On the Fourth of July I shared that my husband and I are expecting our third child in January. That little one is now six months along in utero, and my two-year-old son likes to ask me with a hopeful grin, "Baby come out now?" I'm sure that "after Christmas" must seem inconceivably far away to him!

This pregnancy has gone fairly well. I was queasy the second month, but my husband was soon home for the summer and his presence made next trimester so restful for me! At the nineteen-week ultrasound, we chose not to find out the baby's gender because we love the joy and surprise of finding it out at birth. It's not that we aren't curious; we simply think that it's even more fun to discover whom God's given us when we first meet him or her. Some patience on our part makes the birth more exciting!

*My sister and I--both of us pregnant--on the Oregon Coast this past July*

Amusingly, I've guessed the wrong gender with both of my previous pregnancies, so I don't have any confidence in my current suspicions. If I had to guess, I'd say this is a girl, but that's probably because I don't want my daughter to be disappointed (she wants a sister) and I think my son (who wants a brother) is too young to hold on to any disappointment for long.

I've been trying to get my medical insurance to pay for compression stockings because I have varicose veins that worsen during each pregnancy, but it turns out that our insurance won't cover the cost--several hundred dollars--unless I have an ulcer or extreme swelling. I'm surprised they don't favor preventative medicine in this situation, but I'll buy the stockings myself if I must. In the meantime, on a recent trip to the Willamette shore, my daughter recently pointed out that a knobby, burned lump on a piece of driftwood strongly resembled my ankle. I'll keep trying to put my feet up once or twice a day when I can!

*I was only three months pregnant in this photo--I'll update this post with a six-month photo soon!*

In any case, children are a blessing, and it's exciting to feel little kicks inside again. I think we've settled on a girl's name and a boy's name (not to be shared here, but I'd tell you in person). My husband and I like to choose names that are recognized globally; I especially prefer names that are currently popular in France though they may not be historically French. We lean towards traditional names rather than trendy ones, but my longtime favorite girl's name is Allegra--definitely not traditional, and not even French! But I love the musical connotations and its reference in a poem that I memorized in elementary school. Nonetheless, I'm not courageous enough to choose it for a daughter due to the prevalence of the American allergy medication with the same name.

Would you ever give a child a daring name? (Maybe you can convince me to be courageous!) How do you feel about waiting to discover your child's gender? And if you're familiar with pregnancy in another country besides the U.S., I'd love to hear about how the culture there views and treats it.

A New Heartbeat in Our Home (cue the fireworks!)