3 and 1/2 months Final Post

Hello friends, It has been quite awhile and I apologize for the time that has passed. Augustine Ignatius Thompson was born Jan 30th at 36.5 weeks 7lbs and 11 ounces 19 1/2 inches long 2:15am. I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your support, prayers, and love during my pregnancy. It seems like a dream that our son is here. I cannot imagine my life without him. He is our Joy and the greatest gift God can bless any married couple that has been trying to have a successful pregnancy. We are truly blessed and I thank God everyday for his life and for choosing us to be his parents.

Motherhood is certainly very challenging,difficult and a vocation. Its a perpetual way of dying to self 24hours a day 7 days a week. God designed us in such a way to be able to be what he created us to be and it still blows my mind how detail oriented our God is. Augustine is perfect and he is what Marty and I needed. He teaches us unconditional love everyday. His smile brings tears to my eyes and his laughs fill my heart with an unexplainable Joy. All of our babies brought a special gift to us in our lives no matter how short there time was with us. Augustine is just another special gift and unique in his own way. I truly believe with all my heart that he can see his brothers and that they play with him and make him smile. The day before I went into labor, I had a dream with a priest that I have never met before in my life and he came to me and said "you will be having a baby this week" and I said "how do you know", and he replied "because I see Andrew holding him on the couch over there" and went I looked over to the couch I saw no one and I woke up. 24 hours later i was in labor having Augustine and I thought to myself "Wow, our baby Andrew who died 2 years ago wanted to hold his baby brother first before he came into this world, what an amazing love!

It has been an amazing 3 1/2 months and every day is so special. Faith, Perseverance and God's Mercy brought Augustine in this world and my daily prayer is that Augustine may fulfill God's purpose for him in this life and that he may have a special devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.

I will not be blogging anymore after this post, Augustine takes all my time. I just wanted to thank you all for your amazing support in this journey of ours and we continue to pray that God will bless us with more babies if it be his Will. I love you all!! You are all in my prayers and I thank you for your amazing love for us!

May God's blessing be upon you all,

Love,

Diana, Augustine and Marty Thompson

35 weeks

Well this has been a journey of faith for sure. God has been in the drivers seat and continues to take us on the road to joy and peace. I am finally eased off from bed rest, Yippee!! I am now allowed to drive once a week to the doctors, but even that is a great gift for me. I can do a little more around our lil apartment and continue to get prepared for baby Augustine's arrival.

He weighs 6.5 lbs, his head is measuring 36 weeks and his chest is measuring 37 weeks. The gestational diabetes is a big factor in these last weeks because if he gets too big we run the risk of a difficult delivery. This is why he is inducing me 14 days early so that we avoid any last minute complications. Besides that baby is doing great, breathing well, heart rate is normal,movements are normal and he remains in position for delivery. We have 2 more weeks to go and it just seems so unbelievable. For me this is all new and my feelings and fears are just about taking a toll because we are so close. The Lord has brought me comfort in just trusting him. I close my eyes tell him my worries and fears and then he says "Trust Me". So I let go and do just that and all my fears and worries disappear. Every night I think could this be it? Is he coming today? Then God says be still and trust. So I respond and say yes Lord you are in control and you know the time and the day you will call him into this world to do your will and serve your purpose.What an awesome God we have.

So I wait with anticipation and excitement to hold this precious gift in my arms and give him a whole lot of love,hugs and kisses. I love you sweet Augustine and I cant wait to show you how much I do. I promise to give it my all to bring you in this world.

In the arms of Jesus,Mary and Joseph,

Diana,Marty and Baby Augustine

Venerable Pope John Paul II Pray for Us!

34 Weeks

We made it! We are out of the woods! God is Merciful,Gracious and Loving! Had our doctors visit today and all is on schedule for baby Augustine. He is in the 95Th percentile and a little over 6lbs. Doctor will induce in 3 1/2 weeks! I will continue bed rest until 37 weeks.

I am speechless with how far we have come in our pregnancy and how much God has shown is love and great mercy to us. Every pregnancy I have had has been so blessed and special regardless if they are in heaven. Now with Augustine being so close to enter this world to fulfill God's will is just so amazing and a gift. The vocation of motherhood will be challenging but I believe that it is all worth it. I just pray I can be the mother God is calling me to be and to always rely on God's will for my baby and not my will. Marty and I are reading a book together called parenting with grace. So far it has confirmed for us how we want to raise our child and that is according to God's will. There have been many trials and challenges in this pregnancy and I would not change it at all because it has only helped me to become closer to God and to rely solely on him with the help of our Blessed Mother.

