Duane Eugene Nolt

 Duane Eugene Nolt was born the day after Christmas in 2019 through a scheduled c-section. There were some complications during the delivery but everything turned out well. Somehow my blood and Denny's blood came in contact with each other so they had to monitor him. I'm negative and he's positive like his daddy. He also had jaundice. 

He was such a tiny little guy with gangly legs but in no time at all he filled out to a chunky lil dude! And he was the most content little guy and he smiled a lot. He still does. His smile lights up the whole room.

We spent most of his first year cooped up at home riding out a pandemic. But every chance we got we'd take the children to the park or for walks. 

We celebrated his first birthday with most of the Nolt family at a local cabin. It was special having his grandparents and most of his aunts, uncles, and cousins there to celebrate with us. 

He is now 13 months old and although he has taken a few steps and he loves walking around holding onto furniture, he shows very little interest in walking unassisted. His big brother was the same way. Then boom, he took off!

Here are a few pictures of Denny's first year:

Sweet baby boy, we love you so much. Thank you for being such a beacon in our life. Your brother and sister love playing with you and we love watching you grow into a precious little boy. Don't ever let someone steal your smile.

Happy Mother’s Day!!

Happy Mother’s Day!! This year is extra special for me. In 2014, I found out I was pregnant with our son in August. In 2017, I found out I was pregnant on Memorial Day after a discouraging negative test result on Mother’s Day. Two of my friends announced their pregnancies that day and I was happy for them while dying inside. Two weeks later, our prayers were finally answered.

After struggling for 18 months to conceive and crying over 36 negative pregnancy tests, we finally had our baby girl. After having a second c-section, my husband and I were quite content to just have two. We decided to leave our family planning in God’s capable hands. I didn’t stress out. I didn’t take a pregnancy test or two each month. I left it completely up to God. 

That being said........

Baby #3 is due in December! We are so excited! We found out the week after Easter! I knew right away that I would be keeping it secret until Mother’s Day! I have succeeded!!

Ruthie will make an excellent big sister! Just 22 months will separate them in age unlike the 34 months between Sonny and Ruth. 

Reality is setting in and we still can’t believe it. Two years ago we thought that it was just going to be the three of us. Now we’re going to be a family of five!!

Thank you, Baby, for loving me and for being such an awesome husband and father!  These have been the best 5 years of my life!

We are looking forward to the arrival our little one in time for Christmas as a family of five!!

A New Year, A New Chapter In Life

The year 2018 brought a lot of change to our lives. We welcomed our little girl into our family and we finally got settled into our beautiful house in Michigan once more. Just a few months later we decided to sell our house and move back to PA for good.
We listed our house with a local realtor and packed up all of our belongings. Wendell had an excellent job waiting for him in Carlisle PA training new drivers for Knight Transportation. Several years of driving and pushing it hard on the road was starting to have a negative impact on him and he was burning out.

On the morning we left for PA my mother in law snapped these pictures of us.

We moved back to PA in November and Wendell started his job right away. He loves it. He has a great working relationship with the team around him. More importantly, he’s only been in a truck a couple times! And those were short runs!
In December we rented a huge old house in Perry County from a family friend. We love the place and it’ll do until we are ready to buy a house. We finally had closing on our house in Michigan at the end of the year! It’s sad knowing that our first home is now someone else’s but I’m looking forward to settling into our forever home here in PA.
It was great to see the calendar page turn over to a brand new year. What 2019 has in store for us is still a mystery! One thing is for certain, there is no one I’d rather spend it with than my husband and my two precious children!

What's The Deal With Mom Shaming?

Lately the one thing that irritates me the most is mom shaming. Why do moms feel the need to shame other moms? Don't they realize that we are all just trying to do the best we can with the canvas we've been given? We do not have the same canvas neither do we have the same paints.
What works for me with my children will not work for you with your children. Likewise what works for you, will not work for me. So why feel the need to shame me because I "mom" different than you do?
When it comes to mom shaming, the two main areas I've witnessed are formula vs. breastfeeding and vaccinating vs. unvaccinating. I will not cover the latter in this post because it is known to cause too much controversy and my husband and I choose not to discuss with others what our decision is regarding this matter.

