More happy news to share

Friends, I am SO happy and grateful to share that another little baby will be joining our family in July!

In my post six (!) years ago about our decision to have children, I wrote this:

Having children is the greatest expression of hope humans can participate in. We believe the best is yet to come. We are not cynical people. Deciding to have children is tantamount to saying we believe the world they will grow up in will be bright and beautiful, and that’s a statement of faith we want to make.

I believe this is an even more radical position to hold today than it was six years ago, in no small part because we find ourselves (still!) in the grips of a global pandemic. But John and I feel this as strongly as we ever have. God is good. Life will find a way. And we are VERY grateful to be a part of bringing a new little embodiment of hope into a broken and beautiful world later this year.

Perhaps surprisingly, I’m finding I have much more I’d like to discuss with you about a third pregnancy/child than I did about a second, but here are a few preliminaries to get us up to speed!

How are you feeling? At 21 weeks, I feel great! I have felt MUCH more tired throughout this pregnancy than I have with either of my previous two (like, napping every day and for three hours on the weekends in the first trimester!), but I’ve had more energy in the last few weeks. I also had low-grade but manageable nausea in the first trimester (a little milder than previous pregnancies).

Wait, did you say 21 weeks?! Yep! 21 weeks today. My due date is July 15, which is actually John’s birthday! July is about to get even fuller and happier, as we also have Shep’s birthday at the end of the month and MANY extended family birthdays and anniversaries in July, too!

I did not plan to announce this pregnancy so late in the game, but a few factors combined to make it so. (Looking at you, rainiest winter on record, NC, and general ever-present exhaustion.) Now that we’ve cleared this hurdle, I can’t wait to share more!

Were you planning on having another baby? Yes! It was not always a foregone conclusion, however – more about that in a future post :) I will say that a third child does not seem to be a forgone conclusion for others, either, in the way that, say, a second child often is, so it has been fun to receive the more surprised and delighted reactions of friends and family this time around as opposed to the “yay! but yeah, we figured this was coming” that we got last time :) We do believe our family will be complete with the addition of this little one.

Are you going to find out whether it’s a boy or girl? We actually already have, at the 20-week anatomy scan! (EEK!) As before, I needed these next few months to wrap my head around and prepare my heart for what’s coming. We have shared with our families and will be sharing here, too, shortly!

Do June and Shep know? They do! We wrapped up “big sister” and “big brother” shirts for them to open on Christmas Eve. It’s been totally different and wonderful to have a very aware five-year-old as part of the experience this time around! She loves to find out what size fruit the baby is each week, and we’ve been having lots of conversations about baby sister or brother (she is rooting for sister). She will be the best helper this summer!

Shep, age 2.5, does not seem to have much conception of what’s happening, but when we were sitting on the floor the other day, he did pat my stomach and say, “what’s this big belly doing?” HA!

Did you and Nancy have a pregnancy pact? No, but we are delighted to be due two weeks apart!! We had a very funny get-together a few weeks ago where one of us said, “I have something to tell you,” and the other one said, “I have something to tell YOU!” Needless to say, we will be camping in the spring this year! :)

Friends, you have been so kind to me and my family over the MANY years we have been together here, and it really is a joy to share these milestones with you. This third journey hasn’t yet felt complete without you as a part! I can’t wait to share more of the story as it unfolds.

Many thanks to photographer June for capturing the bottom two photos! :)