More proundly pro-life

I have always been pro-life. Since a very young age I have loved babies and have always believed that abortion was the innocent taking of the life of a sweet baby. As pro-life as I previously was, it was admittedly not something I got overly involved in. I would talk about the evils of abortion and how I refuse to vote for a candidate that supports such an act but it wasn't until becoming pregnant that the discussion about abortion became very emotional for me.  Each week I get an e-mail that tells me what the baby is doing and how he or she is growing. I honestly had no idea how quickly these little miracles grow and develop. I am 8 weeks pregnant right now and my little one has a beating heart, fully working kidney's, and is even moving her or her arms and legs. He or she is the size of a raspberry and still has the ability to move. His or her face is now taking shape and will soon look like mommy and daddy. Sitting in bed contemplating this with my husband it suddenly hit me that the majority of abortions take place right at this time. Many women discover an unplanned pregnancy during this time and make the agonizing and hopeless decision to end the life of their child. This realization brought on several different emotions. I felt angry that we live in a world were it is acceptable to end the life of another innocent person. I felt angry that I can right now walk into a clinic right now and pay to have the life inside of me ended and legally no one could stop me and the government will do nothing to protect my child. I felt sad because all those little lives were so busy growing in what should have been the safest place possible and yet proved to be the most tragic place for them. I felt overwhelmed by the sad reality that many woman who have abortions don't know what they are doing. They have been lied to and told that they just have a clump of cells in them or that it is okay because the "fetus" (blah I hate when people use that word) isn't viable anyways. What they aren't told is that the baby has a beating heart, that the baby is moving inside even though they can't feel it, and that he or she has their whole life ahead of them as a beautiful new creation with an infinite soul created by God. If abortion clinics really wanted to give woman a choice, they would tell them these truths before allowing them to have an abortion. Women deserve all the facts before making such a huge life changing decision.

But here is the bottom line for me and why I am more passionately pro-life than I have ever been. The only difference between the baby in my belly and the vast majority of babies who are a victim of abortion is being wanted. My husband and I prayed and hoping to become pregnant on our wedding night (God is so faithful) and our baby is wanted with every fiber of our being. The baby in a teenage mother or young business woman or rape victims body is at the same stage in development and is as much a human life as the baby in my tummy but unfortunately the baby in these other women's womb is unwanted. That is the only difference. So in order to be pro-choice a person has two options: you can either claim that the baby in my tummy right now is NOT a human life. That even though he or she has a beating heart and rapid development, you know it is not a human. The only other way one can support a pro-choice stance is to agree that yes what is in my belly is a baby but that you don't care or don't think my baby is valuable. There are no other options in this argument. You have to either tell me that I am not pregnant with a human life or that the baby in my belly is unimportant. If you can look me, a pregnant lady, in the eyes and tell me one of those is true then I will let you go about your way believing the lies society has told you. But if you can not look at me and tell me that I am not pregnant with a new life or that that new life is not important then I beg you to reconsider why you think abortion is acceptable.  Remember the only difference between what is in my womb and in the womb of a vast majority of abortion minded woman is being wanted.  Are you truly comfortable allowing women to stop a beating heart because they don't want that heart? Does being unwanted change the value of someones life?  Does being unwanted mean that don't deserve a chance at life? Or could it be that we just aren't doing a good enough job helping abortion minded women find other options and recognize that the baby in their womb is wanted, that God wants them and so do countless other families who are seeking adoption?

Here is a link to where my baby currently is at in development. Please look it over and ask yourself if you are really comfortable with allowing women to end this little life?

http://pregnant.thebump.com/pregnancy/first-trimester/articles/your-pregnancy-week-8.aspx

