Today was our 20 week ultrasound, and everything went absolutely perfectly (except for a brief intermission when the computer had to reboot) and our baby looks completely beautiful. He or she was moving around like crazy and gave us quite a show. We got to see a sweet little yawn, and ten very long and wiggly toes!
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I am so in love with this sweet little baby, and I have the worst baby fever waiting for April to come! We had decided beforehand not to find out the gender, and apart from one brief moment of weakened resolve, we made it all the way through! Now that we have this ultrasound done, we won't have any more chances to change our minds, so we will be surprised on baby's birthday! We have two beautiful family names picked out, so all we have to do now is wait and see! In the meantime, I found a fun little game for our friends and family to play:
http://www.babyhunch.com/poolpage.php?poolid=c75e0a561cc632f1cdbdd3bf0b3b8db4
Please join in and guess what you think our baby's stats will be!
I have been reflecting quite a bit on this baby and how much has changed since Anna was born. In the year and a half since Anna's birth, we have been through the hardest thing we as parents, and husband and wife, have ever experienced, and grown from it. I was doing some reading and found the term 'rainbow baby', which is what some people call a pregnancy after a miscarriage; a rainbow which comes after the darkest storm of my life. I found this wonderful quote:
""Rainbow Babies" is the understanding that the beauty of a rainbow does not negate the ravages of the storm. When a rainbow appears, it doesn't mean the storm never happened or that the family is not still dealing with its aftermath. What it means is that something beautiful and full of light has appeared in the midst of darkness and clouds. Storm clouds may still hover but the rainbow provides a counterbalnace of color, energy, and hope."
""Rainbow Babies" is the understanding that the beauty of a rainbow does not negate the ravages of the storm. When a rainbow appears, it doesn't mean the storm never happened or that the family is not still dealing with its aftermath. What it means is that something beautiful and full of light has appeared in the midst of darkness and clouds. Storm clouds may still hover but the rainbow provides a counterbalnace of color, energy, and hope."
For my pregnancy with Anna, I had a special verse that I meditated on and dedicated to her, to be special for her forever. Her verse is 1 Samuel 1:27: "I have prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him." I have been contemplating for months on what the verse for this baby will be, and I knew it should be a verse that expressed our journey of joy and hope through sorrow. After a lot of prayer, contemplating, and Google searching, I finally found a verse that touched me: Ezekiel 1:28: "Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord." I love this verse for so many reasons: the reference to a rainbow, the juxtaposition of the brightness against the backdrop of darkness, and the allusion to the appearance of the Lord. I know that this baby is the work of the Lord, and I see Him and His goodness every day as my sweet little ones grow. I am so, so thankful for all of His mercies in our lives, and I look forward to seeing His plan unfold more and more.
Anna is growing so fast! She can pick out the letters "C" and "D" and knows tons of animal sounds. She is a good influence on us, too - she knows that we have to pray before we eat and when we go to bed, and she doesn't let us forget! She even walks around the house with her hands together saying prayers randomly sometimes. :) She's been 'mothering' her dolls a lot more lately, which warms my heart to see. I know she is going to be the sweetest, most loving big sister, and I can't wait to for her to meet her little brother or sister! She is such a blessing, and I love watching her grow and learn every day.
That pretty much sums it up for now, but I am certainly going to try and do a much better job of staying up-to-date on our lives and goings-on! Until the next time!
Psalm 106:1: "Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever."
