January 17th, 2011: I am Pregnant!

Twelve week ultrasound of
Sofia Rose

Hello!! Besides the last post on my Titi Rosie, it has been months since I have blogged! I apologize to my fans. Teehee. As many of you know I am 27 weeks pregnant today. The first trimester I was tired and nauseated all of the time. I had little energy to do anything but work, workout, cook, and sleep. The second trimester has been a lot better, health wise, but I found no time to blog due to the holidays. Now we are at the end of our second trimester...one more week until our third trimester...and I am finally finding time to blog.

As I write this blog I feel little Sofia Rose kicking and squirming. Today she kicked me ten times in less than three minutes! I have started another website just for Sofia. Primarily it will give occasional updates on how she is doing while she in my belly and it also has our registry information. The registry information at this point is not completed. We have three registries up and running but we have not finished sorting what we really need and comparing costs at all three locations. If you look at all of the sites now they are pretty sparse. Here is the website:
http://chineaandshawverbaby.ourbabychannel.com/

This particular blog is not merely about sharing the new site. The next few blogs will be about my thoughts and prayers since the start of this pregnancy.

How did we decide on Sofia Rose's name? Mike and I talked about names for pretty much the whole first trimester....some names he would "veto" others I would "veto". Then we came up with Sofia's name because of this: We like the name Sofia beacuse it means wisdom and is one of the names in the Bible that refers to the Holy Spirit. The spelling of Sofia is intentional...we like the Spanish spelling of her name. We like the middle name Rose because both of my grandmothers are named Rosa, my aunt Rose, and Mike's grandmother Rose.

The 2010 Advent season for me was particularly revealing. In the past I had thought and prayed about the vocation of motherhood but this year, since it is a reality, I am already a mother, Advent took on a whole new meaning. I am currently feeling all the baby movements that Mary also felt within her. I am also waiting in anticipation, a sense of awe, an unrelenting yes to my calling from God to be a mother, and also a sense of nervousness - which I am sure Mary felt even though it is not mentioned in the Gospels. (Every mother, no matter their age, race, religious background, no matter how ready she may feel, I believe has a sense of nervousness.)

One question I asked myself a lot in the first trimester was...am I truly ready to be a mother? On June 5th of this year Mike and I got married. It feels too quick for us to be parents. But at the same time I am 30 years old and Mike is 36. God has blessed both of us with full lives. We have both traveled, studied, made many friends, and loved our families deeply. We both have truly wanted a family, even before we met one another. Since we are older we feel a little more wisdom about life than we did when we were in our 20s. So, why not now? I reflected upon this during the Advent season. Did Mary truly feel ready? I think beyond Mary feeling ready she felt a deep sense of God calling her to be a mother. She let go of everything. She surrendered herself completely to God, including her pride and public image, to be the mother of Jesus. This is the type of love I want to embody. I want to surrender myself to God's will and allow God to use me in whatever way God sees fit. Even though I don't have as much to surrender to God as Mary did, as my circumstances are different, I not only feel the calling from God to be a mother but I am running towards God with open arms asking, what's next Lord?

Even though Advent is over, Mike and I, are still in the process of waiting. Day by day, hour by hour, Sofia is growing. These past few weeks I have felt her move more and more. What I am trying to stay with is the joy in the anticipation. Enjoying every moment of this pregnancy for me is of utmost importance. How many times in ones lifetime is one pregnant? I believe there is joy in learning, feeling, and loving every moment of the here and now.

Please, continue to pray for Sofia, Mike & I. Pray for Sofia's health and growth. Pray that as Mike and I prepare to become parents we stay healthy in mind, body, and soul so that we can be the parents that God has created us to be.