bring on the 3rd trimester!

Today is the last day of trimester 2, and all three of us are glad! Lily's been active as can be this week, kicking so hard that you can see my stomach move. Bundy, our cat, loves sleeping between my belly and a pillow, and she was kicking him so much a few days ago that he glared at me (as if this is my fault) and got off the bed to sleep on the floor. Matt's gotten to feel her lots, too! The reality of her coming is definitely settling in!

Meanwhile, Lily got an awesome gift on Thursday from Heather! I am SO excited now about getting her room painted so we can mount the "L" above where her crib will be! Heather, thank you SO much! We love it!!!

She also got some new baby clothes from her grandmom, (our favorite is the white one piece with the ruffles on the butt!) even including a rock n' roll onesie from Pop Pop!

Lily is already quite blessed with lots of love, and so are we!

26 weeks!

Grandma and Grandpa...thank you for the new maternity shirts! So cute, and they fit perfectly, and give me room to grow! Your box and Patty's just came yesterday...thank you so much!

We are 26 weeks today, and are beginning our LAST week of our 2nd trimester! CRAZY! I bought tickets this past week to head back to the States November 17th for our last five weeks of pregnancy. Matt will follow three weeks later, as soon as school has ended.

New paint came from Florida for Lily's room, which is still not looking anything like a baby's room whatsoever. But, it is happy and peaceful in our minds, and will all come in place in good time. If only we could just run to Walmart!

We're just praising the Lord for each day He's giving us and for this continuing miracle in our lives!

25 weeks!

We are one week away from our third trimester, Lily is nearing 2 pounds, and we just can't believe how the weeks are flying!

We have to share a huge answer to prayer with you each. I didn't feel Lily move at all on Monday, which by Monday night was a bit concerning. Matt was sure I was worrying too much, and I kept trying to give it to the Lord. However, whenever I didn't feel her at all on Tuesday, or again on Wednesday, we were both getting really concerned. Thursday morning we tried to get her to move in every way we could, but felt nothing.

We were devastated, fighting back worry and unsure of what to do. We had been praying fervently for a miracle, but... I have no doctor to call, no women's clinic to go to, no "back up" plan for what to do whenever you are worried, no car to jump into and no hospital to head to. In tears we called our neighbor-friend over, Amy, who is a nurse. She asked us a few questions and promised to talk to our missionary doctor, Gavin. We headed to class as I battled tears through teaching. After class we headed back to the house, where Dr. Gavin and Amy were waiting, having dropped everything at our clinic (which does no prenatal or maternity or women's care). Gavin was obviously concerned as well, and put us all in his car (despite the fuel shortage) and drove us to a building Matt and I had never seen before 5 miles down the road.

We went inside, but quickly realized there was no electricity. Gavin spoke to the people inside, who also quickly informed him there was no doctor. They did, however, have an ultrasound machine. We continued to pray urgently for some way to KNOW that Lily was ok. Gavin spoke to them again, and somehow, the Lord talked them into turning on a generator somewhere. He spoke to them again through Gavin, and somehow convinced them to let HIM run the ultrasound machine. Within minutes, we were led to a VERY sketchy back room with a VERY unreliable looking ultrasound machine and left alone with this expensive piece of equipment.

The second Gavin put the dirty wand to my stomach, one thing was vibrantly clear...Lily's heart was just pounding away, beating strong and steady. It wasn't the best picture, but for several minutes we just watched her...watched her heart, saw how much she has grown, saw her little head and ribs and legs and even saw her move several times, though I couldn't feel it.

A few moments later we were back in the car with no bill and not a dry eye in the car. Whoever says that God doesn't do miracles anymore 1) hasn't seen the miracle I'm carrying right now, and 2) doesn't realize that getting a free ultrasound 5 miles from my house 1 hour after calling our neighbor IN HAITI when there was no doctor and no fuel and no electricity, IS a miracle.

All this to say that Lily is doing just fine, has been kicking up a storm since then, and I'm holding onto the miracles He continues to do in our lives, pondering all these things in my increasingly motherly heart.

The many of you who have promised lots of prayers are obviously praying...thank you so very much!

month 6!

Friday we hit the 24 week mark! One of my students is 26 weeks pregnant, and looks about 3 months more pregnant than I do, but I'm still feeling quite large. Thankfully, I'm also feeling better than I have in, well, months...finally not feeling sick anymore and aside from being a little tired and more clumsy, I feel good!

