Baby West: Our Greatest Expectation

Babies. Who would have thought that the journey to parenthood would be fraught with so many emotions? Well, I didn't. And I wish I was one of those women that handled the whole process gracefully and with full faith, but I didn't. I threw tantrums. A lot of them.

To be honest, it has been a long and arduous process. We live in such an immediate gratification culture, it was hard to have to really fight for something. To pray for it, believe for it, ask for encouragement and support, and then ask again when almost two years later it still hasn't happened. And I can't articulate how grateful I am for those that have really stuck with us through the journey. I feel like this is just as much their baby as it is ours, because they prayed when we were tired of praying. And they brought us encouragement when the road seemed to only get darker. And its because of their love that we have made it to this place. It is true what they say: The darker the night, the brighter the day.

So all that to say, here are some glimpses of our last few weeks of incredible joy and elation:

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We found out we were pregnant the day I got back from Kenya (September 14), which meant that we got pregnant in August. The day we told our small group at church, my sweet friend Abbey showed me this entry in her journal from early August. Our birthdays are May 26 and June 1, and the baby is due May 16.

When HaRim left America, he gave us this letter to give to our future baby. We waited until we were pregnant to open it, and we laughed and cried when we read it. HaRim is just such a blessing to our family, and knowing that he believed for and loved our baby for so long makes our connection to him so much stronger.

Our jellybean-sized baby at our first ultrasound.

We told our offices after our 12-week appointment, which happened to be Halloween. My office has a costume contest and parade each year so I stood in line to announce my 'costume.' When it was my turn, I held up my makeshift pregnancy test and said "I am a positive pregnancy test!" And there were crickets. Awkward, silent crickets. So Susan said 'Explain more!', so I held the sign up higher and said "Which means...I'm PREGNANT!" And the office just erupted in cheers and clapping. I had prayed that it would be received well at work, and everyone's response GREATLY exceeded my expectations.

The cards and text messages and voicemails and phone calls we have received has been unbelievable. Never have I felt so deeply loved and celebrated in my whole life.

And now for some of the pregnancy reveal shots we had taken by our amazingly talented friend Daniel:

So a BIG thank you goes out to every single person that has loved us, encouraged us, prayed for us, given us advice, or just made themselves available to listen over the last two years. We are grateful for YOU and couldn't have gotten to this place without you. We love you so flippin' much, you have no idea.