The story of our Anna Joy

A year ago this past Monday(June 22, 2014), we took this picture.  To say it was a day full of all kinds of emotions is an understatement.  We have been trying since April of 2012 to grow our family.  At this point, we had had three pictures like this one, three positive pregnancy test, weeks of waiting, and then the heart wrenching sadness of hearing and seeing that our little one was not growing.  After our last miscarriage in Jan/Feb 2014, we decided we needed a break.  That we were going to take the summer to heal.  So needless to say, we were a little bit surprised by this!  I did not have a doctor in the US and there were just a myriad of emotions.  

However, my Heavenly Father is always, always so gracious and provides above and beyond what I could have asked or imagined.  We immediately called a sweet friend in Columbia who knew the history and I said, "help, I need an ob/gyn!"  She was so calm and confident that God would provide a doctor and he did.  We saw a wonderful Christian man from our home church.  He got us in that very week for an ultrasound and to see him.  Obviously, there isn't much to see at 5 weeks but it was so reassuring to have a doctor be proactive.  It is very different here in the UK under NHS.  I am not going to get into that here but I will say that my first two miscarriages with NHS were more emotionally painful than was necessary. 

So, we went in to see Dr. O and the ultrasound tech.  I started to explain why I was there at 5 weeks and she interjected because she had read my chart and knew that this was a painful process.  Dr. O put me on some medication as a precaution.  Early miscarriage is such a mystery and I have no doubt that our three babies that are in heaven are supposed to be there.  However, we felt like we needed to do anything we could to ensure this being a healthy pregnancy.

And so we started the waiting game because that is what the first trimester is.  

On a side note,  we were around a lot of pregnant people during this time.  My sister was pregnant and my sister in law had just had a little boy.  So, my boys were asking all sorts of questions.  Ben in particular wanted to know when we were going to have another baby.  We told him that we needed to pray about it and ask God because He is the giver of life.  So, he had started praying.  Love the  simple faith of a 5 year old.

So we waited and went to the doctor every other week for ultrasounds.  Everything progressed well, including morning sickness like I had never known!  The boys started asking if mommy was pregnant.  We asked them all sorts of questions to divert from answering, like what does it mean for mommy to be pregnant? and would you like that? etc.  The morning we went to our 10 week appointment, Ben at breakfast asked what we were doing and he said, "I know mommy is pregnant."  When my mom asked him about the news, he said, "I prayed for a little baby sister and mommy is pregnant.  God answered my prayers."  Such a sweet gift!

Of course, we then talked about the fact that the baby might not be a baby girl...but he knew.  And so we found out we were expecting a baby girl.  We also found out at the 13 week ultrasound and blood tests, that I have anti-kell antibodies (probably developed after receiving kell positive blood during a blood transfusion with Nate's delivery) This is very rare and it could have been a problem if Allen was a kell carrier.  But praise God, he wasn't and again, the Lord carried us through a storm.  If you are curious about anti-kell, I would be happy to share.  So, we were monitored closely until 20 weeks when they could test the fetal blood type and make sure Anna was kell negative.   

Finding out we have a baby girl! 

The belly progression...

The morning of February 17th, 2015.  We became a family of 5!  I was 39 weeks pregnant and very ready to hold that baby girl.

Anna was born 11:08 am on February 17th, she weighed 9lbs, 1 oz.    

Meeting baby sister for the first time.

Precious Love!

What a long journey this has been but I am so thankful for all I learned through the process.  I had many long runs where the Father and I talked and I poured out my heart and hurt to Him.  I am so thankful for my three loves here on earth and I look forward to the day where I am united with my precious three in heaven.  I don't know what it will look like but I know it will be special.   

One of the sweetest parts of this has been that we as a family of four have welcomed Anna into our family.  When Ben and Nate were born it was Allen and I welcoming them because they were so young.  However, this has been a family affair.  The boys love their baby sister and they have transitioned wonderfully.  Anna Joy Hawkins, you are a gift from the Father and are treasured!