And Then There Were Four...

So many of my friends and family followed my blog (and kept up with me in other ways) through all of the heartache it took for me to conceive and carry a baby - the crushing blow of hearing the word "infertile," months of medicines followed by the heartbreak of a miscarriage, and finally the difficult pregnancy and delivery that brought us our little Martha Claire.
After all of the years of posts related to the difficulties with trying to conceive, it is a great joy to share with you the first look at Claire's baby sister or brother. The picture doesn't show well after being scanned and uploaded on the blog, but with no real effort of doctors or drugs, we are unexpectedly expecting! This pregnancy was discovered very early by us - thanks to some powerful intuition of Geoff's overcoming my skepticism enough for me to take a pregnancy test - so we were able to get to the doctor soon enough to sustain and continue to grow this little baby. This pregnancy shows all the signs of being frought with the same complications I had with carrying Claire, so of course we appreciate your prayers - especially as we enter the more dangerous third trimester. Baby "E" is due January 14th, but anticipated much sooner, and in fact will be viewed weekly through ultrasound from week 34 on, to be taken when the placenta begins to break down as it did with Claire (and hopefully before the baby is in as much danger as Claire ended up in). We are expecting a delivery between Christmas and New Year's.
This, by the way, is what sometimes happens when you pray as I did. Geoff had always wanted at least two children, but after the complications conceiving and carrying Claire I was convinced that A) we wouldn't be able to have any more children, and B) I didn't want any more children. But I knew how much Geoff wanted another child and so in March I began to pray that if God wanted to bless Geoff with another child, that He would change my heart about it. I shared that prayer and story with a close friend in early May not even knowing at the time that Geoff and I had already conceived! Baby "E" will be able to be a constant reminder to me to always keep my heart and mind open to whatever God may want to bless me with.

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON WHETHER YOU THINK CLAIRE WILL HAVE A BROTHER OR SISTER! :)