The Quickening

What a beautiful, yet nerve racking sight, to see those two pink lines on the indicator stick.  Life is known and dreams begin the moment its positive results are viewed. As many of you know, after suffering two losses I am now expecting again in June. I'll be honest, at first, I was in complete shock... so much in shock that I took 13 tests in the matter of  2 weeks. We hadn't planned on being pregnant again anytime soon.  I often refer to my pregnancies, especially the last 2 , as God tricking me. He's sneaky sneaky!! No really, His time is not always ours and my pregnancies just prove to me that no matter what we do, He is ultimately in total, and sovereign control.

After seeing my doctor and having my first ultrasound, I found out that I have an anterior placenta. My placenta is on the front (or anterior) side of my uterus, with the baby behind it. This means it may be harder to see the baby on the ultrasound, hear the baby, or feel the baby's movements. She said she hated it for me that I was one to have this after my losses, but that there should be no complications. As the weeks have went by, every appointment has been nothing but good news! The major fear I had was that my baby would never move. This happened with Selah. All I ever felt from her were faint squirms and slow movements. I never felt a kick to assure me that she was alive and I feared the same with this baby. I thought back in the mid teens of my pregnancy that I felt little dashes of movement, but I wasn't for sure that this was the baby and not simply digestion. However, all those fears were relinquished back a couple of weeks ago when  I felt the "quickening". In pregnancy terms, quickening is the moment in pregnancy when the mother starts to feel or perceive fetal movements in the uterus. I was confident that it was my baby, and that he/she was very much ALIVE. I have rejoiced over the days that have followed that one special day. Every kick reminds me of how my baby is with me at this very moment, and that it should be cherished. There is also a spiritual side to this quickening.  Every time my baby  moves I am reminded of how the Lord has "quickened" me. To quicken means to come to life or to be made alive. The Lord did this to my dead soul the very moment He saved me and rescued me from despair. I was so lifeless and hopeless without Him. He caused my dead spirit to come alive and continues to restore that life daily. I praise the Lord for His sovereignty in every aspect of my life, especially my salvation. I'm thankful that only He has the power to quicken the lifeless. To God alone be the glory!

 "Plead my cause, and deliver me: quicken me according to thy word." Psalms 119:154