And now....

We are 32 weeks along!! I remember the days of just dreaming of being in this week. Thank you, God for bringing us here! Each and every week is such a milestone and a celebration, and will be until we are holding our little girl safely in our arms!

This week I am especially grateful for the many people who have offered to loan me baby supplies. Just this week, a couple friends passed on a load of stuff that will really help us to have when the baby comes. THANK YOU!!!

And there is my beautiful sister Melissa who passed on literally an entire wardrobe for the baby. You would never believe that they were already worn by her two little girls! Miss just took such immaculate care of them, which is such a bonus. Thank you, awesome sister!

So my next goal now is 34 weeks. It still helps me to break it up like that. I still have contractions every day, some seeming a bit stronger than what I've had. We would appreciate your continued prayers that they stay at bay, while the baby stays put as long as possible!

Thank you SO much, as always!!!

Jenn, Mike, and Baby Girl

31 Weeks and a Few Thoughts...

First off, I apologize for not posting sooner! I know there are many of you who communicate your prayers to me as you follow our story, and I so appreciate that! Although I've had contractions every day since about 17 weeks, I've noticed them a bit more often than usual lately. Because of that, I've had to try to lay low as much as possible. Good news is that Mike recently brought our laptop home now that his football season is over at school, so I should be able to update more often now.

I am SO happy to be 31 weeks now!! I am still loving every minute of it! What used to feel like little kicks and flutters has now turned into roll and slide movements from one side of my belly to the other. I felt her stretch the other day, with her hands jabbing one side, and her feet nearly poking out of the other side. (It helps me identify which end is which when she has the hiccups.) Yesterday, she was moving so forcefully that Mike and I saw something little stick out of my belly about an inch or so, slide across, and repeating. We actually thought that was a little freaky, like something from the "Alien" movie! We are enjoying it all!

Some of you have asked about my due date. I'm due January 9th. It will be a c-section since I had one before. Please pray that I can make it to that time without any complications from contractions, etc... Another prayer request is about a dream Mike and I have had...to get to be in the operating room together, with me awake, and meet our little girl together for that first time. We would really appreciate your prayers for those two thingn.

We are really getting excited just thinking about meeting her, and we are just so thankful to be where we are now. God has really shown us a lot through all this, and I look forward to sharing that with you as we go along.

One of those things is actually something I learned soon after we lost Tyler. I would hear some people say that they are so blessed, as they seemed to have everything going right in their lives. (Not specific people, just in general.) Which gave me the question, "Am I not blessed? And those like me who have lost a child or are struggling..are we all just forgotten or overlooked?" But the truth really is that we are all blessed no matter what is going on in our lives. Sometimes, the clouds grow thick and cause those blessings to be more difficult to see, but they are still there.

I learned then that true thankfullness for life's blessings should happen no matter how discouraging our circumstances are. It doesn't mean it is easy to recognize or that we need to smile as we go through hard times. I just believe that God loves us each the same, and not one person is more lavishly blessed than another. Our blessings and our circumstances may just be different from what we hoped or expected. I just can't imagine that God has tiered levels where he places us to receive varying amounts of goodness. The goodness is always there...He just has to open our eyes enough to see the big picture.

Mike and I realized at our son's funeral that we were so blessed to have him, if even for six days. Were we smiling and happy to be at the funeral? No way! I remember feeling as though I was totally drowning in sorrow. But still, we knew our time with him would forever be a blessing.

So again now with our baby girl, we say we are soo thankful for the blessing that she is too. Sooooo thankful more than words can say!

We are also thankful for you for following our story, and for your prayers for all of us!

(This post is where I first talked about this idea of "Thankfullness, In All Times." I have a feeling it will explain these thoughts a lot more clearly.)

Guess What??

Today I'm exactly 28 weeks! Whooo-hoooo!!!!

That means 90% chance survival rate, and less than 20% chance that anything would be wrong with her if she would be born right now. (Which she won't be!)

Many of you knew that 28 weeks was the next milestone that I've been shooting for, so I am SOOOO thankful to be here!

This also means that for the first time ever, I am now in the THIRD TRIMESTER of pregnancy! LOVE it!

Mike and I have really loved feeling her move late at night lately. Actually, forget feeling, we can see her move and roll just by watching my belly. We are amazed at how active and on-the-move she is when she's awake. Last night, I laughed and said I thought she might have "restless leg syndrome." :) Or maybe Daddy's ADHD. (He does't really have that, although I've diagnosed him with it! ;)

So here's to the THIRD TRIMESTER!! Thanks for your prayers and to God for getting us this far. We would appreciate your prayers for continued safety for both this baby and myself. Ideas are also being tossed around about how and when the next c-section should be scheduled. There are a lot of factors that go into it, so we would also really appreciate prayers for that as well!

Thanks and love to all!

