Moving into Zone Defense | #3

It's official. Ben and I are moving out of man-to-man coverage phase of parenting... and into zone defense.

That's right, Friends. We're having another baby. I'm pregnant!

We found out on April 21.  It was a surprise to be sure.  A welcome one, but a surprise, particularly after fertility treatments to have Noah and the anticipated issues with Ellie.  We had been discussing for the past several months how and when we were going to round out our family.  Our desire has always been for four children, but with my diabetes and the strain that pregnancy puts on my body {and the baby's}, we weren't sure if we were going to round out our family with another biological child or attempt to start the adoption process again.  And when either of those might happen.  But, after some symptoms that I had been justifying with other things {extreme tiredness = Lyme's disease [which I don't have! lol]; nausea = from my thyroid meds;} and a friend telling me about a friend of hers who was 20 weeks along before she found out she was pregnant, I decided to take a test.  It was positive before I even stood up.  God made the choice for us - one more biological child it is!  That was the first shocker.

The second shock came along once I was finally able to get an OB appointment on Wednesday.  The midwife's exact words were: "If there is only one, I think you are 15-16 weeks along."  Holy cow!  According to my rough calculations, I thought I was somewhere between 9-12 weeks.  Friday's ultrasound showed that there was only one baby and that the baby was 14 weeks 6 days!  Our due date has been set for November 10.  We'll find out more about the health of the baby in the upcoming weeks and ultrasounds.

Needless to say, this little bundle of joy is ever so welcome.  We're truly happy and very excited.  So are Noah and Ellie {I've got a cute little video that I'll post soon from when we told them!}.  But we're also a little concerned.  Concerned for the health of the baby, considering my diabetes control wasn't exactly in the "healthy baby range".  Concerned for my health, because even though little damage was done to my kidneys and eyes with Noah and Ellie, the concern is still there that it could happen this time.  And of course, concern because heaven knows that NICU time is not something I handle very well.

Would you join us in praying for Baby Smith #3? 

I've got a specific list if you'd like to join us in covering this little one in prayer: pray for the health of the baby - I'm more than a little concerned about the damage that could have been caused by high blood sugars in the beginning and formative weeks; for my own health - that little to no damage to my kidneys and eyes occur with this pregnancy; for an easy delivery - which will, of course, be a c-section again; and for no NICU time this time around.  I know it might seem a little ridiculous {and I'm well aware that our first priority is the baby's health and safety}, but I dream of being able to keep this little one in our hospital room with us. 

Thank you for joining us in our excitement and helping us cover this baby in prayer!  ♥