20 Week Belly Pics

Side View - 20 Weeks

Front View - 20 Weeks

What the...?

Well, I woke up this morning and got ready for work like I do every monday. Took a shower, came downstairs and got some coffee and made a blueberry bagel. Started putting my face on and about that time I realized I had to pay rent on that coffee. After I finished, I noticed some blood on the tissue. I immediately freaked out, but of course my doctor's office doesn't open til 8am, so it was too early to call. It wasn't a lot so I calmed myself down and decided to check again once I got to work.

I checked EVERY HOUR, and I mean EVERY HOUR, and nothing else. So I decided not to call the doctor. My 20 week ultrasound is on Thursday. If anything happens between now and then though I'll probably see if they can sqeeze me in sooner. I've felt little one moving through out the day, so I'm not too worried. I just hope my cervix isn't playing games and trying to open up. I think if that were the case I'd still be bleeding though. I'll keep everyone updated though.

19 Weeks and Update

Ok, ok... I know it's been a while since I updated. I'm sorry it's just been pretty busy around here. Bobby and I went up to Tennessee and spent time with his family for the day. It was nice to see everyone again. We ate lots of great food. I made a hashbrown casserole, it turned out pretty good and I also made spice cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. My parents got a bite when we got home and I was forced to make them again this weekend. :o)

I haven't had an appointment in 2 weeks. My specialist was booked the week before Thanksgiving, due to so many women making appointments hoping to find out the genders of their babies so they could announce it at family functions. The receptionist said that's the trend before big holidays. Anyway so I have one on Wednesday, so I'm excited to see my little boy who's been kicking me all day! My last OBGYN appointment went so well he said I could come back in 4 weeks, that was 3 weeks ago. So my appointment is for the 9th, then on the 11th I'm scheduled to do my 20 week ultrasound to do all my measurements and she'll look for any discrepancies, unless they go ahead and do this at the specialists office, then I can cancel that appointment.

So that's what's going on with that. My belly is getting bigger by the day. Mom, Dad, Ronnie and I ventured down to the mall yesterday. Mom and I ended up spending almost an hour in the Motherhood Maternity store. I got my birthday present early though. Mom bought me a pair of "secret fit belly" jeans, which are SOOOO comfy (I'm wearing them now...), 4 shirts and a nursing bra. Speaking of bras, apparently I'm a D now. I've been busting out of all of my C bras. Even some of the D's were pushing it. I can't even imagine what size they'll be when I'm actually nursing and the engorgement. I'm scared... very scared. Lol.

Here's the scoop on baby this week. I'm a day early, but I'm making up for not doing an 18 week blog... :o)

-Baby is approx. 5.2 to 6 inches long and weighs between 7 to 8.5 ounces.

-Uterus can be felt about half an inch below the belly button.

-Nerves that connect the muscle to the brain have grown into place and baby's moves are conciously directed.

-Feet are approx. 1 inch long.

-Buds for baby teeth are beginning to appear.

Picture from Jessie's March of Dimes Walk

Breezy's Bravery

Hello family and friends,

I wanted to take a moment to talk to you about Breezy's Bravery... a team created by a childhood friend of mine for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. I went to elementary, middle and one year of high school with a charming and funny girl named Jessica. She was my best friend for a number of those years and eventually moved away from Hawaii. Through the wonderful world of Myspace we rekindled our friendship years later and message each other constantly. I found out in our years apart that Jessie had become a mommy to a beautiful little girl, Briana who everyone affectionately refers to as the one and only "Miss Breezy".

When Breezy wasn't feeling well Jessie and her fiance made numerous trips to the hospital but always came back with no answers. There came a day when the diagnosis was made and it rocked their world apart. Breezy has Cystic Fibrosis, or more commonly referred to as CF for short. For those of you who don't know, CF is a genetic chronic illness that effects her lungs and digestive system. Currently there is no cure. In most cases, CF causes an early death. Average life expectancy is around 36.8 years according to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, although improvements in treatments mean a baby born today could expect to live longer.

Which is why I am reaching out to all of you. This only way money is generated for new research and treatments is through donations. Jessie and her family are participating in a walk in their area. Though I will not be able to make the trip down to walk with them since I'm due around the same time, I will definitely help them campaign for donations.

