11:55pm Expecting baby #4 has been such a blessing. Something we never expected to be doing before Avelyn was born, but something we hoped for awhile after she passed. Even though everything has gone great so far, because of our history my OB wanted me to have my 18-20 week ultrasound with a specialist. She mentioned a couple places she typically sends her patients to see a specialist, but instead we asked if we could go to Children's Mercy since we are familiar with the staff there. Wednesday morning we got our big girls on the bus, then we headed to downtown KC. The mixture of emotions was about to begin. We were thrilled for our appointment; so excited to hopefully find out if we would be having a boy or girl. :) But as we pulled into the parking garage at Children's Mercy, I said 'this brings back a lot of memories;' Josh said he was thinking the exact same thing. Everyday for 16 days we parked there, looking forward to seeing our baby girl - but not where we had expected to be for the first few days of our 3rd daughter's life. So as we pulled in there, these emotions flooded us as we prepared to go "see" the new baby we are expecting.
So many similarities between then & now. Yesterday we sat in the exact same waiting room as we had over a year ago. A small waiting room, as Children's Mercy is obviously a hospital for children, but about 4 years ago they added this small area for expecting moms that may need extra care - a small area for diagnostic testing and a hallway of 6 inpatient rooms for delivering babies. Probably 10-11 chairs in the waiting room to choose from. We were the first ones there early yesterday morning. I chose to sit in a different chair this time around.
The morning of the day Avelyn would later be born, we waited in that waiting room for our fetal echocardiogram that was supposed to "rule out" any heart condition she might have. After the echo, we met with some pediatric cardiologists, then we had a regular ultrasound; immediately after this they recommended our baby girl be born that day via C-section. Yesterday as we were sitting in that same waiting room, Josh recalled that on the day Avelyn was born, the pictures on his phone went from one picture of an article of a magazine he was reading in that waiting room - to a picture of his new baby girl. From "ruling-out" -- to baby born. Yesterday as we were waiting we saw and got to talk to a couple nurses that took care of me after Avelyn was born and we also saw one the neonatologists that took care of Avelyn. It was so nice to see these familiar faces; in some ways this helps me feel Avelyn's presence.
We finally got called back to the ultrasound room; the same one we had been in for the ultrasound of Avelyn a few hours before she was born last May. And the same ultrasound tech did our ultrasound. I don't really remember the words she said last time during Avelyn's ultrasound, but the words I heard her say yesterday were like a constant beautiful sound of music to my ears. With each measurement she took, we heard " beautiful...gorgeous...beautiful...beautiful..." This gave me so much peace. It seems like not many techs are allowed to say much; so thankful this tech is allowed to. And she was so sweet. After meeting with her, we met with the doctor - who confirmed everything looked great. Praise God! Such a contrast from the way we felt after leaving that same room on May 7, 2014.
As I was thinking about our day yesterday, I thought of a familiar verse in the bible. Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." The 2nd portion of those verses got me this time: "in ALL your ways acknowledge Him (the beautiful times AND the hard times - always knowing God, having that deep faith in Him), and He will make your paths straight." In life, it's like we are on this path. As we walk along, live along our path, sometimes the road - the journey - veers off in a direction you never imagine yourself going through; a challenging time none of us would ever choose. At other times, our path veers off in a way that is one of the most exciting, uplifting times of our lives. And in some ways, those drastically different journeys may be similar in some ways, like it was for us yesterday. But no matter what direction our path veers off toward, if you know Him, think about Him, acknowledge Him, have faith in Him - He will make your path straight. What does this straight path look like? This is where my perspective of this verse changed yesterday; I don't think it's a straight "earthly" path, I feel it's a different path; the path to Eternity with Him. The path to heaven. The path we are on once we accept Him. Things may not always be peachy keen here on this earth as our paths, our journey of our earthly life, leads in different directions - some negative, some positive. But with faith in Him, we will always remain on that straight path - to eternity.
