Meet the Shaneyfelts

Friday Favorites!

Happy Friday! Today’s FAVORITES post is super short because I am sooo tired!

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First is our exciting (and really surprising) news that we got to share on Saturday! I think the shock has worn off more for me now and I’m getting more and more excited. We also now know the gender and will be sharing that on social media Sunday after we tell our immediate families!

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This past Saturday Dustin and I drove down to my old home LOL, Tuscaloosa, for the Texas game. It ended up being the WORST game, but my favorites were walking around campus reminiscing and getting to see my old campus minister! When I was in college, I always preferred night games and that’s still the same except the drive back home is pretty terrible. We got in bed a little before 2 AM and then got up a few hours later for church.

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This is a really fun FAVORITE!!! Dustin and Harrison surprised me with this Happy Everything platter this summer. I’ve always seen them with very bold prints and that’s just not my style. When I saw this subtle print this summer, I mentioned that I wanted it and they surprised me with it!! I recently added this fun fall attachment and I can’t wait to add more themed attachments throughout the year!

Aside from the Sovereignty of God, How I (Most Likely) Got Pregnant Naturally

Hi friends! First, I want to say THANK YOU! Your comments were so, so kind about our news that we shared on Saturday. Let me tell you, if anyone has ever doubted that God has a sense of humor, direct them to me LOL. I believe now more than ever my motto for life needs to be “Not my will, but Yours” because you would think that I would have learned that through our adoption journeys, but God is still teaching me things!

Also, for some reason I’m having weird email issues with my comments from WordPress. I had gotten 4 emails about comments that I replied to and then when I logged in, I saw that I had 15 more and I have no idea where those emails are!!! If you commented and didn’t receive an email back, I replied to your comment on my post. I think I may start doing that so people know where to look because I always reply to every single comment I get–I am so thankful for you taking the time to comment and I love talking with readers!

Okay, now onto today’s post!

I have been on an off of birth control for YEARS. I really hate taking it but every time I have gone off of it, I end up getting really sick when I’m on my period thanks to my stage 4 endometriosis. I actually was off of it the entire 2020 and was so sick that as soon as I got an appointment with my doctor in 2021, I went back on it just for my sanity. I went off of birth control again before Banks was born because I was so tired of remembering to take a pill each night and I had read a few articles about the dangers of birth control–and at this point, I had been on and off them for almost 20 years.

My periods ended up lasting longer and the days in between them ended up getting shorter. I did some research in May because even though I know a hysterectomy is in my future, I feel like I’m not ready for something so drastic at 35. Every single article I read about endometriosis recommended going both gluten free and dairy free. I’m not a huge dairy eater but I love my coffee creamer and adding cheese to my meals. So I decided to go gluten free as soon as summer started.

I did excellent at first. But as summer diets go, I would eat gluten at one meal every other day, so I wasn’t completely gluten free. My cycle in June ended up being very short (11 days in between cycles) and so long (8 days), and I felt so incredibly sick that I decided no more cheating.

Once I went all in, my skin cleared up on my cheeks (I used to have little red bumps that the dermatologist didn’t know how to get rid of) and my brain instantly felt clearer. I had more energy, too. If I happened to eat something with gluten, the next morning I’d wake up with a rash again on my cheeks–so I’m assuming I really do have a gluten allergy.

When I went to have my pregnancy confirmed at my doctor (at 9 weeks) and I told her what I had been doing, she told me she really does believe that going gluten free helped me to get pregnant. (I obviously know it was God, but also He gave me the wisdom to research and try a new food lifestyle.). She said gluten is extremely inflammatory and that her household is gluten free. She said there isn’t enough research to determine what it actually affects inside the body, so this whole time it could have been affecting my reproductive area.

I say all of this not to tell you how to get pregnant, but if you’re dealing with any sort of health issues, you may want to try eating gluten free. Is it fun all the time? No. I’ve really missed eating Crumbl Cookies or regular chicken from Chick fil A. But it’s totally been worth it! And before I felt extremely tired from the pregnancy, my energy level was up more than it ever has been. I’ve learned that it’s not hard to eat gluten free–we eat lots of chickpea pasta already–and I really do just go back to the basics of meat and vegetables for a meal.

Hopefully this has been helpful! Socrates said “Let food be thy medicine and medicine thy food” and I truly believe that!

Surprise!

Just when we thought our family was complete, we found out it wasn’t…

…SURPRISE!!!

Finding out this news has literally been the biggest surprise ever. I am officially 12 weeks pregnant today, and we just found out about this baby 3 weeks ago. Isn’t that so crazy?! Even when we found out, I still could not even believe that this was even real. I have been told by multiple doctors that it’s impossible because of how terrible my endometriosis is–this baby is quite literally a miracle. And for the past three weeks, I’ve been guarding my heart in fear that I would miscarry like I did the one time I was pregnant before Harrison.

Dustin was able to go to my most recent doctor’s appointment with me, and he was able to hear the heartbeat :). Our baby has a strong heartbeat and was very active during the ultrasound!

I have had a wide array of emotions during this pregnancy–like worrying how Harrison would handle the news but also worrying about the things people might say to us (and I feel like those were overtaking any sort of excitement I had).

So I did want to address that since it did happen to me at my first doctor’s appointment to confirm this pregnancy. The nurse congratulated me that I would finally have a baby of my own after listening to God telling me to adopt my two boys. First, what she said was incredibly bad theology, but it also was very hurtful. After Harrison was born, I had someone (who I know meant well but it was wrong to say) tell me that since we adopted Harrison, I was going to get pregnant. Like that was the end goal the entire time. No, my goal has always been to be a mom and it didn’t matter how I became a mother. It also makes God sound like a magic genie. Just do this and God will reward you. That’s very wrong thinking about God.

I nicely told the nurse that my boys were my own children, but what she said still bothers me. And maybe because that’s the way some people think about adoption? I am beyond thankful that God built our family through adoption. I think it’s so beautiful. And now that he’s adding to our family biologically, I’m trusting in Him because I know everything He does is for my good and His glory.

So here we are–bringing a baby into our family in March when Banks will be 14 months old and Harrison will be 5. I am so thankful that Harrison is super excited and Banks has no clue ha! We are really excited, and we welcome any and all prayers as we navigate a new time in our lives!

I wanted to share this candid even though Dustin’s arm was in the way–sweet boys!