Again? You’re really having another baby? Are you nuts? I guess it’s warranted when you have three kids in 3 ½ years, but I always love the responses I get when I tell people I am having another baby. Those who know me have always known that I wanted a big family and that I wanted my kids close together (and yes, all 3 pregnancies were planned). I just don’t think they really thought I was crazy enough to do it though! But crazy and all, we will be welcoming baby #3 into the world in early July. And we couldn’t be more excited!!! And it’s another little girl!
Here’s her glamour shot at 20 weeks! I know you all love the insider look into my uterus! (And sorry it's sideways...I couldn't figure out how to flip it!)
Getting pregnant (the 1st, 2nd or 3rd time), getting through the first trimester and making the big announcement to family and friends is always exciting. It’s something you want to shout from the rooftops…it’s such a cool experience. But along with my excitement, comes wonder. Why is it that my husband can basically sneeze on me and I get pregnant, but so many other women struggle? Over the past few years, I have had way too many friends miscarry; I have had friends have ectopic pregnancies; I have had many friends undergo fertility treatments; I have friends who can’t have kids; and I recently had a good friend experience the unimaginable—delivering a stillborn baby girl. Sometimes I think God has a struggle for everyone, and having babies is just not the struggle he has planned for my life. Maybe I have already experienced my life struggle or have another big hurdle to overcome later in life? Whatever the reason, it will always make me wonder what makes one person so fertile and another struggle with what comes so easy to me. Believe me, I am thankful for my fertility and the miracle of conception and having a healthy baby, but definitely feel for those that endure the struggle that I know nothing about. I wish everyone that wants a child and is ready to be a mother or father would have it as easy as me and I pray that one day they themselves (or through another method) will have the healthy, happy children that they desire.
Due to my apparent fertility, there is another thing I am definitely thankful for…my birth control for those 15 years!!! Yes, that means there was a lot of premarital sex going on! Thank you, birth control pills! Thank you, emergency contraception! Thank you, condoms! You have definitely lived up to your end of the bargain! I am so thankful that my birth control methods (which for some time were received at PP) have been so effective for all of those years …otherwise who knows where my life would be right now. I am so thankful to my parents, who when I approached them at 17 and told them I wanted to go on birth control pills because I was planning to have sex, that they didn’t beat the crap out of me, but instead put aside their personal beliefs and judgment and took me to the doctor immediately to get on the pill. I’m positive they didn’t want their 17 year old daughter having sex, but they had enough sense to know that I was a teenager, in a long term relationship with her boyfriend and I was going to do it no matter what. I am thankful for that open relationship I had and continue to have with my parents that allowed me to come to them about such an important issue. And I’m pretty sure with as fertile as I appear to be, that they are also thankful for their smart decisions and taking me to the doctor that day. I am thankful that birth control has given me the opportunity to have kids when I wanted to, when I was ready and I will be thankful for the birth control my husband and I choose when we finally throw in the towel on having kids.
So, there is much to be thankful for and so much to continue to pray for.
I am thankful for my birth control choices and all of those years I was able to prevent having children so that I could have the life that I am blessed with today.
I am thankful for my ability to have children. And I pray for all of my friends struggling to have children and pray that one day soon they will see a ‘+’ on their pregnancy tests. And for all of my friends that are pregnant, I pray that they have safe deliveries and healthy babies in the upcoming year.
And I am thankful for my healthy, extremely happy children. I am thankful for the baby growing inside me and I pray for a safe delivery and healthy baby come July!
We can’t wait to meet you, Madeline Elizabeth! We love you already!
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