Secret revealed.....

I doubt very seriously this will surprise many of you. But this is a big, big deal, so I get to "announce" it. :)

After a three year struggle with infertility, a lot of difficult moments and one heartbreaking loss, Mandy and Aaron are going to have a baby. And here's the part I love sharing - she is safely past the first trimester and no longer considered high risk.

We're going to have a new baby in this family!

It was devastating when, several months ago, Mandy got pregnant and all of us made the big announcement as soon as we knew - and she lost the baby the very night of the day we announced it. So this time Mandy and Aaron let the immediate family and their closest friends in on the secret but only with the understanding that no one was to say a word publicly until the beginning of the second trimester.

Last Monday Mandy's fertility specialist told her goodbye and referred her back to her regular ob/gyn. I am beyond impressed with all he did for them - they were only one more month of trying away from the next and last step - in vitro.

She's had ultrasounds every two weeks for the past three months to be absolutely certain everything was exactly as it should be. So we now know the baby is perfect, is extremely active and is actually a little bigger than normal for this stage. And, as you can clearly see, he/she is as cute as can be. Well, of course - this is, after all, MY new grandbaby and that's the only kind of grandbabies I have. LOL

We won't know the baby's sex until mid June. Baby Vogt is due on October 8th. If it's a boy, Tyler is a real possibility. If it's a girl, Molly is very possible. (It's been Mandy's favorite name since her dad and I gave her her American Girl doll for Christmas when she was a little girl.) Another possibility is Carly Kristina. I really love that one.

Mandy is coming to visit while she's on spring break - she'll arrive this Saturday afternoon. I can't tell you how much I look forward to hugging my daughter, I'm so happy for her.

Hooray for happy news and thank you, God, for Your timing and for blessing this family yet again.