16 weeks and counting

This is the part where the pregnancy gets REALLY REAL! My belly is starting to grow, and though I haven't actually felt the baby yet, the stomach shows that he/she is truly there! It's so neat for us to watch it grow and read each week how the baby is growing and developing. Since the joke now is that people want to know the "fruit of the week"...the baby this week is the size of an avacado! Who knew??

I had a doctor's appointment last week, and had a little scary moment. The doctor wasn't able to locate the heartbeat with the monitor, but said she could hear him or her moving quite a bit! So the baby just wouldn't sit still long enough to have the heart beat audible. So, I got an unexpected ultrasound! I was SO upset because after seeing the heart beat was fine (heart rate was 140), the ultrasound tech looked at me with a grin and said, "Do you want to know the sex?" I almost screamed! I said that I couldn't without Taylor being with me...much to my dismay! But, if a mom's instinct is anything at all...it certainly could be a boy. Now of course in 4 weeks I will eat my words if they tell me it is a girl, but I will be more than thrilled either way. But yes, I proved to myself I could actually show restraint!

So...here is the much awaited belly pic! I wasn't thrilled with the ones we took, but at least with this you can see a bump is moving in! I will take more this week and post them for weekly or bi-weekly progress!

Oh Sweet Baby Ella Rae

My sister, Lindy, finally had baby Ella on Tuesday morning, May 5th, at 10:55 AM. She's been in the world for not even a week and I love her more than I could ever imagine! She was 8lbs 8oz and 21 inches long...pure perfection. I feel so lucky to have been there when she was born, but miss her so much it hurts! Lindy will be bringing her down to visit on May 30th...so I'm counting the days! Until then...here is beautiful Ella for your viewing pleasure:)

Ella a few hours after birth

Ella and her grandpa

Me and my sweet Ella

Mommy and Baby

All ready to go home!

She's a beauty

Nana giving her love

14 weeks

Our baby is the size of a LEMON!:) According to my babycenter updates, our baby is now 3 and a half inches long, about the size of a lemon. They sum it up a lot better than I can, and they prefer to use the male gender as of now:

Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb. Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb. In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces.

I don't know how I feel about the "your baby can pee" part, but how exciting! I can imagine our baby making little faces...and can't wait to see the expressions! Unfortunately, we do not have an ultrasound at the next appointment, but only have 6 weeks to go until we find out...BOY OR GIRL??? The general concensus is boy, but we have a few holding out for a girl. I will be absolutely thrilled either way...THRILLED!

On another note, Ella Rae is getting ready to grace us with her presence! If Lindy does not go into labor on her own, she will be induced this coming Tuesday! I just can't wait to see my little niece. She will be so beautiful. I will post pictures just as soon as I have them!!

Baby's First Picture

We did get an ultrasound picture at the "confirming pregnancy" visit, but when you are 7-8 weeks pregnant, it doesn't so much look like a baby in there! As previously mentioned, this past appointment let us see the growing baby and there is so much more detail now! You can see the profile...it's so sweet! So...here's the baby!


This was the best I could do taking a picture of the ultrasound:). We are getting so excited! We got a call yesterday from my doctor's office letting us know that all of the genetic screening tests came back NORMAL!!! Praise God for that! That is a huge relief. Testing of course is never over throughout the pregnancy, but at least we are through that round with a good result! We are SO ready to find out the sex so we can really focus in on picking names! We have some definite favorites that are front runners, but we aren't releasing any of those just yet! The appointment in which we determine the sex will be early June. Mark those calendars!

First Trimester...DONE

It is hard to believe that we are already almost out of the first trimester when it still feels like we JUST found out I was pregnant! But we are reaching that week 13. I'm thrilled that all we have heard about sickness ending is true! I haven't been SICK, but the nausea was pretty intense and has finally subsided. I'm also really picking up my energy! These are all good things. Going to bed at 8pm wasn't the best phase.

We had our second doctor's appointment yesterday, and I can't even describe how much more REAL it was this time. Seeing the baby on the screen and actually having him/her look like a real baby. It's just really hard to say how amazing it was to see the profile, the belly, the arms and legs. We also found that we have an extremely active baby! Every time the technician tried to measure the length, the entire baby's body would jump up and down! It was almost as if he/she had the hiccups. It was so cute. Everything appeared to be perfect. I was a bit worried because the whole point of the ultrasound was to measure the neck for the NT screen, which apparently can indicate genetic/chromosomal disorders. That part of the screen appeared totally normal, which we are very thankful for! The second part is the blood work. Once that comes back they can give us a percentage chance for the liklihood of such disorders. We are praying that everything will come back perfect! The heart rate was strong, 152. And NO this does not indicate it's a girl yet:). The ultrasound technician said they are ALL high in the beginning!

We are just thankful for the strong heartbeat and that we can see the baby is developing right on target. Our next appointment is at 16 weeks at which time we will do more bloodwork and listen to the heartbeat. We are really looking forward to 20 weeks when we can find out the sex of the baby!!! We are still playing the name game and more than likely won't settle on any names until we know the sex either way. However, we welcome name suggestions!!! Send them in:)

Again, thank you all for your thoughts and prayers for our house to sell so we can be more at ease during the pregnancy and be able to enjoy each step of it to the fullest!!!

Ring Test

11 weeks today! Only one more week, and we are out of the first trimester! I feel like I just found out I was pregnant yesterday! Obviously, at only 11 weeks, we don't find out the sex of the baby for another 9 weeks. Today, a friend at work suggested the "ring test" which SUPPOSEDLY tells the sex of the baby according to an old wives tale. Basically, you tie a string to your wedding ring and hold it over your belly. If the string goes in circles, you are having a boy, and if the ring goes back and forth, you are having a girl. Obviously this is not used in place of an ultrasound:). Well, we did it anyway...and if we find out it's a boy at our 20 week appointment, I will have faith in this little ring test! It's fun to make guesses about what the baby could be. I hear that mother's instinct is the strongest predictor, but I don't really have any idea either way! We will have to wait and see.

We appreciate in advance all of your prayers and thoughts as we go into next week's appointment. We just pray that this baby will be healthy and grow strong!

10 weeks

So I have begun receiving emails each week from pregnancy center telling me what is happening to the baby as well as to me that week. Apparently this week the baby (affectionately called the bean) is about an inch and a half long. It's hard to believe I have something so tiny and precious in there right now! All of those little organs are growing and maturing, and over the next few weeks the baby will double in size!! Our next doctor's appointment is on April 15th. I can't stress how much I'm dreading the whole "drawing blood" part...but from what I've been told I better suck it up and get used to it. I will be sure to post the ultrasound pictures after that appointment! I can't wait to hear that little heartbeat again.

I have been feeling well the past week or so. No more sickness, but still a tad bit nauseous from time to time. My main issue is being SO LATHARGIC! No one tells you that you will be so tired you could fall asleep anytime, anywhere. Hopefully after I hit the 12-13 week point that will diminish. Thanks for all of your support and well wishes!

On another note...I will be an AUNT this month! So hard to believe it's happening so soon! Here are the latest pictures of my sister who is going to be a mommy very soon!