Pregnant!

Saturday, February 6th, I decided to take a Sabbath. But I couldn't rest easy, knowing that something hadn't started that should have. I decided to take a test. Is that a faint second line, confirming a positive?

Trying to interpret the results through a haze of oversleeping and excitement is never easy. Better go out to breakfast, go for a walk, drive to the local Walgreens, and buy another test.

It's hard to tell from the picture, but the second test's second line was a lot darker. Derek decided we'd better hit the clinic, which was closing in a half an hour, to be sure.

The nurse walked in to the examining room and told us our due date. Derek and I looked at each other as if to say, "so...that means we're pregnant?" Duh.

So we're pretty excited. We just hit the 6-week mark, so it's still early, but we're just going to keep praying over our little Doodlebug and asking God to let us steward His kiddo. Looking forward to being parents in October, God willing!

How to Grow a Human

Step 1: Rely on God's plan and timing...but, you know, go through the motions ;-)

Step 2: Start taking vitamins that you probably should have been taking anyway

Step 3: Obsess over every little pinch and pain in your abdomen until finally deciding that it's probably just constipation from the vitamins and you're not actually pregnant afterall

Step 4: Discover that you, in fact, ARE pregnant and begin to seriously doubt your powers of self-assessment.

Step 5: Eat EVERYTHING IN SIGHT

I'm at about step 5 right now. Except...for once in my life, I'm not the least bit interested in sweets. Derek's mom made what was probably a delicious pie, and cookies, and chocolate cake, but it all tasted like dust in my mouth. I'm officially broken. To top that off, I'm craving savory/salty things...this must be Derek's kid =)

Week 4

I'm going to have too much fun with this website:

My Baby

By two weeks after conception, the ball of cells implanted in the lining of your uterus has divided into two parts. One half will become the placenta, which nourishes your baby as she grows. The second half is the embryo itself. Around this time, nerve growth begins, as a sheet of cells folds backward to create the neural tube, or spinal column.

...and

Oh yeah. Praise to God for giving me and Derek a baby =) Due date is October 16, 2010. Found out this afternoon. WOOHOO!!

Praises

I praise you, God, for the beautiful mountains lit by morning sun, resembling crisp sheets of starched linen reflected in the still waters of the sound.

I praise you, God, for your commandment to Sabbath, to take the time to enjoy your Word and your Creation for all the glory contained therein.

I praise you, God, for giving us purpose in times of great need, and direction to best glorify you in our struggles.

I praise you, God, that my students raised more than $3,000 for Haiti and feel the joy that comes with God-given compassion.

I praise you, God, for the fullness of life that comes only from knowing you.

I praise you, God, for babies, and for all the joy and heartache in every story I hear.

I praise you, God, for endowing us with a desire to be creative as you are creative, and to enjoy created things as they pertain to your glory, not in and of themselves.

I praise you, God, for giving cats the ability to be warm, soft, and purring all at once.

I praise you, God, for giving me Derek; my favorite example of your love, mercy, and compassion.

I praise you, God, because I get to. That's the best thing of all.