The Moberg Family

Month: October 2010

  • The Tale of the Second Chromosome

    The Tale of the Second Chromosome

    I couldn’t sleep last night, because all I did all night long was dream and think about the fact that today we would find out such a special part of who our baby is.

    Today was our 20 week ultrasound, that would tell us if God has given us a boy or a girl.

    I was literally so excited this morning that I’m certain it was my fault that I threw up. Mornings are still quite difficult, and I’m telling you–if I breathe too quickly or say too many words or even look at someone for too long, I will throw up. Well, this morning, I woke up with the biggest smile on my face, jumped out of bed, threw a special load of laundry in (our blue & pink t-shirts!), bounded down the stairs, grabbed my bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios (you’ll all be happy to know that I’ve moved on from the Lucky Charms phase) and sat down on the couch to stare at the gorgeous water and rising sun. At that moment, Brian was walking towards our house after just coming from a run, and I began to wave frantically, bouncing up and down. And it was in that moment that the familiar feeling took over my body, and I realized that I needed to calm down fast. But, like the kid who already has cookie crumbs on his face when his mom catches him reaching into the jar for the second time, it was too late.

    But it was okay! Nothing could steal my joy! I just had to sit in time out for the remainder of the morning until it was time to leave… 🙂

    We each wore white to our appointment, and packed our matching blue and pink t-shirts with us to change into as soon as we found out…

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0C3i7XfzTM?fs=1]
    (We’re whispering, so you’ll have to turn your volume way up to hear us)

    I laid down on the table and Brian clenched my hand. You couldn’t have wiped the ridiculous grin off my face. I literally could not handle the suspense for one more second. I had to know if this baby–whom I was convinced was a boy–really was.

    The ultrasound tech had barely put the ultrasound wand on my stomach when she said,

    “You’re having a boy!”
    I gasped and cried and squeezed Brian’s hand so tightly, who also had tears in his eyes. And, ever since that moment, I have been seeing everything in blue.
    Watching Baby MoBoy (the new nickname!) on that monitor was, by far, one of the most incredible experiences I’ve ever had. He was just so cute…the most perfect baby I have ever seen…and the experience was just breath-taking…like watching a miracle kick and stretch and swallow right before your eyes. My eyes were glued to the screen as tears just poured down my face for those 30 minutes of glory. All I want to do for the rest of my life is stare at our son… Our son!!! 
    This was the very first position we saw him in:
    Is he not the most adorable thing you have ever seen?!?! Later he stretched his legs out straight and arched his back…which is when I exclaimed, “Ope! Yep, there it is! Definitely a boy!”
    We could see every bone in his spine, his stomach (that’s the black hole at the bottom of his tummy), his beating heart, the umbilical cord…oh, what a miracle. She counted every toe and every finger (10 and 10!), and even noticed that he had small ears for the size of his enormous head. Then she looked at Brian and said, “Oh yeah–you have small ears, too!” He is going to look just like his daddy, which pleases me beyond words :).




    Here are a few more favorites:




    All glory goes to God, who has kept our little peanut healthy and strong during the last 5 months…The ultrasound tech used the word “healthy” more times than I could count, and when we met with our midwife, she did the same…praise God he is healthy for all my body has been through!! Baby MoBoy’s head is in the 92nd percentile!! Yikes!! His abdominal circumference is 54%; femur length–78%; humerus length–>95%! He weighs 12 oz!! Our little buddy is not so little!! Long arms, long legs, a big head and a normal waist :). He is perfect. 

    The After Tale:

    We ended up going back home to change so I could eat my normal lunch of steak and mashed potatoes before beginning our journey of telling our family and friends. My parents were in Germany at the time, and I was so bummed at the fact that we may not be able to get a hold of them. WELL, I called anyway in hopes of leaving a message for the next time they turned on their phones, and my dad answered!!! It was the greatest blessing in the world…I couldn’t believe it! So my parents were the first people we told and they were in Germany!! Then, we set off in our blue shirts to tell Brian’s family and some of our good friends.

    [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dw3WDyILaZ8?fs=1]

    Here are our matching t-shirts!

    Our first stop was seeing Brian’s mom, who we knew was in the middle of her recess time at school. We hadn’t told anyone that we were getting our ultrasound that day because we wanted to just show up on people’s doorsteps with our matching t-shirts and see if they could figure it out. We spotted Marilyn instantly, and we walked right up to her on the playground. She soon figured it out and was so excited!


