So the past couple of weeks haven’t been without issue… Aside from morning/noon/night sickness, I’ve been back in to see the doc a couple of times with some scary moments. During one of these appointments, an ovarian cyst was discovered. They say they’re very normal during pregnancy and often go away on their own… just another thing to watch for. Everything else turned out to be fine, but my sanity was a little worse for wear. Then last week I honestly thought I was having a heart attack because my chest hurt badly, and the pain was radiating to my left shoulder. A quick doctor’s visit revealed that I had simply bruised my ribs. I’m not sure how one can bruise one’s ribs by laying on the couch, but I certainly did!

On a lighter note, we had a scheduled sonogram today, and the doctor admitted to giving us “preferential treatment” because we’d already been through so much. The sonogram revealed a healthy and active baby with a “very normal” heartbeat… WHEW!!! It was such an unexpected treat to see “his” little legs kicking! Every once in a while, “he’d” buck back and forth as if to say “leave me alone… this is MY space!” (I say “him” because I can’t stand the though of having an “it”, so until we learn the true identity of our little one, we’ll stick with that.)

Anyway, I’m feeling more and more confident each day that this little one is really gonna stick around. While I’m still a little bit guarded, I’m excited to see what the future holds. We’ll go back again in six weeks (assuming all goes well in the meantime) and by then they’ll be able to start the normal tests for abnormalities, etc. As usual, we are so grateful for those of you who are continuously lifting us up in prayer… it is so valuable and greatly appreciated. Please keep those prayer coming!

Here’s one of the printouts the doctor gave us from today’s ultrasound… it’s pretty fuzzy because it’s a close-up, but “his” head is on the left, nose-up. Again, I say YAY!!!

Okay, so in the movie it was “we have a problem.” The only problem we have this time is that we are now into excellent uncharted territory!

Friday, January 25th, we had our first sonogram appointment for this fourth pregnancy. As you are all well aware, over the past 3 years we have had three very disappointing appointments – each of them leading to long waits and emotional trials.

This time it was quite different! As Dr. Tow started the procedure, we quickly saw the “fetal pole”, then a fluttering little 6 and a half week hearbeat! We were able to walk away with a picture of our baby. In just three weeks we will go back for another appointment as the doc wants to keep a close eye on things.
Please keep us in your prayers! As we learn more, we will keep you all up to date.

For those who are waiting to see Baby Barr’s first photo, sorry it took me so long to get them uploaded… The nausea is beginning to mercifully subside enough that I can sit up long enough to get some work done. They didn’t scan in very clearly, and I know it looks like a turtle… but it’s OUR turtle! The second one includes a representation of Baby’s heartbeat.