Belly Pictures - #2

Here are some more pictures of my growing belly. These are from the last 2 months since I didn't post the ones form last month yet.

16 Weeks ~ February 10th

18 Weeks ~ February 26th


21 Weeks ~ March 17th

22 Weeks ~ March 24th

23 Weeks ~ March 30th

Here is an interesting comparison. The first picture is of me at 29 weeks with Caroline and the 2nd picture is of me at 23 weeks with baby #2. I think I look about the same. I always heard that you get bigger quicker the 2nd time around. I love seeing the proof in the pictures!

(You can click on the picture for a larger version).

First Belly Pictures!

Here are the first belly pictures I've taken with this baby. Not too much is happening yet, but it will be fun to compare these to the end ones!

January 13, 2011

January 19, 2011

A Wonderful Surprise!

November 14, 2010

On the 12th of November, David's parents were visiting and I was working on the computer when I had the sudden realization that my monthly friend was late. Without saying a word, I went to the back to take a pregnancy test. I *thought* I saw a line, but I just couldn't decide. I called David back and we couldn't decide. I took another test the next day and it looked about the same. Sunday morning came and I took another test. We thought that line was a bit darker, but couldn't be sure. That afternoon, we decided that it was time for a digital test. So, off I went to the store and below are the results!

We are PREGNANT!

This picture is of a couple of the first tests. If you click on the picture, you can enlarge it and barely see the lines.

Little does she know what she is headed for here!

Here are a few pictures from a small photo session we did to get some pictures to tell our parents about the baby.

We sent some of these pictures along with a card that said, "Happy Thanksgiving! Here are a couple of things we are most thankful for this year!"

They are all very excited about welcoming another grandchild!

*I am 27 weeks pregnant as I am writing this post, so I am obviously way behind, but I wanted this chronicled, so here it is! Enjoy!

Quick Update: Doc just broke my water

I am sitting in the hospital bed having a contraction right now. I can't believe Caroline will be here soon. We have WIFI here, so I thought I would update everyone. The doctor broke my water at 11:10 am. It's 11:49 now and I am definitely feeling every contraction now. Contractions are coming more often and are more intense. I will try to keep you updated when I can. It will probably be a while.

39 Weeks 4 Days Today

On Friday (7/24), I went to the doctor’s office to be checked. I didn’t have an appt., but had been having some contractions and followed the advice of a friend and went to be checked. I was 2 cm dilated and 60% effaced (I was 1 cm, 60% effaced 2 1/2 weeks before this.) . He said he wouldn’t be surprised if I didn’t make it to my appt. on Wed. (today). He went so far as to tell me who was on call last weekend should anything happen. I told him he was just trying to get my hopes up. He says he thinks my body is at least getting ready since I am having all the symptoms that I am. I am very excited that my body is doing something and not just sitting there!!! I think the doc said that he felt Caroline’s head too, which is a great sign! The reason I said, “I think” is because I remember him saying something about her head, but I was just in such a fog that I don’t remember what he specifically said. I’m pretty sure that’s what it was though. When the doc was leaving, he said, “IF, I see you on Weds., we will be talking about having a baby!” I said, “The next day because that’s the day you are on call, right?” He said, “Right!” So, that brings everyone up to date on where I was when I went into my appt. today.

So, I had my appt. today. I could tell that it had already been a crazy day for the doc and the nurse told me that it had started with someone coming into the office that was in labor. So, anyway, he didn’t come in to see me until about 45-50 minutes after my appt. was scheduled. He checked me and I was 2 ½ cm, 80% effaced and -2 station. I am so, so glad that I am progressing! That is such a blessing! I really didn’t want to be one of those moms that goes way over their due date and still doesn’t do anything on their own. No worries there! So, the doc said, “How do you feel about having a baby tomorrow?” David and I both said, at the same time, “Sounds good to us!”. So, he called labor and delivery and set me up to come in and deliver tomorrow. I am supposed to call around 6 am and see if they have room and if they do, come in about 7 am. If they don’t have room, they will keep in touch with me throughout the day and will bring me in when they can. So, it looks like Caroline will be coming to see us tomorrow!!! I really can’t believe it is here. I am really having a baby. ME? Really? WOW!

David and I will try to update everyone via Facebook tomorrow. We are supposed to be able to access the WIFI at the hospital, so we should be able to update, but if we can’t, we’ll get the word out somehow. I guess that’s it for now. I really can’t believe this is happening!!!

