Owen Daniel

I would like to introduce you to my son,

Owen Daniel Horning.

Born on March 17, 2013 at 12:52am. He was 8lbs 8oz and 20.5" long. 

Owen is such a dream. He is a wonderful addition to our family. Ava & Olive are so in love with their new little brother, They run to his side whenever he cries and shower him with hugs and kisses all day long. My delivery of Owen was a whole new experience for me. Even though he is my third child, he is my first one to be delivered with no medication to induce labor. Both of the girls were induced and I had an epidural. I labored for 12 hours with Ava and for 6 With Olive. My prayer throughout this third pregnancy was that God would let me experience labor on my own and I wouldn't have to be induced. I wanted to know that my body could do it on its own. And here is how the story goes...

The two weeks leading up to Owen's birth were spent cleaning, organizing, gardening, cooking, and doing anything else that would keep me busy. As my due date began to creep closer my mind would wonder to places of defeat and frustration, I had already given into the idea that I was going to be induced. My hearts cry to God was that I would go into labor on my own and I would pray every day that He would let it happen. Every night when Daniel would rub my feet I would pour my heart out to him and try my hardest to better explain my desire. I felt silly wanting labor so badly. I knew that either way I would end up with a sweet new baby and that I would labor for hours whether with Pitocin or without. 

There was a particular verse that I would say in my mind whenever I would pray about it. " For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11) I would meditate on that verse and try to remind myself that God knew exactly how he wanted Owen to come into this world. 

On Saturday March 16, (One week and one day before my due date) my parents came over to help us get some house projects done. Daniel built a fence in the front yard, my dad did some electrical work, I organized in the house, and my mom gardened. At one point in the early afternoon I went out front to see how everyone was doing and sat down on our walk way. As I talked with my mom I began weeding in between some of the Paver Stones lining our walk way. It was really awkward and uncomfortable to lean over my giant belly and get down to those weeds, and I remember looking up at my mom and sarcastically saying, "Well, if this doesn't put me into labor than nothing will!" Little did I know, I was only hours away from the beginnings of labor. 

As late afternoon came around and we had all showered and cleaned up from the days work I was beginning to notice that I was "cramping". They would come and go and were getting stronger each time. I thought it might be labor, so I quietly packed mine and Daniel's bag for the hospital. We went to my parents house for dinner at 5:30pm and I had a good friend who was visiting from out of town stop by to say Hi. As time went on at my parents and the "cramping" continued and intensified I began to wonder if I was indeed in labor. Around 6:30pm I was contracting every 10 minutes. I told my mom what I was feeling and asked if she thought I was in labor. Her response, "Maybe?" Gee, thanks Ma! I was hoping for a little more affirmation. But in the next 45 minutes sitting outside it was evident that the time had come! Daniel and I took our girls home and did their normal bedtime routine, with occasional breaks for me leaning against a wall or dresser trying to breath. We got the girls in bed and I began to gather last minute things and clean the house. Although, looking back I wasn't really cleaning, I was just carrying things around and setting them down somewhere else. My contractions were about 7 minutes apart and getting more intense. Even during contractions I was trying to talk myself out of labor. I was so worried that it was just a false alarm and my contractions would stop. I didn't want to get my hopes up. Around 9:15pm as I was laying down I had a contraction that made me realize it was "go time". I looked at Daniel and told him it was time to go. We excitedly scrambled to get stuff together, my parents came to stay with the girls, and off we went to have our son.

Once arriving at the hospital they took me to what they call the "Prove It" room, where they check to see if you're actually in labor. I was at 7cm. Go time!!!! They put in an IV and rushed me off to a labor and delivery room. After getting situated in our room and finishing all our paperwork around 10:30pm my nurse came in and asked if I wanted an epidural. And there it was, the million dollar question! I hadn't decided if I wanted one or not. I knew I wanted one if I had to be induced, but to my surprise I went into labor on my own. I turned to Daniel and asked him what I should do and he lovingly said that it was up to me. I looked at my nurse and told her I wanted to wait and see how far I could make it on my own.... Little did I know there was no turning back!

