You Won't Believe It

Sometimes I still don't believe it. 

I AM PREGNANT.  Yup, 19 weeks -- almost halfway.  This is unbelievable news ... I still feel funny saying that we are expecting a baby even though we've been praying and hoping and waiting and aching to announce such news for a long time.  Even though my belly is rounding out nicely and my regular clothes no longer fit.  Even though I can feel little pokes and jabs from the baby wiggling around inside me.

Of course, there is much more to this statement.  As per usual in the journey of building our family, there are many more people involved.   

We have the incredible privilege of being chosen by a selfless couple to carry and parent their child.  We are pregnant by way of embryo adoption.  

The reactions have been varied but always positive.  Most often our news has been met with, "Wow!  That's awesome!" followed closely by, "What is embryo adoption?"  In a nutshell, embryo adoption is like a regular adoption except nine months sooner.   Neither the egg nor the sperm belong to us biologically so this child is completely genetically unrelated to us - but I have the privilege of carrying this child in my womb until he/she is ready to make its appearance on or around October 5, 2015.  We consider it adoption because our donor family chose us based on our homestudy and family profile and we accepted based on much of the same information available to us.  We worked with a social worker via our adoption agency and a lawyer to finalize and legalize our adoption of the embryos we now have in our care.  We plan to have an open adoption with our donor family for which we are thankful.  

Did we plan on building our family this way?  Did I ever think I would have the amazing experience of being pregnant again?  Did I ever think I would be preparing for labour and delivery and recovery again?  NO!  After Jude we firmly closed the door on further treatments believing that God would have us build our family through more traditional routes of adoption.  We had hoped to never see the inside of a fertility clinic again.  This just goes to show me again that God is in control.  

And I am surprised - again. 

I am blown away - again - by this incredible and awesome plan for my life that I couldn't have imagined possible.   

I am overwhelmed - again - by God's answer to the thousands of prayers I have prayed over the past ten years for children.  

I am humbled - again - that God has allowed my body to be the life-giving source of this child's growth and that this child will call me "mommy".

I am thankful - again.  Over and over I am rendered speechless by gratitude and thankfulness to the creator of the universe for answering my prayers in a way that I could not have dreamed about in the most outrageous of dreams.  

Wow. 

April