    We visited the rest of Brian’s immediate family (with the exception of Angela who is in Spokane) and several of our friends. We have to give kudos to Kevin and Melisa who were, of everyone, the quickest to figure it out without us saying anything. We visited Melisa at her current work. She said, “Oh cute, guys! Matching outfits!! Wait…YOU’RE HAVING A BOY!!!!!” Others, who didn’t catch on quite as fast would say, “What are you guys up to?” To which we’d respond, “Oh, we just wanted to stop by and show you our new shirts!” Then our friends would look at us like we were out of our minds, and say, “Cool, guys………..” and be really confused until they finally figured it out… It was awesome :). We loved it. 


    Well, everyone! Thank you for reading The Tale of the Second Chromosome! We are so excited to share our news with you!!! 


        
  • For Better or For Worse

    For Better or For Worse

    God gave me the most incredible husband on the face of this earth and beyond.

    I’ve thought many-a-times over the last few months, “So this is what they mean when they say, ‘or for worse’….” I’ve heard a lot of people reference vomiting as one of the first “for worses” (I know that’s not a word) that they experience as a married couple. I don’t know what it is about having partially chewed, blended food mixed with stomach acid come back up and into sight again that so quickly trumps every fight, quarrel and difficulty, and qualifies it as a “for worse.” But, it’s true. There have been countless nights of Brian waking up to the sound of my heaving and the familiar splash into my faithful bucket–over, and over, and over. But he’s never ONCE in those moments been awakened from his sleep and ever said anything like, “So this is what they mean when they say, ‘or for worse’.” No, he’s always responded in immediate selflessness, immediate service, immediate affirmation, and immediate love. And you know, you can do anything for a week or even a month. But I tell you what…come month 2, 3… of constant nausea and vomiting, I was so defeated and he was still so strong. I had tried EVERYTHING, but my body is no longer my own…there is nothing I can do to get it back under my control. So when the third throw up of the night would come, all I could think was, “This is the worst…and there’s nothing I can do about it…” And Brian would barely be out of his slumber before he was quenching my fear with truth and hope: “Oh, I’m sorry…you’re doing such a great job! You’re such a great mother to our baby! You’re going to make it…it’s going to be okay…”

    Today, I broke my 10-day vomit-free streak. Brian had just left to go to breakfast with a friend when the nausea that had plagued me for the previous 3 hours finally took over and discovered the outside world by launching itself through my throat and out of my mouth.

    “I’ll always have those 10 days!” I texted him, after relaying the news.

    “I’m so sorry, my Love,” he so gently and lovingly replied.

    He got home from breakfast, came immediately upstairs to check on me, held me for a moment with such tender compassion, and then without saying a word, he picked up my vomit bucket to bring into the bathroom to wash out, a routine he has become quite practiced at the last 3 months. “I haven’t gotten to do this for you in 10 days!” he joyfully declared.

    And with tears in my eyes, I just silently thanked God again for this man He has brought into my life, who serves me with such a gracious love and whose attitude towards this “for worse” could not be better. Without ever being asked to do so, Brian has cleaned out my vomit bucket virtually every single day and night–multiple times–for the last 3 months. And he’s never batted an eyelash. He has held my hair back when I didn’t have a hair tie. He has learned to know what I need when I don’t even know what I need. He knows when to just let me be, and when to distract me from the constant nausea and pain. He knows when to stay clear of me (at times, any little movement triggers the vomiting) and when to gently rub my back or hold my hand. He knows when to empathize with me, to just hold me and listen and tell me it’s going to be okay. And he knows when to encourage me and press me out of my tears and defeat, helping me declare hope over my body and our baby. He stays so strong, even when I have convinced myself and the world around me that vomiting must be my destiny for eternity. He’s always on top of putting a new bottle of apple juice in the fridge when the current one is getting low and buying me more boxes of Lucky Charms when we’re almost out (yes, apple juice and Lucky Charms are my two “needs” first thing every morning…blame it on Baby Moby!). He has picked up my slack in laundry, cleaning, dishes, grocery shopping…driven me to get Vitamin B shots in my bottom when I couldn’t drive myself…beared with me–mostly ;)–when all I craved my first trimester was watching Christmas movies over and over and over again.

    And I’m just finally grasping that this “for worse” has really served as an amazing “for better” in our lives and in our marriage. We have grown so much as a team these last few months; our love for each other has deepened and widened… We have been through this trial TOGETHER… Praise you, oh God for this “for better” in our lives right now! Give me the understanding to see every “for worse” as it really is–as a “for better” in your hands…