induced WITHOUT the horrific itching was in and of itself such a gift -- I actually was able to catch some winks of sleep which had never happened before when being induced cause the itching with Nelson and Natalie was intense for two weeks and did not stop until the baby came out. Whew, so thankful to not have to go through that again. 

The reason I know the details of this next part is because I have the notes still in the notes section of my phone: 

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

11:45pm

Closed and 60% effaced

Soft cervix

Head is down -2

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

12:00am

Cytotec 25 micro

4:10am

1 cm, 60% effaced

Cytotec 25 micro

8:15am

Started pitocin (at 1) then went to 2 at 8:30am then went to 4 at 9am

8:30am

OB checked me, 1 cm

Pitocin went to 6 at 9:30am and then to 8 at 10am then back to 7 then 6 then 2

11:02am

Water broke

11:03am

8cm

11:23am 

Delivered!!!

Needless to say...that last hour between 10am and 11am was NO JOKE. The lack of breaks in between the waves (contractions) is tough. In the past with Nelson and Natalie's births I would say "Praise God" when a wave started and that's how I started off in Beau's labor but around 10am/10:15am when things were really kicking into gear, all I could muster was "HELP!" ... I had my dear soul sister and friend, Lauren with me at that point and our midwife and fortunately between the two of them they were able to ask the nurse to bump the pitocin down in hopes of giving me a moment to catch my break. The hospital staff was so supportive of our birth wishes (we had given those to them in writing prior to arrival) so they all knew that I did not want any pain meds, including no epidural. I had gone into the bathroom (thinking I needed to use the bathroom) around 10am/10:15am and was in there for a good chunk of time (hard to get up once in that position and now we know that I was in full on active labor and then went into transition in there which seemed hard to believe seeing that just an hour prior I was at 1cm)...but once I got back to the bed and could catch my breath for half a second ... I announced that my water was about to break (I could feel it) and sure enough after that happened I felt SUCH a relief and then that's when the nurse was able to check me and saw that I was 8cm. That was the best moment EVER!! 

I heard my midwife say to call in the doctor and he said to let him know when I am complete and she said, "She is almost complete. Come now!" I remember one of our friends (that gave birth to her third baby four weeks before me) sharing with me how her husband reminded her in delivery that "there is power in the name of Jesus" and I just remember saying "JESUS!!" Sure enough -- the doctor made it just in time -- and at 11:23am, with one arm clenched tight on my midwife (I kept saying "Don't leave me!") with the next wave, I pushed out Beau Piper Nall!!! No words in the world to describe that moment. The relief to have my baby OUT. The relief to hear him CRY! The relief to know that mommy and baby were both healthy!! Oh, JESUS!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Brandon was in the best kind of shock as well. Our dear friend, Tammy made it in the room about 10 minutes before Beau was born and got some of the most priceless pictures of the entire birth and I could just watch the video and look at the pictures for hours. I love pregnancy, labor and delivery, and babies oh-so-much (so does Brandon) and have a special place in my heart for these moments. 

I like to replay all of the moments each time before each of my baby's birthdays but as you can imagine, especially on this Birthday Eve of Beau turning ONE!!! He is our long awaited "rainbow baby" and we have truly soaked up each and every moment of this entire year and even our kids kissed him extra tonight knowing that he was going to be ONE in the morning. Each day with him is like Christmas morning in our house. We are forever grateful to the Lord for answering our prayers and allowing us to see our HOPE-filled prayers come full circle with you, Beau Piper. December 27th will always be one of my most favorite days in all of the world (also special that it's Brandon's grandfather's birthday) and we cannot wait to shower you with love when you wake up in the morning, baby boy!! 

So much more I could say but gotta go hang some streamers from your door cause...birthday tradition around here!! Had so much fun running around this afternoon with Nelson and Natalie, getting ready for your birthday! They made it very clear (as I do agree) that just because your birthday is so close to Christmas does not mean that it's supposed to run together ... they are two separate occasions!! ;) Our sweet Christmas miracle!! We still can't even believe you are REAL!!! Love you to the moon and back, baby boy! Happy almost FIRST birthday to you! We cannot wait to celebrate you and the Lord's work in and through you!!! 

Beauty and the Beast with the fam
right before B and I headed to the hospital!
(Nelson does not look too thrilled!)  

Some of the verses I was reading out loud all day!

In the waiting room before they sent us up to our room on Tuesday night. 

9:50am on Tuesday morning ... such a gift to have this sister friend by my side!
Here she was applying some Young Living essential oils to my back! 

Our amazing midwife! 

The dream team!! Incredible how the Lord
ordered the steps of these two mamas to be here for this very moment! 

No caption needed
<<Best moment in all the world>>

Births bring us so close together ...
no other person I would want by my side in these moments!!

Beyond thankful! 

Nall party of FIVE! Pure delight!! 

Oh happy day!! 

Thank you, Jesus!!
Gotta love this pic of Mommy & Beau
 (with Daddy trying to catch a little shut eye in the background!)