Saying "hello" to Daddy

Last night I got home from my small group where I had a conversation about how early you start to feel the baby kick and how long it would take before someone else could feel the kicks. We were talking about how it seems like someone would be able to feel it but really it's just us who is feeling it inside our "belly". I got home and I was laying in bed I could really feel the baby moving a lot. I told Josh she was really moving and so he put his hand on my belly where I told him I could feel her. He kept it there for about 30 seconds and after I felt her I asked if he felt that and he said "yeah". He pointed to where he felt the movement and sure enough that was the same place I had felt her. He was able to feel her move about 3 or 4 more times after that. It was funny that I had just had a conversation about it but I guess she is pretty active because Josh was definitely able to feel her moving or kicking or whatever she is doing in there. It was really an amazing time for both of us. I think the pregnancy is becoming more and more of a reality for us. I find it's still hard for me to wrap my mind around the fact that I am pregnant. It has been such a journey for us and for about 3 years now I thought that I would never be pregnant. This process is no more special or less special than our adoption with Raegan, it is just neat to have a different experience. We are really blessed to be able to experience a growing family in so many ways.

Another Girl!

I never had a sister and growing up although I have always loved my big brothers, I still always wanted a sister. But for our family we found out yesterday that Raegan will have a sister! We had an ultrasound (19 weeks). It was a long level 2 ultrasound. They looked at every part of the baby. She wasn't being very cooperative. She kept putting her head down and curling up so it was hard for the Tech to get all of the measurements she needed. Towards the end of the ultrasound she asked if we wanted to find out the gender to which we responded yes. I was convinced it was a boy. At the 12 week ultrasound the doctor told us he thought it was a boy although it was too early to tell for sure. And all along my inclination told me it was a boy. I guess I don't have very good inclination. It was hard for the Tech to decide at first because the baby wouldn't open up her legs- being modest I guess. But she thought it looked like a girl. A little later she was able to get a better shot and sure enough she is a girl! We just kind of laughed because we always have a hard time deciding names and we had narrowed down some boy names but absolutely have no girl names picked out. So we have some work to do. We were shocked to find out that we have a second daughter on the way but we are thrilled. We are first of all just still in awe that God has chosen to bless us with another child and with a chance to experience adoption via a pregnancy. We are so excited to be on this journey. And we can't wait to meet our little girl in person. I look forward to seeing Raegan meet her new sister and see them grow up together. We are so excited to be on this journey as a family! I go for another ultrasound next week ( they need to check the stomach b/c they weren't able to check that on monday) and then I go for an appointment with the doctor next week as well. We'll keep everyone posted. And now I need to get to work on preparing for another little girl to arrive and hopefully have a name for it when she does! And we'll get some pictures up soon, I promise!

Moving and Shaking

I am now 18.5 weeks along. We had our 16 week appointment a couple of weeks ago and everything was fine. They didn't do much at that appointment except listen to the heartbeat with a Doppler and the heart beat sounded great. It seems like right after my appointment, I really popped. I have had a little baby belly for a while but right around 17 weeks I really popped. I guess that was the point where I really started "showing". Some people say I still look really small for how far along I look but I feel huge. I have never had a belly before so it was kind of shocking when my belly really started to grow outwards! I am really excited to be showing though. I have always wanted a baby belly and now I have one. I will post a picture as soon as I have Josh take one. I haven't been real into taking belly pictures and posting them but I have had a couple of requests so I will put one up soon. Everyone keeps asking me how I am feeling. I definitely feel better than I did during the first trimester. I still have some small bouts of nausea and some food aversions but overall I feel pretty good. I still have a hard time eating leftovers but it's gotten better. And today was the first day that I was really sure I felt the baby! I think I have felt the baby move before but I have also had a lot of gas bubbles lately so I wasn't sure if it was the baby or if it was something else. But today I was sitting on the couch and I could defintely tell it was baby flutters. So that's really exciting too. We have an ultrasound on monday. It's our long level 2 ultrasound where they do a lot of screening tests and where we find out if our baby is a him or a her. I am pretty sure we are having a boy but we'll find out for sure on monday! We'll keep you posted!