Formula fed vs. Breastfed - what's the big deal? Are mom's just formula feeding their babies because they're lazy or too busy to breast feed? Are they taking the easy way out? Or do they choose to formula feed their babies after struggling to breastfeed their babies after bouts of tears and frustration? We don't know what these moms have gone through so why do we shame them?
Personally, I was excitedly anticipating breastfeeding my son when I was pregnant with him four years ago. I didn't have formula or bottles stocked up to feed my baby. I was planning to feed him what was on tap! Then an exhausting labor turned into an emergency C-section. After delivery, our precious son was whisked away to the NICU due to pneumothorax (collapsed lung) and I was not able to hold him and bond with him until he was 30 hours old. (Those 30 hours were the longest hours of my life.) By the time I held him, Sonny was introduced to the bottle in order to get his weight up so that he could be discharged with me.
I spent hours trying to pump milk for my son. Through tears of frustration and feeling inept, I hooked electric pumps to my breast. When I was finally able to hold my son, I was excited about finally being able to breast feed him. Instead he fussed because my nipples were not cooperating with him. Instead they shriveled up at his every suck. Every hold I tried, the numerous nipple shields I tried, every trick I tried...it wasn't meant to be.

Almost three years later I planned to try breastfeeding again. This time around I had a healthy, hungry girl who knew what she wanted and she wanted it now. She arrived almost two weeks late through an unplanned C-section. Again I tried breastfeeding. I placed her to my breast for feeding after feeding. After a half hour of nothing, Ruth would begin screaming out of frustration. Then I would become frustrated and she would receive her bottle. It got to the point where my nipples were extremely sore from her gnawing on them.
For several months I struggled with feelings of ineptitude. I was a lousy mom because I wasn't able to breastfeed her. Time and time again my husband reassured me. My close friends and family reassured me. But still the struggle lingered.
Now as my husband and I are discussing adding a third little one to our family (God willing) my husband really doesn't want me to try breastfeeding again. We will be looking at yet another C-section, a scheduled one this time, and my husband just wants to save me from yet another emotional roller coaster ride.
WE SHALL SEE...…..
One thing is for sure, I will still be "momming" the best way that I know how. Bottom line: fed is best.
Have any mom shaming stories? Feel free to share by commenting below.

Introducing Ruth Julianna Nolt

After struggling to conceive for 18 months it was a surprise to find out that we were finally expecting our second child last May. I had a healthy, very long pregnancy but it was so exciting to experience growing another human again.
After spending several months living in PA again, we moved back to Michigan. We had rented our house out so we rented a little house in town until our renters could move out.
I was excitedly planning on having a VBAC home birth with my dear friend as my midwife. Everything was looking good except for dealing with GBS again.
My due date came and went without our new bundle of joy. I had so much pressure on me to have my baby before my 100 year old grandma passed away. But labor just wasn't progressing. Contractions would start and stop week after week.
Finally at 13 days overdue I went to the hospital for an ultrasound and a stress test. Everything looked good during the stress test and my ob-gyn was OK with me waiting a few more days...until the ultrasound proved otherwise.
Baby Ruth was at least 9 lbs and my amniotic fluid was low so no one would induce labor for me. My husband and I decided to just go ahead and have a second C-section so I was quickly prepped for surgery.
The entire time my doctor was working on me she was complaining about my previous incision. It was up too high on my belly which is why I had so much drainage and issues with healing. She made another incision site lower on my belly so I now have two C-section scars.
At 4:32 pm on February 18th Ruth Julianna was lifted screaming from my womb. After experiencing a blue birth with her brother, the sound of her screaming was music to my ears.
I was so happy to see a healthy, big baby. And holding her after I was settled in my room was pure heaven. No waiting 30 hours this time around.

Ruth Julianna Nolt 

9 lbs

21 1/4 inches long

Big brother loves Baby Rush! He was so excited to hold her. 

And kiss her!

Welcome to our family, sweet Baby Ruth! Mommy, daddy, and big brother love you very much. You bring so much joy to our life.

