Thankful Thursday: Special Edition

For those who know my history of morning sickness, it may come as no surprise that at one time I felt strongly that Liam was going to be our last Celestin baby. Although Kevin and I had always envisioned ourselves with at least three kiddos, I just didn't think my body could handle another round of extreme morning sickness (hyperemesis). As Liam’s milestones passed, I kept waiting for “baby fever,” but it never came.

Several months ago, as I was studying the book of Philippians, I began to feel nudged to pray about adding another child to our family. I told Kevin about it, and he agreed to pray with me. Kevin has always been very open to having more children, but has left the bulk of that decision to me, as I am the one whose body has to endure the aches and pains of pregnancy. Kevin had also just started pursuing his Doctor of Ministry degree, which prompted us to pray all the more about a third pregnancy. And, of course, there’s also the fact that we already have two active boys to chase after these days! 

After a couple of weeks of praying, Kevin and I talked about it again. We both felt that we were being asked to trust God and move forward with adding another family member. Honestly, it was a huge relief for me. Paul’s words in Philippians 4 kept popping into my mind as I wrestled with the decision.  I felt like I was being pushed to a new level of trust in the Lord.  I never heard the Lord promise to take away the extreme morning sickness, the painful delivery, or the exhausting newborn stage.  I never got a word from Him that round three would be easier than the first two. But what I did hear was that no matter what the circumstance, He was asking me to “practice these thing” (Philippians 4:9). The peace of God doesn't come in the knowing, it comes in the practicing. It comes in the rejoicing always (Philippians 4:4), the gentle spirit (Philippians 4:5), the swapping of anxiety for gratefulness (Philippians 4:6), the attitude of prayer (Philippians 4:6), the mind set on things above (Philippians 4:8). There may not be a prescription for to remove my physical pain, but there is a prescription to sustain my inner peace as evidenced from Philippians 4. 

So, of course, we got right to work. 

A few months later, on April 20^th (Easter Sunday!), the second line appeared on the stick.

BABY CELESTIN #3 IS INDEED ON THE WAY!!

The Monday after Easter I took a second pregnancy test, and the second test confirmed the first. A few days later I took a third, and nothing had changed. More signs and symptoms continued to confirm that presence of new life in my womb as the days went on.

Kevin and I are overjoyed to say the least. I am a little over 7 weeks in, but we’re choosing to tell early just like we did with Silas and Liam. Regardless of God’s plans for this new baby, we feel urged to celebrate life even in this critical, early stage. That being said, we’re asking for prayer for both baby and Mama as we move on into some pretty intense fetal development and morning sickness!

So far life has gone on as normal. The morning sickness has been minimal, which I am very grateful for. I'll be updating tomorrow with more details about I've been feeling. 

We let family in on the big news for Liam’s third birthday party the weekend after Easter. Everyone was just as excited as we were. Silas was especially excited. He's been praying for another brother or sister for quite some time. His reaction was, "Wait! Is this for real?! You mean in real life you're having a baby?!? I'm freaking out right now!!!" Haha! He's since began announcing it to everyone he sees, which means church family and friends are slowly catching wind of our news. Of course, we're totally fine with that. We're horrible at keeping secrets in this family anyway!

I had my first visit with the doctor this morning, and things seem to be progressing. If my calculations are correct, we should be holding BC#3 at the very tail end of December!

If you're interested, read what I was up to during my 6th week of pregnancy with Silas and with Liam. I loved blogging through both previous pregnancies, so my plans are to follow suit with BC#3. 

Feeling Blessed,