Under 100 days to go.......

So we have made the big anticipated leap and have under 100 days until the arrival of baby Joshua! YAY!! It's hard to fathom that in 98 days we get to meet "our little miracle". Jonathan and I want to say Thank you to all of you that prayed for us this past week. Thank you for the phone calls too :) The Lord is amazing and has blessed us with serenity and peace this past week. Thank the Lord!

Well, the third trimester is fast beckoning..... I can't believe that we are almost 2/3 of the way done!! Baby Joshua has certainly improved his sense of hearing. Sometimes when the dad talks or laughs, he jerks in his cozy home. I think he now recognizes our voices for sure... I think that is so cool. His sleeping patterns are also becoming very regular. Looks like he is going to be keeping us awake in the  middle of the night. He is always awake and playing around midnight! His kicks are also getting much stronger :)..... a good sign that he is growing and getting stronger everyday :)

So here is this week's picture. My top is getting shorter everyday..... Ha ha! I think I should have said, my baby bump is getting bigger everyday :)

Thanks for reading and please still keep Jonathan, baby Joshua and me in your prayers.

See you all next week!

Moving right along -------- 24 weeks and 6 days!

So here I am sitting and pondering the fact that in about 15 weeks or so we will be holding our precious baby boy. Isn't that amazing! We just feel so blessed every time we think about those things. Well, we are moving right along and the baby is doing great. He is measuring right on track and all my vitals are good. It was amazing, last night while I was watching TV I looked down and could see him moving (not like a foot popping out, but the skin would bump out for a second) it was awesome to actually "See" him move.

It has been a roller coaster of events since the last post. School has picked up momentum and work is very busy during this time of year.

Jonathan's mum was in town and she invited us over to visit with Jonathan's grandparents. It was fantastic hanging out with family. Being so far away from my side of the family, experiences like these always make me feel so much better :) We had so much fun together just enjoying one another's company and talking about how the new year will change because of the arrival of "our little miracle". Here is a picture of Jonathan and me at his grandparents home. Yes, I did get a chance to wear my ethnic outfit ..............:) Very colorful and with a lot of room for the ever growing belly :)

We have been talking and thinking about baby names for our little miracle for a while now...... and yes we have agreed on one name so far, "Joshua" :)..... We love the name Joshua but for me and my side of the family it has a lot of sentimental attachment. My loving late brother was named, Joshua. It is such an honor to me and my family that we will have the memory of our brother live on in the naming of "our little miracle". Thank you Jonathan :) The name Joshua is of Hebrew origin and it means, "God is my salvation, Jehova saves". This is such a beautiful meaning that has a lot of relevance to our lives.

Have you ever received any bloodcurdling phone call........? Monday was my day of receiving the second most bloodcurdling phone call ever. The first being about the death of my brother. So, this is what happened on Monday: I get a call from the clinic where Jonathan and I go for our prenatal care. Turns out the genetics blood test results for the baby were out and they wanted us to go to the clinic to visit with the genetics counselor. Apparently, we are at a high risk of having a baby with a genetic problem. According to the results, we have a 1:61 chance to have a baby with down syndrome.......... Please pray for Jonathan and me that baby Joshua will be ok.

Anyway, we did go to the hospital on Tuesday to do a detailed ultrasound to check for any signs that might indicate that baby Joshua might have down syndrome. Apparently, every couple has a chance of getting a baby with a genetic problem but chances vary from couple to couple. Because of these variations, obgyns prefer to do a diagnostic test known as amniocentesis to diagnose for sure if there is indeed a chance of the baby having down syndrome. The genetics counselor shared our results and she described baby Joshua as being at risk and if we wanted to know for sure if he was positive or negative for down syndrome, we needed to do the amniocentesis. We discussed this issue with Jonathan and agreed for now not to do this test. The test has several risks because it is an invasive test. If you want to read more about the test and why it is done for expectant mothers you can check out this link that I found very helpful. http://www.babycenter.com/0_amniocentesis_327.bc

However, before an amniocentesis is done, an extensive ultrasound is done to check for markers of down syndrome. Our ultrasound results showed that baby Joshua is perfectly fine. Here is a glimpse of what we got to see on the 4D Ultrasound scan. Isn't he gorgeous? We think his left eye was itchy at the time the ultrasound was being done............see how in all these slides he is rubbing or picking at his left eye...... we wonder what was bothering him with his left eye.......... I think this is about the time when babies open their eyes for the first time.... maybe that is what was happening... some questions you wish you had answers for :( ...... we wish there was a way we can help him rub that itch away but I guess we have to wait for another 15 weeks or so to do that.............. He seems to be at peace in his cozy little environment.......

