Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Our Newest Addition

The beginning of December, we found out that we are expecting another baby. I cannot tell you the joy and relief I felt as I stood in my bathroom with a positive on my pregnancy test at 5:30 in the morning. I tried to muffle my sobs so I wouldn't wake anyone else up, but Jodi got a text that early to hear my news. It's nice to have a best friend who gets up at 4:30am!
The last 14 months have been emotional and frustrating. When Gwen was only 9 months old, I started receiving strong impressions that it was time to have another baby. At first I was like, "Are you kidding me?", but the more they came, the more I knew it was time. When I told Eric about how I was feeling, he would hand me Gwen and say, "Let me introduce you to your Baby!". He wasn't quite as convinced as I was that it was time already. But, after some praying, fasting, and discussion, we both knew it was the right thing to do. With it taking us so long to get pregnant with Gwen, we didn't know if that would be our same fate this time around or if it would be easy to get pregnant. I wasn't really mentally or emotionally prepared for another almost 2 years of trying, and I was sure the Lord knew that, so I figured this time around would be different.

Well, my time table and the Lord's time table seem to be very different. It ended up taking us 14 months to get pregnant this time. Not as long as with Gwen, but still a long time. Every month that I wasn't pregnant was a huge let down that took me a few days to recover from. I would have my day or two of being so disappointed, plead with Heavenly Father for some answers, get up and brush myself off, and somehow find the energy emotionally to try again. It sounds kind of childish when I put it into words, but it is hard to go through. Especially when you know it is what you are supposed to be doing and then the results seem to never come. 
In December I got what I felt was my Christmas miracle. Eric was shocked and ecstatic when I told him. We are so thankful that we are finally able to welcome this new little spirit into our family. The kids are extremely excited too! Gwen doesn't have a clue what's going on, so I'm sure a baby will be a shock to her. Tessa is excited and really wants another sister-but only so she can get a bunk bed. Adam is the cutest of them all. When we broke the news to them, he cried and cried! Every time we let him make the announcement, he would cry and cry. Every time he touches my belly, he gets all teary eyed. He is praying for a little brother, but he will be thrilled with whatever we get. 
 I am 9 1/2 weeks along and growing! I can't believe how fast my belly has popped out with this pregnancy already. I am feeling pretty awful and don't get much sleep thanks to Gwen, but I will survive. I saw my doctor last week. The baby looked good and the heartbeat looked good. I am measuring right where I should be. We feel so blessed and are so thankful to be parents to these 4 amazing kids!