The Baby Barnett Decision

Hey yall! Whoa! I didn't expect this many followers so quickly, but I am pumped. Thank you a million times over. This is so much fun for me. And hey, maybe it will curb my enthusiasm to over-post on facebook, ha.

Anywho, today is cheat day in the Barnett house. Saturday is the one day a week that we eat out and don't live by the rules. Its pretty healthy for us, i think. Especially me, haha. I mean 3 meals a day, 6 days a week can wear a mama out, amiright?

So, sadly I wont have any awesome recipes to share today. But, I thought I might take these days to talk. Sort of let you in on where we are in our life and what's going on with us. Shall we?

So, Harper is obviously a breastfed little pup. We love nursing. She is still nursing about every 30 minutes (albeit short spurts) throughout the day and two-six (yes, thats 2 to 6 times, lol) at night depending on her mood. I have always responded to her ques as quickly as possible. I recently came to understand that Harper fits the classification of a "high-needs" baby almost 100%. I've been reading Dr. Sears book "The Fussy Baby" and it has helped give me tremendous insight into her little brain and helped me in times that I feel like I couldn't be needed/touched/etc any more. If your baby is similar, feel my sympathies.

BUT, in the last week or so she has finally started to allow me to sneak away from her when she is asleep. Ya, you read that right. Babygirl is 14 months old and just this week has decided mama doesn't need to hold her the entire time for her to sleep. She went a FULL hour and half today without mama needing to cuddle, and I can honestly say I didn't know what to do with myself! haha. But OMG its a beautiful thing.

In other news, we are starting to talk about what our Barnett Baby #2 is going to look like! Haha, not physically (well, I guess in a way...) but if #2 will be biological or adopted, and when. You see, mama's baby-maker isn't so great. I have endometriosis, PCOS and Extreme Elevated Factor VIII (blood clotting disorder). SO, what that means is, It's hard to conceive, its hard to carry to term and IF all of those happen to work out, I am very high risk for complications and have to be on serious blood thinners for the entirety of the pregnancy and 3-12 months post partum. So, thats fun.


I absolutely loved being pregnant with Harper. She was a bit of a surprise, knowing what we know ^^, but I also knew that she was more than likely our only bio baby and I SOAKED-it-up being pregnant. Her birth was less that exactly what I had wanted/planned but I believe I did the best I could considering the circumstances. (Induced, no epidural) But, after her birth I developed eight blood clots (DVT) and PE. I wasn't aware of my blood clotting issue until then.

39 Weeks with Harper Quinn

So, we are now going through the motions of what we should be looking at for future babies. The thing that I find so frustrating with this is mainly that it's very difficult to know you probably COULD have another baby, but are choosing to instead, have a total hysterectomy instead. **brakes** Sorry - let me explain. You see, because of that pesky blood clotting disorder I have, I cant take birth control. Yep, you read that right! I cannot take any form of hormonal birth control. (Whomp whomp whommppp) Which, really is annoying for anyone, BUT, I also have that other pesky little endometriosis thang. And guess how they manage/treat that? Birth control. HA. So, heres the tango - Since I cannot take birth control my endo will progress further and further with every cycle. This puts me at a high risk for further complications, fertility and even cancer. SO we can't just let it get worse. Now, I have been able to delay the inevitable thus far with the lovely help of LAM (delayed periods thanks to breastfeeding!) so, thats the good news. Now, if we are going to make the decision to not proceed with any more biological children, my OB/GYN highly suggests I proceed with a hysterectomy to reduce my risk for complications from my endometriosis.

I feel like im being whiney. Please, don't think I'm sad. I absolutely LOVE my life, I don't consider this a burden whatsoever. Its merely a complicated, difficult, decision.

SO, here's where we are at. I am thinking both David & I are at peace with having Harper be our only biological child. We are starting to look at our adoption options and that in itself is a huge deal. Domestic vs International? Newborn vs Toddler? Private vs Foster? Shesh. We are praying right now that God opens doors and shows us where he needs us.

So, anyway, now that I've bored you to death with all my decisions, ha. What is going on with you? Where are you at in your life? Link me to your blog in the comments, or message me on facebook. I love connecting with you guys and I am so excited to be a part of this community of women!

PS- If you have any words of wisdom or advice on anything we touched here, I am more than happy to hear what you have to say!

PSS - Here's a really cute picture of my baby.

In His hand,

Hallye