     

Baby Joshua has his first "fridge posting"! Yay! ....... Yes, after getting the 4D ultrasound print outs we could not resist putting them together and posting them on our fridge :) I thought I should share that with you. It is so cute looking at him every time you go by the fridge......  Anyway, this is baby Joshua's first fridge picture posting:

Lastly, here is a picture of my baby bump at 24 weeks and 6 days. This time Jonathan took the picture... thanks honey! I have gained 6 pounds from my pre-pregnancy weight. The baby bump definitely is starting to look much more sharper and getting in the way of doing some simple household chores :) I am definitely starting to loose my normally "inny" naval. It is so flat these days, I have a feeling soon baby Joshua is going to need some more room and my naval will completely pop out to give more sleeping and playing room :)

 

Once again, we would like to say thank you to both our families and friends for the prayers they have said on our behalf :) God Bless you all! Let us all stay true to our Lord His love is steadfast.

Thanks for reading and see you all next week!

At Last............. :)

I have been toying with the idea of blogging for a while now. My boyfriend has been encouraging me to do this and yes it did take me a while to get down to doing it but hey today with my boyfriend's help I have set up a blog and this is my first post. As they say, better late than never!

God has blessed us beyond what I ever could have expected especially at this point in my life. Well, since word travels fast, I thought it would be best if it came from Jonathan and me if you already did not know! :) Jonathan and I have been blessed with the privilege of expecting our baby on January 4th, 2009. With simple math using the due date calculator you can tell that we are well into our pregnancy, to be precise, we are 23 weeks and 6 days today!

 

Lol that is a long way from that May 5th, 2008 day I found out that we were expecting our baby. By the way you can easily calculate due dates using this due date calculator: http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/923526833.html I find it very helpful in determining milestones like, conception date, end of first trimester, second trimester and so on........

There is so much that has happened since we first found out about 'our little miracle' but I will try and sum it up in a couple of bullet points below. Hopefully in the future I will faithfully keep you updated on a weekly basis how we are fairing (with pictures too :)   ......

1. We found out we were expecting a baby on May 5th, 2008. Looking at the pregnancy test kit and seeing a + sign was an experience that I do not think I will ever experience again. I love my boyfriend and sharing the news with him was the best thing ever. We have embraced "our little miracle" though unplanned with open arms. The Lord has been great and we do say a little prayer everyday asking that He gives us serenity and good health in our journey of being parents for the first time.
2. Our first three months of pregnancy were tough :( Morning sickness kicked in right away and keeping anything down was a struggle :( The bathroom became a very close acquaintance because of the many visits I made in there. Thankfully this problem subsided at about week 18. Occasionally, I do have morning sickness bouts but they are not as bad as they were initially.
3. We have felt him move!!!!! The first time I felt the quickening, we were at a baseball game with Jonathan. They were like little butterfly flutters. It was wonderful..... At week 23 the movements are visible from the outside and boy, he can move around a lot! I guess he can't wait to get out and play with us...... 
4. We found out the sex of Our Little Miracle on August 15th 2008. So, it is no longer a secret............ it is a Boy!!!! :) It was a joy seeing the little one move around in his little cozy environment. He did summersaults and cartwheels making it pretty easy for the Ultrasound technician to determine his sex. So here is our very first glimpse of "our little miracle"! Isn't he amazing! he is waving at you.... come on, you gotta love that.... You better wave back.........

   

So to start off with the pictures... here is a picture of me at Week 23. I will try and take pictures with the same outfit so it will be easy to track our progress.

 

 

The baby bump is very obvious here.............. It is amazing how the human body can accommodate changes that come with experiences like being expectant!

 

We have our next appointment with the Obygyn on September 16th. Thereafter, we will be going for our second ultrasound... We can't wait for a glimpse of 'our little miracle' one more time. Will let you all know how that goes.

 

We want to say thanks to both our families and friends both in Kenya and the US. We appreciate all the prayers you said on our behalf, the emails, phone calls, and visits. God bless you all for your undying love and support.

See you all next week!