Maternity Portraits

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006943&id=176300502&l=f816c2d446

Above is the link to my maternity portraits. I really think they turned out amazingly!!!! We LOVE them! My friend, Angela Murray, took them. You can go to the link below if you want to view them in higher quality pictures.

http://kariseen.smugmug.com/gallery/8865895_AZNmA#595534058_PmGSi-L-LB

I just wanted to say that Angela & her husband, Nathan, are so very talented! They did photography for many years before their babies were born and are starting to get back in the game now. If you are interested in their photography, you can got to the website below for contact information. Thanks!

http://kariseen.smugmug.com/

38 Week Appointment

Well, we learned yesterday that Caroline will not be coming by induction this week. I had my weekly appt. yesterday morning. It started with an ultrasound and although we had to wait for her to wake up to show us her “practice breathing”, everything else went great. (Don’t be alarmed about her “breathing”. Babies don’t do it like we do!) As we were talking with the U/S tech about what we were seeing, she reminded us that we have to take every measurement with a grain of salt. The measurements can be very off at this stage of development with a baby. Given that, here are the stats:

7lbs. 4 oz.
86th percentile head (it has been 98th)
22nd percentile abdomen (previous U/S’s: 16th & <2%)
I think the ratio of head to abdomen was like 1.08% which is just .03% out of the normal range.

We enjoyed getting to see our little Caroline again! It’s always great to see her! After the U/S was over, they had to page my doc and we had to wait on him. He was actually on call yesterday and not in office. They had to set up a special appt. for me due to U/S scheduling and all. We learned yesterday that it really wasn’t Caroline’s head that Dr. VanZant was considering the induction for. It was her abdomen. You see, her abdomen measured very small at her last U/S (<2%). But, he said that all her measurements looked good today and he wasn’t worried at all about her growth. He used the term, “intrauterine growth restriction”. This basically means that if he felt she wasn’t getting the nutrition she needed being in my uterus, then he would have recommended we induce this week. She does NOT have “intrauterine growth restriction”, he only used this term to tell me what it would have been had he decided to induce. So, they don’t induce until the 39th week unless something is wrong and since everything is looking great, we won’t be inducing this week. As far as her head goes, I voiced to him that my concern was that I wanted the absolute best shot possible to have her vaginally and asked him what he felt about that. He said that he feels that I will have no problem. That was great news to me! So, as of now, he is treating me as a “normal pregnancy”. If this means he will allow me to go to 41 weeks or not, I have no idea. That’s one of those questions I didn’t think to ask in the moment. We’ll just have to see at my appt. next week. It is scheduled for July 29th at 10am.

Dr. VanZant’s reasoning for not inducing me this week makes perfect sense to me. The thing that bothers me is that I asked him specifically 2 weeks ago if she would definitely be here in my 38th week and he said, “Yes, if you don’t have her before then.” Now, he is saying that she won’t be here. I am just very annoyed that he gave me such a definitive answer and now has changed. I just wish he had said that he wasn’t sure! I would have still been thinking that I had no idea when she would come, but now I am just disappointed that I have to continue to wait! The plus is that now I am ready and I definitely wasn’t ready when he told me that 2 weeks ago!!! This week seemed like it really would have been the perfect week for everyone. I am just trying to remember that my God’s timing is perfect and if He wants her to come this week, she will. If not, she won’t. It’s as simple as that, although my emotions don’t think it is simple at all! ;)

Below is the best picture we were able to get yesterday. She's a cutie!

Caroline's Nursery & 38 Week Photo

Here is the link to Caroline's Nursery Photos:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006923&id=176300502&l=ba548c4ea8

And here I am at 38 Weeks!

37 Week Appointment

We got to see Caroline again yesterday!!! She is doing well. Her heartbeat was low at the beginning of the ultrasound, but they said that can happen right after you lay down on your back. Her heartbeat went up and was in the normal range shortly. They didn't measure her growth this time because they say that there are never significant enough changes from week to week. I will be having another ultrasound next week to check her growth out.

The doctor said that everything was looking good. I am moving along just fine. He didn't check me this week, which I was very thankful for because I don't want him to send me into labor quite yet. He said he will be checking me again next week to see if I have progressed any further. Once he sees the ultrasound results and checks me and all that, we will talk about when he will induce. My next appointment is Monday at 8:15 am. We will see what's going on then!

36 Week Belly Shot

I was just reminded that I haven't put a recent belly shot up. Here it is! I really love being pregnant!

36 Week Appointment...freaking out!!!!!!!

I had my 36 Week Appt. this morning and I am

1 cm dilated & 60% effaced. Yikes!

I truly can't believe it!!!!! I know I could stay this way for weeks, but I am still freaking out! I am so not ready for Caroline to be here. I am REALLY going to miss feeling her in my tummy too. I'm so sad that's almost over!

