Children are a gift from the Lord -Psalm 127:3
We're so excited to be adding another little Woodcock to our crew this October! Some of my friends laugh that I was basically ready to have another baby the moment Fox came out of the womb. While I wasn't actually ready, the desire for another baby was already planted in my heart. And in his 16 months, there have been days I've looked at Fox and said aloud, "you make me want to have a million babies!"
I'm not one of those women who has felt her entire life that she was put on this earth solely to be a mother, yet I have always imagined and dreamed of children. Woody and I weren't in a rush to have babies when we got married. Although we were somewhat "older,", me in my late twenties and him in his early thirties, we figured the days of having kids super young had already passed so we might as well enjoy our first few years of marriage before adding little ones.
This ended up being a great path for us, and we're so thankful for the 4+ years we had growing just the two of us. And now that we're in baby mode, I have the attitude of embracing it fully and keeping those babies coming!
The Road to Baby Two
We talked regularly about taking steps toward Baby two once Fox turned one. Of course we would have to see how we felt once we reached that point, but that was where we both felt comfortable.
His birthday is in February, but come November, I was starting to feel antsy to be pregnant again. I tried to be patient, feeling as though Fox's first birthday was really the right plan. I not only felt it was "our plan," but it's what I had a peace about from God up to that point as well. In a sense, I didn't feel fully "released" to take steps towards getting pregnant yet, I just wanted it.
Then, in January something surprising happened. When my body let me know I was not pregnant that month, I felt disappointed. Knowing we hadn't really been "trying" I was surprised to feel this way. I prayed about it trying to be honest with God about my feelings. Even though I was disappointed, deep down, I didn't feel like the timing was right. And, there was a sense of knowing God had the right child at the right time for our family. God often speaks to me through giving me a peace in my spirit, and as I prayed, I felt in my heart Him give me a peace of "Fox's first birthday." This confirmed for me what I had been sensing all along, that we could pursue another baby when Fox turned one.
What is so beautiful about this story (and I'll share it without TMI--afterall, we all know how babies get here!), is that over the next several weeks I would not only learn that I was pregnant, but that our baby was likely conceived on Fox's first birthday.
I know, that might've still been TMI, but it's an important part of the story!
When I realized this, I sat in awe. God had told me "Fox's first birthday," and in my human understanding, I took that as when we could start "trying," when in fact He was telling me when our baby would be conceived. This brought so much peace to my heart. After a very hard year in my faith walking through postpartum depression and anxiety, experiences like this with God mean even more to me than before.
Rarely does a day go by that I don't think about how precious the gift of life is. I love being pregnant because I feel so close to creation, and more importantly to the Creator. Pregnancy also keeps me very aware of how BIG God is, how beautiful His design for life is, and how little control I have.
There are so many different paths and stories of motherhood, and I often feel conflicted trying to make sense of it all as I pray for my own babies, believe with friends for babies, and mourn when things don't go the way we all wanted. This makes it hard for me to talk about pregnancy and babies without acknowledging that we all have our own stories, and that there is space here for every story.
If it comes to your mind, we welcome your prayers for our baby girl to be healthy and strong. I pray often that she would be whole, complete, lacking nothing, and we welcome anyone to join us in that prayer.
If you're pregnant or at any point in your journey of motherhood (a journey that begins long before having a child in your arms) I'd be happy to pray for you, too. Just leave a comment or send me a message.
Thanks for sharing in this exciting announcement with us, friends.
All photos by Rachel Coffey (love her!)