A Very Special Announcement From Our Family

Before we got married, Matt and I both agreed we wanted three kids. When we got married, we were “surprised” when our natural family planning recommended by the Catholic Church didn’t work. We had dated long distance for three years and were finally living together, getting to know each other on a whole different level of day to day life. After only four months of marriage, we found out we were pregnant. At 13 weeks, we were shocked to find out we were having a girl in what I called the “best baby appointment” because I was so overcome with joy…only to get a call the next day. We were told our baby had a one in four chance of having Down syndrome, possible cleft lip, and a small chance of cleft palate as well. It is hard to describe the feeling you get in your gut after coming off such a joyous high. But God made something very clear to me…this child was chosen for me, and whatever could possibly be “wrong” with her did not matter. I cared for her so much already. We turned down further genetic testing, moved to Mississippi, and I gave birth to Cambri…who despite our previous doctor’s over-cautious diagnosis, did not have Down syndrome or any sign of cleft lip/palate.

We moved to Virginia when Cambri was only 2 months old. When home visiting family, I was nervous when my milk supply started to slow and then days later was nonexistent. I figured because my baby was 4 months old and starting solids soon that it must be normal. I had a hunch and took a pregnancy test, only for it to be negative. With a sigh of relief, we carried on. But a month later, I was feeling very nauseous and extremely fatigued. I took another test and it turns out the first test was a false negative so I made a doctors appointment. This time, we were having a boy. Our kids, Cambri and Porter, are only 13 and a half months apart.

Now with two kids under two, we would often say to each other, “we were just surviving.” And we were. We both worked full time, early shifts, split shifts, and deployments but we had our boy and our girl. When Porter was only one, I desperately wanted another baby, one my soul seemed to scream for, the one that would complete our family. Thankfully, my husband balances out my emotional wants with our logical needs. I waited, and waited, until I finally couldn’t take it anymore. It took me breaking down and writing a letter to get Matt completely on board. After two surprise babies, we wanted to plan for this one.

I changed my diet, started taking all different kinds of vitamins, and read many fertility and pregnancy books. I was surprised when we did not get pregnant right away. Keep in mind, I had been waiting forever (it felt like it, really just three years) for this, and when Matt gave me the green light, my impatient self thought it would happen in a snap. In reality it only took a few months, but we are so excited to announce that Baby Launstein #3 is on the way! I can’t wait to share this journey with you. Check out our announcement video here: