Oh, BOY ... lots of love!

That's right! You heard it here first, we are having a baby boy in June!

Well ... it could be May, but he's due the first part of June, so we'll see! If he's anything like his sister, he'll come two weeks early just to party with us longer. 

Thankfully I don't seem to get sick during pregnancy with either gender so far, so it's been a very uneventful pregnancy as far as that goes. I love to stay as active as possible, and have been blessed to (at least feel like I can) continue all my normal activities. 

However, this pregnancy has also been a little different than Hazel's. Other than the obvious facts that we are not in Utah and around family (and having a boy!) I've been put on a variation of bedrest due to placenta previa. 

What is that fun term? 

Basically, it is when the placenta has planted itself right over the cervix, making a vaginal birth a little difficult. 

Luckily, my placenta isn't directly over the cervix, but it's close enough there isn't a measurable distance, therefore they're just calling it a previa. 

So, you guessed it: no lifting more than 20lbs (but c'mon, I'm not counting Hazel), no running, and no high-impact jostling ... like riding horses. 

You can imagine my disappointment when I had to send back all my training horses. And you can imagine Josh's when he had to carry buckets of water before school to all our of animals in subzero weather 😂 . (Just kidding, Josh is the ultimate champion and has taken all of this in stride and really stepped up to the plate, er ... wheelbarrow.)

But! There is good news! Placentas don't really "move" during pregnancy, but they do "grow" as the uterus does. The hope is that as I progress, the placenta will eventually have grown *literally* upwards, leaving at least 4cm between itself and the cervix. 2cm is what we need for a vaginal birth, and 4cm is what we need for a homebirth, so you know we're saying all the prayers over here. We wouldn't mind your prayers, either. 

However, this pregnancy has been such a faith-builder as we've just put it all in God's hands, trusting that everything will work out exactly as it should. Whatever happens and however it does, we just feel so lucky to be bringing a little boy into our family. 💙

Hazel points to her belly everyday and says "baby" and if you ask her what a baby says, she'll give you the cutest little whiny cry you've ever heard. I reckon she'll find out soon enough what it actually sounds like. She's going to be the best big sister, I can hardly stand it.