Monday, February 25, 2008

Our Story

David and I thought it would be fun to start a baby blog. We thought it would be a great way for our family and friends, especially those who live far away, to be able to share this exciting journey with us. We both plan on posting, so you all can read not only about the ups and downs of actually being pregnant, but also the joys and trials of living with a pregnant woman! We have been so blessed by all the support and excitement we have received from our wonderful family and friends since announcing that we are expecting a baby! We were incredibly excited before, but seeing (or hearing) the support from our loved ones has only made us more excited and more sure that this is the Lord's will for our lives. So THANK YOU for your encouragement!!

For those of you who may not have heard the story yet, I will try to tell it briefly. David and I were not planning on having a baby just yet, although I had wanted one since we said, "I do." :) But we thought we should wait several years and have time to enjoy each other and our marriage and do some traveling. Also, I was planning on finishing college before we started our family. Well, to make a very long story short, after an extremely stressful semester in the fall, and after much prayer and deliberation, David and I decided it would be best if I took time off from school indefinitely. So in January, the plan was for me to find some sort of part-time job. Before I could really even begin to look for a job, we began to suspect something was up. So on Saturday, January 12, after three positive home pregnancy tests (I didn't believe them!) we discovered that we were going to have a baby! I tell you all this simply to say that the Lord's plans are not our plans, but they are ALWAYS best! It's so amazing to see how God's hand has been at work in our lives and in our marriage leading us to this point. He used a very stressful, not fun experience at school to bring us to the realization that it would be ok if I didn't get my degree immediately. As important as that is, it was not God's plan for me right now. And I couldn't be happier about it! School and college degrees will always be out there if I decide to pursue that in the future, but right now, my calling is to be the best possible wife and mother I can be. And I plan on doing both to the best of my ability and to the glory of my Lord!

So now that you have the story of how we got to this point, I will get on to talking about the pregnancy, since that is the purpose of this blog. :) I have been extremely blessed in my pregnancy so far. I have had no sickness, and the pregnancy has been pretty uneventful. At least for me - it has been very eventful for the baby! Today marks 11 weeks, so I only have 2 more weeks left in the first trimester. The first trimester is when most of the major developments take place, and it is so amazing to think that God is knitting and forming our precious little baby even now.

I have been to the doctor twice now. My first visit was on Valentine's Day. We met with the OB educator and had a sonogram. It was wonderful to see and hear that little heartbeat for the first time. It almost brought me to tears! My second visit was not as fun... after waiting 3 hours, I had to have a complete physical. But all seemed to be well, and I'm glad to have that visit behind me. I got to hear the heartbeat again, so that made the other stuff worth it! We will post our sonogram pictures soon!

Well, I think that is enough for a first post. The others shouldn't be this long, but I had to fill y'all in on the past 11 weeks! Feel free to ask us any questions if you have any!

Love,
Carrie

5 comments:

Carrie said...

I second what Carrie said about thanking all of you for your encouragement. It has been a lot of fun to share our joy with all of you.

And I must say that the joys of living with a pregnant woman far outweigh the trials.

David Howie

Ashley said...

I'm so glad you started a blog!!

GrandparentsHowie said...

Dear David & Carrie,
This is a wonderful idea and we are so thrilled and happy for you and for us! We are praying daily for Carrie and our Grandbaby!
Thanks for the wonderful Valentine dinner and for our cards. So fun and a great way to tell us.
We love you, Mom & Dad

KTElltt said...

I am SO excited for y'all!!! This blog is fun and I'm glad y'all started it. Maybe lots of us will read it and you won't have to tell the same stories over and over, but I suspect you'll enjoy telling them anyway. :) God never makes mistakes, and I think the timing couldn't be better on y'all having this baby. I've honestly been surprised that y'all haven't already. I love the thought of God making a baby day by day. It floors me when I look at Carter and think that little more than five years ago, he was being created the same way and that before he was even a thought on our minds, God had him planned. Same for Addie. (Psalm 139:16) I love thinking about the fact that as much as we understand the biological creation of a baby, we will never know the secret of how God plants a spirit in the child. Isn't He amazing and good? (sorry for the letter -- I'm just very wordy -- but you knew that!)

Carrie said...

I love your "wordy" comment. :) I agree that it is amazing the way God forms babies. I am in awe!