Our second child's blog debut!

Well, here he/she is! It's time to give this little babe it's own space on the blog! I suppose I've hesitated a bit, because of some early on concerns, which thankfully have been dismissed. Now we are just focused on loving this little child!

This is our first ultrasound picture at just 6 weeks 2 days. Unfortunately, we were unable to see or hear our little babe's heartbeat here. 

We had a follow-up appointment just a week after this one, only to find out that our baby was measuring at 6 weeks again. (No pictures of this ultrasound) However, we were able to see a strong heartbeat of 122 bpm! But with the embryo not showing any growth, there was still reason for concern. 

My OB ended up changing my due date from September 17 to September 25 at this appointment. I realized this was probably wrong according to what I thought my cycle should have been, so I was pretty uneasy that our baby wasn't measuring accurately. Consequently, because there was nothing anyone could do but wait and see if our baby grew, we'd have to wait another four more LONG weeks until I was 10 weeks to go back and make sure the baby was progressing as it should. Talk about waiting on pins and needles! 

Thankfully, God eased my concerns in those weeks with giving me an infinite amount of morning sickness! I am not certain I was thankful in EVERY moment, but I definitely felt blessed to feel my body changing. 

We headed back to my OB when I was supposedly just under 10 weeks pregnant. My OB attempts to hear our baby's heartbeat with the doppler........nothing. She continues to move the wand around, all of us nervously waiting to hear the quick little heartbeat.....still nothing. 

Oh my...in that moment I was impressed with my calmness. Honestly, I just wasn't convinced that the baby wasn't there. My morning sickness had left me feeling so hopeful the past few weeks. I just knew I was pregnant, but why couldn't they find a heartbeat? My composure was probably prompted by my husband...always levelheaded and collected in the most tense situations. Thank goodness for that. 

My OB quickly slid us into the ultrasound room - and Praise the Lord! Within seconds, we were looking at the most perfect and active little baby...he/she was even waving at us! And we heard and saw a strong heartbeat of 174 bpm! And best of all - our baby was measuring PERFECTLY at 11 weeks! My due date was changed back to September 17! Still not sure why we couldn't pick the heartbeat up on the doppler that day or why the baby didn't appear to have grown early on, but it was a blessing to see and hear our baby each time we were fearful! God is good! 

Now, it would be untruthful if I didn't say there have been more times I've been worried. But I'm learning to lean more on God each day and giving this pregnancy completely to Him. I continually wonder if this baby will have PKU or hypothyroidism or even RED hair! I jokingly ask others, "How many recessive genes will this one get?" And then I involuntarily let my mind drift to...what if this baby is born with something we aren't even familiar with? 

I know, I know.....horrible to have such negative thoughts. But I would be lying if I said I didn't think about those things. I think I was naive when I was pregnant with Zay. And although naive, I was thoroughly happy. I never once let the thoughts of genetic disorders or sickness enter my mind. Those were foreign words to me. 

Now? Now, my perspective has changed. For better or worse. I am fully aware and have lived through some of the painful predicaments no parent ever wishes for their child. And even so, I feel that I'm even more fortunate this time around. God has given me a ticket of appreciation. I'm so lucky because I get to be a mother with so much love, gratitude and sensitivity. And my family is a testimony that we really are stronger on the other side of our struggles. 

So, like I said already. I've given this pregnancy wholly to God. I have experienced having to give my already-born-child to God many times over...and this new baby of ours is no different. They are all God's children. Thankfully, we get to love on them while they are in our home!

And finally.........a pic of me with our little babe! ;) I feel like I'm fairly big already, but after digging up pictures of Zay's pregnancy I guess maybe I'm right on track. I think I'm probably still bigger than I was with him, but 2nd time around I guess that's to be expected. (And might be due to the fact that I'm not exercising like I did when I was prego with Zay...I was running until I was 6 months pregnant with Zay - I haven't run once with this one - opps!)

Sorry for the lack of smile...I was really having to concentrate on how to get the camera focused! 

Here are the comparison pics...the one above is Baby #2 at 17 weeks and these below are Zay at 16 & 18 weeks. So, I'm right in between these!

A little less than 3 weeks and we will see our baby again...and know if a boy or girl will be joining our family in September! Yay!!! :)