Happy to see her sick.

Jessica has been sick a lot for the past few months. We went to the doctor to get to the bottom of her frequent stomach ailments after some friends suggested to her that she might have an intestinal parasite. After a few tests, sure enough, we discovered that she has amoeba, which is fairly common in the Philippines and can be caught through contaminated food or water . This could actually explain months and even years of decreased energy levels as well as a few other symptoms she had been enduring. It only takes a few days of some strong medicine to wipe out amoeba, but there is one complication; three months ago we learned that Jessica is pregnant. The doctor prescribed the medicine to rid Jessica of her tenant and told us that studies say the meds shouldn't hurt the baby, but why not play it safe and wait one more month before taking the medicine?

We agreed to the doctor's suggestion, but Jessica looks forward to soon finding relief from her symptoms. In addition to the discomfort of those symptoms, Jessica has been feeling some morning sickness as a result of the pregnancy. When Jess would wince in pain or tell me that she felt nauseous from the morning sickness, I would always say, "Praise the Lord" , or "That's great." I suppose that sounds mean, but after two miscarriages in the last year or so, I was happy that she was having signs of a normal, progressing pregnancy. You see, with the last two babies we lost, there was little to no symptoms of pregnancy. So I must admit that I'm happy to see her sick. We rejoice in her having "morning sickness" which reminds us that the life in her is progressing.

We decided not to say anything to anyone this time until we safely passed the first trimester, which is the most critical time of a pregnancy. We just had an ultrasound today which revealed a strong heart and an active growing baby with all its' limbs. We are very encouraged by this because the ultrasound of the first miscarriage showed no more fetus (after heavy bleeding) and the ultrasound of the second miscarriage revealed a baby that had stopped growing several weeks earlier and whose heart was not beating. Both ultrasounds were at twelve weeks, and Jess is now in her 13th week.

Today, we shared the news with our kids who are all excited, especially the youngest three. In fact, less than a week ago the kids were enjoying throwing coins into a fountain. Our 7 year old daughter Grace went up and hugged Jessica and told her about two wishes that she had just made. First, she wished that her wish would come true, and second, she wished that we would have a baby.

We trust the Lord's will with this baby as we do with the last two that He already called home. Pray with us that He will allow us to enjoy watching this little one become a part of our family and sharing His great mercy and forgiveness to everyone who believes and follows Him.