Thursday, March 27, 2014

And, again...

I believe it's been more than six months since I felt the need to add to this blog. Grieving for a baby changes over time especially when you have a busy toddler running around the house reminding you that God is good. There are so many, many people who experience loss after loss without the joy and distraction of another child. We know that we have been blessed. Our story has become one of hope just as I desired when Faith was born.

And for us, that hope continues to grow. We have reached the twenty week mark with a new little one. Baby Boy Graber #2 will be joining our family in early August. We took a lovely look at our little one yesterday via sonogram and everything looks great. I have to say that there is very little that is more beautiful than seeing a fast little heartbeat on the screen.

So, if you've followed this blog over the last two years or have been part of our story, you may be wondering about how this pregnancy is different from the last one. First, the anxiety of this pregnancy has been significantly less. Knowing that my body is able to carry a baby to full term and seeing the evidence of that every day makes it much easier to let go of the anxiety. Listening to Baby's heartbeat on our home doppler nearly every day is also very much of a worry-reducer. To be perfectly honest, I think both M and I are more anxious about having two little boys less than twenty-two months apart!

Second, I've been much busier than I was during either of my previous two pregnancies. Running after a (currently) seventeen-month-old and trying to keep my meals down was an overwhelming job for many weeks. I managed to only make one trip to the hospital for IVs earlier this month, for which I am immensely grateful. Baby survived my inability to keep food down much better than I did. Who knew that my worst morning sickness would come at seventeen weeks rather than in the first trimester!

Third, because I have had one pregnancy to term, my schedule of doctor's visits has been significantly less. We went in at seven weeks to check via sono for a heartbeat which was followed by visits at eleven weeks, fifteen weeks, and a full sono at twenty weeks. This schedule of visits is much like it would be for someone who is not high risk due to previous late term pregnancy loss. The frequency of my visits will likely change some as we get further along and I'm still not allowed to travel during the third trimester, but for the most part this third pregnancy is being treated as a normal pregnancy. And, for someone who has lost a baby in pregnancy, there's not a better word than to be told everything looks "normal."

As I've said on this blog countless times before, your prayers are very much desired as we face this new change in family life. We are so blessed to have a wonderful community behind us and we couldn't do any of this without the knowledge that people are praying for us. It not only takes a village to raise a child but to be a family. We are deeply indebted to the village that surrounds us and lifts us up, who blesses us with their presence in our lives, who cares for our weary spirits and encourages us with their love. Many thanks and much love!



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