Wow, I just realized it has been almost 5 months since my last post! I am now almost 29 weeks pregnant, we are having a girl, and she is a wild child. God gave me an EXTREMELY active little one, so I would not have much time to worry about if she was okay or not. We were a bit surprised to be having a girl (What about the name James, Lord?) but I think both Mark and I were pleasantly surprised. Don't get me wrong boys are great too, but we are really happy to be having a girl!

THUMP THUMP!

We had our Drs. appt. Monday and we were able to see our perfectly sized 8 week baby and his beautiful little heartbeat. Growth was right on target and heartbeat was strong. Weird, I thought I would be relieved once I saw it, and stop worrying so much... and I did.. for about a day! ARGH! The Dr. doesn't want to see me again until I am 15 weeks which is too long from now with no sure way to know all is well. Then I remembered that the first baby we lost measured at 8 weeks 6 days, and my fears tell me it could happen again. Your other baby made it this far too. I keep remembering the verse in my devotional when I had my last miscarriage, the one that said Abraham did not waver in unbelief, but was fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised, and I am realizing that I am not half the person Abraham was!!

I HATE FOOD!

Food is not my friend. Who invented food anyway? I have been so sick with "all day morning sickness" and mostly at home in bed for two weeks now. I have to admit that although I have a high tolerance for things like colds, headaches, and pain, I am a complete baby when I am sick to my stomach. Mark is doing a great job of taking care of me, when he is not at work, which he was for over 80 hours last week!

I got blood work back from the lab and my HCG levels (the amount of pregnancy hormone in your blood) were really high for being 7 weeks pregnant. This is not a bad thing. High numbers have a better chance of being a healthy pregnancy. Now we just wait til Monday morning and pray that we see a little beating heart on that ultrasound machine. Or with my high hcg's maybe there will be TWO beating hearts!

BIG NEWS

Time for an update! Ya know the old saying if at first you don't succeed, try try again? Well, I don't know how much our "trying" has to do with it but we just found out I am pregnant again!

Last year after my second miscarriage in 14 months, I was really wondering what God had planned for us. The day of my D&C I was reading my daily devotional book and the scripture was from Romans 4:20-21. It was talking about Abraham believing God for His promise of a son.

"He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform."

At that time I really felt like God was telling me to keep believing that He had a child for us. Does that mean this pregnancy is a sure thing? I don't pretend to know the mind of God, I can only walk in the faith that He has given me, but I do know that whatever happens it will be good, because God is good.

We covet your prayers over the next couple months!

Walking toward life

We have been studying 2 Corinthians on Sunday Mornings. Today was chapter 5. Last week we talked about how light this world's trials and tribulations are compared to the eternal weight of glory we will one day experience in heaven. It has been so good to be reminded to think about the things that are eternal; To be reminded that the things that are unseen will far outlast the things that are seen. Every once in a while I need to really get a glimpse of the reality of heaven. For when I do, I look at those who do not know Christ through a whole new set of eyes. We who know Christ are walking toward life, getting closer and closer every day. The lost are walking toward death, and they too are getting closer and closer every day. I pray that the Lord uses me to grab hold of a few as they pass by that I might take them by the hand and lead them toward life.