An 18 week baby update!!!

It's hard to believe I'm already to 18 weeks with this little baby inside :) Yippee...that's almost half way there!! I'm ready to reach the halfway mark and our big ultrasound is quickly approaching (October 28th). I'm thinking girl at this point and Ryan is thinking it's a boy. I guess we'll see who's right pretty soon. I've tried to imagine what our family would be like with another boy or another girl and at this point it's hard to picture. So what's you're vote??? Boy?? or Girl???

I've been a little worried lately and pretty much the only reason I'm bringing this up on the blog is because I'm hoping that someone has had a similar experience who can put my mind at ease. I have a history of ovarian cysts. I've had some pretty bad ones (10cm) and they've been pretty painful at times. They've always been able to regulate them with medication and the last time I dealt with one was about 18 months ago. Well, I think I might have one again. I have some pain that feels just like my previous cysts and it's making me quite anxious. Googling "ovarian cysts" and "pregnancy" is not a great idea...it only makes you worry when words like "surgery" or "bed rest" pop up. I don't think it's an emergency or anything dramatic like that, so I'm just going to wait until I head to my appointment on Thursday. But I am going to insist that they check it out with ultrasound. Hopefully I am wrong and it's just the regular aches and pains of pregnancy. I'm praying that whatever is going on will resolve on it's own before this Thursday. That is not an ulrealistic prayer at all....first of all because God can do anything, and secondly because many times ovarian cysts do shrink and disappear on their own.

It's so easy to pray for others and to tell people to "trust in the Lord" when they're having some sort of issue, but when you're dealing with your own tiny baby putting Proverbs 3:5&6 into practice is easier said than done. Thankfully all of this has increased my prayer life and it's helped me to focus a little more on this precious third child of mine. It's a little hard to even think about this baby when I've got two very vocal and demanding other children to take care of. And as a result I've forgotten to take my prenatal vitamins more than I've remembered....I've carried McKenna around when I know I shouldn't...and the list goes on and on. But don't worry, that won't be happening anymore.

I love it that McKenna and Christian already consider this baby a part of our family. At random times through out the day they bring up the baby. The other day McKenna told me the baby could have her booster seat at the table when it's born. Christian told me he wants the baby to sleep in his room (until I asked him what he was going to do when the baby cries)! Christian's been picking out Christmas presents for the baby. It's cute! They're ready and we still have a few more months to go.

I think it's time for me to wrap up this long and rambling post!! I hope you guys are enjoying Fall!! I have a bunch of posts that I need to get done about all our adventures this fall. We've got a busy, busy week ahead of us....harvest party for my 4th & 5th class from church, a visit to our cousins house, soccer, etc......so stay tuned!