Me & Shawn. We go way back.

Phew!  So glad last night is over, but what an AMAZING night!!!  It was DE Right to Life's annual banquet.  We had several guests/presenters and it was fabulous!

First we had music from a local singer/songwriter, Caitlin Jane.  This girl is so dang beautiful and makes the most beautiful music!  Please check her out and order her new CD!  If nothing else, AT LEAST watch this video.  Dare ya not to cry.  (I'm featured in an interview on the DVD that's coming out soon!  Can't wait!)

 

Next was Special Guest speaker, Miss Delaware 2011, Maria Cahill!  She's a brilliant and convicted 20-year-old woman who's not afraid to stand up for life!  She's the 2nd of 7 kids from a devoutly Catholic family.  She spoke at our Women's Conference earlier this spring and when the video of her talk went viral, she suffered a LOT of backlash for it.  "Beauty queens shouldn't be talking about such controversial topics, etc etc."  The usual.  She hadn't even competed in the Miss Delaware competition yet, but she wasn't going to be silenced (and obviously it didn't hurt her chances at winning!!).  She's still offering her services to us at any event she can be of help.  Root for Miss Delaware in the Miss America pageant in January!

I hesitated to post a picture of my 8-month-pregnant-self next to a beauty queen, but I'm working on humility.  Figured there wasn't a better lesson than this.  Ugh.

Then, the coup de grace - our keynote speaker, Shawn Carney!  O. M. G.  You guys, I had heard that he's an amazing speaker, but I was NOT prepared for this!!!  If any of  you work with a pro-life organization of any kind....HIRE this man for your next event!!!  I wish we'd been able to record his talk, but it didn't work out.  All I can say is that I've had more compliments on our event in the last 12 hours than I think I've had combined in the last 3 years I've been president!!!  Just...wow.  Here we are...old buddies!  :)

Somehow I look way better in the pic next to a dude than next to a 20 year old beauty queen.  Odd.

Funny sidenote: dude is YOUNG!!  He walked up to us in the hotel lobby and there were only 3 of us there at the time (we were setting up).  I was the oldest at 33, the banquet coordinator is 32, and the other board member there with us is 20.  He goes, "Wow, y'all are young!"  We just kind of looked at him like, "Ummmm...look in a mirror much??"  He says, "What?  I'm gonna be 30 this year!"  Yeah.  Like we said.  Anyway, he's accomplished so much at such a young age.  And he's got the greatest personality and sense of humor.  It was such a fun evening!

Now on the docket for today - a giant nap!

Warning - baby photos & stuff

I had to title the post with a warning because my IF wounds are still fairly fresh.  I remember how difficult it used to be for me to see others' baby and ultrasound pics on their blogs.  Not that I wasn't happy for anyone, but, well, you all know what I mean.  I haven't posted much news or even any pics because of this.  Plus it's emotionally been an up & down pregnancy so I've mostly just kept private.  But I've had a few requests for photos lately so here goes.

I had BPP #3 today.  Baby has passed every one with flying colors!  Today I even got to see him sucking his hand and grabbing his foot.  Truly miraculous.  It never gets old.

Here he is:

And...here I am at 32 weeks (blurry photo taken by a 5 year old):

Praise God for our little miracle!

Prayer Buddy Reveal

Better late than never, my summer prayer reveal!!  Over the past few months I've been praying for BRENDA at Life as We Know It!  I've loved getting to know Brenda through her blog and read about her wonderful family!  I certainly hope she and I will keep in touch!

I also found out that I have been prayed for by Jen at Crowley Coupledom!  I can't express how much Jen's prayers have meant to me throughout these months and this roller coaster pregnancy!  I felt those prayers, Jen!

