Well, I think the last picture I posted was of 25 weeks. A lot has happened in the past 6+ weeks. The IWU Wildcats have won 10 games in a row! Jeff and I both had the stomach flu. And just last night I got another round of it. Thankfully no throwing up but just the other stuff. Greg and Amy had it last night/today. Jeff has been spared for the second round. We had a great time with both families at Christmas time. All of our nieces got the same outfit for Christmas and we got a picture of them all. So cute!! From left to right, Emery (2 years 3 months, Elena (~9 weeks), Lilly (16 weeks), and Hannah (8 months). Sisters, I hope I have those dates right!
The day that I got the stomach flu, I was supposed to do my glucola test. Obviously, I did not do it that day since I couldn't hardly keep much down. But I did it the following Monday. The test came back and my glucose was too high. I was definitely bummed out! So I had to go in for the 3 hour test this past Thursday. I can honestly say I was really disappointed in myself. Even though it wasn't for sure that I had gestational diabetes, it was still difficult to think that I might have it. I know people develop gestational diabetes and have perfectly healthy babies. But Satan really tried to convince me that I had failed and had done something wrong. After talking with several people, they all helped me realize that this was not something I needed to blame myself for. And even if I did have gestational diabetes, the Lord would help me through it and myself and the baby would be fine. Plus I only have a few more weeks to go. Needless to say, I had a heart to heart with God the night before my test. That same night, Jeff had to leave to go to Michigan with the team so they could avoid all the snow that came the next day. So I was alone with my thoughts for most of the evening. Before bed, I was reading a book called "Promises of Joy" that my parents had gotten me for Christmas. One of the verses I came across was Psalm 30:5 "Weeping may remain for a night, but joy comes in the morning." It was incredibly appropriate for my feelings at the time. I fully believe God keeps His promises, so I decided to claim that promise as my own that there would be joy after this test. I continued to pray that promise and not to worry. I can honestly say God definitely eased my worries. I slept very well and woke up feeling pretty good. I brought a book with me to read during the 3 hours I was in the lab (all alone except for the lab tech). It was a Karen Kingsbury book called "When Joy Came to Stay". Not having a clue what it was about (I just knew I hadn't read that one yet), the first verse of the book was Psalm 30:5. I knew at that moment, that God was there with me and was encouraging me to keep believing that promise. The test went smoothly (the four needle sticks didn't hurt nearly as bad as I had expected). On Friday, I called and the results came back normal! (WELL below the cut offs for each hour). Praise the Lord! Jeff and I were so excited :) Thank you to everyone who prayed for us! I go to the doctor tomorrow for my regular appointment. It's always exciting to hear the heartbeat. The baby weighs over 3 pounds now and is about 16-17 inches long. I am feeling baby's kicks much stronger and they are more like jabs and rolls. Sometimes up in my ribs! But I love it. I never get tired of putting my hand on my belly and feeling the baby. Sorry for such a long post. I will try to post more frequent here in the next few weeks. Hard to believe how fast time is going!!! Enjoy the pics. These are actually a few weeks back (at Christmas time) when I was about 29 weeks. I'll try to update this next week with a more recent pic.