We began working on Lily's room this past weekend, getting rid of one of the guest beds that was there, giving away the termite infested closet doors, and trying to decide what furniture we could get here and which we need to register for. We are going to try to have a changing table/dresser built, but went on ahead and registered for a crib and car seat...I'm really not sure what a Haitian built car seat would look like :) Dad is coming in a few weeks, and has promised to paint her room, and I finally ordered some paint from Florida, though with the storms it may be a while getting in. It is fun to at least be working on the room!

Supposedly Lily is about 1.5 pounds now, and I can definitely feel the difference. I feel her kicking all hours of the day and night now, and she seems to be kicking a lot more! Time is really starting to fly now, and it's unbelievable to think how life will be changing in just a few short months!

baby shower!

After almost 3 weeks of delayed mail due to all of the hurricanes affecting either Florida or Haiti, we finally got a shipment of boxes yesterday! And what awesome boxes they were, with four separate boxes just celebrating Lily and giving Matt and I both the reminder of some of the more fun things about Lily coming!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of the fun baby clothes and necessities!

Coffmans, thank you SO MUCH for the beautiful photo album and baby books, and for some adorable clothes, towels and washcloths!

Lori, this outfit is TOO CUTE, and I really don't know how you found a baby mosquito net! The hangers, too, came at the perfect time!

Laura, they finally came...you are already such an amazing aunt and sister to us three! And as promised, here's a couple photos of my ever-expanding midsection!

Lisa, Matt LOVES the overall dress, and the CD's and candy got me through our first long day of meetings today!
And Patty, the maternity clothes, not to mention the mango pop-tarts and twizzlers are all things I'm becoming quite dependent on :) You're wonderful...

You all are wonderful, and on top of the beautiful gifts, we are so thankful for everyone's encouragement and prayers! I felt a little saddened this week looking at what will be Lily's room...wanting to decorate and go "all out", and instead not even being able to go to Target or somewhere when I'm feeling hot, fat, sore and tired to buy a pair of baby socks! So these gifts blessed me so much...The Lord knows what I need, and sent these gorgeous things through you all to remind me that even though I can't do some fun "baby things" He's still taking care of us and blessing us in other ways!

22 weeks today!

Lily is supposed to be hitting the one pound mark this week! I'm still only 2 pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight, but my belly keeps getting bigger and she is definitely getting stronger! She's still pretty calm during the day, but any hour of the night, now, Matt and I can both feel her dancing around. Not ballet or the waltz, more like the Can-Can!

Her eyelashes and eyebrows and taste-buds are all supposed to be forming this week, and all my books say that while she's been able to hear our voices for several weeks now, she can now distinguish Matt's and my voices from other voices...pretty crazy!

I was thoroughly scolded this week by a Haitian woman who saw me walk in the rain. Rain, apparently, is very very bad for pregnant women, as are stairs, the sunshine, heels greater than 1/4 inch, and standing for more than 2 minutes at a time! It also seems to be very appropriate for people to just stare at my stomach. Our students are starting to come back now, and instead of saying anything, like "Congratulations", they have just been staring at my belly while I am trying to talk to them, and then whenever I finally say, "So, you see we are pregnant", then they will talk about it...usually with, "I am so happy to see your stomach! I hope it is a boy!" It really is fun experiencing all of this in another culture...we'll have good stories to tell Lily :)

It's really starting to hit us how much life is going to be changing very soon now!

week 21

Lily is officially 21 today, and keeping surprisingly calm about it :) I'm feeling good...just obviously a little warm and tired. Lily is mostly still during the day, with a kick or two here and there, but I can feel her moving almost any hour of the night.

Having the Bundy kids back has been a blast as far as Lily is concerned. Before any of them greet me, they first yell a hearty "Hello!" at my belly and usually give it a joyful pat. Alanna, Brianna and Jake bring her all sorts of flowers, which I am to save for her for after I get "REALLY BIG, and then she COMES!"

Two days ago Alanna continued to roar like a lion at my stomach. When I finally asked what in the world she was doing, she told me she was indeed "roaring like a lion, so that whenever the baby comes, she'll think she is born in a zoo!" I'm not sure why this is a perk, but Alanna seems to think this is a good thing. Both girls talk to Lily as if she is playing next to them, but Jake is quite confused about her name. Since I had explained that a lily is a flower, he continues to just call her "Flower", and whenever one of the girls corrects him, he says, "OH, so you're going to call her Lily for short?"

Their mom is a good mom, they insist, because her mom taught her, and "because MY mom is not in Haiti to teach me," Brianna has promised that all four of them will help me learn.

Mostly, it has just been a joy for us both to remember what a joy children are, how funny and smart they are, and how capable they are of reminding us how unimportant many of our "very important" things are. They are good for our priorities, and it's been wonderful having their squeals outside our window and their laughter in the house again.

Congrats, Jenny and Will, on your precious new son!