The Knowin Owen Blog: One Short Month!

For all of our diehard Knowin Owen fans, you'll have to wait until the end of this post for that sweet face....Little Brother Abel demands his own update! :)

The tides are a changin' here in the Daugherty house....in less than one month we will be a family of four! That's right, Baby Abel's scheduled delivery day is August 1st! (That's just 6 days apart from Big Brother!) I have been so blessed to be taken back in to the high risk practice that delivered Owen. I am comfortable with each doctor and trust their skilled, researched knowledge for each decision they make.

As of right now, the plan is (haha, laugh it up, I know my plans never work out!) that I will go to the hospital on August 1. At that time, if I am "favorable" for laboring then my doctor will break my water and see how things go. I would love, love, love to deliver Abel as natural as possible. This was my plan with Owen, but of course because of many complications I needed a c-section. If I am not favorable, or the doctor is uncomfortable with me laboring, then we will proceed with a c-section. Allowing me to labor and deliver naturally comes with a few complications, due to the surgeries I had on my uterus with Owen and being a previous c-section. Please pray for wisdom for our doctor in making these decisions. We just can't wait to hold our sweet man!

As of right now, Baby Abel is measuring just perfectly. :) I, however measure two weeks ahead. Yes, you read that right...at my 34 week appointment my belly measured 36 weeks! I almost fell off the table! I suppose if I paid more attention when looking in the mirror I wouldn't have been so surprised. :) Abel measures a bit above average, but they don't seem to be too concerned. I have to say, I wouldn't mind having a nice, chunky boy...it would be a good excuse for this extra large belly I'm carrying around! No matter how big or small, we are just so blessed to be welcoming another sweet boy to our family. :)

My sweet Mom came up for an extended visit last week while my brother was at basketball camp. It was so wonderful and relaxing to have her here...for longer than one night! Owen loved all the extra attention, too. :) My mom was gracious enough to attempt another babysitting session even though our last one didn't fare out so well. (Faithful followers will remember Owen's little stunt with pulling out his g-tube last time!) Marlee and Owen played while Mommy and Daddy set out for a nice dinner to celebrate our 4 year anniversary.

Daddy is knee deep into his residency at Jewish Hospital. His first day he left our house round 5:30am and didn't make it home until after 10pm. This doctor stuff is no joke! :) We are so, so proud of how hard Michael has worked to achieve his goals, all while leading and loving our little family. :)

Mr. Owen is just moving and grooving like crazy! He has completely mastered the speed crawl. And will crawl anywhere....except grass! He is pulling up to his knees and is finally strong enough to stand with support! We are working with our new PT and learning to use his new "walker" to help build muscle strength. I know things are going to get crazy once this boy can walk (hey, they are already are now with crawling!), but I am just so excited to see him grow and develop each day! :) We've been working hard learning our shapes and he can work a 5 piece shape puzzle without assistance. (You know I have to brag on my little smartie pants!) His absolute favorite thing right now is singing Old MacDonald....he falls asleep singing E-I-E-OOO and wakes up finishing! I am just loving this age and so enjoy my time at home with him. I don't want to miss a moment. :)

We spend most of our days outside...yes this large pregnant woman is feeling every single degree of this heat wave! Owen would play outside all day. In or out of the pool...he loves the outdoors! In fact, he just loves to play. :) I love watching him "read" his books and sing his songs while he's playing. Such a sweet innocence, I just wish I could bottle him up and keep him like this forever!

My little patriotic swimmer :)

Owen's doctor appointments have been going very well. We've been moved to clinic appointments every two weeks! While we love our doctors, it's nice to not be stuck in the hospital all morning every Friday! :)Thank you, thank you for your constant prayers for Owen. Especially for his bladder. We are continuing to pray that the Lord would strengthen and stretch his bladder so that it can accommodate his new, healthy kidney. (And we've seen lots of improvement since transplant in his bladder, as well as the left native kidney and ureter!) Of course, we ask that you pray his body continues to accept his kidney and that it will continue to work it's wonders in his little body!

I've been reading The Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian (I highly recommend this book and can't wait to read the one for wives as well.) and while I've been so blessed by the scripture saturated book, I've also been challenged and convicted during my prayer time for my children. My main focus for Owen since before he was born has been his health. It consumes most of my thoughts, and of course my prayers for him. But I need to be praying for so much more for my baby. I need to cover every aspect of his life in prayer.

"Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift your hands toward Him for the life of your young children." Lamentations 2:19

It is my prayer that my boys will grow to be strong, obedient men of God. I need to focus my prayer time to cover them with the word of God, knowing that He will equip Michael and I with wisdom in our parenting skills and choices.

Thanks for checking in on our soon-to-be-growing little family!