Thank you to everyone for the sweet encouragement and prayers after yesterday's post! It means so much that you would take time out of your day to pray for us. People often make comments about how they appreciate my honesty on this blog. But I have to say, I really have you all to thank for that! The reason I share so much on my little space here, is because I know that people who really care read it. You have shown me that time and time again with your prayers for us. Why would I not be honest here?

So again, thank youfriends.

Today I thought I would share a little more about how we came to decide on the name Hannah Leigh. And as always, it will lead back to this month's theme of "being content," I promise. ;)

5525

The funny thing is we had a girl's name picked out when I was pregnant with Micah, before we knew he was a boy. But for some reason it was nowhere close to being on the radar this time.

It was a lot harder to come up with names this go around, because I wanted to have some sort of congruity with siblings. I know that's not a big deal for everyone, but it was just something I thought would be cool and sweet at the same time (hopefully my children will agree with that when they get older). So after thinking on it for awhile, we agreed on keeping the "ah" at the end of their names.

Which helped us narrow it down a lot.

And just when we were pretty settled and excited about a boy name, we went to the gender scan and found out we were having a girl! Haha, of course we were so excited about it, but also so clueless as to what the name would be. The only girl name that really stuck with us was, "Hannah."

I have loved Hannah in the Bible since I was a junior in high school. I remember reading her song to God after she had given birth to her son Samuel and being so touched by it. I even put my own music to the words and sang it at church. Then when I graduated, my youth pastor gave us all a biblical name that he believed matched our character and mine was, you guessed it, Hannah.

Josh really loves the meaning of names. So the fact that Hannah means "grace of God," was pretty perfect. It is because of God's grace that we live. We are thankful for His grace on our lives that allows us to be able to have and raise children.

The middle name "Leigh" was probably the easiest part. It is my middle name and has been in my family for years - both men and women have the middle name "Leigh" or "Lee," so I knew I wanted to pass it on.

Names can be hard. And if you haven't noticed, people are pretty sensitive about them too. The responsibility of naming a child is not something we take lightly. Josh and I don't always have the same "taste" in names either, so that's been fun. I could handle a unique name probably much better (ok, a lot) than he could. But the truth that we both agree on is that names should mean something.

Believe it or not, but I learned a very important lesson on contentment when picking out a baby name. My opinion is not the only one that matters. When I take time to consider others (in this case, my husband) I am not only showing I value them, but I am learning to be open to suggestions, and to have peace in the decisions I make. And in this case, the decision we made to name our baby girl, Hannah Leigh, is one I am very content with.

This post is part of a series I’m writing for the month of October entitled “31 Days of Being Content.”  See all other posts in this series by clicking here. Or enter your email address in the sidebar on the right to subscribe to this blog and receive posts straight to your inbox!

Today we had an appointment at Shands to check on our baby girl. First of all, we confirmed that she is indeed a GIRL! I was thankful that it was very obvious. Not that I didn't trust the earlier scan - but you always read those "surprise" stories of girls turning out to be boys. So this scan definitely helped confirm what I knew in my heart.

We'll be welcoming...

hannahleigh.jpg

... this coming March! (Will be discussing more about her name and how we chose it in an upcoming post!)

Ultrasounds are always fun to me. I love seeing my little baby wiggling on that screen. Today she had her hands covering her face and feet just a kickin'. Thankful we got to see all five fingers and toes (or should that say all "20" fingers and toes?), her cute little profile and the blood moving quickly through her heart! It's the little things that awe me.

How amazing that God is forming her right now in my womb? I mean, I get just speechless staring at the screen of little, lively body parts wiggling around. This child is alive.How anyone can doubt the validity of life in the womb, is beyond me.

But now I'm getting off topic.

What I really wanted to talk about today is how this whole pregnancy has shaken my faith and goal of being content in all things. Today I showed up looking for answers. To diminish any concerns of having another child with heart issues. But instead, we were left with more questions.

As soon as we arrived I was told that we couldn't bring Micah back to the ultrasound room, which meant Josh would need to stay back and watch him. I always like having him there, it's his child as much as mine, and if anything was wrong he deserved to hear it from the doctor first hand. But this is life with multiple children, I suppose.

So I went back alone and waited as the nurse informed me that it was too early for them to do the echo they had planned and they would need to call my OB doctor to get a referral for a level 2 ultrasound instead. Once they got the referral, they went to work on measuring every little part of our little Hannah. Everything was looking perfect! Then as soon as they got to her heart, I could very clearly see the bright spot they were referring to. It's very alarming looking - but they just call it a "soft marker" and it could end up being completely normal. Then they got to her kidneys and noticed some fluid in her left one. This is considered another "soft marker."

The doctor came in and explained that all these soft markers mean is that there is an increased risk of Downs Syndrome. He recommended we do two more ultrasounds to check her heart (at 24 weeks) and kidneys (at 32 weeks). With all the medical stuff we've been through with Micah and this pregnancy, all we see is $$$ signs next to these tests. How will they even help? 

