Wow, so much is going on in 2009 already!!

First off-big news! My baby sister had her first baby on Sunday, January 4th at 10:00 am. Words can't even express how proud I am of her and her boyfriend, Jake. Baby Caydence weighed 7 lbs 3 oz and was 19 in. long and she is just perfect. Ashley had no problems getting her into the world and she is doing great breastfeeding, it just looks so incredibly natural with them, it's awesome!
Secondly, my nanny is having major back surgery at the end of January. Please pray that all goes well.
Thirdly, Michael is pretty sure that he will be going to Japan for a whole month to work. He has to be there on Feb. 19th and won't come back until the end of March. This means he will miss Aaron's 5th birthday and our 20 week ultrasound to determine the sex of the baby! I am having a hard time with this, because I know how badly Michael wants to go, it's a great opportunity for him to see another country and experience things that not everyone can, and it's extra money for us. BUT, it will be very hard for me to be home without him for a month. My mom will come stay with me and my inlaws are always a great help, but its not the same. Don't get me wrong- I am super grateful for the extra help, I have a lot of support, but it's not the same as having Michael here. So, pray that I will make it through that time without him.
And finally, an update on my pregnancy:
I went to the doctor last Thursday. Tomorrow, I will be 10 weeks pregnant. At my appointment my doctor discussed what he wants to do to try and prevent preterm labor. Even though I didn't technically have preterm labor, my bag of water broke early which caused me to leak amniotic fluid constantly, then I developed an infection which caused them to have to take the baby at 29 weeks. According to the doctor, there's no way to know what caused my bag of water to break, but taking extra precautions would not harm me or the baby in any way and we can feel better about it. So, first on the agenda is a cerclage. I know that my former coworkers at Sleepmed are very familiar with this since Nicole has had 2 successful cerclages, but for those of you not familiar with what this is: it is basically where the doctor goes in and stitches up your cervix with a thick thread that will keep it closed until the doctor "pops" it before the baby is born. They insert it at 12-13 weeks. It is an outpatient procedure and I will have to have a spinal for it. Spinals always make me nervous, but I have had 2 so I am a pro and know exactly what to expect. The cerclage is scheduled for January 27th. I will be 13 weeks pregnant. Please pray that this procedure will go smoothly for me. The Friday before the cerclage I am scheduled for my 12 week ultrasound and the ultrasonagrapher will guess the sex of the baby by what she can see. This is the same person that guessed the sex of Landon at 12 weeks and she was right! So, we shall see:)
Next on the agenda for hoping to prevent another preemie birth, is 17 injections of Progesterone. This is a hormone made by your body and the injections are supposed to relax the uterine muscle to preven contractions and preterm labor. They start the injections at 16 weeks and they are weekly. I am of course nervous about side effects and such, but also having to drive to the doctor's office every week for 17 weeks, that just doesn't sound fun to me!! But, I have to remember that this is what's best for me and my baby and I pray that these things help me and not harm me. I know that God is in control and I have given this to Him. He will take care of me and my baby no matter what happens or how this all plays out. I certainly wasn't expecting what happened with my last pregnancy and God took care of us through all that. I just have to trust that God has blessed us with another child for a good reason. We will LOVE this baby just as we love our other 2, even if we weren't expecting this little one!!
SO, I guess I have asked a lot of all of you in this post, I need prayers in multiple areas of my life, but I can't get by without your prayers, your prayers helped me through some of the toughest times in my life and I truely believe that. Thanks for being my support system and thanks for your continued prayers.