Our little princess, Mary Clare, is now 3 years old! John was 9 months old when we adopted Thomas, and when Thomas was 2 weeks old we got the biggest surprise of our lives...we were pregnant! We had been told for over 10 years that my PCOS complications would make it almost impossible to conceive naturally...but our God is good. He answered my prayers for children first with Zach, then our precious foster babies, then through the blessed gifts of two more birthmoms, and then by creating life in my very own womb. Wow!

I was so shocked at the two pink lines on the first test that I made my sweet David go get more tests...different types, different brands, and anything that would help my poor unbelieving brain to wrap around the wondrous event that was taking place in our lives! The Wal-Mart lady must have thought he was crazy!

Despite the length of time it took me to actually get pregnant, I had a fabulous pregnancy with absolutely no morning sickness and no complications. I gained quite a bit of weight, and there were some concerns about her size and my fluid levels, so I got several ultrasounds throughout the pregnancy (although she was always too "shy" to wave at us or actually look anywhere near the "camera!" No awesome ultrasound shots for us!

The day before my actual due date, I was still carrying high and things were still "closed up tight," according to my doctor. He and the high risk doctor dude decided that a C-section the next day was still the best plan, so we were excited to head home to get ready for a new baby! David's parents were coming to stay with Zach (14), John (18 months), and Thomas (9 months) so that my mom (an RNC and NICU baby nurse!  :) could be with me in the hospital. All went well and things got rolling early the next morning.

I got a spinal (NOTE: These last 90 minutes. This info will be important in 89 minutes.) and they got me set up in the OR. Things went fine and Mary Clare made her way into the world at 7:53 a.m. They began closing me up and I heard, "Uh oh. We've got a bleeder." They set about trying to find the tear that was bleeding. And couldn't. Right about now, the nice young anesthesiologist resident is telling me everything is fine. And I start telling him, "Uh...they're stitching something up right now, aren't they?" "Hmm? What's that sweetheart?" he says, nervous eyes twitching. "I said, they are SUTURING me, right? I can feel the thread being pulled through. Not pain. Yet."

He peeked over the drape that was blocking me from seeing the action and his eyes got as big as my husband's when I told him I was pregnant. "Um, doctor? She can feel that..." And then things got interesting! It seems that my spinal was only going to last 90 minutes, which would have been plenty of time if there had not been complications. But since there were, the spinal was wearing off. And since it was a spinal and not an epidural, they couldn't add more to keep me numb. Not good! The decision was quickly made to put me under, so my husband was hustled in (he had gone with Mary Clare to the nursery) to say his last goodbyes. Not very reassuring to a man whose wife had just presented him with child number 4, with the last 3 all under 18 months of age!

I survived the surgery (duh) but I almost needed a full hysterectomy. As it is, I am down to one ovary and fallopian tube. Bummer. We were so looking forward to making more babies with our newly-found ability to reproduce! We still might be able to, but it hasn't happened yet.

But what is NOT a bummer is my precious baby girl, redheaded like her Paw Paw John (my dad died in 2000 of pancreatic cancer, 3 years before we started adding babies to the household. Zach is our only child to have been blessed to know Paw Paw). She is a girly girl who loves her baby dolls and her tea sets and her Little Tykes kitchen, but she can mix it up with the best of the boys when the mood strikes! She is my shadow and Mommy's helper and Grandma's egg cooker (they love to do breakfast together). What a treat from God--we didn't know we needed a daughter until God sent her to us!