September 2009: Announcement!!!

So it is definitely time for me to do a little bit of catching up. Hopefully this will explain my significant absense from blogging as well as an explanation for all of you who so generously participated in my "Girls Got No Skills" contest. For those of you who read my Spotlight and Spoiler, I promised that I would give the complete story, and I finally will.
To quote a bit from my Spotlight:
"The past 6 months has been a difficult time for our family. In summary, beginning in April my husband was no longer able to swallow food. For months he went to drs without answers as I watched him shrink and almost starve to death. Before this all began we had decided that it was time to try for another baby. I ended up miscarrying. On the same day Mike finally got his diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis, we found out we were pregnant again. As you can imagine finding out that the person you love the most has a crippling disease that could take away all of his functions is beyond heart-wrenching. I was actual grateful that I had discovered I was pregnant that same day despite the wonder if this baby would know the amazing man and father as I know him. Knowing I had a child developing inside of me forced me to gain control of my convulsive crying.
Since then my extremely optimistic husband, my supportive family, encouraging friends, and my loving God have helped me to work through fear and despair. The realization of having this disease has only brought out the best in my husband, he is truly the most inspiring person I have ever known. This helps me to want to be that for him. I am not sure what our future holds but I know God’s hand is in it and I pray it brings out my true character as I move forward as a wife, mother, and friend."

Yes, I am pregnant, and what a blessing it is!!! Because of just recently having a miscarriage and because of pain I experienced early on in this pregnancy that I feared to be a tubal pregnancy, I have been very cautious about telling anyone. I am now 17 weeks!!! Of course I'm due in March, its THE month to be born in:-) It has been a relief to be able to go to my Dr.'s appointments and hear the baby's heartbeat and see its little Johnson body doing near back flips on the "Dr.'s TV" as Owen calls it. I have also been able to feel the baby move within the last few weeks and what an amazing sensation it is.

To add to my reassurance that everything is going great with the pregnancy- this is what my Dr. tells me:-) - I am having horrible morning sickness. I never experienced this with my past 3 pregnancies. I rarely felt sick and I had never thrown up (of course I had other fun & exciting problems which some of you are aware) but no morning sickness. Of course I'm not sure why they call it "morning" sickness because it can be an all day thing. I have been soooo sensitive to smells & tastes, its really annoying to someone who loves food. Gratefully generous family and friends have been bringing us meals and meals. Also Mike is discovering what he can eat, which is mainly vegetarian dishes, and has been cooking a little bit more.

Because this pregnancy is so different from my previous 3, Mike is convinced that I am having a girl. I am not convinced but have suddenly this week become anxious to know. My ultrasound is scheduled for Oct. 29th so I've got 3 more weeks of waiting. I love my boys and another one would be so much fun. Adding a girl to the mix would bring some needed femininity and of course some fun clothes shopping:-) I do have to say that my greatest reason for wanting a girl would be to have someone by my side in tending to Mike's needs if it comes to that. I know the boys would be there, but its different with girls I think.

So there you go, I'm going to put a poll up to see who votes for a boy and who dares to vote for a girl? (You know that its only a 20% chance that after having two children of the same gender in a row that you will have one of the opposite.) Your results of my poll will be in on the 28th!