Jastef

Seems like every month we have several friends having babies! Its been fun getting the emails with pictures, checking out the blogs and celebrating new life with our friends.

So here's to....

Jackson Brodie

Chloe Christine

and

Kaitlyn Marie

Welcome to God's world, precious ones.

Last week I had my 2nd ultra sound to see if the placenta has moved away from my cervix and we got some excellent news... Its right where it needs to be! We're very thankful to God for this and so thankful to all of you who prayed for us. It was a blast seeing the baby, so developed and active with personality. We got some amazing shots of her feet and her face. The kids were thrilled to see them when I got home, though a little confused as to why I didn't go have the baby. Ethan has informed us on many occasions that this whole "pregnancy thing" it taking way too long. :) Thank you again for praying for us.

I'm going to try and download the foot picture we got for you later... we'll see how it works.

Some of you have asked about baby a registry; do we have one, where is it and how do you get to it.

We're registered for a few things at both Babies R Us and Target. I know it will shock some of you, since this is our 3rd child, but we actually do need some things. We borrowed quite a few things with our first two and had to give back most of it. Those of you who are interested, you just go to those websites and follow the baby registry instructions. I'm working on linking them from here, but so far... not quite sure I've got it down right. :)

My Dr. called today after reviewing my ultra sound pictures to let me know how things look. She said the baby looks absolutely wonderful and seems to have quite long legs. I actually wondered because in the ultra sound pictures we got, the legs seemed very long to me... but I figured they all look that way. She said I'm still measuring perfectly for a due date of October 2nd, which is always nice to hear.

She did, however, pose a concern with me. I have a very common condition that's called Placenta Praevia. It basically means my placenta (what the baby is living in) is too far down low and just above the cervix. Its not supposed to be that way until you're due and the baby is preparing to be born. She did remind me that its very common at 20 weeks and usually by 30 weeks as the baby gets bigger and my uterus fills out, it will rise higher and not be a problem. She gave me a few warning signs to look for in the next 10 weeks and if I experience any of them, I was told to call her immediately. At 32 weeks they will do another ultra sound to see if its fix itself and if not, we'll go from there. Looks like what typically happens if it doesn't go away, is that I would be put on bed rest and then they would give me a C-section by 38 weeks.

I was quite worried until I did some research and realized its actually quite common and rarely causes major harm to the baby. So... please keep the baby and me in your prayers! We'd really appreciate it.

We had our 20 week ultra sound today and everything went very well! It was so fun to see our baby on the screen and to see lots of important body parts growing normally and looking "beautiful" as the technician said. :)

We did end up finding out what the baby is... We're having another girl! We're thrilled. We honestly would have been happy with either gender, but if we had to pick we both agreed we would have picked a girl this time. And we admitted that before the ultra sound. :) I loved having a sister very close in age to me and I think Rachel will as well. 

Ethan now officially thinks he has a private link to God, since he first asked God that I would get pregnant and then he asked for another baby sister and he's getting one. He's very matter-of-fact about the fact that he's getting another sister -- "Well, that's what I asked God for." I've been explaining to him a lot today that we love any babies we have and God only gives us what He feels is best and not everything we want.

Our daughter looks quite healthy. As a matter of fact, she's been named our future soccer player and gymnast. The Tech was quite annoyed with how bouncy and active she was. I remember Rachel being the same way in the womb, so I'm not too worried. :)

Anyway, thank you all so much for your continued prayers! I know I don't post about the pregnancy that often, but probably because its going so well. I'm feeling quite normal and relaxed and enjoying it as much as I can. We only have 4 1/2 months until we meet our new girl and we know that's going to fly by.

Her name will be announced at her birth. :)

Ezekiel Matthew is here! Our friends Sam and Jessica Smitts welcomed their 1st little blessing into God's world this morning and, one day before his due date! What a good boy. 

 We rejoice with you both on his birth and can't wait to see pictures!

Much love, Jason & Stef