it's a miracle

Thirty years ago today my mother accomplished a feat that is both mundane and miraculous. Mundane, because it is accomplished every day, many, many times over, all across the world. It has happened billions of times, literally. Miraculous, because the process of building a complete human being in one's womb, then physically delivering that child, is nothing short of extraordinary.

Certainly, the wonder of reproduction has been on my mind as we prepare to become parents. Quite regularly I think to myself, in amazement, that there is a person inside of me right now.  That thought is weird, strange, and sometimes a little freaky. Yet, it is also so incredible that God designed us this way, to grow a complete, perfect person without the use of our sight, our hands, really without conscious effort on our behalf.

Psalm 139:13-14 tells us,

13For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

Our Creator is really quite something!

Then, to think of the number and sequence of physiological changes required to deliver a child, and the physical feat accomplished by both mother and baby. It's truly astonishing that it happens so successfully. 

Thanks, Mom, for accomplishing the extraordinary.
And thanks, Dad, for getting everything started, sometime in March of 1981! 

without further ado

After brief thoughts about how to make the announcement here, and coming up with nothing, let's just make it plain and simple --

And yes, we're super excited for a boy, and no, we don't know his name yet!

Let the nursery preparations begin!

kicking, kicking, kicking

This little one is kicking quite a bit! They're strong enough to be visible to the eye if one is looking! It is really neat to feel the baby moving around.

I saw that friend I mentioned in our last post, the one who is two days younger than me and also pregnant. Turns out we're both due on March 4th! What are the odds? We promised to keep each other posted when we go to the hospital. Should be interesting to see how close our little ones end up being in age!

Oh, and the thing that you're really interested in - are we having a boy or a girl? Well, let's just say that we opened the envelope. We decided to find out on the day that Ryan felt the baby move for the first time. I'm glad we waited, but also glad to know. Let the nursery planning kick into full gear!

Stay tuned sometime in December if you're curious about what we're having .We're telling family in person, and then we'll post it here.

in the meantime

To give you something a little more exciting to look at than a plain white envelope, here are a couple pictures from our ultrasound this week.

Oh, and it appears that my friend from high school may be pregnant with her first - I'll find out this weekend. She and I have birthdays two days apart (we had our sweet sixteen birthday party together) - wouldn't it be strange if our kids are also days apart in age?

in this envelope

In this envelope,

that one right there, is a picture. The picture is an ultrasound picture, on which the tech has written the gender of our child. We're told the picture makes it fairly clear whether it's a boy or a girl.

We're not sure when we'll open it, but for now, I like knowing that we can find out whenever we decide to. All we have to do is open the envelope. 

the line in the sand

When we were engaged, older ladies would respond happily by saying things like, "Congratulations! Have a great life." Annoyed, I didn't appreciate the implication that my life prior to R was in fact just a waiting period for my real life to begin. Seven years later I can't imagine life without R as my partner and confidant, but I haven't forgotten or discounted the first 22 years, either.

This next adventure also brings many congratulatory hugs. It is similarly sort of strange, as if we have now reached a new pinnacle of adulthood or married life. Almost, again, as if the years of R and T, sans baby, don't quite count as much. Don't get me wrong, we're excited too. One of my favorite moments of the day is when R puts his hand on my tummy to say hello to baby. But, I'm confident that in the years to come we will also cherish the years when it was just the two of us, and be thankful for the ways that time prepared us for being partners in the adventure of parenthood.

This time there is undoubtedly a line in the sand, a distinct time of our lives before the baby, and a different life after the baby arrives. We've drawn the line, and are enjoying the remaining time on this side, before March arrives ever so swiftly and we take a leap onto the other side, never to return. There's no one I'd rather take the leap with.