I also had another ultrasound today to check on Caroline's growth and her BIG head. Her head is still in the 98th percentile and because of this, if she doesn't come before hand, we will have her in my 38th week. They want to be sure they can get her BIG head out! That's just TWO weeks away! WOW, I really can't believe it!

She is looking good. Her abdomen is measuring small, but the doc said that everything is fine. We shouldn't be worrying about it because she is still growing at the rate she should be. They said she is about 5 lbs. 14 oz. now. Her femur bone is measuring in the 92nd percentile, so it looks like she’ll be tall, but we didn’t doubt that for a minute!

I do have the Group B Strep, so I will have to have the antibiotics in the hospital, but it's no big deal.

I guess that's it for now. If I think of anything else, I'll add it.

Have I told you that I am freaking out!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Below are some pictures we got at our ultrasound today.

Here is Caroline's little foot. It is not very clear here, but it was SO clear when we saw it on the screen. It was so amazing!!!

Here is Caroline! She wouldn't take her hand out of her face so we could get a good shot, but this shot is much better than we would have gotten last time. She is so cute!!!

Caroline is puckering up for a kiss in this pictures, but it's a little hard to tell. It was fun to see her puckering her lips during the ultrasound.


Another profile. This one isn't as good as the other, but still cute! ;)

We saw her little parts again too! She is definitely a girl!!!!!!

Much delayed report on our little Caroline!

It was brought to my attention recently that it has be a LONG time since I have updated the blog (Thanks, Angela V.!) I had my ultrasound to check Caroline's size on May 27th. Our printer/scanner wasn't working at the time so I wanted to wait to update the blog until I could get these pictures scanned. Well, it's been working for a while now and I am just a slacker, sorry!!!!!

So, it was SO wonderful to get to see our little Caroline again! She is growing bigger and stronger every day! The tech confirmed for us that our little girl is in fact a little girl! That is the first picture below. It is VERY obvious that she is a little girl!!! The second picture is of the hair she already has. Praise the Lord, I haven't had the heartburn that I hear usually comes along with that! The last 2 pictures are profiles of Caroline. She had her face pressed very close to my uterine wall, so the tech wasn't able to get great pictures, but you can see a little bit. SO, the biggest development that came out of our U/S is that Caroline's head is measuring in the 98th percentile. Yikes! They excluded bad things like water on the brain that her having a big head would be an indicator of. David's Mom said that his head was in the 98th percentile when he was born, so like father, like daughter! Poor Caroline! At least they won't be using forceps like they did with him! I have another ultrasound scheduled for July 7th to check on her growth.

I talked with a friend here that used to be an OB, but is now just doing GYN (at the same practice I am at). She said, "when they say c-section, say THANK YOU!" I told her that a day or two after they scheduled the second U/S, I realized they were probably doing that to talk about inducing me early. She said it would be either that or the c-section. So, I don't know everything for sure yet, but it looks like Caroline will probably come early via induction or c-section. I will know more after my U/S, but that's where we are for now. I have another appointment this coming Tuesday. It's just a regular appt. for all the regular things. ;)

I hope you enjoy the pictures of Caroline!

31 Week Photo

New OB

Well, I have now had 2 appts. with my new OB. I'm sorry I haven't updated until now!

My new OB practice is Nash OB/GYN and my new doctor is Dr. Van Zant. I met with the nurse practioner first on May 6th. She did all the normal things and everything looked great! Caroline's heartbeat was in the 140's. She checked my fundal height and discovered that I was measuring 31 weeks when I was currently 28 weeks. She said she didn't think anything about it, that Caroline might just be tall, but at my next appt. she would make sure the doc double checked it.

So, on May 15th, at my next appt., I met with Dr. Van Zant for the first time. Caroline's heartbeat looked great as usual. He said that he was excited at my charts since I had had such a great pregnancy so far with no problems (which I am very thankful for)! He checked my fundal height. I was 28 weeks 6 days that day and I was measuring in my 32nd week. He decided that we needed to do an U/S to see why I am measuring so far ahead. He also said that he didn't think there was anything to be worried about. I wasn't worried about it until he said that. ;) I was just excited to get to see my baby again!!!

So, that puts us up to date on that. Caroline is moving alot more lately and I am LOVING that. It's so much fun to feel her in there! My ultrasound is scheduled for May 27th (next Wednesday). I'm looking forward to it!

Preggo Pics!

I have been asked over and over to put up pictures of my pregnant belly. Well, here they are!

I put a comparison picture of me in the same shirt at 4 different weeks. Also, if you follow the link below, you can see of picture of me at almost every week from 10 until 29 so far. Have a wonderful Wednesday, everyone!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2005465&id=176300502&l=447a0998b8

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to my Mommy! I can never thank my God enough for the mother you have been to me and I am very grateful for the example you have given me as David and I embark on this journey with a little one on the way! Thank you! I love you!!!!!