Sadly Baby Ruth never got to meet my grandma. Two days before she was born my grandma passed away. It was difficult for me to miss her funeral but no way was I traveling four days after a C-section. 

Three generations of Ruth...my grandma would have been the fourth. 

Five generations of Ruth - my mom, daughter and I posing next to the grave of the very first Ruth. 

Ruth Viola, Alma Ruth, Ruth Naomi, Martha Ruth, and Ruth Julianna. 

I wish that my grandma and my daughter could have met. My grandma lived a long life and she deserved to go Home and be with Pap again.

I am so thankful for my godly heritage. I have so much to live up to and I hope to pass it on to my own children. I am so blessed. 

Oh, Happy Day!

The year 2017 has been one roller coaster ride after another. We started the year living in our cozy little house in Michigan. My husband was driving for a company he drove for when he lived out there before moving to PA in 2014. The relationship he had with the new owner of the company became pretty strained and he treated Wendell very childishly so Wendell found a new job as an over the road truck driver in February.
For the next three months we traveled the country as a family. What a blessing it was because I got to cross states off of my bucket list. We drove through Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, and my all-time favorite - TEXAS!! The best part was that our son is well-traveled now and has been in 32 states at the age of two. We loved life on the road but it quickly became too much for us. We were out for weeks on end and only allowed 1 1/2 days at home whenever we made it home.
We decided that enough was enough. Wendell was quickly hired on again at Knight Transportation where he had a great working relationship with his driver manager (dispatcher) so we loaded up our van and said our tearful goodbyes. We moved back to PA on Mother's Day and Wendell started his "new" job the next day.
We quickly bought a 5th-wheel to live in and parked it in a campground real close to my parents. We settled in to life in beautiful Pennsylvania. One more dream was about to come true and life was about to change for our little family.
After a year and a half of shattered dreams. After 36 negative pregnancy test results. After countless hours spent praying that God would bless us with another child. God finally granted us our heart's desire.
WE'RE EXPECTING A BABY IN JANUARY 2018!!!
We are so excited!! My first Doctor appointment is tomorrow at Reading Birth and Women Center. I am planning to use a midwife and have a VBAC. Since I'm planning to have a VBAC, I will have to have the baby in the Reading Hospital. I just hope and pray that everything goes well with this delivery.
My only regret is that my dear friend and midwife, Jillian, cannot deliver this baby. There's just too many miles between PA and Michigan. We miss our dear friends and family in Michigan.
Life has changed so much for us the first half of this year. I'm hoping that as we settle in to our new life that things settle down a bit.
We continue to thank God for each blessing He bestows upon us.
Blessings,

Martha and the Wendells

Infertility Awareness

April is Infertility Awareness month. I
never really took notice of it before. Before this past year that is. Now it hits home with me.
For thirty years I lived the single life. I never even expected to get married so having children was something I only dreamed of having one day.
Then life changed dramatically for me. I met someone, got married, and wham, we were pregnant!
After having our son through an emergency c-section we followed my doctor's orders to wait a year to get pregnant again. For the most part. We started trying again when Sonny was 9 months old.
However month after disappointing month our test response was "not pregnant".
No matter how heartbroken we are we are continuing to try and we are trusting in God.
If His answer is one and done then we'll be ok with that. If His answer is simply to wait on His timing we are definitely ok with that. God is in control.
Please remember to keep those who are struggling with infertility in your thoughts and prayers. They may look like they are calm, cool, and collected on the outside but they are dying on the inside.

Celebrating our birthday a week early in Troutdale Oregon, not far from Portland,at a restaurant next to the truckstop. The mac and cheese and the peanut butter chocolate silk pie were too die for. And the best bacon cheeseburger I've ever eaten. Shari's restaurant in Troutdale Oregon is a must stop location.

Thank you, Sonny, for making my dreams of motherhood come true. You are the best birthday gift a girl could ever ask for and I'm so thankful it's you. 

I want so badly to give you brothers and sisters but if that is not God's will I hope you know that you are more than enough for us. You are our meaning for living. You bring joy and light into our lives and you motivate us to keep going no matter how hard life is.

We love precious boy. Never doubt it.