There was a time, not too distant in the past, I asked God to deliver us from the heartache and confusion we were experiencing. I begged Him to rescue us from what we saw as a situation that could only end badly. We had been told several times that conceiving naturally again would be "highly unlikely," despite the apparent ease at which Ellie came into the world. We were struggling and sad and confused. I think we were just reaching the peace of our future when I found myself sick in a ditch in the rain of a New Jersey winter.
Was it the food we had eaten? Was it Steve's bat-out-of-hell driving (highly likely)? Was it the real-deal martini I had enjoyed before dinner?
A stick in the Target stall (not recommended if privacy is important) confirmed my quiet hopes, and there we were. Pregnant with a miracle, considering our consistent, sobering medical "diagnosis."
In His infinite generosity and humor, God gave us two. No kidding. "Oh," said that doctor just weeks after he had pronounced us hopeless, "there's another one." I couldn't breathe, I couldn't stop crying or laughing, and I couldn't wait to see Steve's face when he saw the ultrasound picture (He was home, keeping Ellie, for we thought this early appointment a routine experience. Ha.).
We have journeyed tentatively through this pregnancy, and we are not nearly to the end. But, at 20 weeks and after a "very normal" ultrasound with a perinatologist last week, we actually bought some little clothes and began looking at cribs. We think this might happen, and we are in constant gratitude.
A little boy and girl. "Womb-mates" as my brother calls them. :) Ellie thinks Katie and Flick are good names. Mary Claire suggested Harry and Sally. Mom just likes to call them Tweedledum and Tweedledee.
They are as big as bananas.
Jacob comments almost daily on the size of my tummy. "Wow, Mom, from the side you are HUGE." Nick just wants to turn 16, so one, two or three babies seems quite inconsequential. Steve doesn't understand why we need a double stroller, and Ellie kisses them everyday--"my babies" she says.
Please keep us all in your prayers. :)
Let everyone try and find that as a result of daily prayer he adds something new to his life, something with which nothing can be compared. --Mahatma Gandhi
