Babies, Babies Everywhere

I sit here this morning just thinking about how AWESOME God's timing is... I just found out that another one of my close girlfriends is pregnant! This also adds to the 50 or so other people I know that are pregnant or just had a baby in 2009. It seems every time I get pregnant, a pregnancy trend starts to occur.

But back to the close girlfriend who is pregnant. In high school there were six girls that did absolutely everything together. We went to a small private Christian school and it was great because instead of just having one or two close friends we all were a pretty close knit group of classmates. However, these 5 other girls and myself were pretty much thick as thieves. It wasn't until we graduated that we went out separate ways. A couple of us were able to stay close because we attended liberty together and were roommates at one time or another, but it wasn't until about 5 years or so ago that we all go back together again, and now we try to get together several times every year and allot of us see each other more than that.

This fall I received an email from one of them named Andrea showing pictures of her little girls first birthday. Now Andrea and I became really close again when she was pregnant because at the time I was also pregnant with Connor and now are two babies (or toddlers at this point) were only two months a part. The title of the pictures she sent was "Happy Birthday Big Sister!" At first I didn't even notice and then I had to do a double take, immediately picked up the phone and called her asking if she was pregnant... she then explained to me that she was and that it was totally unexpected. She is now expecting a baby boy named Samuel this coming June.

At the beginning of this month I went to check my email as I do every morning after breakfast and found an email from Brynn. Brynn and I had been roommates in college as well as friends in high school and she had moved to Michigan with her husband, whom she met in college as soon as they got back from their honeymoon. We only get to see Brynn a couple times a year but on a recent visit she had mentioned that her and her husband were going to start trying to have a child soon, so you can only imagine my excitement when I found out in that very email that she was expecting and at the time 7 weeks pregnant.

It was also that very day that Kathy my best friend and roommate of several years in college sat down to write almost the exact same email but found the email from Brynn in her inbox. She decided to post pone her announcement until the next week as to not take the excitement away from Brynn. So that is exactly what she did... only no one knew that until she wrote the email exactly a week later. It was on that morning that I received Kathy's email that I, myself had just found out I was expecting the night before. I immediately called Kathy after reading her email and played dumb but that only lasted so long before I made her break the news and then I broke my news to her.

Now this made 4 out of the 6 girls from high school that were all pregnant. I immediately called Kim and told her and tried to convince her and Nikki (the other two girls of the group) to get pregnant so we could all be pregnant together. She explained to me that while that would be fun she and Nikki were good with just their little boys and wanted to wait.

A week later I met 4 of the girls for Dinner while Brynn was in town and tried to plead with Nikki and Kim yet again to get on the baby making board but to all my best efforts it did not work. That night I came home and had a dream that Kim called the very next day telling me she was freaking out but she too was pregnant.

Exactly another week later I was woken up from a nap by a late afternoon phone call from Kim and thought to myself... "hmmm I wonder why she is calling?"... When I called her back she informed me that she was "freaking out" and it was because she had just taken a pregnancy test that turned out to be positive. She was still in disbelief and shock and was currently on her way to CVS to purchase another test just to make sure.

As soon as I got off the phone I could help but laugh at the timing that God has. The girls and I had always talked about being pregnant together and now 5 out of 6 of us are! It is such a blessing, a wonderful blessing to go through being pregnant with at least one other person but to have 4 others is absolutely wonderful. Not to mention the many other girls I know and are close to that are pregnant, including one of my other best friends Sarah ( who is also due in June).

God is so good and he drops these little blessings when we least expect it. Sometimes they are big, and other times small but if you just take a step back and a look around you will see that they are everywhere.

Until next time... always remember " When you plan... God Laughs!"

403,200 minutes

It's official... WE'RE EXPECTING our second child in December!

We definitely were not planning on having another child this year but God had other plans for us. I must admit that I was a little more shocked when I found out I was pregnant this go around than with Connor. I knew all month that it was a possibility but when it finally was confirmed on the digital screen of the pregnancy test reality finally set in. My first thought and most regretful one to date was "This isn't the right time Lord." Followed by my second "I hope Josh doesn't freak out."I immediately went downstairs and broke the news to Josh while I busted out into tears. He asked why in the world I was crying because this was great news and immediately I began to feel much better about the situation.

After the first 12 hours of letting the news sink in I began to see a perfect plan unfolding. Each detail unraveling of how this was exactly the "perfect time" to have another child. While another winter baby was not exactly my idea of fun I realized that it fit perfectly for my plans to go back to school for nursing. This way I could start like I had planned this summer and at least finish a semester and a half ( half being the summer course or two I would take). Then I would break until the following fall when my actually nursing courses would start. This would give me enough time to be settled with a new baby and one wild toddler.

My first doctor's appointment is May 18th. I am very exited to find out whether or not there is one baby or two growing inside me. I have always loved the thought of possibly having twins. Its a very good possibility considering my mother's mother was a fraternal twin and that gene ( the super-ovulation gene- meaning you ovulate more than once a month ) is passed down through the mother's side and I just happen to have it. So who knows maybe I have double the trouble coming my way. If not, my other hope is that it is a little girl. However, what is most important no matter the number or the gender is the health of the child. It seems like so many women I know try to have children and can't or have complications in pregnancy or lose children early on. It is so devastating to think but I know that I am in the best hands possible for I am a child of God.

As of this point I am just a little over 5 weeks and feeling great. No nausea and only slightly tired in the late afternoon. No real distinct cravings at this point. I have however since before I found I was pregnant started eating better and now am completely caffeine free. It's rare that I even have a soft drink- if I do it is caffeine free. I am also drinking allot more water and continuing to workout which is something I didn't do a whole lot of last time ( hence my 60lb weight gain.... but hey I lost it all right?).

I hope to really keep up with this blog this time. Its hard because I am so used to using facebook "Notes" section like I did last time that I forget about blog spot all together.