A baby girl on the way

I've been meaning to start this blog for months and am finally getting around to it!  So I'll try to catch everyone up to speed.  We found out I am pregnant the day before Valentine's Day, which happens to be a special day for me and Austin because it's the day he proposed to me 6 years ago.  So this will make the date even more special for us.  What made the day even more fun was that we got about 6 inches of snow the night before.  It hardly ever snows in South Carolina so we took advantage and played in the snow all morning.  We made a huge snowman, made snow angels- the whole bit.  Callie had fun too!  Here are some pictures of our fun in the snow...

 

Our first family photo with baby on the way

I felt like a little kid again!

                                                                    Callie and her new friend

I had  my first ultrasound on March 5th and we got the first glimpse of our baby.  It pretty much just looked like a little blob, but you could actually see the heartbeat fluttering, which was absolutely amazing!!  It definitely made things seem a lot more real!  Here is our baby's first official picture.

The next major event was on March 29th at my next doctor's appointment when we got to hear the heartbeat for the first time.  I didn't realize they were going to listen for it so early (11 weeks) so Austin wasn't even there for the appointment, so I had to call him and get him to drive over so he wouldn't miss it!  It was amazing to hear a heartbeat when I wasn't even showing yet!  It gives you such a feeling of peace to know everything is OK.

The big day was May 19th when I went in for my 2nd trimester ultrasound at 18 1/2 weeks.  Anyone that knows me knows that I am a planner, so we definitely wanted to know the baby's sex.  But most importantly, I just wanted to know that he or she was healthy and that there was no reason for concern.  Given where I work, I have been ultra paranoid about all of the things that could potentially be wrong, so I was very anxious for this appointment.  Before they told us the sex, they pointed out all of the anatomy and reassured us that everything looked great.  We got great views of the baby from the front and from the side and could see everything from the eyes, the spine, the ribs, the heart, the feet, etc etc.  It was amazing!!   And once they knew there was nothing to be concerned about from a health-standpoint they told us we are having a little GIRL!!!!  I think Austin was a tiny bit nervous at first, only because he has no experience with girls since he had all brothers.  But he has definitely more than grown into the idea and is just as excited as I am to meet our little girl.  Here is a great profile picture from the ultrasound....

And here is a video clip from the ultrasound.  She gives a nice little stretch at the end- adorable!!!



In the past couple of weeks I have finally started showing and have a little "baby bump".  I can still wear my old clothes, but definitely not for much longer- they are getting pretty tight.  I have been able to feel the baby moving around for a couple of weeks now as little flutters, but the past few days I have started feeling what feel like actual little kicks.  Last night (on my birthday, no less) Austin got to feel her little kicks too.  It was really emotional getting to share that together.  It was the first time he could really feel like a part of the process and I'm so glad that he'll be able to do that from now on.  Here is the latest "belly picture" of me at 21 weeks, where I finally have a small (but at least visible) baby bump (keep in mind some of what you're seeing is the waistband of my pants!).  I know it won't be small for long!!!