It's a....

Sometimes whilst living in the fog of nausea and sickness in this pregnancy, it's been easy to forget that I am actually pregnant with... you know... a real and precious baby wriggling around in there! Well, today we had the big ultrasound at 19 weeks so reality sunk in, and I am utterly grateful to report we have a very healthy, strong and 'fidgety' little baby!

This does not look all that comfortable, but what do I know?! Knees right up to baby's nose!

Two sweet little feet (taken from different sides so it is actually left and right, not 'two left feet' haha!

Feeling so grateful. So blessed. Doesn't matter how many times you go through it, those first couple of seconds after the gel is put on your tummy and the little wand thing is applied.... your heart catches in your throat and you forget to breath until you see it - the heart beat.... the feet kick. Oh, the reassurance in those first few seconds. Yes, thank you Lord, our baby is healthy and strong. Mark and I held hands and smiled and wondered at the marvel of both creation and technology, to see our bub so clearly.... four heart chambers, the brain, the kidneys, little mouth, hands, and so on! We even noticed (since the two years since I had Eli) how much clearer the images were... we even got some 3D at the end which was a shock as I have never had that with my babies before. Also, yes, many of you will be reassured to know baby is the perfect 'on track' size, despite me not 'showing' yet and having lost so much weight. Clearly, bub knows to just take whatever nutrients it needs out of my body.... thankful for that!

The lovely ultrasound technician and we were laughing as our baby was curled into the tightest little ball - it was hilarious! Plenty of room to swim around in there, but baby chose to curl into some kind of super-foetal position, like legs up by its head - knees up by its nose! Made seeing all the parts a bit tricky, I had to wriggle around a bit to try to shift the baby...

Thank you God for this beautiful healthy baby, growing big and strong, even whilst I have not been well. Thank you for this honour and this child. I am blessed, I am grateful this baby is alive and healthy so far, and I am utterly aware that it is not always so.




Beautiful baby of mine.... Little hands by the face!

Ok, ok, I know most of you are just skimming this waiting for the big reveal... did we find out the gender?! Why yes we did.... and we were so excited to discover.....






A boy. A little brother for Eli. Two little brothers for Lily to smother nurture and love on. Fun!!

Having a 'pigeon pair' already, it was kinda fun waiting to see what this little one would be, a little bonus baby! :) Being the overthinker that I am, I had thought through the benefits of every combo (well, two combos pretty much - boy or girl!!) so either way was going to be a delight - most of all of course, I just wanted to see that healthy baby kicking around in there!

My two sons!!! Wow!!! Feels surreal still to think about it.

Coming home, I admit I had a bit of trepidation about telling Lily as she has been very vocal about wanting a sister. However, when I told her she was getting a baby brother she was totally thrilled and excited! I let her make the call to family members to share the news and it was so precious how she relayed it...

'Hi, guess what, I've got some exciting news - the baby is growing healthy and strong! And you know what else? It's a boy!!!! Now I have two brothers to look after!'

Half way through telling my mum, she suddenly remembered that she had been hoping for a sister and looked at me in shock, whispering that she wanted a girl, in dismay. I gently reminded her that she had a sweet new girl cousin, which is practically like a sister, plus now she would get to be the special big sister (and only girl!) to two adorable brothers - another one as fun as Eli! (Hoping fervently this would be a convincing argument!). With that she was totally satisfied and excited and proud once more - phew! I admit I felt a small pang on her behalf that she would likely never experience that special sister-bond.... but at the end of the day, regardless of gender, it is personality, love and family history that binds siblings together... and I only have to look at her bond with her brother to know how precious any sibling relationship can be.

So.... a baby boy is on his way. A new little guy in our family. Almost half way through this pregnancy, and I am so utterly eager to meet him. My tiny baby boy is already so loved, so keenly anticipated, and so very, very welcome!

Love you, precious son!