The Abundant Wife

May 17, 2012: Test Positive!

On May 17, 2012 Brad and I found out that we are expecting our third child!

We are delighted at the prospect of being a family of 5.  As many of you already know, we had a miscarriage this past December.  So when I found out I was pregnant again, I had many mixed feelings that were new to me. I was reluctant to share our good news with anyone, including our families.  In fact, we waited to tell our families until May 29 (6 weeks).

To complicate matters, I began spotting on May 29 and became convinced that I was miscarrying again.  This time the grief was worse than the original miscarriage.  I was inconsolable, and clung to our two toddlers.  When the bleeding stopped as quickly as it started, I consulted the OB/GYN only to find out that I was experiencing “implantation bleeding.”  Since I had never experienced it before, I just assumed it was a second miscarriage.  Instead, I was reassured that all was well.  However, the scare was enough to cause numerous miscarriage nightmares in the weeks that followed.

After that scare, I was even more reluctant to tell anyone that we were pregnant.  Even as I experienced 3 weeks of nausea and exhaustion, I doubted that I was still pregnant and that the baby was healthy.  I wanted to hear the baby’s heartbeat myself before I started sharing the news with others.  We waited to tell our friends until July 19 (13 weeks).

Recently I was on Facebook when I saw an advertisement for a free ultrasound at a local pregnancy resource center.  They are in the process of training their staff so that they can offer ultrasounds every day of the week.  They requested that “pregnant models” call for an appointment.  So today we packed up the family to get our first peek at “the baby in Mommy’s belly.”  While the technician trained three staff people for 45 minutes, I got to gaze on our wiggling, sleeping, hiccuping, thumb-sucking bundle of joy.  Naomi remarked that the baby was “swimming” in my belly.

So at 16 weeks and 2 days, having heard the baby’s heartbeat and having seen the baby on the ultrasound, I am finally convinced that I am indeed pregnant, and that the baby is fine.  It is a joy to be able to share this news with you, our families, and our friends!

August 9, 2012: Ultrasound (16 weeks 2 days)