Fitting together the pieces

In my last post I made a reference to seeing God's hand in all the decisions that have been made these past few months. Some folks may think I am flippantly assigning praise to God when really, it was just a matter of luck. I thought I would share just a few instances of what has transpired in the hopes of showing that not even I am lucky enough or good enough to conjure enough karma to explain the past few months.

1. In June, Mike and I made a last minute decision to drive to FL in the hopes that he could find a job or at least schedule an interview. A friend of my parents' happened to hear about our situation and passed Mike's name and resume on to someone he knows who recruits for IT jobs.

We arrived in Jacksonville on Sunday. By Wednesday, the recruiter had secured an interview with LPS. More importantly, she was able to schedule Mike for a face-to-face interview with the company despite LPS' protocol to conduct phone interviews before doing face-to-face interviews.

Mike spent the entire week in FL calling/emailing recruiters, applying to job openings he found online and even dropping by businesses in the hopes of at least meeting someone who would be willing to talk to him. It was all for naught. The only opening or hope for a job he encountered came through the work of this recruiter who was intro to Mike through a friend of my parents.

2. LPS finally offered Mike the job last week, with the stipulation that he had to be in Jax and ready to work by July 30. That gave us 2.5 weeks to pack, find a house, find an ob/gyn and take care of other details. My parents are real estate agents in Jacksonville and they had prepared us to anticipate rather bleak offerings for rental homes. Given that we needed a house that was under $1400/month, would allow dogs and would have enough space for all 6 of us, the outlook seemed grim. Within days, though, of being offered the job in Jax, my parents caught wind of a house that was being vacated not even a mile from their house. It offered plenty of space, a fenced in back yard and all the amenities we would need. Oh, and rent was $1300. We sent in our application and were approved to rent the house-despite the fact that 4 other families had already inquired about renting the home. When we received the lease we saw that the rent money is actually less than what we had been told.

3. I found a ob/gyn practice fairly quickly but was told my file would have to be reviewed by the drs there before they agreed to take me on as a patient. Thankfully I must have withstood scrutiny because they welcomed me to their practice and have even partnered me with a dr who is a mother to triplets.

4. Droves of friends have come by to help us pack and move boxes. We were worried about how we were going to empty our storage unit, bring boxes down from our attic and manage to pack our living space when Mike was still working full time and I was on restrictions. Thanks to many, many friends, most of the hard work has been done for us so that we most certainly will have everything ready to move by next week.

5. Mike's current job had asked him to work through the end of this week. He didn't want to - for various reasons - but felt he needed to cooperate with them so that they would cooperate with us when it came time to leave. But last week Mike couldn't help by vocalize his frustrations with some individuals who were making life very difficult for him. He never crossed any lines regarding respect or anger, but it was enough that HR considered firing him for his behavior. Thank GOD Mike has an amazing boss who stepped into the fray and persuaded HR to simply let Mike go home for the week and still get paid for the remainder of the week. Oh, and the company also agreed to pay Mike for unused PTO - something that is rarely done.

There have been many, many other smaller things that have transpired this past month that have clearly shown us God's intervention on our behalf. We are looking forward to this new chapter in our lives and are eager to see how God can use us to share His love in Jacksonville.

20 Week Roundup

I'm more than half way there!!! - assuming I reach my goal of going 36 weeks before delivery.

In two weeks I have gained 20 lbs, which my doctor will be very pleased to hear. In about a week or 2 I will be the same size as a fully pregnant lady who is carrying 1 baby.

According to one perinatologist I've seen, at this point I would be asked to quit my job if I worked full-time and resign myself to sitting for large parts of the day. I don't think I can resign from being a mom to a very active toddler, but I am learning to rest more during the day.

We have settled on names for each of the babies: McKenna Roslyn, Ryleigh Elisa and Josiah Michael. I was going to blog about the process we went through to choose the names, but my husband did such a good job writing about it that I think I'll just link to his blog: http://rmichaelconner.wordpress.com/2012/07/15/naming-our-triplets/

In the past 2 weeks we have finalized plans to move to Jacksonville, FL. It has been quite the whirlwind but I completely see God's hand in it. We received final confirmation a week ago that Mike would be offered the job for which he had interviewed. Since then, we have signed a lease on a rental house that is PERFECT, found a good ob-gyn practice, had waves of friends help us pack or move boxes, and pretty much have everything in place for us to move next week. Mike even was given the rest of this week off with pay (long story), which gives us a bit more breathing room to finish packing and still enjoy these last few days in VA.

As you can see, things are moving right along. We will meet with the perinatologist this week for another in-depth exam of the babies. In the mean time, please keep praying for McKenna, Ryleigh and Josiah to keep growing and developing correctly. Pray, too, for Addie as she will be facing some big changes in the next month.

From where I stand ... or sit

I had a quick appointment with the perinatologist today and was encouraged that the babies still look great.

• Baby A's heart rate is 140, Baby B's heart rate is 144 and Baby C (the kicking boy) is at 146. 
• I am at 18 wks but my uterus is the size of someone at 26 wks.; in 4 weeks I'll be the size of a full-term pregnant woman

Unfortunately, I also left quite overwhelmed. I know I should focus on the important stuff (me and babies are healthy) but instead I focus on all the changes that potentially coming my way. For instance:

• dr. asked me about my regular routine. I told her each day I take Addie some where in the morning, like a park or museum. I rest for about an hr during her nap, but once she's awake I then clean or cook or do other chores. Dr said at this point in the pregnancy, I should be spending 6 hrs a day sitting. Um... what??? I can't do that! What about Addie? What about the house? What about poor Mike who works all day??? I can't ask him to then come home and cook or clean or bathe Addie.
• Oh, but the best part was yet to come. Dr. said by week 24 (and possibly earlier) I will need to be off my feet ALL THE TIME. Again - how is that possible???

I told the dr we are thinking of moving in the next month. She said that's fine as long as it's before I'm at week 24. She also recommended that we think of putting Addie in a daycare or preschool since I could potentially be useless in 6 weeks - not to mention, what I'll be like once the babies are born.

So here's my panicked thoughts:

1. how do I feasibly stay off my feet 6 hrs a day? 

2. what things can I let others do for me without being a burden?

3. is it too late to find a preschool for Addie? and how would we afford one?

4. if we end up moving, how do I contribute given that I'm not supposed to lift anything heavier than a' basket of clothes?

Feel free to tell me to calm down, take a deep breath and relax.