My contractions intensified quickly. In between contraction my nurse repeatedly complimented Daniel on his glorious beard and reminded me while in pain more than once that I had a hot husband... It was funny, but very true! By 11:15 I was doing the crazy lady moaning with each contraction. I remember looking up at Daniel and the nurse Jewel and apologizing for being one of those weird ladies you see in the birthing videos. They both laughed. By 12am I thought the world was going to end. My contractions were so intense and so close together I felt like I couldn't catch my breath. They lasted for over a minute but were only 45 seconds apart. It got real crazy real fast. In those last 52 minutes of labor, when I was at my weakest, in the most pain of my life, I leaned on Daniel for physical and emotional support. He was incredibly kind and reassuring in the moments when I felt like I couldn't go on. He reminded me that if I could just keep going I would get to hold my son. He was right, and it was so worth it. At 12:52am Owen Daniel was born. He was perfect. 

Daniel and I don't name our children until after they are born because we want to see them first. Naming our son was the most difficult of our three children, but so special for me. I knew I wanted him to have Daniel's name, because of how wonderful he was to me during my labor and delivery. 

Owen means "Well Born" and Daniel means "God is my judge".

I didn't plan on it and I don't know if I could do it again, but having a natural delivery was an incredible experience. Being that aware of what is going on is both excruciating and invigorating. Owen's birth story is unique and new to me and I wouldn't change it.

Grace & Peace

Sweet Baby

 

  At 5:37 this morning my Sister-In-Law Jennifer gave birth to her second daughter, Jubilee Lania. Oh what a precious girl she is. When we got the text this morning with her sweet picture, tears welled up in my eyes. I wanted to badly to be there with my family and celebrate this incredible miracle of life. Living 300 miles away makes it difficult to just hop in the car and drive down to the Hospital to join in the celebration. We are hoping to get down there soon to meet her, i only have about 4 weeks left that I can travel so we need to go soon! :)
All morning I have been day dreaming about Jubilee and what she will be like. Her favorite color, or food, the little funny sayings she will have, what she will look like when she is older.... All exciting things. 

Then my mind wondered to my new sweet baby. Feeling her kick around in my tummy, I can't help but wonder what she is thinking. "Mom, it's too crowded!" or "Hey! Ava, play with me!". I day dream about my new little life all the time. One thing i haven't had much time to dream about is her name.... Well, I take that back. I have had time, and I do think about it a little, but there still isn't a front runner. We wait to name our babies until we see them. We have a list of names we like that we can pull from so we aren't going in totally blind! With Ava we had a huge list of names we loved, probably 20 first names and 10 middle names. But with this tiny dancer, we have probably 5 names we are thinking and praying about. Very different experience this time around. But I am loving every second of it. I am 30 weeks pregnant tomorrow, so we still have a little time left to figure out some more names!



Grace & Peace

House Hunters...Horning Edition

   Oh Lord have mercy. Trying to buy a house is probably the most exhausting thing I have ever done. Over the past 3ish months Daniel and I have been on the hunt for our first little home. We started out with tons of excitement and energy and now we are dragging our feet. I think we have put in about 6 offers. Now a few of those are duplicate offers on a single property, but still lots of offers. We fell deeply in love with one house and didn't get it and now were still being just a little "emo" about it. We are going to look at a few more this week, pray for us! The hardest part in this whole Home Buying process is really trusting that the Lord has a perfect house at the perfect time. My brain is so quick to work out details that I think fit perfectly, but every time I do I am reminded that God is weaving His details together much better then I ever could.
   In other news, we started our Name List! There are quite a few very cute possible names for Tiny Dancer #2 on there! Can't wait till she is here and I get to squeeze her. T-minus 4 months and 5 days.... Well, till my due date, but going off previous experience it will be about a week after that.


Grace & Peace

Mustard Seed Love

This morning in my Bible I read Matthew 17. The whole chapter is amazing, but I read over a very familiar story and it encouraged me in a new way. Verse 20 says this:

" He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, "Move from here to there," and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you"

   Every time I have read that scripture or heard it in a sermon it was used as an encourager to have more faith and you can do more for God. I mean, that was the basic gist of it. But today as I read it I was encouraged as a Mother. I know it may seem a bit cheesy, but it's true! Daniel and I found out yesterday that we are having another little girl, and my biggest concern with having 2 children is giving them each enough love and attention. I am not worried about how to manage two kids, or go to the grocery store, or run errands, or even about finances! I just want to make sure they both feel loved enough. And as I was reading that verse I felt so encouraged and relieved, like, "Hey, I can do this!"
   I know the key to it working is having enough faith, and even though it is a struggle sometimes to not doubt God or try and fix a problem on my own, at least I know that it is possible. If I just have mustard seed faith that God will help me, I know I can do it.  I want to have Mustard seed love for my babies. If my faith is the size of a mustard seed and I can move a mountain, imagine how much mustard seed love could do.


Grace & Peace