Our reason for waiting so long to share this news this time is a result of recent history for our family. In March 2012, we learned I was pregnant with then baby #3. After seeing that baby during an ultrasound on April 2nd, he/she did not grow any further and we lost him/her on April 16th at 9 1/2 weeks gestation. I was heartbroken! However, as sad and emotional as it has been, we do take comfort in knowing that God is merciful and protected our precious baby from further suffering here on earth. We also know that we will get to meet him or her one day in heaven and that he or she is always looking down on us. Fortunately, God got us through this and has allowed me to have no further complications.
When we found out we were expecting again, we were both overjoyed and nervous, especially me! After our first ultrasound in October, where we saw a healthy baby who measured right on track and was moving all around, we breathed a sigh of relief and continued to pray that things would go well, and they have. We were under the impression that I would not receive an ultrasound at this doctor's office until 26 weeks, and were therefore surprised to find out that we would get on at the normal 20 week mark. When we found out this info, we kept it to ourselves knowing that the ultrasound would happen just before Christmas.
At our most recent appoint, December 19th, we had our 20 week ultrasound and were able to find out what we are having...It's a Boy! The great news is that the baby received an excellent report from the ultrasound. Everything was normal or negative, which is exactly how it was supposed to be, and we got to watch him move all over and even yawn, so cute! One thing that made me smile was to see him laying transverse, exactly how his big brother Mills laid for so long! We thank God daily for this baby boy!
Revealing the sex has been even more exciting this time than the past two, given our recent experience. I came up with an idea that was a fun way to reveal the sex of this baby to our families. I modified a gender reveal I had seen recently with balloons and made it my own. I chose to get a helium balloon with the message, "It's a Boy!," and have it boxed up. The idea was that as our families opened it, they would see the color and message and the balloon would tell them what we were having. It seemed to be a big hit with everyone and added an extra level of excitement since they knew that what was in the box would reveal the gender. I took a video of the this and posted it below.
Choosing a name for this baby boy has proved challenging. For both of our other two children, we either had a definitive name chosen before the ultrasound or chose one on the way home from the ultrasound. This time it has taken a bit longer to nail something down, but we do now have a name. We have chosen the name Madden Harris Cleveland for our precious baby boy. Madden is a name and David and I both like and Harris is my paternal grandmother's maiden name. With this name, all of our children now have family names as part of their name, as well as an "M" name for either their first or middle name.
Little Madden is quite the active baby. David got to feel him move for the first time at 21 week and Mary Kate and Mills got to feel him move just last night. I also was able to see him moving while watching my belly last night. He is definitely active, and I am nothing but thankful for that. It gives me a sense of security feeling him move and kick about. We ask that everyone continue to keep us in your prayers for a healthy baby, pregnancy, and delivery. We are forever grateful!
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