Memorial Box Monday: The baby

So, this is my first time posting a Memorial Box Monday. This is something that was started over here. I have been reading Linny's blog over the last year or so. I have mentioned her before on my blog... go read some of her posts! She'll change your life....
Anyways, the MBM posts are about remembering what God has done in your life. So, here we go:

This story is a little over a year in the making. April 1, 2009. I felt a little funny. My parents were in town and leaving that afternoon. I took a pregnancy test, and it was pregnant. Dave took it very well (after claiming it an April Fools Day prank). We weren't trying to get pregnant (although I was very welcome to the idea!). We quickly made up our mind that this was our baby, we would love him or her. We had an ultrasound that went just alright. There was a heartbeat! But, the baby was measuring behind where I thought it should. The doctor told me that I was just wrong on my dates, and that everything was perfectly fine. I had another ultrasound scheduled two weeks later. The day of my second ultrasound, I just felt like everything was wrong. My pregnancy symptoms were disappearing. The ultrasound was so awkward. I could tell something was wrong - the technician wouldn't let us see the baby. I kept asking questions and she would respond, "I'm not authorized to tell you anything". Ah.... then the hour long wait in the waiting room full of pregnant ladies and babies. The doctor came in with a box of tissues and told us that the baby had died.

It was probably one of the worst weeks of my life. And to make matters worse, we had told everyone that we were pregnant. Un-telling people is terrible. Seeing pregnant ladies was tough. Especially those that were about as far along as I should have been.

The good news was that I had time for things I wouldn't have been able to do last year. We had my cousins come spend a week with us around Thanksgiving. I went to winter camp with the Junior High group. We had people come over to our house for dinner, we got to know our neighbors better. I was able to spend more time at the church, with the youth group. We had a sleepover at our house. All these things are things that I wouldn't have done (or had the energy to do) with a child or being pregnant.

So, fast forward to March. Dave and I had been waiting on God's timing. In fact, with all this London talk, we weren't sure that this was the time to have a baby. And sure enough, I was pregnant again. I found this out almost exactly a year after our first baby. While I know that nothing is certain except for God, things are looking very good with this pregnancy.

I have had four ultrasounds so far. The baby is continuing to grow. Today the baby was measuring at 12 weeks, 4 days. I could see its ribs, spinal cord, its heart beating, its arms and legs moving around. The doctor said that the baby was covering its head with its hands. We could see its fingers and even its mouth opening and closing. It looked like a little alien, but in a few quick months its going to be my baby! Ah!!!

This pregnancy came at such an interesting time in our life. I know that it is from God - I could not have planned it better. Our due date is Nov. 25 - Thanksgiving. So, I will give thanks to the Creator of Life who orchestrates life itself. Whether I meet this baby in November (or October, or December), or we meet in heaven I know that this is a blessing from God himself.

If you look closely at this picture (sorry its a bit blurry) you can see on the left is its body, the right is the freaky, alien-shaped head. Right in the middle is a hand. If you look closely, you can see all of its fingers :-) Isn't God amazing? The hand on the bottom was moving, that's why its blurry. Praise God!