As many of you know, I lost my baby Brent in February of this year. On May 3rd my family, friends and I walked here at Dellinger Park for the March of Dimes to help premature babies. Jessie joined my team and supported me by doing the March of Dimes walk near her home and also accepting donations from her friends, family and co-workers. I never knew quite how to thank her for her selflessness and big heart. I honestly feel like she was hurting with me and as a mother, knew what I had lost. This is not how I ever imagined I would return the favor... but just as she was there for me, I am there for her. If not physically, definitely emotionally, and now electronically. :o)

I understand that money is tight with everyone right now, which is why I made my goal to help Breezy's Bravery $150. I hope to exceed this goal, but like I said... I know extra money is scarce. Please help me to help this lovely family reach their goal of $1000. If you would like to donate to my site to help Breezy's Bravery, please visit: http://www.cff.org/great_strides/dsp_donationPage.cfm?registeringwalkid=5984&idUser=280440 and go to "Click to Donate". Donating is easy and secure, you can even use your debit card if it has the Visa or Mastercard logo.

Thank you for reading this long, but very important message. I love you all and thanks again.

-Liz

To follow Breezy on her journey, please visit: http://breezysbravery.blogspot.com/

17 Weeks

-Baby's skeleton is hardening from a rubbery cartlidge to bone.

-Fat is starting to accumulate and will do so until baby is born.

-Fingers and toes now have one-of-a-kind prints.

-Baby is more flexible with the ability to move his head, arms, legs, mouth, fingers and toes.

-The placenta is large and well established with a network of blood vessels that exchanges nutrients and waste.

16 Weeks and 5 Days

Finally starting to look pregnant... :o)

Whoa...

That's what I said when I looked in the mirror when I got up this morning. I think my belly doubled in size overnight, lol.

Definately some movement going on...

I had a quick appointment yesterday at my regular OBGYN. We just listened to the hearbeat and checked for infections. All was good so it was over pretty quickly. Anyway, last week I started feeling some movements but it was really no that noticable. This week is a different story... I have felt full kicks yet, but there is a lot more movement. I ate a brownie last night and sent Baby Walden into a tizzy in my belly, lol. It's not enough for anyone else to feel, I can't feel it prom the outside yet. I actually felt some while standing up at work today, that was the first time for that. It's such an awesome feeling... so precious. I love it. I hope everyone is doing well. I'll update again next week.

15 Week Appointment with Specialist

Sorry it's late, I normally update the day of my appointment, but with living out of boxes and working there's just never enough time. We finally got our desktops up and running. Very happy about that, I hate typing on my laptop keyboard, the keys are closer together and my fingers are used to this one. This would have been filled with mistakes otherwise, lol.

Wednesday I headed down to Atlanta. I wasn't sure about where I was going and how bad traffic would be there, but I got there about an hour early. So I parked in the parking deck and went inside and wandered around for a while. Got something to eat from a vending machine and then found my way to the doctor's office. My appt was at 2:30, but I ended up getting called back about 2:15, which was good, because by then I'd read all the magazines I could stand. My ultrasound tech was really nice, I asked her if we'd be able to tell what sex the baby was and she said Oh yeah! So I was excited. She measured the head, femur, humerus and abdomen, then took a peek between the legs and said Can you tell what it is? And I said, How can you not! There was definitely some goods there, so she said You're having a boy! I'm pretty sure my heart melted into a little puddle inside my chest, I was so happy and just relieved. It's not that I don't want a girl, but I just want a boy first, then a girl. I would've been happy either way, but I feel like I am owed what was taken from me, so it really felt like a blessing.

Off the subject, sometimes I just wonder if my little Brent was just too perfect for this world. I try my hardest not to be mad at God for taking him. I won't lie, I've cursed him a lot in the past year. I just hope there is a reason I do not understand yet to that huge question on why... Anyway, back to the appt.

So then my doc came in and checked my cervix and looked at it on the ultrasound. He said that everything still looks exactly like it should. I asked about the placenta, since I had placenta-previa last time and he said the placenta looked great and was no where near the cervix and I wouldn't have to worry about that. So that was a relief too. So, it was a great visit and I can't wait to see my little boy again in two more weeks!

I called Bobby as soon as I got in my car and told him, he was so happy, I could hear it in his voice. :o) My dad's work is on the way back from Atlanta so I stopped by and showed him the pictures, then I headed back to Cartersville. I went to Target and bought some little blue socks that were sports themed and put it in a plain white gift bag and went to mom's work. I got there and there's two other ladies that sit in the same room as her, so they were chomping at the bit when I handed mom the bag. It was pretty funny, they were like Open it already! So mom pulled out the blue socks and immediately hugged me and started tearing up. It was funny because one of the other ladies was tearing up too. She's a sweet lady... So then I went to Ingles to pick up some applesauce (we were having pork chops that night), and went to the bakery to get a message cookie and had the lady write It's A Boy on it. Then of course texted everyone in my phone book, lol. Anyway, here are a few pics for ya'll. Enjoy!