OH... I GUESS I FAILED TO MENTION

It's probably time I've come out with it. I DO have a little tidbit I've been withholding for a while now. Call it superstitious or what have you, but I now feel ready to say we are expecting baby number four!!

I am currently 15 weeks pregnant, which puts me at around February 25th for a due date. We are super excited, but mostly because we thought that we weren't going to have this opportunity again. Background:

With our twins, we had tried for about 2 1/2 years to get pregnant to no avail. It finally took three IVF attempts (number three was the lucky one), and had our lovely twin girls. After that, we were just so happy to have two healthy babies, we thought anything else after that was just a bonus. 10 1/2 months after the twins were born, I peed on a stick and got my third baby. Yes a total shocker, since we were told we only had a 7% chance of conceiving naturally. But that's okay - we were thrilled to have another (even though that meant three babies under the age of 19 months!).

When Jarrett and I got married, we always tossed around the number of kids we wanted. We both definitely wanted two, and I was leaning towards a third. When I was preggers with number three, Jarrett told me, "We're outnumbered anyways, why not go for number four?" I told him one thing at a time. My uterus was still occupied and that was the last thing on my mind. Once I had Karis, I wasn't really thinking babies, mostly because I was EXTREMELY busy with the three I now had, and Kierra was diagnosed with Autism shortly thereafter. I knew I didn't want Jarrett to get the big-V though. I just didn't know what I wanted. I think timing was a huge issue for us: we didn't have the time or energy to entertain the thought of another baby. We needed things to calm down a lot, and to mainly get Kierra's therapy and progress to a certain point. But about 3 years after Karis was born I started to think that I really did want another baby. After much discussion, we decided to wait until we felt things with Kierra were going much better; basically that I would have the time to properly give ALL these kids my attention. When we finally got to that point, we decided to go full-force ahead. AND... felt that we were re-living the whole "not getting knocked up" past, because after one year - still no baby. Won't lie and say it wasn't hugely disappointing. I mean I knew that old song and dance routine pretty well. I tried to not let it get to me. I mean we knew our odds were low, and maybe Karis was just that miracle baby - that lone 7% chance. Plus I already had three lovely little girls.

I'd pretty much all but given up. 16 months later, I'm thinking "Hmmmmmm, my chart is pretty uncharacteristic, and I'm pretty tired". Decide to wait it out a few days, because honestly I was sick of peeing on sticks for no reason at all. Finally caved and low and behold, a big old + came up! I think I started to yell and cry at the same time, because I was totally shocked and thrilled!! I mean I think we both had come to the conclusion that this wasn't going to happen for us. But if I've ever learned anything, it's that God works in mysterious ways.

So here I am: still in disbelief at times that I'm actually having another baby! It's funny how I've forgotten all those little nuances of pregnancy. Of course I don't know what I'm having yet (I'm thinking girl though), and I hope to find out in October sometime. In any case, we are just hoping for healthy because really it doesn't matter if it's an innie or an outtie. I can't wait to see her little face, to hear her little cries. To smell that sweet smell that all newborns have. And to finally complete my family. All I know is that all my of my pregnancies are a miracle to me. It doesn't matter if it was a medical miracle or just the kind that God surprises you with. I just feel blessed.