Baby Blessing: Weeks 20 & 21

Golden.

That's the word that often comes to my mind during this stage of my pregnancies.  As I contemplate the relative ease with which I waltz through pregnancy, I'm reminded of what a blessing that is; and I consciously pause to thank God.  I do not want to take this for granted.

This pregnancy, in particular, feels so easy.  It's surprising, really!  I didn't necessarily expect to have a difficult pregnancy; but after all, this is my fifth child...and I'm getting older...and I have four other children to care for. Shouldn't this be hard?  In many ways, it's not.  Oh, to be sure, there are a multitude of areas in which I constantly fall short and feel challenged to do more and be better; I don't want to in any way give the impression that my life is all put-together and I'm doing great on all fronts (you should see the dishes on my kitchen counter! that's my next project).  :)  But when it comes to nurturing this little one, I'd have to say it's one of the easiest parts of life right now!  :)

Adding to my joy is the special knowledge that comes from knowing it's a girl.  Have I mentioned before how glad I am that we found out this time?  ;-)  I was thinking this morning, while dealing with some behavior issues with the boys, that so far, this little girl is perfect.  Now I know good and well that she won't always be; in fact, it won't be too long after she's born that I'll realize just how much of a fallen creature she is--just like the rest of us!  But during these remaining weeks of this pregnancy, I'll cherish these days when she's done nothing wrong.  :)  

Speaking of remaining weeks, it feels funny to be on the downhill slope of this pregnancy.  Twenty-two weeks tomorrow, and it's zooming along!  As eager as I am to meet this sweet one face to face (and believe me, I can hardly wait!), I'm also more than content to hang onto these months when she's still inside me.  It's pure joy to have her with me always, to feel her kicks and nudges, to know that we're connected in a bond that's impossible to duplicate.  I'm sure when I hit nine months and her kicks and nudges are threatening to break my ribs and leave me gasping for air and it takes me a full two minutes to hoist myself out of bed or simply roll over, I'll feel a little differently about all of this.  But for now, I am loving every single day of this, and don't want it to pass by too quickly.  

For my pregnancy picture, I was DELIGHTED to have it taken by my kind friend Lisa.  The day after Thanksgiving, she emailed and said, "We're in the area!  Can I swing by?"  Absolutely!  Not only did she bless me with the most adorable baby girl clothes (I really can't get over how cute they are!) passed down from her daughter Annabelle, but she also happened to mention that she would have her camera with her, and would I like her to take a picture of me? Would I??  :)

Yes!  Yes!  And to answer her question, YES!  ;-)

I don't often feel beautiful; but when I see these pictures from Lisa, I feel that way a little bit.  :)

Not only did Lisa bring herself, her camera, clothes for Baby Girl, and some maternity clothes for me, she also brought her oldest, Isaac, to play with my boys.  He fits great in our family: loves Star Wars, Legos, the trampoline, air hockey, etc.  It was so much fun to watch these guys playing together.  :)

While Lisa was here, David did a quick costume change and turned into a pirate.  Lisa snapped this picture of him; and although she told me she wasn't satisfied with it because it's a little blurry, I'm SO glad she passed it along to me anyway, because I love it.  David does, too; in fact, the first time he saw it, he exclaimed in his typical enthusiastic fashion, "I LOVE IT!"  Me, too, David dear, me, too.  :)

Let's see...what else should I say about weeks 20 and 21?  Oh, I know!  On the pregnancy ticker at the bottom of my blog, I read this during this past week and was amazed: "If baby is a girl, she now has a lifetime supply of eggs."  Is that not incredible to think about?  The miracle of conception, prenatal development, and birth is wondrous to me.

As far as her first name is concerned, we chose it long ago.  Before Josiah was even born, we knew what we would name a daughter; and we haven't wavered from that during the past 10 years.  Her middle name, however, has given us some food for thought.  I have four choices for it that I would be more than happy with.  I suppose that's what comes from having four sons and then finally having a daughter; you store up all the girl names you like, and then slap them all on her!  When she's born, if we announce her name and she's got four middle names, you'll know why.  ;-)  But seriously, I think we've decided on what her middle name will be.  :)  

With both Tobin and Shav's pregnancies, we didn't definitively decide on a name until later in the pregnancy, so there wasn't as much time to get used to it before the baby was born.  Even after birth, I still remember thinking things like "the baby is crying" rather than "Tobin is crying."  It took a little while before the name rolled right off my tongue, instead of Baby or New Baby.  In this case however, it is SO natural to call this girlie by her name.  I'm half-afraid I'll slip up and spill the beans here on the blog, just because it's so easy to use her name.  I'll have to proof-read my pregnancy posts an extra time, to make sure I don't let the cat out of the bag.  ;-)

Two mornings ago, Jeff was able to feel her move for the first time.  That's always a special moment.  :)

If I could sum up this pregnancy in one word, it would be "unreal."  If I could sum it up in five words, they would be "too good to be true."  :)  From the beginning, I've had the strongest sense of "wow, this can't be happening! it's too wonderful!"  From getting pregnant right after the miscarriage at a time we did not expect it to happen, all the way to finding out we'll have a daughter, the whole experience has felt surreal, like an extra bonus that God has lavished upon us.  He didn't have to do this for us, but for some reason He chose me to carry this child, and He chose this particular time to give her to us.  It's mind-boggling and, frankly, unreal; but then I look at pictures like the ones Lisa took and I realize that it must really be happening!  :)  

I don't deserve this blessing; but oh, how grateful I am for it!