13 weeks, 4 days

Today we heard our little baby’s heartbeat. It was so beautiful! I cannot describe how wonderful it made us feel to hear the heartbeat. I have honestly been overly anxious these past few weeks. I told the Doctor today that it would be good if they wouldn’t space my appointments four weeks apart. :) Geremy has been such a sweet husband to gently remind me every day that God has this whole pregnancy under control and that He will take care of me. I definitely felt God’s blessings today when we heard the heart beat. The nurse said the heart beat was very strong and that all my blood work looked really good. We go back in three weeks for our next appointment. We should be able to find out if we are having a boy or girl in about 7 weeks. :) To the left is a picture of my progress.

Visit with our niece Sydney

Last Friday we had the privilege to babysit our niece Sydney overnight. It was a “trial” run for parenthood as we had her by ourselves. She was such a good baby. We learned how to make a bottle, clean the bottle, change diapers, change clothes, and lots of fun stuff. I was pretty tired by midnight, but Geremy took over and was able to hold Sydney and rock her to sleep. She slept from 12:30 until 5 AM. I fed her a bottle right away and then she slept until my Mom arrived. I was so glad Mom came to help because we were sooooo tired. You could say we are going to have some adjusting to do with sleep when the baby comes. :) Long story short, Sydney did very well and we made some great memories together. We can’t wait to spend time with her again.

The Journey

We started trying to have a baby in July, 2006. It has been quite an up and down journey, but we have been very encouraged by our family and friends along the way and by our trustworthy God. We have learned through this process that having a baby is a miracle and we ask for your prayers for a healthy Mom and baby.

I Love Coffee!

While at Campus Outreach’s Christmas Conference in late December, Meriam’s brother Caleb told her other brother Josh that Meriam had really been on his mind lately. He saw Meriam holding her beautiful niece Sydney, her sister Sarah’s baby, and saw how much Meriam would love having a baby. He asked Josh if they could pray for us to get pregnant. So as they prayed for us, Josh prayed that we would get pregnant in January. He then took it a step further by deciding not to drink coffee, starting January 1, until we became pregnant. Each time he would think about having a cup of coffee, he would instead pray for us to have a baby. Josh loves coffee, and thankfully for him and us, his coffee fast did not have to continue very long. We did not know that all this was going on until we called Josh and his wife Jessica on January 22 to tell them about the positive pregnancy tests (3 of the 5 that Meriam would eventually take :) ) we had seen that day. What an encouragement to hear how Caleb and Josh had prayed for us and to hear them share in the joy. The next day, January 23, was Josh's birthday and I am sure coffee never tasted that good.

Picture 3

9 weeks, 5 days

Picture 2

9 weeks

Picture 1

7 weeks.