Changes... and soon to be more changes...

Well, the picture itself does seem to capture the thought of the title, now doesn't it.

Let me introduce you all to 'M.' M, is the newest edition to the Langley Chapter of the Thomas family. This makes number 4. You read correctly, there is Ashlee and I, then there is our baby (miscarried January of 2007) who is waiting for us on the edge of eternity, and now there is M.

M is currently 13 weeks old and is due to be born December 19th, 2008. To date, M has been rather harsh to Ashlee, who has spent most of her non-working hours either sleeping in bed or lying on her back on the couch. Ashlee has been sick fairly steady, which is not good either for her or for me, but is apparently good news for M.

We have been really hesitant to share much news about the pregnancy considering the miscarriage. We were really worried about the possibility of getting too excited and then having things come crashing down. So, we wanted to wait until we were able to hear the heartbeat, which we did on June 2nd. We were in the doctor's office and she had here Doppler machine out listening and we heard a lot of whooshing blood and not much else. Then, in an instant we heard a steady nearly 160 bpm thump thump. Just thinking about it now makes me tear up a little (I am such a sucker, but I am proud of it!).

After hearing the heart beat we called our families and let everyone know. We had kept things from most everyone, including our parents and most of the siblings up to this point. But, after hearing the heart beat we felt safe enough in sharing. Then, on June 11th we were in for our ultrasound. This was a few weeks earlier that usual, but the doctor wanted it because of the previous miscarriage and because Ashlee's uterus was protruding a little more than usual and the doctor wondered about twins. Obviously, we have only one. So, on the 11th we saw our first picture of M.

They didn't let me in for the test, and they didn't provide us with video of the baby, just this picture. And it is a great picture! Again, there I was standing in the room, after they invited me in at the end of the test, and BAM I get a glimpse of our baby. I teared up then and looking at the picture now makes me get a little misty.

So, to answer some questions. No, we have not and we are not going to find out the gender. Yes, feel free to send us your gifts of money. ;-)

Also, why M? It is just a gender neutral designation for the baby. There is no special meaning behind it, it does not mean Male or stand for Marmaduke or Matthew or Magian. Nor does it stand for Margaret, Marie or Monkey. It is just M. M means M.

So, thanks for your prayers, continue praying please and feel free to respond.

Jeff