and then along came Evan...

There we were. Happy as could be with our new little bundle of joy. Sleep deprived, but happy! Tyler Douglas Bath had fulfilled our lives like we never imagined. We figured at some point he would have to have a sibling so eventually we would adopt again, but no need to worry about that right away. At that point, we had about all we could handle and were quite comfortable.

And then things got a little crazy...

When Tyler was about 2 months old, I discovered I was pregnant. Yes, pregnant. Me - who couldn't get pregnant. I was pregnant. To say we were shocked is an understatement. To say that was an understatement, is an understatement! I wish I had taken a picture of Mitch's face when I told him. Not that it helped, but I had had all afternoon to think about it by the time he came home (and had taken at least 3 pregnancy tests by then) and I really threw him for a loop. How could this be??? There must be some mistake...

10 more home tests and a trip to the doctor confirmed it. We were going to have another baby - and much sooner than we had ever imagined!

As much as I had previously longed to be pregnant, I had truly accepted and moved on from the fact that I couldn't be and I was completely torn (I have spoken to other women this has happened to and am glad to know that this is a normal reaction). Would Tyler ever feel that he wasn't good enough so we had to have a biological child? Would we get kicked out of FPA? Would people think it was selfish of us to adopt when we really could have biological children? And most of all, how could I possibly love another child as much as I loved Tyler?

And I worried that something might be wrong. If I had had such trouble getting pregnant, it must mean that something could go wrong. Weeks of worry and some invasive tests later, we found out that nothing was wrong. I was carrying a healthy baby boy. I could finally relax - well, as much as any pregnant woman with an infant at home and a full time job can relax! - and enjoy my good fortune. After all, how many people can claim 2 miracles in one year??

As elated as I was, I was also humbled. I remembered quite well during my struggle to get pregnant how sad I would be when I saw other pregnant women walking down the street. So as much as I wanted to beam and skip as I walked along, I tried to contain myself and be sensitive to who might be looking at me with the same broken heart that I had once had. As if pregnancy hormones don't make you emotional enough, I had to wrestle with that too!

My doctor tells me I was the happiest pregnant patient he had ever had. He always questioned me as if he was trying to get me to admit that I really was miserable! Sure, I had aches and pains and other trials of pregnancy to deal with, but I tried never to complain about it because I knew how lucky I was. And I REALLY DID love every minute of it!!

Not due until January 3rd, 2008, the little bugger decided to show up a little early. Seven days before Christmas, I went into labor at 1:30 in the morning. Since he was 2 1/2 weeks early, we were not prepared! I didn't even have a bag packed for the hospital (anyone who knows me has a hard time believing this is true) - it was on my "to-do" list for later that day! I'm sure it would have been quite comical for an outsider to watch Mitch and I scrambling around the house as I tried to pack my bag, and a bag for Tyler, who would be staying with Grammy and Grandad, all the while dropping to the floor every 3 minutes with a contraction. Ok, not my fondest memory of the pregnancy, so let's move on...

Twelve+ hours later, at 1:50 p.m. on Tuesday, December 18, 2007, Evan Thomas Bath was born via C-section.

I suppose most mothers worry that they won't have enough love to go around when another baby comes along. And as I'm sure any mother could tell you, I needn't have worried.