Thank you all for the meals,holy communion,gifts and prayers. May God reward you and I lift you all up in prayer that he may bless you in a special way.

We are so thankful for all your prayers because we would not have made it this far without your intercession. The power of prayer is real and God certainly answers every time.

I pray for the courage and strength to deliver this great gift of life and for a healthy baby boy.

In the arms of Jesus,Mary and Joseph,

Diana,Marty and Baby Augustine

32 Weeks

Much has changed since my last post. Last week my doc appointment went well, the baby is now 4.8 lbs and growing. They ran a series of tests which they do every week to check for preterm labor. It has always been negative until this past Wednesday, it came back positive. I was sent to labor and delivery on Wednesday for more testing. I was released with the understanding that baby Augustine will be born early. I remain on bed rest and wait until God calls our little miracle into the world.

I am anxious and very excited to meet this great gift of God. I pray everyday for strength and courage to make it through and that he may be born healthy. This Advent has been the most meaningful of all advents because I finally understand the holiness of the season, the true meaning of the season and the importance of truly preparing my heart so that Jesus can be born in the manger of my heart and not find it cold or bitter but warm and filled with love for him. As I continue to carry baby Augustine, I just sit and think about our Blessed Mother and her thoughts as she carried the Son of God. To travel on a donkey over 70 miles, in the cold with St Joseph, 9 months pregnant and then to arrive with no room in the Inn. To be born in a cold,dirty stable and placed in a manger. How many times I have had the "no vacancy" sign up during advent because I failed to see the true meaning and joy of this holy season. Now God gave me the opportunity to experience Advent on bed rest and carrying his gift to me of Life. How much God Loves that he can take any one of us, stop us in our tracks and slow us down to really focus on why he came and how he came as a baby so gentle and so helpless. I needed this and if I had to do it all over again I would not change the experience of this pregnancy.

Thank you baby Jesus for the gift of Life, for the sacredness of Life and for your great Love. To open a womb and bless it with Life!

Thank you all for your prayers, they truly mean alot to us.
May God continue to bless you this Christmas Season.
In The Arms of Jesus,Mary and Joseph,
Diana,Marty and baby Augustine

30 weeks

God's Mercy is so amazing. I never would have thought I would make it this far in pregnancy and God has shown me his power and mercy that with him all is possible. My advent has been one of contemplation on Our Blessed Mother,the birth of John the Baptist and Nativity, all of these great events that took place during advent. What does it mean? To me it has meant patience in its greatest form. Silence in it's most profound way and Love in its most unconditional way. To feel my baby move and kick, to be uncertain of what will happen next week after week,to have a doctor and crew of nurses that are God's gift to so many expectant mothers especially me, to be on bed rest day after day waiting,praying,resting....what a gift! to place all my trust in him is priceless.
To truly sit here and receive. Not able to give, not able to buy gifts or wrap presents,not able to spread joy the way I want but to see what GOD wants, to see HIS way and to receive HIS gifts has left me silent. So humbling has it been for me and such a lesson.

My doc appointment today was pretty much the same, my cervix is still very short, you can see his head inches away from it, he is weighing a little over 4 pounds, his heart and fluids are great, he is head down and overall such a cutie pie. I cant wait to hold him. I do see the doc again this Friday so more details to follow.

I am grateful to all for prayers, communion and meals. I lift you all up in prayer everyday, that God may Bless you in his way. We love you all and thank you for being here for us in such a loving way.

I love you baby Anthony, Francesco,Edward and Andrew, thank you for your intercession in heaven for your baby brother Augustine.

