Where Have I Been

Where have I been, you ask?? Well, about 4 months ago I had the WORST food poisoning, ever. What should’ve been a 48-hour situation, turned into 2 full fledge weeks of the worst stomach and intestinal pain I'd ever experienced. The worst part was, I could not wrap my mind around why I wasn't getting better. It wasn't even just the nausea. A few days later, I began to feel an indescribable amount of fatigue. I was never rested no matter how much I slept. I was constantly tired and aching. Had I been hit by a truck and didn't know it???

As your neighborhood naturalist/wacky aunt, you're more likely to catch me in my kitchen mixing Tree moss, Elderberry, Vitamin C, and ginger in a pot - before I put it in a tea

satchel to make it into a tea. But alas, I had to admit, my concoctions were not working. I needed a real doctor.

I got there and sure enough, I was told, "yea, you're pregnant!" I left surprised, happy, and honestly confused. I know how babies are made. We already made two😂! This pregnancy, I knew the day and even time it happened.

I got the 3 kids I had always prayed for! I began to Pinterest ideas (naturally 😜, I Pin everything) of how I would decorate, dress, and even reveal our 3rd child.

Oh boy, the symptoms. My body was in revolt, and I was not in ally! Now that I'm in my 2nd trimester, I look back at that time in shock. Look, I've done two natural births for over 20 hours and nothing, nothing compares to the feeling I had in my 1st trimester. I had to see another doctor. To my luck, I grabbed an appointment in two weeks. At this point, I had to make sure my baby was okay.

Got to my ultrasound and even had a conversation with my tech about how we would approach, 'the no heartbeat' if it was applicable. This was really were my mind had gotten.

"Oh wow," she's said.

"I haven't had this happen in a month! Look."

I look, praise Jesus, there is a flicker where the heart is. I advert my gaze to where she is looking.

"What am I looking at?" I replied.

"One, two!"

"One, two what?" I reply.

"As in you're having twins!"

"No, I'm not! What? Huh! How?

"Congrats!" She says joyfully.

"Thank you!" I burst into tears in amazement and shock. The shock still hasn't subsided.

Our subsequent appointments revealed, they're monozygotic or identical! No trace of twins on either side but won't He do it! I'm not even done! Apparently, they are the highest set of identical twins. Yes, apparently there's levels and they are literally a copy and paste.

Not done. Guess the gender. They are girls! That's not so much of a shock. My youngest daughter is the 11th consecutive girl of all the children my siblings have had. I'm one of six girl and we have one Lone Ranger, brother. Still!!! I was so sure I was having boys. I even told everyone that I shared the pregnancy with that I was. There was no doubt in my mind. If God had already changed it up this much, what would it be to have two boys. Right? But every time you think you know what He is going to do, he surprises you.

That saying, "Jesus truly has a sense of humor," has never been so true. A 35-year-old woman (me) becomes pregnant from one afternoon interaction, with twin and will give birth the 13th & 14th consecutive girl.

Am I happy I'm having two girls?? You bet ya! At every house you go, my moms, my sisters; there is a dollhouse, pink and all the girly fix-ins. They'll fit right in. Ha!

The way I see it...

Ultimately, I can be blinded by my projections of what I thought this journey would be (timing of the pregnancy, how many I would have, and even the gender), or I can free myself to accept and cherish my girls for the unique individuals they will be. Truly, the life of our children is NOT about us and what we thought. It's their journey, even at conception. No one has a right to a child. They are given to us as gifts. We honestly, don’t deserve them, but God gives them to us anyway.

So, the gaggle of girls continues!

Isaiah 55:8, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.”

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).