"Decreased Fetal Movement" and BPP's

So I had my regular OB appointment 2 weeks ago and I had some concerns because I hadn't felt the baby move a whole lot in the previous 24 hours.  Of course, the day of my appt, he was thrashing around like a squirrel on crack, but my doc was concerned nonetheless.  So she ordered a bio-physical profile, or BPP.  A BPP is an ultrasound, but they don't do the typical measurements like usual.  The baby has to "perform" certain functions and it gets a score, with an 8 being perfect.  They look at fluid levels, he has to do certain things like practicing breathing, motor skills, etc.  I got it scheduled for the next day, and the results were perfectly fine.  He had a half hour to perform his tasks and I was back in my car with an 8/8 within 20 minutes.  So I thought all was good.

Well, today I had my follow-up appt. with my OB and she asked about his movements.  I told her that he's been moving a lot, it's just a lot less predictable than it used to be.  I used to be able to kind of count on when he was going to move, especially at night.  But the last couple of weeks have been less scheduled.  And all morning today he was a total nut in there, so I wasn't worried.  But I guess my doc was.

She said she just wants to be precautionary and have me get BPP's every week, as well as follow-up OB visits.  Ugh.  Not only is this kind of annoying to do on a weekly basis, but I'm totally freaked out now!!  She said, though, that if I had had a "normal" pregnancy, she wouldn't have ordered the BPP's.  But because of my history of "blighted twin" (that's what they call it) and placenta previa, she just wants to be extra cautious.

I know she's just looking out for me and my baby, but I can't help but think she's not telling me that there's something she's really worried about.  I'm probably just being paranoid.  But I'd still sure appreciate your prayers.

On a positive note, I'm THIRTY...30...weeks on Friday!  Where has the time gone??  December 2 still seems so far away, but when I think of it in terms of weeks, I cannot believe I only have about 10 left.

Excitement in my diocese

I. Am. Thrilled!  I'm on the pro-life committee for my diocese, which is basically a compilation of pro-life activists in the diocese and we all get together and keep each other abreast of what's going on with each of our groups, brainstorm new ideas, etc.  

After decades of fighting with the diocese (not me personally, but my organization!) because of (from what I understand) a falling-out between my organization and the former head of pro-life activities, I now have a wonderful working relationship with the new priest who holds that position since the retirement of the former employee.  It has been such a blessing to have this priest in this position and be so open and supportive of our work.

Well, because of this great relationship, I have also been able to discuss with him some other ideas I have that don't necessarily pertain to DRTL.  Specifically I have approached him about the possibility of creating an infertility support group within the diocese as well as NaPro education and catechesis!  And he's 100% open to the idea!  In fact, at our last meeting it was an agenda item!!  Father's counterpart (they broke the position up into 2 different responsibilities when the last employee left) is already working with the Couple to Couple League on making NFP mandatory for pre-cana classes!  This is such great news in a diocese as liberal as ours (the Vice President receives Communion in this diocese, if that tells you anything).  

I need to begin working on a proposal for these issues.  Has anyone out there started something like this in their diocese?? Keep in mind, I'm not even remotely a Creighton practitioner or NaPro physician!!  My idea is to have a two-pronged approach: support and education.  My first order of business would be the IF support group, with references to nearby Creighton/NaPro resources.  Unfortunately we don't have any in our state....we'd have to refer to Pennsylvania.  But the most important thing is having a forum for Catholic women suffering from IF to have a place to go and talk to others...something I didn't have through 4 years of suffering.  Then, I would hope to get some pro-life physicians on board after that takes off and hopefully demand increased.  

Anyway, these are all just kind of pipe dreams right now.  It's great that the diocese is on board, but needless to say I have a LOT of discernment to do.  I'm swamped right now with my Right to Life responsibilities as well as getting ready for baby and running a kindergartner all over the map.  I'll be getting more involved with Jack's school, and he wants to join 4-H and Cub Scouts.  So I really need to figure out where I'm supposed to be and how I'm supposed to be using my talents.  But I do feel as though I'm being called more into diocesan catechesis (pro-life and its tangential issues) as opposed to non-denominational pro-life work.  We'll see.  Much discernment ahead.  If you could say a quick little prayer that I can figure all this out, it would be utterly appreciated!  :)  God bless!

