A bit surprised...

Here's another fun snapshot that was taken earlier the same day we received all of that snow...

For those of you unfamiliar with sonograms, that's a profile shot of the latest addition to the McCracken household. You can see the little eyes, nose and mouth facing upwards (on the left), the body to the right and the little hand above. Pretty amazing - and all of that is visible at 11.5 weeks gestation. And yes, we just found out about this little life less than a week prior to this sonogram!

I know some of the women reading this are thinking, "How on earth could you get to the end of your 1st trimester and not even suspect that you're pregnant??" Yeah, I'm wondering that too. I guess February was a pretty busy and distracting month with sick kids, sick mommy, traveling, busy schedules, etc. that I just kept dismissing the tell-tale symptoms as leftovers from the flu, not getting enough sleep, running ragged, and catching whatever the kids had. I actually did wonder a few times here and there, but then brushed it off as nothing since my symptoms were so inconsistent. Then last Thursday evening (not this past Thursday, but the one before) as I was sitting up in bed reading a book, I looked down at my tummy and noticed that it was a little rounder than usual. It was then that I started connecting the dots, realizing that I had actually been feeling rather lousy for over a month.

So the next day while John was at work and the kids were taking their naps, I took a test and it was as positive as it could be. After connecting all of the dots the night before, I knew it was going to be...but I was still pretty surprised and overwhelmed. I couldn't even bring myself to tell John until that evening after the kids were in bed. I started by saying, "Well, it's a good thing we got that minivan...because we're gonna need that extra seat." His head jolted upright, his eyes got as big as saucers and he said, "You're pregnant???"
"Yes."
"When did you find out?"
"This afternoon."
"But...I hadn't decided on whether or not I wanted a fourth yet."
"Um, John...it's a little late for that."
"But..."
"John...it's not like I did this behind your back!"
Needless to say, he was even MORE surprised and overwhelmed. But after the initial shock wore off, he said, "Well, I guess I was leaning towards having a fourth...I just wanted a little more space between Hannah and the fourth! But obviously, this is God's will." Now that we've had several days of knowing go by, a sonogram that confirmed a healthy baby at nearly 12 weeks, and the excitement of sharing the news, we've all gotten a little giddy at the idea of having yet another baby in our Christmas family photo this year! My estimated due date is September 21st.

So there you have it. The cat's out of the bag, so why not post it on our blog? Hannah turns 1 year old by the end of this month, and I'll already be 3+ months pregnant. This baby and Hannah will be about 18 months apart. Christopher and Sarah were a little more than 19 months apart and I wouldn't change that age difference for anything because I love how close they are. So now Hannah will have a buddy as well. Of course, they're all pretty close in age - that's 4 kids in 5 years. We're very prolific...