It's a....

BOY!  We are 21 weeks pregnant with a baby boy.  We had our ultrasound yesterday, and Josie came along.  Ryan, Josie and I are so excited to expand our family and welcome this little boy in April.  Josie even pointed to the television showing the ultrasound and said "brother."  She has been talking about her baby brother and even helped pick out a little sleeper outfit for him in size Newborn.

However, the ultrasound did not come without some surprises.  After the ultrasound was over, the doctor came in to tell us that all of the measurements look normal except it appears that our baby has a cleft lip and will probably have a cleft palate.  Of course, this news was shocking to Ryan and me so we have been taking the last 24 hours to think, pray and let everything sink in.  We have another appointment with the perinatal care center on Monday to confirm, find out if there are any other unexpected concerns with this pregnancy, and find out more about our next steps.

As we process this and prepare, we ask for your thoughts and prayers.  We are so excited to welcome our baby boy, but we are also preparing for a difficult journey as parents.  We know that there are so many parents and children who have gone through similar journeys with unexpected difficulties, some much more trying than what we are facing.