New Year, New Life

‘Twas the Sunday before Christmas and we went to the park as a family, where we gave Ezra a sign and asked him to read it.

He sounded out the first word pretty easily. Then, we told him the second word and sat down to have a talk about what the words meant.

He understood that it said something important, but for a few moments, he was still pretty clueless.

Finally, we had to break it down and be overly clear:

And then this happened:

And this:

If you are still lost, we are so pleased to announce that our family is expanding this coming year! With this new year will welcome a new life into our home.

Ezra is, obviously, ecstatic. On November 15th, he told me that he wanted to be a doctor when he grew up. When I asked him what kind of doctor, he answered, “I’m going to be a doctor and put a baby in your tummy.” When I told him that doctors don’t do that, God does, he knelt down right there with his face to the ground and said, “Dear God, please put a baby in Mommy’s tummy.”

If you ask him if he’s excited that he’s going to be a big brother, he will respond, “I already AM a big brother!”

I’m currently six weeks along. So far, everything is looking great. My HCG levels at four weeks were within the normal range, and I’ve been experiencing the usual nausea, fatigue, and cravings. I already have a midwife appointment scheduled for mid-January.

This baby is due around the end of August, with this entire pregnancy running approximately one week ahead of Ezra’s pregnancy five years ago. Come summer, I know I’m going to be regretting the timing, as I swore I would never have another late summer baby, but…never say never…

I never dreamed that our children would be spaced five years apart, and it was definitely not the way that I would have planned it. As we have waited for the right time of financial and emotional stability and struggled through many transitions (like reintegration, two moves, and readjusting to civilian life), I’ve been anything but patient. I can imagine that it is excruciatingly painful to struggle with infertility. This was not my struggle. Rather, my struggle was one of being able to conceive, but having to wait on other circumstances to fall in place before we were ready – as a family – for this to happen.

Looking both forward and backward, I believe that the last four years of waiting have not only been necessary for the survival of our marriage and family unit, but a precious gift that we were able to give to each other and to Ezra.

Now, the gift we share is the new life.

I think that when he or she arrives, we will know – without any doubts or regrets – that it was well worth the wait.

All photos credited to Lyann Church.