The path for our family at this time here on this earth has led us to something we have never experienced before. Yes, we are expecting a baby BOY. We are both excited, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't a bit nervous. ;) I know Josh would be equally excited with a girl - as all we are praying for is a healthy baby - but I am so happy for him. :) As we were waiting in the waiting room yesterday, I read an article about a celebrity couple expecting their 2nd child. They already have a girl, and the wife wanted another girl. But when they found out they will be having a boy, the wife said she leapt for joy for her husband. This was a good thing to read a few minutes before we heard "It's a boy!" :) What an adventure it will be!
Love you friends. Thank you for your continued love, support, and prayers. Hoping to enjoy that straight path - to eternity - with ALL of you. <3
So many similarities between then & now. Yesterday we sat in the exact same waiting room as we had over a year ago. A small waiting room, as Children's Mercy is obviously a hospital for children, but about 4 years ago they added this small area for expecting moms that may need extra care - a small area for diagnostic testing and a hallway of 6 inpatient rooms for delivering babies. Probably 10-11 chairs in the waiting room to choose from. We were the first ones there early yesterday morning. I chose to sit in a different chair this time around.
The morning of the day Avelyn would later be born, we waited in that waiting room for our fetal echocardiogram that was supposed to "rule out" any heart condition she might have. After the echo, we met with some pediatric cardiologists, then we had a regular ultrasound; immediately after this they recommended our baby girl be born that day via C-section. Yesterday as we were sitting in that same waiting room, Josh recalled that on the day Avelyn was born, the pictures on his phone went from one picture of an article of a magazine he was reading in that waiting room - to a picture of his new baby girl. From "ruling-out" -- to baby born. Yesterday as we were waiting we saw and got to talk to a couple nurses that took care of me after Avelyn was born and we also saw one the neonatologists that took care of Avelyn. It was so nice to see these familiar faces; in some ways this helps me feel Avelyn's presence.
We finally got called back to the ultrasound room; the same one we had been in for the ultrasound of Avelyn a few hours before she was born last May. And the same ultrasound tech did our ultrasound. I don't really remember the words she said last time during Avelyn's ultrasound, but the words I heard her say yesterday were like a constant beautiful sound of music to my ears. With each measurement she took, we heard " beautiful...gorgeous...beautiful...beautiful..." This gave me so much peace. It seems like not many techs are allowed to say much; so thankful this tech is allowed to. And she was so sweet. After meeting with her, we met with the doctor - who confirmed everything looked great. Praise God! Such a contrast from the way we felt after leaving that same room on May 7, 2014.
As I was thinking about our day yesterday, I thought of a familiar verse in the bible. Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." The 2nd portion of those verses got me this time: "in ALL your ways acknowledge Him (the beautiful times AND the hard times - always knowing God, having that deep faith in Him), and He will make your paths straight." In life, it's like we are on this path. As we walk along, live along our path, sometimes the road - the journey - veers off in a direction you never imagine yourself going through; a challenging time none of us would ever choose. At other times, our path veers off in a way that is one of the most exciting, uplifting times of our lives. And in some ways, those drastically different journeys may be similar in some ways, like it was for us yesterday. But no matter what direction our path veers off toward, if you know Him, think about Him, acknowledge Him, have faith in Him - He will make your path straight. What does this straight path look like? This is where my perspective of this verse changed yesterday; I don't think it's a straight "earthly" path, I feel it's a different path; the path to Eternity with Him. The path to heaven. The path we are on once we accept Him. Things may not always be peachy keen here on this earth as our paths, our journey of our earthly life, leads in different directions - some negative, some positive. But with faith in Him, we will always remain on that straight path - to eternity.
The path for our family at this time here on this earth has led us to something we have never experienced before. Yes, we are expecting a baby BOY. We are both excited, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't a bit nervous. ;) I know Josh would be equally excited with a girl - as all we are praying for is a healthy baby - but I am so happy for him. :) As we were waiting in the waiting room yesterday, I read an article about a celebrity couple expecting their 2nd child. They already have a girl, and the wife wanted another girl. But when they found out they will be having a boy, the wife said she leapt for joy for her husband. This was a good thing to read a few minutes before we heard "It's a boy!" :) What an adventure it will be!
Love you friends. Thank you for your continued love, support, and prayers. Hoping to enjoy that straight path - to eternity - with ALL of you. <3
In the Children's Mercy gift shop after finding out we are having a BOY!! :)
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