So, after two blog posts on the subject, I’m guessing you all know by now that we are pregnant. Yesterday marked the beginning of 13 weeks and my first trimester coming to an end. Being pregnant has radically changed our plans for this year and I thought it was about time that I filled you all in on what’s been going on. The past two months I have had a steady decline in my health that has resulted in slightly more than an 8 pound weight loss (not a big deal for some, but sort of a big deal for me since I didn’t have any to lose to begin with AND I’m pregnant and should be gaining weight). Anyway, the short of it is that I have always struggled with allergies and food sensitivities, and although we have made a lot of progress on improving my health in the past few years, since becoming pregnant again things have really deteriorated.

Because of that we have decided to head back to the states, for a while... actually we leave Prague 2 weeks from Today. We still don’t have our schedule completely worked out, but we will be in the states from early March through the end of the year and will spend some time in Arizona, Seattle, and hopefully California as well.

I’m looking forward to being in the states so that I can see my wonderful midwife there, my chiropractor there (who has greatly improved my sensitivities and health issues in the past), and be closer to family. We have been feeling sad, though, to leave Prague so suddenly and have such a short time to say goodbye to some dear friends, but we also feel like this is really the right and wisest decision for us right now.

It has been hard to tell our friends that we are leaving so suddenly – I’ve made more than one person cry. I don’t like making my friends cry. It’s difficult when you know that the right decision for you is going to hurt people you care about. I guess life is just like that sometimes, but it really sucks.

This next two weeks will likely be crazy for us. We have to essentially pack everything up and move out of our current place, so I’ve been spending most of the past few days cleaning things out and organizing - something I used to sort of enjoy, but have been totally overwhelmed by lately. Let me just say, packing up your entire house with a toddler is NOT fun. I make piles of things to giveaway and things to keep only to find that within a matter of minutes Thad has gotten into them and mixed them up and I have to start over. I get a box packed only to have Thaddeus pull everything out of it seconds later. Yeah, it’s been a bit frustrating. Plus he’s just been so out of sorts with all the chaos and I haven’t been able to give him as much attention as normal and it’s really taking a toll on him – poor little guy.

Well, that’s where we are at right now. Not sure if there will be much time to write in the next few weeks, but I do have some posts half started so hopefully I’ll be able to finish them up and it won’t be completely silent around here. Pray for us as we pack, say goodbye, and try to re-enter life in the states for a while. We’d really appreciate your prayers and kind thoughts.

Rejoicing in the journey - Bethany Stedman