Our Family is Growing!

We are so thrilled to share that we are expecting a baby in the beginning of September! I am 19 weeks pregnant and my belly is getting harder and harder to hide!

This baby is one we hoped and prayed for and love so much already. To be completely transparent, after our third miscarriage, I began to worry about whether or not I could emotionally handle another pregnancy or loss despite such a strong desire in my heart to have more children. This pregnancy has come along with no shortage of anxiety but thankfully we had a wonderful appointment at maternal and fetal medicine last week and now, nearly halfway through my pregnancy, I’m beginning to let myself believe we will be having another child. It feels good to let myself dream of the moment Chase and Ryder meet their little brother or sister in a few months. Adding another child into our chaos feels exciting, intimidating and right.

As for how the boys are handling the special news, they are thrilled! Well, technically Ryder just says, “baby” over and over again and doesn’t really get it but around 15 or 16 weeks, Chase asked if there was a baby in my belly because it was already so noticeable. He’s now all in on brainstorming names for his little brother or sister. (His latest suggestion for a boy was Flipper… and Ryder which might get just a little confusing. For a girl, he’s suggested Gigi, Sparkle Pants and Runner “so she will be really fast.”)

I’ll share more about my first and second trimester (so far) in an upcoming post and am happy to answer any questions you may have about this little one, how things are going so far, our plans in the coming months, etc. Just let me know what you’d like to read about in a followup post and I’ll be happy to address everything soon.

Thank you guys so, so much for following my life and my family and giving us such an amazing outpouring of love and support over the years. I know so many of you have been reading since the early days when Sadie was our only baby and I am so grateful for your continued love and kindness. I cannot wait to introduce you to the littlest member of our family in a few short months!

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I cannot ever share a pregnancy or baby-related post on this blog without thinking about those of you reading from a place of longing, loss or pain related to miscarriage, loss of an intensely loved little one or infertility right now. My mind and heart changed deeply after we lost three babies during pregnancy and I know that pregnancy announcements in particular can be just plain hard to read when you’re hurting. I hope and pray my news doesn’t cause you pain right now but if it does, I get it. The longing for a baby and the pain of loss is horrible and unfair and heartbreaking. I’m thinking of you and holding a space for you in my heart.