(Love this song, by the way...can you hear it? Although she will never be "the only one." Tyler will always be a part of our family too.)

Our Baby Girl

I am so happy to get to share this picture with all of you! Words can't even describe how amazing it is to see her on the screen during the ultrasounds. Yesterday, Mike and I just held hands and laughed as we watched her wiggle and squirm in 4-D during the appointment. She has already brought us SO much joy, and we thank God every day for that!



And I have to give a big thank you to our friend Jen, who is also my sister Melissa's neighbor, who so kindly and creatively designed the above picture. Thank you, Jen!

This Moment

I have been savoring the many precious moments I have had so far with this Baby Girl of mine. From the moment I found about I was expecting her, to the unforgettable moments we shared the joy of that news with our family and friends. Then the moments of the pregnancy becoming real...feeling the nausea and the extra tiredness; yes, I even treasure those moments. Then the AMAZING times of feeling her move and kick so early at 14 weeks, followed by that exciting moment where we watched the ultrasound screen to see if we were having another son or a daughter.

And we found out it was you, Baby Girl. And we've been calling you by name since...

Soon following were the down moments as well, trips to the hospital due to hyperemisis and contractions; but even in that there was still the good. Hearing her amazingly strong heartbeat on the monitor that sounded like a horse galloping through the hospital room. It was worth the trip for me just to hear that.

And then recently, there was the follow-up appointment to check on what-appeared to have been my premature shortening cervix. During that appt, a friend of mine held my hand and I know she was silently praying with me for good news while we waited.

And good news we got that day. All was well- Thank you, God.

But right now, this is such a special moment as I type this for a completely different reason.

Last pregnancy, our precious baby boy Tyler was born while I was 24 weeks and 5 days pregnant, at 12:13 am.

I started writing this as I am 24 weeks, 5 days pregnant, at 12:14 am.

I have prayed for this moment.

Right now, with each passing second, minute and hour, I am further along than I have ever been...and I expect to keep treading these new waters in my pregancy in the next weeks and months.

I am in a place in my pregnancy where I have never been before, and I am SO happy to be here.

SO happy for this moment...

And so thankful to the God who has brought me here.

"Dear Lord, thank you for this moment. Please continue to protect this little girl of mine and keep her safe inside of me. Protect my body until it is safe for her to join us, and live a healthy life with us. Tell Tyler we love him. Amen."

Good news!

Sorry this update has taken me so long to post! I don't do much sitting up these days, and Mike needs the laptop at school for football during the week...

Anyway! I was so anxious for that appointment...had NO idea what news I might hear. Before checking measurements, the ultrasoumd tech checked the baby out first. She looked SOOO cute, and I have the sweetest 4-D ultrasoumd picture of her little face. That part was very emotional for me!

Then the ultrasound tech checked measurements, and all checked out fine after all!! Thank you, thank you, thank you, God!!! Can't tell you how relieved I was to hear that. That relief will not even compare to the relief I will feel when Baby Girl is safely here though!

So, I'm officially 24 weeks now! My next goal is to get to 28 weeks. Please help to pray us there!

Thank you so much for your prayers, thoughts, and support!!!

Please Pray

We just got back from our weekly check-up. We are seen by our high-risk dr on a weekly basis with this pregnancy. They specifically measure the cervical length to make sure it is not shortening. It's been good all along, measuring right around 3.6 cm. But today it measured at 2.6 cm. We were not happy about that at all, and of course it makes these days very scary for us. The doctor wants to see us back on Friday to check the length again.

I still have random and infrequent contractions, so please pray that they stop in case they are causing my cervix to shorten.

Some of you already know this, but this is the exact week in my pregnancy with Tyler when we went into preterm labor. It is already a scary week for us, and we weren't expecting this news today. I remember when I had to go into the ER around 19 weeks due to contractions. I was wanting so badly to just be here nearing 24 weeks, and it just felt like a lifetime away. Some of you offered to specifically pray me through to that first milestone that I had set.

And now I'm here, and I am soooo thankful for that.

I would appreciate it SOOO much if you could pray that things will look good during Friday's check-up. Then my next milestone that I'm shooting for is 28 weeks. I am confident that we can get there! With God's help and with prayer, we are going to get this little girl there!

Thanks more than words for your prayers!!

Love to all,
Mike, Jenn, and Baby Girl

Our Baby GIRL

That's right! A few weeks ago we found out that we are expecting a girl! We are very excited, but we really had no preference either way. We already have her named, but we'll announce that after she arrives. I LOVE the name!! I have to tell you that I have the cutest little profile pic of her that will be posted soon!

