We made it this far...

I'm 23 weeks today.



I've never been 23 weeks pregnant before.

Whew.

I knew January was going to be a rough month.  I knew the gestational date that Jaxson came would fall in January.  My Dr wanted to order tests a bit earlier than normal that would fall in January and my timeline for watching for the same issues associated with Jaxson would fall in January.

Plus January is my least favorite month.  It's dark and cold and gloomy with nothing fun to look forward to.

I didn't know my January would end up blowing up with an ER visit, an urgent trip to the specialist in Spokane, surgery (eeeeekkkk!!!!) and 2 weeks of bed rest.

sigh.

Looking back I see the hand of God guiding us to the right decisions that I whole-heartedly believe saved my daughter's life.  If we hadn't gone to Spokane when we did I know history would have repeated itself.  And I might not have made it to 23 weeks again.

But here we are.  I'm propped up on some pillows, feeling pretty healed, if not slower getting around than I expected this early, and feeling Lil Girl kick around in my tummy happily.

We made it this far.

My hope is starting to spread that we'll make it all the way.  One Dr I saw swore that as soon as I got further with this pregnancy than I did with Jaxson I'd feel such relief.  And I do.  I finally do feel like I can relax just a little.

I even felt brave enough to start a nursery dream board on Pinterest and choose colors for a quilt my dad needs to start working on.  Little, fun, things I couldn't bring myself to dream about out of sheer terror of what might go wrong.

...And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.  ~Romans 5:3-5