The time has come for me to tell you some big news. About a month ago, during the same week that God led us to our new home, Cory and I discovered that there was one more big change to be excited about. We are very happy to announce that in March 2014, we will have a new family member joining us. We’re pregnant!

When I first found out, I was shocked and amazed. It was the first month that we’d been trying to conceive, and to be successful on the first try is very fortunate! We definitely didn’t expect it that soon. But God clearly had a plan in mind for when we would have a baby. He put Cory into the perfect job, moved us to the perfect house, and started knitting together a baby for us all within six weeks. There’s really only one word to describe that kind of miraculous series of events; Godly. He is making all of the pieces fall into place, and all of the glory for that goes to Him! So I say it again… God is good. So, so good.

Today I am in my 8^th week, which is still pretty early. We have a long wait ahead of us, but I’m excited to be on this journey! In just over 7 months we’ll be holding our precious baby. We’re both convinced that it’s a girl, but we won’t know for sure for another 8 weeks or so. We are definitely going to try to find out the gender as soon as we can!

For the most part, I’ve been having a very easy pregnancy. I have no morning sickness whatsoever (neither did my mom) and really no other unpleasant symptoms. I’ve been a little more tired and unmotivated to get things done, but other than that I feel fine. Last week, however, I did find myself in a scary situation. Without going into too much detail, I’ll just say that I’m experiencing a symptom that is definitely not normal. My midwife recommended an early ultrasound to investigate, which I went to on Thursday. The results were ambiguous; there wasn’t much to see, since it was so early in the pregnancy, but it didn’t look bad either. I scheduled another ultrasound for August 1^st to get a better look. I will be in my 9^th week of pregnancy at that point. We are praying to hear, or at least see, the heartbeat at that appointment. If we do, then the prognosis is very good for a healthy, full-term pregnancy!

Even though I was really scared at first, I have since come to a place of awesome peace. It took me a while to really believe it, but now I know that God truly does have his hand on our baby. He is protecting her (and me) from any and all harm. I know now that it doesn’t matter what it may look like on the outside. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” I am walking through a potentially scary time with complete faith in my Father. Even though my eyes may try to convince me that something is wrong, I know that all is well. Hebrews 11:1 says “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Because I follow an amazing God, I have assurance that my baby is healthy and safe. My pregnancy is in His capable hands. Hallelujah to that!

This week, I’m still feeling excited about being an expectant mother, but I’m also eager to start seeing some changes related to pregnancy. Cory and I are both thrilled to be becoming parents, and we couldn’t be more ready. But as it turns out, being pregnant, at least in the beginning, isn’t as exciting as I thought it might be. I feel almost no different than I did before I was pregnant, and at times it just doesn’t feel real. Is there truly a person growing inside me? It can sometimes be hard to believe! I am very much looking forward to developing a baby bump, and just making “progress” through my pregnancy in general. For the rest of my first trimester, I will be posting updates whenever I have new information to share. In my second and third trimesters, I may try to post short weekly updates depending on how much I can find to write about. I’m excited to share this adventure with you, my readers!

Thanks for sharing in this exciting news with me, and as always, thanks for reading.