There really is a live baby in me!

Wow. I'm so thankful that we didn't get to hear the heartbeat last Friday because it was amazing to see this little baby moving around in there! What a miracle! I wasn't really worried about the baby, but it's still huge to know that there really is a baby in there! We could see the baby's little heart beating, and it was jumping around with its arms and legs. Joshua, my mom, and I all got to see it. We did get one picture that i've posted under our baby albums section. Actually I had to take a picture of the picture to put it on here, so maybe we'll be able to post a clearer one later, but you can see the baby's head at the left end. The baby's nose and jaw are the whitish parts sticking up. In front of the face is the baby's hand, with the thumb at the top and the fingers below it. The baby's bottom is at the right side of the picture with the legs above that. I'm sure this baby looks like most two-months-in-the-tummy babies, but this one is in my belly! What an amazing blessing from God. And we really appreciate all your prayers.

10 week appointment

We just got home from our 10 week appointment. The doctor said everything looked and felt just fine and how it should at this point. We didn't get to hear a heartbeat today, but now we get to have an ultrasound on Monday, so I think that's even better. So now we get to see the baby at 11:15 on Monday. I'm looking forward to the appointment.

doctor's appointment tomorrow

Our appointment is at 3:00 Friday. I'm really really hoping we'll be able to hear a heartbeat. Because the baby's only the size of a small plum, our being able to hear it could depend on the baby's position. I'm really looking forward to having a little bit of evidence that there really is a live baby in there. I'll post an update tomorrow evening.

First OB appt

We had our first prenatal appointment today (at 6 weeks). It was fairly boring (the nurse asked lots of health history questions, told me not to start up any of the bad habits i've thankfully never had, and drew blood), but it was great to need a prenatal appointment! And we made our 10-week appointment for December 28th, when we have a chance of maybe hearing the little baby's heartbeat. Then at 18 weeks we'll actually get to see the baby, the doctor can check on all the organs which will be completely formed by then, and we'll get to find out if we'll be having a boy or girl! So far I'm still having some minor pregnancy symptoms but nothing awful, so i'm very thankful for that right now, too.

happy news email

We're having a baby! Wahoo! We're only about 5 weeks along, so it's early, but neither of us are good at keeping secrets we're excited about. We know there are so many things that can happen to a little baby (currently the size of a sesame seed!), but we also know that this is a blessing from God and that he is in complete control, so it is wonderful to be able to trust His provision and faithfulness. Please join us in lifting up both mother and baby to the Lord in prayer. The baby is due July 26 th. We should know a little more at the end of December or beginning of January. Thanks for sharing this exciting time with us! We were able to tell all of our parents and siblings in person this last week, so please share the news with whoever you'd like. You can stay updated on our baby news at http://www.babysites.com/sites/vaughnbaby/. Love, Joshua and Rachel

sharing the news

Well we've finally been able to tell all of our parents and siblings! What a great week for being able to share this news in person! And so much fun! All of the grandparents got a book on grandparenting and all of the aunts and uncles got onesies that said, "I love my aunt Michelle" or whatever name. It was so much fun to watch their reactions! This baby has 17 grandparents and great-grandparents, two uncles, five aunts, and five cousins :-). Now we're so excited to share the news with the rest of our wonderful friends and family!

baby development

If you want to check out the baby's development, here are a couple of really interesting sites.
http://www.i-am-pregnant.com/pregnancy/calendar/week/1
http://www.pregnancy.org/pregnancy/fetaldevelopment1.php
http://www.babycenter.com/pregnancy-calendar?intcmp=Nav_Global_Tools_calendar

pregnant!

When Joshua and I got engaged in July 2006, we decided to learn Natural Family Planning, and we’ve been using that since we got married in October 2006. Being able to do NFP has been a huge blessing for us. We’d love to tell you more about it if you’re interested! Last summer we felt like God was asking us to switch up our NFP from preventing pregnancy to allowing for pregnancy after being married for a year. So November 16th, I woke up to take a pregnancy test. My temperature had been up for a couple of days beyond normal (one of the NFP indicators), so I thought there was a good chance I was pregnant, but really I thought I was just getting too excited and maybe that was getting my temperature up. My heart was pounding when I went into the bathroom to start the test. Then I went to lay in bed for a couple of minutes while Joshua and I waited for the test. We went back into the bathroom to look at the test together. I turned on the light, glanced at the test, and said “negative.” Then we both looked at it more closely and saw a very faint line. Over and over in my head I was saying to myself what I had told many clients at the pregnancy center I had volunteered at, “Any line, no matter how faint, indicates a positive test.” I kept saying it to myself, but I just couldn’t believe that this would apply to me. Although I found it very hard to believe, it seemed that there was a chance that we might have a baby. Joshua was very excited; I was still a bit in shock, trying to grasp this huge news. We prayed and then we went off to work and tried to act perfectly normal. We looked forward to sharing the news at our Thanksgiving celebrations with our family the next week.