Creighton Practitioners - Need Advice!!

All you FCP's out there, I need some help - and fast!  I have a friend who is on BC due to acne and facial hair, and although I have successfully talked her into throwing it out in the past, she's desperate because every time she goes off of it, her problems come back (I've explained to her that it's because BC is just a mask...not a solution.  But again...she's desperate) and she re-orders it.  I've told her about NaPro, which I know she needs to find a real solution to her problems, but there's not an FCP in her area (or even close by really) and she has a job that requires a lot of hours.  And I'm sure, since she's not TTC or IF (she's not even married), that she wouldn't be willing to travel very far for the process.

I guess my question is, can she do consults over the phone, get bloodwork done remotely or through her local doc, etc?  I need some advice.  I really need to get her off this toxic pill before she has a stroke!!!  Help!!!

Please feel free to leave a comment or email me privately with any suggestions at: nmlehe(@)gmail(.)com.  Thanks in advance!!

Santorum Interview

My husband sent me this interview with Rick Santorum by CNN's Piers Morgan. Unlike Christine O'Donnell, Santorum stayed on camera and answered the tough questions! What a concept for a politician!

My favorite line of his is when he's pressured by Morgan to basically recognize that "hey, sure you're Catholic and so am I, but times have changed" (I'm paraphrasing) regarding gay marriage. Santorum responds,

"I don't think -- Piers, I don't think the truth changes. I don't think right and wrong change based on different eras of time. Things are -- there are some truths that are in fact eternal and are truth and based on nature and nature's law. And that's what the church teaches and that's what the Bible teaches and that's what reason dictates." 

Can I just say, BRILLIANT!! Such a breath of fresh air to hear a politician talk about objective truths and not try to dance around them, or appease the masses with some sort of, "Well, I believe X, but I don't think the government should be involved..." baloney. (He does get into a little bit of "the government shouldn't be involved" stuff, but I think it's used in the appropriate context.)

This reminds me so much of what's been going on recently at Leila's and Stacy's blogs. Again...it's so nice to hear about objective morality from a politician! The one thing I didn't like about the interview is the fact that he makes abortion exceptions for life of the mother. Of course, we all know, it is never medically necessary to perform an abortion (enter principle of double effect). But he did give a brilliant answer in the Fox News debate on abortion in cases of rape and incest. When pressured by the moderator to cave on those tough cases, he responded brilliantly,

"That child is an innocent victim. To be victimized twice would be a horrible thing. It is an innocent human life, genetically human from the moment of conception. We in America should be big enough to try to surround ourselves and help women in those terrible situations who have been traumatized already. To put them through another trauma of an abortion, I think is too much to ask. So I would absolutely stand and say that one violence is enough."

Santorum also addresses Morgan's asinine question about abortion when Morgan implies that because Santorum had a child who died shortly after birth, and another one who is severely handicapped, that somehow now he would be more lenient on abortion rights.  Ummm..seriously?!?!?  Did Morgan really think Santorum would answer by saying, "Oh yeah, Piers, you're right actually.  I DO wish my handicapped daughter was dead!"

Will the media EVER get it????

I think he also addresses other issues like economics and foreign policy like a champ.  Even if you don't agree with his policies (which I do), you can tell he's extremely experienced and well-versed on the subjects (again...what a concept for a politician!).

I think the unfortunate case for Rick Santorum as a presidential candidate is that the majority of Americans doesn't like conservative Catholics.  The Biden/Pelosi variety??  Oh yeah...people LOVE them.  And why not?  They don't espouse an objective morality.  Their "Catholicism" is all about emotions and feeling good, moral relativity, and individual happiness.  Theirs is the "easy Catholicism."  Santorum's (the real kind) is about true fulfillment, doing the objectively right thing for God and country even if it means self-sacrifice, and finding happiness in God, not self.

I pray that more politicians stand up for faith, family, and values unabashedly, like Rick Santorum does.  And I pray that America listens.