We were informed that we could opt for a genetic blood test that has a 99.5% accuracy of detecting Downs Syndrome. And our insurance would cover it completely (so that means, free).

This seems like the best route to go, since we'd rather not waste time (and money!) on more ultrasounds if there is a genetic problem that could perfectly explain these "soft markers." Now if there isn't a genetic problem, then I would want to follow through on checking up with her kidneys and making sure the fluid drains correctly.

Now to step away from all the medical hoopla. The real fact is that this doesn't change anything. We are still planning on welcoming another baby to this world and whatever comes along with it! Honestly, sometimes I wonder if life would just not be so much simpler without all this medical knowledge. I know it's helped save lives, but has it not also destroyed some? Without knowing all of these things about our unborn children, we have no choice but to be content with whatever God gives us. But sometimes discontentment comes with knowing too much. 

But, my child, let me give you some further advice: Be careful, for writing books is endless, and much study wears you out. Ecclesiastes 12:12

Wise man, that Solomon.

This post is part of a series I’m writing for the month of October entitled “31 Days of Being Content.”  See all other posts in this series by clicking here. Or enter your email address in the sidebar on the right to subscribe to this blog and receive posts straight to your inbox!

This morning we had a doctor appointment to check up on our little girl!

I thought I would combine a pregnancy update with today's 31 Days post, since there are always things I am learning to be content about while pregnant and this seems like the perfect time to share them. :)

18weekbump.png

Pregnancy Highlights:

How Far Along: After our "16 week" scan they let us know that the baby was measuring a week behind from my original due date based on LMP. This was the second ultrasound we've had and both times were consistently a week behind, so they pushed my due date back to March 19th. It's always a bummer to have to "repeat" a week of pregnancy, but I'd rather have an accurate due date so that the likelihood of an unnecessary induction goes down. Currently I am 17 weeks, 6 days (I went ahead and rounded up for this post!) Size of baby: Baby #2 is the size of an onion. Total Weight Gain/Loss: + 7lbs. Maternity Clothes: I'm mix and matching right now. Wearing a lot of jeggings and my post-Micah, non-maternity pants that are a size bigger, and looser fitting tops. Still too small for a lot of my maternity pants/tops (except the one pictured above - that is one of the small maternity tops I grew out of fairly quickly with Micah!) Needless to say, clothes are just hard right now. Gender: According to our 15 week ultrasound... it's a GIRL! (Will be confirmed this Wednesday, Oct 16th) Movement: I felt the first little flutters on September 23rd at 15 weeks! I was eagerly anticipating them or I don't think I would have noticed them at all. Since then, I feel movement every few days or so. Not consistent yet. It's my favorite part of pregnancy, so I'm waiting for those big jabs! ;) Sleep: Sleep is still going good! Not at the uncomfortable stage of pregnancy yet and I have a 13 month old who lets me sleep through the night. Nothing to complain about here! Cravings: Hm, I really don't know. I have a few cravings here and there, but nothing that's been consistent or weird. I would say I'm craving sweet and salty foods the most these days. Symptoms: Biggest symptom I've been having since I found out I was pregnant is heart palpitations. I'm getting used to them, but they are mostly just annoying. Also, a little heartburn this week. Not as bad as I remember it with Micah, praise the Lord! Best Moment this week: Hearing the baby’s heartbeat at the doctor’s earlier today! It was 135bpm. Lower than Micah's ever was! I think the whole heartbeat theory is definitely being proved wrong in our case. :)

Micahandmommybelly.jpg

This pregnancy has definitely been flying by. I can't believe I'm almost to the halfway point! I can honestly say, it's a lot different being pregnant the second time around. My body isn't adjusting as drastically as it did the first time. I barely notice my growing belly! But I have a feeling it will start to "pop" soon.

As far as the emotional aspect of pregnancy... well going through it a second time isn't any easier. Maybe even a little bit harder, since I'm not as naive as I was about the real possibility of heart defects, etc. There is so much to worry about. And I'm just trying to do my best to keep my hands pointed up in surrender to God.

We'll be having another ultrasound done this Wednesday to check out our baby girl's heart for any problems that may need addressing. This could possibly even be a factor in what hospital we deliver at. Today at my check-up they told me my belly was measuring "small" (16 weeks instead of 18 weeks) and of course, just another reason to worry. But we could very well be walking out of our appointment Wednesday with amazing news that our baby is absolutely healthy and growing normally, so why even worry about something we don't know yet?! That's what I keep telling myself.

Being content in all things has been my prayer and focus this month. On this blog and in my heart. I just want to learn how to be content in Christ alone. I want that to be what others see when they look at my life. Not because I want to appear like I have it all together - in fact, I hope they see that I don't - but that Jesus is the glue that mends and holds my life together.

Sometimes that will mean walking a hard road, I know. And sometimes, that could mean showing God's blessings and answer to prayers.

But above all, I hope I can learn to be content in whatever circumstance.

This post is part of a series I’m writing for the month of October entitled “31 Days of Being Content.”  See all other posts in this series by clicking here. Or enter your email address in the sidebar on the right to subscribe to this blog and receive posts straight to your inbox!