Today was a great day! David and I drove separate cars to church and we took mine to lunch. When I went to get in the car, David had put some beautiful potted mums in the front seat. So sweet! David's plan was to take me to Olive Garden (my favorite), but even though we have seen tons of cars out there in the past, we learned it was probably just for training because they don't open until May 18th. :( We ended up going to Chili's which is quite ironic because on our first date, we were planning on going to OG in Mobile, but couldn't because the wait was so long and we had a play to be at at a certain time. We ended up going to Chili's that night too! That was a fun memory to relive! David did also make me a card and get me a present. You can see the card below. I LOVED it! He did such an AMAZING job! It's so cute!!! He had also warned me that the present wasn't the greatest mother's day present. ;) It was fine with me though! I really wanted a new shower head for our new bathroom and he got it! We tend to be very practical people when it comes to getting each other gifts. We want them to be used and not just sit there!!! Anyway, we enjoyed our lunch just chatting and even watching a little bowling on the screens there. I know, weird, huh? It just kept getting our attention! Anyway, the staff at Chili's had been handing out red carnations to all the mothers. I was hoping that I might get one. ;) Just before we were about to leave, our waitress noticed I was pregnant and said, "Happy Mother's Day! Congratulations!" I was so excited that she noticed! She disappeared and came back a moment later with a carnation for me! I was so excited! There is a picture of it below too. After we left, we got a Wendy's Cookie Dough Twisted Frosty. It's one of our favorites! It's so yummy! So, it was a great day! Thank you to my sweet and caring husband! I love you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As you can probably guess, this first picture is us in front of our new house on Mother's Day! This is just a little tease for you until I can get inside pictures put up. ;)

I guess I haven’t written anything about our move. We did move on May 2nd to Rocky Mount, NC. My Mom was here and was a HUGE help in getting many boxes unpacked before she left. As of today, there aren’t that many left to unpack, which I am definitely glad of! We need to get moving so we can get Caroline’s room ready for her!!!!! YAY! I will post pictures of the house as soon as it looks decent. ;)

Farewell to YBC / YBC Baby Shower for Caroline

Last night we said goodbye to the people at Yadkin Baptist Church. They planned a wonderful feast for us including chicken salad sandwiches (my favorite), meatballs, fruit and many other wonderful things! They had two cakes from Karen's Bakery (which is completely amazing). I love her cakes! As soon as I get the pictures that David's Papa took, I'll post pictures of the cakes. The baby shower one was especially cute! ;) You'll see! In addition to the farewell, they also included a baby shower for our little Caroline. We got so many wonderful things. It was so kind of them to do this for us! We are so very thankful! Below are pictures of all the stuff they gave us. Thank you, Yadkin Baptist Church. What a blessing!!!

Final appointment with my current OB

For those of you that don't know.........David, Caroline and I are moving to Rocky Mount, NC. David has accepted the position of Children's Minister at Sunset Avenue Baptist Church. We have met some incredible people there and are looking forward to ministry with them in the upcoming months and years. I am sure that Caroline will be right at home since there are about 6 other women pregnant and due in the next 5 months or so. It looks like we will be moving on May 2nd, YES, that's 11 days away! Craziness, I know!!! But, the Lord is truly working every piece of this out. He has continued to confirm through each step in this process that HE has ordained for us to minister at this church. We found a house that we absolutely love and subsequently found out that the sellers are willing for us to lease it until our current house sells. What a blessing! We were very concerned about having to move again in a few months, once our house sells, but now we don't have to worry. So, that's why today was my last appt. with my current OB.

It was a great appt. I will miss Dr. Meadors so much because he is a great doctor. He is always so attentive and thorough! Today, Caroline's heartrate was in the 150s. He measured my fundal height for the first time. It was around 25 cm and perfectly on track for Caroline's growth! I gained 1 pound since the last appt. and according to him that is a total of 5 pounds gained. I had lost a couple pounds before my first appt. with him, so it is technically like 2-3 pounds gained. Anyway, I guess I'll forget about the technicalities. I have to have my 2nd gestational diabetes test at my next appt. (with the new doc), so please be praying I don't have GD!

Our little Caroline has started moving more and more over the past few days. I love it! It just makes me smile all the time. On Saturday night, David and I got to SEE her kick for the first time. It was so much fun to see my belly jerk like that! What a blessing this little girl is to us!

As big as...

Our little girl is as big as an eggplant. I can't believe how big she is getting! I am starting to feel her more on most days. I can't believe I am 25 weeks today!!!

And Her name is..............

We can't wait to meet you, little Caroline! We are so excited that you are on your way!!!