Our little blessing

Eric and I couldn't be more excited that God gave us the most amazing wedding present possible, a new little life. Thanks to Creighton NFP and charting of my fertility cycle we know that we conceived on our wedding night. You might be saying to yourself "that is a little TMI Robyn!" I am telling you when we conceived only because I believe it is a beautiful witness to the will of God. Eric and I prayed that we would conceive on our wedding night. We desire to start a family right away and pray to be blessed with many children and a wedding night baby would be as quick as we could get started. More than that though we recognize the two-fold purpose of marriage which is for children and the good of the couple (CCC 1660). Praying about our marriage we knew it would be an incredible gift and witness to have both purposes fulfilled on our wedding day. In a culture riddled with a contraceptive mentality where marriages can become selfish and children a burden, Eric and I desired to have our marriage be a witness of self giving and focus on the reason God elevated marriage to a sacrament. Before we got married I told a friend of mine "I am very presumptuous with God and am just expecting to be pregnant right away, that's how extravagant His love is." I guess I was right but please know though that Eric and I do not take this gift for granted. We have several family members and friends who struggle with becoming pregnant and we do not for a second take for granted how easily this happened for us. We are eternally grateful and constantly praying for our loved ones who are still seeking to conceive and have healthy pregnancies. We know God has a plan for every marriage and in His time that plan is unfolded.

The reactions to our pregnancy have varied. We have heard a lot of "already?" which is to be expected. We have had people say "well so much for getting to know each other!" which to me is just a misunderstanding of what marriage is all about. We have had a lot of joy which always warms my heart. Sadly I have even had some people who seem to feel sorry for us giving a reaction that pretends to be happy but you can tell in their voice they are shocked and think this is all too soon and perhaps we should have waited. One thing I know for sure is that our sweet baby has drawn us close in new ways. The first night we went to bed after finding out I am pregnant I looked over at Eric and I will always remember that I felt like I fell in love with him all over again. This man who I love and admire is now and forever will be the father of our children. He has given me the great gift of motherhood and I am blessed to have been able to make him a father. I believe that he will be an incredible dad and I can't wait to watch him grow and perfect his masculinity through fatherhood. Just two days after our positive pregnancy test I began to get sick and the nausea has not let up since. Eric has proven to be a very caring and patient husband. While some newlyweds are spending their weekends out enjoying the world together my husband lay in bed with me and his baby snuggling us as I struggle to keep the sickness at bay. Any selfishness we had going into marriage was immediately forced away as we must now focus on the future that lays ahead.

We ask for continued prayers for our little one as we are in the very fragile early stages. We had our first doctor visit yesterday and baby Mattson has a good heart rate and everything looks to be going perfectly. Mommy is very nauseous all the time which is supposed to be a good sign. They say a sick mommy = a healthy baby. I sure hope they are right.

Baby's first picture!

Saints

Happy Feast of All Saints! Those who know me know that I love the Saints! I love learning about their lives and praying novenas asking for their intercession. In case you are unfamiliar with why Catholic's ask Saints to pray for them here is a little explanation for you:

Like all Christians, Catholics believe in life after death. Those who have lived good lives and died in the faith of Christ will, as the Bible tells us, share in his resurrection.
While we live together on earth as Christians, we are in communion, or unity, with one another. But that communion doesn’t end when one of us dies. We believe that Christians in heaven, the saints, remain in communion with those of us on earth.
So, just as we might ask a friend or family member to pray for us, we can approach a saint with our prayers too. (text taken from http://catholicism.about.com/od/thesaints/f/Pray_to_Saints.htm)


For a more detailed explanation see this website:
http://www.catholic.com/tracts/praying-to-the-saints

On a more personal note I love the Saints because I feel like I have an entire group of best friends in heaven looking over me and those I love. I have formed friendships with many Saints, most especially Saint Therese and believe me she is alive and active in heaven. She has clearly worked in my life in amazing ways. I know that she is up in heaven spending her eternity doing good on earth. My only real desire in life is one day for me and my family to be Saints ourselves. If I wanted to be a doctor I would learn from other doctors right? If I want to be a Saint I need to learn from those who are already Saints. They give us all an example to follow. They also give us hope that we too can be in heaven one day with our Lord. I highly encourage all Christians, Catholic and Protestant alike to get to know the Saints. These are the hero's of the Christian faith and they loved Jesus with a zeal we dream of. And if you decide to become friend with the Little Flower (Saint Therese) don't be surprised by her sense of humor and beautiful ways of directing your life.

Mary Queen of all Saint, pray for us
All you holy Saints and Angels of God, pray for us