Midpoint Sonogram

This morning my family and I went for the midpoint sonogram. It's hard to believe we are at the halfway point now. The sonogram was quick because the technician said the baby was cooperative. The technician was actually running almost an hour behind before he saw me and said that he made up a lot of time with my appointment since the baby posed appropriately. He said that everything looks terrific and that we have a healthy baby. The pictures taken today (19 weeks) were a bit fuzzy (ok not even anywhere near true - they are incomprehensible) in my opinion, but I will scan and post one from today anyhow.
July 16 (19 weeks)

Since the sonogram from today is so hard to interpret, I'm going to share one from June 19th (15 weeks) also, since its a bit easier to see and I feel I owe you something with the title saying "Sonogram."


Please continue to pray for the rest of the pregnancy and for a quick safe delivery. Because of the rod along side my spine epidurals are not even an option. I've been blessed with two quick labors and am hoping for the same this time. Of course as I said before I don't want it to be so quick that I end up having a baby on the interstate so any number of people could see my face on the local news. I had my first baby 6 hours after arriving at the hospital (I wasn't in labor - it was just a precautionary thing because the plan was to induce me in the morning). My second child was born almost 2 hours after arriving at the hospital. We have a different insurance this time and the hospital isn't five miles from home like the last two times. The time the little one decides to bless us with his or her presence will let us know whether its a 20 minute drive to the hospital or a two hour drive (crazy traffic during rush hour). If this one is like the other two it will be born late at night which will eliminate the traffic issues. I guess we will have to wait and see!

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers!

What My Children Want...

Exactly two years ago on May 31, 2006 this conversation took place between my children:

Daughter (6) was doing her school work and Son (3) was playing. My son came up to me and…

said..."After Sister is done with her school work can we go buy a baby."

Daughter said, "We can't buy a baby it has to come from heaven all the way down to the mom's tummy."

A couple minutes later...

Son said, "I want a baby brother."

Daughter said, "Too bad I think God is going to deliver a baby girl to our family."

Well, God didn’t deliver anything to our family…

until...

March 2008 I received one of these:







Then in April I got one of these:

















Then in May I got one of these – (three different poses – how’s a mother to choose)

And in December the whole family will get one of these:
















We are thrilled beyond measure. The kids are still hoping for a same sex sibling, but I know they will rejoice with either when it comes down to it. My intuition says it will be a girl, but just about everyone else that has ventured a guess thinks it will be a boy. We have decided to keep it a secret from all, but God and the sonogram technician until the delivery because I’ve always wanted the surprise. For our first two we had the technician write the sex on a piece of paper that we opened over a meal at a restaurant.

Because of my back issues (see this post for more info) and the rod in my back, an epidural isn’t an option for me. I made it through my first two deliveries just fine. The first was harder than the second, but I got bolder the second time around and was able to tell the medical professionals what I needed to do instead of allowing them to make decisions for me that made it more difficult for me to manage. Even with the back labor I had with my daughter, I still thought her delivery was easier than my back surgery. The pain was shorter and the reward was greater. God blessed me with short labors – the first was 6 hours (I went from 1 cm – 10 cm rather quickly - they told me they'd have to induce me in the morning because my water broke and nothing was happening, but my daughter didn't want to wait and she came many hours before the schedule induction) and the second labor took four hours. I’m hoping to do better this time, but not so good that I deliver on the highway or anything. I don’t want my 15 seconds of fame that bad… Regardless of how long it takes, I’m trusting God with the details and I will be overjoyed to hold my newest treasure in my arms.

Please keep the baby, this pregnancy, and me in your prayers.

Thanks!

For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be. ~ Psalm 139:13-16