Home Sweet Home

We are finally home with our little 5 day-old sweetheart and we could not be happier to be here. The staff at Rex Hospital was simply amazing and they took wonderful care of all three of us-- never the less we are so happy to be here in our own little home, as we try to adapt to our brand new life. Things are going well so far-- tonight is our first night-- so we will let you know how it goes! My mom will be staying with us for a few more days and it's such a blessing to have her nearby in this time of adjustment. Tonight, she and Lance's mom cooked us a wonderful home-cooked meal of pot roast and veggies, creamed peas, squash casserole and homemade biscuits-- WOW! It was such a welcome change from all the various non-home cooked meals we have had over the last few days and we are so grateful to them for being here for us!
For those of you who don't know, having Lucy this past Tuesday was a bit of a shock for us! We went to our 39 week Dr's Appt. and discovered that my blood pressure had sky-rocketed and that I was displaying signs of pre eclampsia. Our Dr. decided it was best to go ahead and take Little Lu by C-section, because she was showing no signs of coming on her own. So-- a few hours later, we found ourselves with our little one very quickly on the way!! The Lord watched over us and baby was born at 9:19pm with no problems or complications. Lucy Marie Stuckey weighed 6 lbs. 11 ounces and was 19 3/4 inches long! We stayed at Rex a couple of extra days due to my continued blood pressure issues and thankfully those seem to be getting better. Please continue to pray for us as we get into a good routine and more importantly that we will contiuously praise the Lord for this great and wonderful gift He has given us--(even when we are exhausted in the days to come!) Thank you!

**UPDATE**
Clearly I knew what was shortly ahead of us even as I wrote this post yesterday-- our first night at home was a rough one to be sure. We both got about an hour and half of sleep last night. WOW. We know it will get better-- and we KNOW it's well worth it to finally have our girl safely at home.

Little did we know...

What would take place later that day... (May 26th)!!!!

Lucy Marie Stuckey was born May 26th, 9:19 pm. She weighed 6 lbs. 11 ounces and was 19 3/4 inches long!!! We are all three doing very well-- but very tired. More later! :)

A weekend of Celebration!

After 3 years of hard work, Lance received his Master of Divinity Degree from SEBTS!!! I could not be more proud of Him as He has diligently studied while remaining an attentive husband and father over the past couple of years. It seems like yesterday he and I met when he had not been here but a few months. I have cherished the joy of standing beside him as his wife for the last part of his seminary career and I cannot wait to see where the Lord takes us next. Please join me in celebrating what God has done for our family and in the life of my wonderful husband-- who is now.. a GRADUATE!!

I LOVE this picture. I think I shall frame it.

P.S. One week from tomorrow is the Due Date. Whoa! Unbelievable.

Actually, Mr. Neander, I could not have said it better myself.

Earlier today, I heard this hymn for probably the hundreth time. It never fails to comfort me and remind me of the Lord's unfailing love and provision. I could not possibly convey the beauty of the hymn better than the author did so many years ago. So without further ado:

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!

O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!

All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near;

Praise Him in glad adoration.

Praise to the Lord, who over all things so wondrously reigneth,

Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!

Hast thou not seen how thy desires ever have been

Granted in what He ordaineth?

Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;

Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee.

Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,

If with His love He befriend thee.

Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore Him!

All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him.

Let the Amen sound from His people again,

Gladly for aye we adore Him.

What we've been up to...

We finally got the last piece of Lu's furniture in-- and since it was the piece we were really waiting on, we went right to work-- making her little space. Love it. Love her. Can't wait.

We took a quick weekend trip to Myrtle Beach to spend time with some Stuckey Fam.
Ahhh. relaxation galore. (And lots and lots of crab legs.) This marked our last piece of "travel" until after Baby L makes an appearance.

Mom came to visit last weekend-- she came in time for our Wake Forest Baby Shower-- This was given by Linda Baker and Courtney Sexton. It was simply phenomenal. Pictures to come-- courtesy of Amanda. :)

While Mom was in town, we took in a Durham Bulls game. Great fun-- although we lost miserably. Oh well.

Lucy's First Baseball game. We did not stay for the fireworks. Let's give her ears a chance to mature before submitting her to napalm.

We went strawberry picking at Volmer Farm. Love those organic berries! I planned to make jam-- it never happened. We ate too many of them and made a pie with the rest. Oh well. Maybe next year.

As much as I'd like today to be a wordless wednesday...

I have too much to say.

Today was eventful.

1. We met our brand new OB Dr. (Yep, that's right-- 4 weeks out and we had to switch doctors.) This happened last week at our regular appt. with our usual Doc. He had some unforeseen circumstances come up and will be unable to deliver us or anyone else in the months of May and June. It's a shame, because we have really grown to love and respect him. But, aside from my irrational freak out moment in the car on the way home that day, it has turned out okay. He referred us to another Dr. which he knows and trusts and very apologetically sent us on our way.

Today we met the new Dr. and though we haven't spent the last 8 months getting to know him, I think we are all in good hands. This is just one more thing that has happened completely opposite of what we expected. We continue to say and know that God is in Control.

2. On a slightly silly note, after leaving the Dr. and paying them a whopping sum of not quite expected moo-lah, we were riding home and I'm sorta wondering in the back of my mind... "what else will happen?" My glasses broke. Just broke in two. Oh yeah. Resisting the urge to freak out... (Or was it that I did freak out about us potentially having to shell out more money and Lance calmed me down as he always does?)
Hmmm...
the details are a bit blurry...

Anyway, we stopped in at the Target optical center and the lovely lady there helped us find a pair of frames that would fit my lenses--- looked up our insurance, found out the insurance would pay for the bulk of the cost (Thank you, Lord!) and had us on our way in 25 minutes. Now, how's that for a crisis averted?

3. Somewhere in the middle of all this, while pondering how uncertain the next few months of our lives are-- I stopped and thanked the Lord for the amazing blessing of becoming a mother. And as I thought about it-- I realized there are a few things I will actually miss about being pregnant. Some serious (I sincerely think I will miss feeling her kicks and movements inside of me,) some silly, some involving ice cream without the guilt... at any rate, I am purposing to thoroughly relish the next 4 weeks.

Once Lucy is in our arms-- I know I will revel in holding her, smelling that sweet baby smell (confession: I currently sniff her baby lotion way too often in anxious anticipation.) I know we will just melt hearing her little coo's and sounds. I know her face will melt my heart as looking into it will reflect not only some of my features but the features of her daddy, whom I love so much. I cannot wait to hold her tiny little pink hands in my own. I ache to see her filling up the space we have made for her, and yet find comfort in knowing that she can stay safely inside my belly for a bit longer.

All weepy ramblings aside, I am loving this. I am loving feeling her little movements and hearing her heartbeat at every appointment. I love the excitement of all of our close family and friends as we await her arrival. I love how the Lord uses her sweet presence to give me amazing comfort as we face uncertainty. She is already bringing us joy and blessing.

Sure, my ankles are swollen and my clothes are forever getting smaller and I get tired at the drop of a hat and I cannot go an hour without a visit to the ladies room and I am feeling bigger and bigger and bigger every day and about a dozen other "interesting" symptoms that come with being pregnant... but the bottom line: I love it.
I could not be more thankful. And how dare I complain anyway? We have been given such an amazing gift in this little one. She seems to be healthy and has been this entire time. What's more important, we know the Lord gave her to us as a gift and a responsibility.

She is a miracle. We are grateful. We are intimidated to be sure, but grateful. God forbid we ever take this for granted.