Praise God We're Pregnant!

On December 17th I decided to take a pregnancy test. I didn't feel pregnant. My period wasn't late yet. But we were getting ready to go to Grandma Marsha's for Christmas in two days and though I had given up drinking beer and wine (part of the story I'll tell later) we'd had a couple of very stressful weeks and I was ready for some wine, I was already planning it. But I had a strong sense that I needed to use the pregnancy test I had sitting in the cupboard, leftover from the last time I took a hopeful test - they're cheaper in two packs. I knew somehow that I was pregnant even though I felt nothing. Even still, the test results actually surprised me!

Because we've had so many miscarriages (four total - one before Adi then: Sept '06, May '07, and Oct '07) it's standard to start out with all sorts of tests, taking blood samples to check HCG and progesterone levels but we didn't want to go through all of that this time. We were just going to trust God and wait for the first OB appointment at just under 7 weeks to see an ultrasound. The doc was cool with that so we just had to wait.

The decision to trust was easy, but the process was long and difficult. I told very few very close friends who I knew would be able to pray with power and authority over this pregnancy and I had to do some serious prayer to keep myself from sinking into fear. I did some declarations - biblical statements declaring why I would fear no evil and declaring that this was God's creation and this baby would be born. We hadn't even tried to get pregnant in December, after all (we were too busy trying to keep our dog Ihry alive - and she is, miraculously alive and well). This was all God, His will, His timing, His creation.

So here is the first ultrasound at 7 weeks. It's hard to see but you can see in the photo a dark egg-like area. That is the yolk sac. You can see two plus signs on the left side of of the yolk sac and the blurry thing between those plus signs is the embryo :) Once I saw the heartbeat on the monitor I couldn't even speak. I was too busy crying to even remember to ask for the official due date (I now know that it is 8/25/10). As soon as the doctor left the room I got on the floor and praised God. I didn't even have my clothes on and the floor could have been filthy but I didn't really care. This was the most amazing blessing, to know that my pregnancy was viable.

Cam and Adi came with me to my 11 week appointment because we were supposed to listen to the heart beat and I thought it would be fun for them to be there. My doctor surprised us by doing an ultrasound instead. Again you can see a dark egg-shaped area and the light colored stuff is the baby. Oh my how our babe has grown!

This one is my favorite. The head is on the left side of the oval and you can see a little arm sticking up. Then all the way to the right you can see the little a little leg sticking up too.

The baby was bouncing around in there during the ultrasound. It was so cool to see the baby so active. How wonderful. Adi thought it was weird, I'm sure it was totally weird for her. It barely looks like a baby yet, but she's been bonding with her little sibling already by talking to, hugging and singing songs to my belly. So sweet, she'll be an amazing big sister.

So yes, there's much more to this story but I wanted to get the news out first. We're finally expecting our 2nd child after trying for four years! Yes, it's been that long. We started trying when Adi was only 9 months old because we wanted our kids close in age. It didn't work out that way but I know God's way is the best way.