A little background here.
At the time, I was 39 years old.
My son was 8. My husband and I
had been trying for years to have another baby, but we never conceived. There was nothing medically wrong with either of
us. But for whatever reason, we went
years without getting pregnant. Did I
mention that I was 39? My husband was
40. After all the years of trying, I
think we had finally decided we were going to have just one child, and that was
fine with us. Our son was indeed a blessing to our lives, and he has made us extremely happy and proud to be his parents.
But could it be?
Could I finally be pregnant again? As
excited as I wanted to be about the possibility, I, like so many times before,
told myself to calm down and don’t set myself up for yet another
disappointment. I went by the store on
the way home from church to buy a pregnancy test. I took it at 10pm that night … and it came
back positive.
After getting over the initial shock of the positive pregnancy test, something just hit me
like a ton of bricks. Hold up. Wait a minute. I’m going to have a baby … at 40!!! 40, y’all.
FOUR-TEE!!! I couldn’t help but
chuckle a little bit, though. God
answers prayers in His own time. (That’s a whole ‘nother
blog entry, y’all.) God also has a sense of
humor. Me? A baby?
At the seasoned age of 40?
Before I discovered I was pregnant, I was already going through what I termed my mid-life crisis. I had been reflecting on my life and thinking of the things I had accomplished, what I had yet to accomplish, and what goals I was going to set for myself in this season of my life. I started doing things that made me feel better about and for myself. I started compiling my "bucket list". And then comes the unexpected blessing of a baby. Wow!!
When my husband and I were planning to get married and mapping out the story for the rest of our lives, we had envisioned what our family would be. We wanted a son and daughter. We got pregnant fairly quickly with our son. When things didn't go as planned with getting pregnant with our second child, I'll have to admit that my faith got shaky. God knew the desires of my heart. Lord knows I prayed enough. I had bought things over the years in preparation for a baby girl. Year after year had passed. Finally, thinking that perhaps a baby wasn't in my future, I gave away all those things I had bought. I had given up hope.
Fast forward to Friday, January 25, 2013. I was 20+ weeks pregnant and had my ultrasound that day. We learned we were having our girl! Funny thing. The next morning, I was looking through a closet and found one thing that I bought for my daughter that I hadn't given away. It was a Princess Tiana doll.
What a difference a year makes. I am now 41, and my daughter turned a year old a few months ago. What an adventure this has been. This has been a year of immeasurable joy watching her grow and an eye-opening year of self-discovery for me.
I think a lot about the example I am setting for my daughter. Let's face it. Probably the biggest influence in a child's life is their same sex parent. That's a downright daunting thought, y'all. At least for me it is. I need to have my stuff together. I want to make sure I'm setting a good example for my daughter. My next few blog entries will deal with the lessons I want to teach my baby girl. So many lessons. So many things I want for her. So many dreams I have for her.
It's important I do this right.
Before I discovered I was pregnant, I was already going through what I termed my mid-life crisis. I had been reflecting on my life and thinking of the things I had accomplished, what I had yet to accomplish, and what goals I was going to set for myself in this season of my life. I started doing things that made me feel better about and for myself. I started compiling my "bucket list". And then comes the unexpected blessing of a baby. Wow!!
When my husband and I were planning to get married and mapping out the story for the rest of our lives, we had envisioned what our family would be. We wanted a son and daughter. We got pregnant fairly quickly with our son. When things didn't go as planned with getting pregnant with our second child, I'll have to admit that my faith got shaky. God knew the desires of my heart. Lord knows I prayed enough. I had bought things over the years in preparation for a baby girl. Year after year had passed. Finally, thinking that perhaps a baby wasn't in my future, I gave away all those things I had bought. I had given up hope.
Fast forward to Friday, January 25, 2013. I was 20+ weeks pregnant and had my ultrasound that day. We learned we were having our girl! Funny thing. The next morning, I was looking through a closet and found one thing that I bought for my daughter that I hadn't given away. It was a Princess Tiana doll.
What a difference a year makes. I am now 41, and my daughter turned a year old a few months ago. What an adventure this has been. This has been a year of immeasurable joy watching her grow and an eye-opening year of self-discovery for me.
I think a lot about the example I am setting for my daughter. Let's face it. Probably the biggest influence in a child's life is their same sex parent. That's a downright daunting thought, y'all. At least for me it is. I need to have my stuff together. I want to make sure I'm setting a good example for my daughter. My next few blog entries will deal with the lessons I want to teach my baby girl. So many lessons. So many things I want for her. So many dreams I have for her.
It's important I do this right.