I am so happy to be almost 21 weeks now! I really hope the next few weeks fly by! I always knew being pregnant again would have its hard/scarey times as we near the point when we had preterm labor with Tyler. And of course, along with the joys, we have experienced that. I randomly have contractions, sometimes several an hour, that send us to the hospital. Although the hospital trips are tiring, we would much rather stay on the safe side. They are usually able to get the contractions quickly under control with IV fluids. Honestly, we rarely tell anyone when we are enroute to the hospitl these days, as I hate to drag everyone on the roller coaster every time.

I share that with you now for one reason...will you please join us in praying that our sweet little girl stays put for a long while yet, and does not join us until her little body is prepared to? I can't even explain how much those prayers mean to me and Mike. Considering what we've been through, it's just a scarey time for us.

With that in mind, I'm closing this post with the verse I heard on the radio soon before finding out I was pregnant. It's a verse that brings me much peace that I remind myself of again and again...

"Forget the former things; Do not dwell on the past. See? I am doing a NEW thing!"

Isaiah 43:18-19

Ultrasound Pics- 7 weeks

Here are our latest ultrasound pics! We decided to keep the continuing story of our second baby here on the same blog with Tyler's story. One led to the next, and it's the continuing story of our family. I would eventually like to change the header above, but first I have to figure out how!

This ultrasound picture was taken at 7 weeks. I swear I can almost see a profile if I look closely, but I know that's not possible yet!

By the way, for anyone having trouble seeing the baby in the ultrasound pic...the dark area in the top half of the pic is the gestational sac. The arrow is pointing at the baby itself. You can also see umbilical cord that is starting to form as it trails away to the left of the baby.

Surprisingly, we heard and saw the heartbeat at this ultrasound. I, of course, got choked up immediately, and Mike laughed with joy. I could have kept listening to that sound all day!

My due date is officially January 9th, but they will schedule me sometime in December for a c-section. This is due to my inverted-T incision, so they can't risk me going into labor again.

It still seems so surreal that I'm actually posting ultrasound pictures now! Please pray that we make it to December with this baby still safely inside me!! Thank you, God, for this gift!!

You may remember this picture on my sister Melissa's blog. There's a story behind it. I didn't want to share it on her blog, as I want to keep her blog about her and not about me.

When I was in Indy for a couple months, we were walking through a "Hobby Lobby" store. They have every decoration known to man in that store. I told her that I wanted to get a sign that said the word faith on it, and I wanted to set it next to an empty picture frame in my living room. For me, it signified holding out faith for our future child, a child that would actually live here on earth with us. I really felt like I should do this. We saw this sign, and I loved it. Miss, being the kind person she is, wanted to buy it for me.

So after she went into the hospital, I took the sign in for her room. This picture of it was in her hospital room when she had her chemo and bone marrow transplant.

When I returned to PA in March, I put the sign in my living room next to the empty picture frame. Some of you may have noticed it there. I placed a small empty picture frame next to it. It stayed just like that for the next two months, then we found out that another little one was on the way.

There is not power in the sign itself, but faith the size of a mustard seed goes a long way. And encouraging sisters are priceless! I hope I have and can continue to extend that same encouragement to her!

Mother's Day

As kids while growing up, Mother's Day meant giving Mom a card that Dad had picked out for us. I remember seeing Dad give Mom a box of Russell Stover chocolates. Of course, I would sneak into it and try to claim all of my favorite cream flavors. (Not surprising, huh?)

Later, especially while I was in college, Mother's Day brought a phone call home to Mom and Grandma. I'm sure at least one time in there I apologized for not getting a card out in time. Across the miles and hours apart, you really grow to appreciate your family and loved ones.

And that is true even now, as we are 10 hours apart. I appreciate them even more and am so thankful for the blessings that they are.

In the past few years, Mother's Day took on a different meaning. It brought pain and was a reminder of what Mike and I wanted so badly. It meant watching others get recognized in church and standing up all around you as the mothers were recognized during the service.

Then last year, even after Tyler had left us, I was finally a mother on my first Mother's Day. It still wasn't a happy one obviously. I vowed that morning before church that if mothers were asked to stand during the service, that I would. Not standing would mean denyng my son. Fortunately, there was never a need for that. But I celebrated my son that day.

And this Mother's Day...

I celebrate something different...something new...a new thing...

Just a few days after posting "A New Thing" below, we found out that we are expecting another baby!

From that moment of finding out, we felt so many emotions. But I can tell you how I've been holding on to that verse that I posted below. Knowing that this is a new thing has already given me so much peace...peace replacing the doubt and fear that I had been feeling before. It was amazing to see how God gave me that verse right before I found out, to start preparing me and changing my emotions.

So now, this Mother's Day, we remember Tyler...

And we look toward the future with this new Baby we have been given now. This new life growing inside of me. I am thankful for every ounce of fatigue, every bit of sickness that I am starting to feel. It has already brought us so much joy!!!!!

And so much joy to get to share our "Mother's-Day news" with you!!!