Made in Malawi

We brought home a little souvenir from Malawi...We're having a BABY!

15 weeks into this pregnancy and I still can't believe it. We found out about our new little one at the end of April and quickly decided that we would keep it a secret until we got home to the USA to tell our family and friends in person. That's the longest time I've ever been able to keep a secret about myself. :)

"McBaby", as we are playfully calling him/her in the meantime, is currently due December 30th. I've had so many questions the last couple of days about how I feel now and how I felt during my first trimester in Malawi. I'm not going to lie, once I saw that the 6 pregnancy tests that I took all were positive (yes, 6 that's right...I couldn't believe it and plus the tests in Malawi are SO cheap!) I started to freak out a little bit about enduring through my 1st trimester in a 3rd world country. But all went well...God protected me and gave me a safe and healthy couple of months. I was really tired and definitely nauseous at times but no extreme sickness to report...and for that I am very, very thankful. It would have been difficult to end my year in Malawi holed up in the bathroom. And just in case you are wondering, because I know that some of you are, I had a few bottles of pre-natal vitamins sent over from the US and have been faithful in taking those. I also saw a doctor in Malawi a few times and had 2 sonograms taken. You really just can't pass up sonograms that cost only $30 out of pocket with no insurance...and only $10 out of pocket to see a doctor. Those days are long gone now.

It has been a very fun week seeing all our family and friends again after being gone for a year...and being able to share our baby news with everyone in person. We're 15 weeks along and I feel great...most days I don't even feel pregnant. Is this normal at 15 weeks? It's kind of a scary/weird feeling to tell people you're pregnant when you don't even feel pregnant...I wonder at times if I am making it all up in my head.

Then, I look at this sweet little pic of my McBaby! It was so fun to do this sonogram the last week we were in Malawi (taken @ 12 weeks). The doctor put the wand on my stomach, wiggled it around and all of a sudden on the screen Daniel saw the baby dancing around and doing laps around my uterus. It was so crazy to see it move so much but to not feel it inside of me. The Indian and Malawian docs and nurses were in awe watching an "azungu" (Chichewa for white) baby. (I literally had 6 people in the sonogram room...so much for personal space.)

I guess to sum up this post...God is good. As we say in Chichewa "Yesu wabwino". Daniel and I remember clearly a late night conversation we had 2 years ago when we were trying to decipher God's prodding in our lives to go to Malawi...we had strong desires to start a family even at that time. However, we felt like God was clearly asking us to sacrifice those baby desires to go and serve in Malawi for a year. So, with tears in my eyes I told Daniel (and God) that I would put those baby dreams on hold for His Kingdom. My heart is truly overwhelmed now at God's goodness, love and provision for us in His timing.

I'm sure that this is just the start to the many McBaby posts in the coming months. Thanks for reading and letting me share my story and thoughts about this new little one.