In the arms of Jesus Mary and Joseph,
Diana,Marty and baby Augustine

28 Weeks

Our 28 week visit went south again with a shorten cervix and blood pressure levels high. We were admitted again to the hospital this time with careful montioring for 3 days. They had me in labor and delivery for reasons of contractions, I.V. and Insulin drip hook up,baby monitoring and blood pressure monitoring. Blood sugar levels were climbing which can lead to baby's death so they needed to stabilize me quickly. I am blessed to have an awesome doctor and nurses that did everything they could to get my body to stop reacting the way it was. The baby the entire time was doing great, heart rate and movements were great and that brough me so much peace. This was a very difficult visit to the hospital because you just never know, and there wasn't anything I was doing to cause everything in my body to go haywire, it's just how my body is reacting and this is the furthest in pregnancy we have ever obtained. Spiritually, I gave it all to Jesus and told him once again "You know best and you are in CONTROL" My worries and anxities were keeping me from trusting completely in him but I claimed the Blessed Mother to hold my hand and help me through this trial once again. I asked her to help me for I was helpless and only through her could I obtain his grace. She did just that, she brought me courage and peace. Her presence filled the room and she was there interceding along with all of you who pray for us. I felt scared and blessed at the same time deep inside. To see once again that none of us can escape true suffering at any capacity. It is for me a sanctification an opportunity to tell my Lord, Here I am, I do offer this up to you in repentance of my sins and the conversion of sinners. I give this all to you Lord, do with me what you will always. I just ask for courage to get through anything else that may come my way as we move closer to baby Augustine's birth. He will be worth it all. I in turn thank God for blessing me, so unworthy of this great gift to be a mommy once again. I just pray I fullfill my responsibility as a mother in God's eyes.
So at this point I continue to be on strict bedrest and weekly doc visit. He did say it can be anytime this month they are just trying to keep him inside so that his lungs continue to mature. I truly believe all will be well because God's hands are in this. I thank you again for your prayers and I hope these blogs can only be an inspiration to all expectant mothers that need hope and faith. In the end God is always in control no matter the outcome, he knows Best. He loves us all no matter what. Thanks again to my wonderful husband for his uncondtional love and support. Thank you all for your prayers! Happy Advent!

In the arms of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
Diana,Marty and Baby Augustine.

26 weeks

As many of you know, I went into a routine check up this past Tuesday. I was placed on diabetic medicine because my gestational diabetes diet did not remedy my blood sugar levels to regulate. So now I must follow a more stricter diet,along with medicine and checking my blood sugar throughout the day. I then mentioned to my doc that my lower back has been hurting and Monday night was a constant pain all night long. He then proceeded to want to check my cervix with a swab that can determine whether or not I have started preterm labor and also measure my cervix through ultrasound. At this time my results came back positive and my cervical length shortened to 1.5 which is very close to preterm labor. Its suppose to be a 4. He then admitted me to the hospital for close monitoring and I was released yesterday at 5pm with caution . I have been placed on strict bed rest and a follow up on Friday to see how my cervix is doing. If it goes back down to a 1 I will be admitted again and he will try to prevent me from going into labor. Through all this Marty has been so great and so loving. He has been extremely patient with me and once again just the husband God designed him to be for me. I Love you and thank you honey.

As I was receiving this news at the doc office and being admitted into the hospital,all I could do is pray. I told Jesus "I trust you, you are in control,I am here to be obedient to your will" I then cried and pleaded for the intercession of my babies in heaven and for the Blessed Mother to hold my hand through all this. Peace came over me and all I can hear is Jesus saying "Trust Me" I answered I am not worthy of your graces and gifts but I place my trust in you because you are my Lord and God. God once again has shown me through all this that he is in control of every little detail and aspect of my life and all I can do is Trust. Its more difficult to do than say,however the Blessed Mother trusted and bore all her sufferings alone and in silence. What a lesson for me to meditate on and to run into her arms and say "Teach me, hold me and guide me". I do not try to understand God I just pray and like a priest from our parish recently said "Jesus has 3 answers : Yes,No and Wait" How beautiful is that!!! All I can do is wait and trust and offer up my suffering for the good of souls and my family.

I am home now and now its up to me to continue to pray,take care myself and be patient. Its going to be very hard and at times very trying. Especially during the holidays when the Christmas spirit is alive and well,people can go out,visit family and friends,eat what they want (LOL),put up decorations,give gifts etc. All the things I LIKE to do and I must put myself completely on hold and pray our baby into this world. Selfishness is a very bad character defect I have and I just see Jesus healing me and stripping me of all that is not of him so that when I do become the mother he is calling me to be, baby Augustine will be taken care of and not just feeding,bathing,soothing,changing etc it will be with virtue, unconditional love, selflessness, prayer and daily sacrifice. These are not easy to live out so I can only ask for such graces.

Jesus I love you and Trust in thee, have Mercy on me a sinner.

Thank you all for your prayers, support,love and friendship. May God reward your kindness!!