Prayers Please

Please keep my extended family in your prayers. I lost my Great grandmother on Tuesday. My father has flown to Tx to be at her funeral. My great grandparents were a huge part of my father's life so this has been a tough blow on him. The pic to the right is of him and my Grandnana on our trip to Texas this past August! I'm so thankful to have had the time to spend with her and my greatgrandfather! She was an amazing Godly woman!




Also, my grandmother (My dad's setp mother, not related to my grandnana) is in the hospital again. She was admitted last week for fluid in her lungs, Lots of fluid and is now in the hospital again for congestive heart failure! This is a very tough time for my family so if you could, please just life them all up in your prayers or thoughts today! The picture to the right is of my Mammaw and my Pappaw from our trip in August!

Phone call from Thomas<3

I just got off the phone with him a few minutes ago and can NOT stop smiling!!
It was a very short convo and he was calling from a walki-talkie kind of phone where we had to take turns talking, so it was a little akward! But who cares:)
I got to tell him a little bit about the u/s and he sounded very relieved! I can't believe how emotional I got! I think I am finally putting 2 and 2 together and realizing that I am having our child and he isn't here for a big chunck of it! But I'm counting my blessings and thanking God for wonderful friends and family like you guys that are here supporting us through this!!

8 week Ultrasound!!

BABY WHITTEN'S FIRST PICTURES!

That's my baby:):):)[[Baby is upsidedown in all 3 pics]]

My mom and sister, Hunter, came up for the appointment and I couldn't have been more blessed than to have them there with me! I went through a longgg process of actually getting someone to be there with me since Thomas left yesterday! But thankfully my mom worked it out with her boss and checked my sister out of school to be here with me!! --Thanks mom!

We ended up having to do both the external and internal ultrasounds since the baby was measuring smaller than my original due date... he wanted to get the best measurements! But the baby is measuring consistantly with the first u/s so it looks like everything is going great! And today the baby is measuring 8w2d and due on 9.3.08... My mom's birthday:)

The heart was such a beautiful thing to see! You don't ever really know what it's like from other people's u/s pictures... but once you actually see it beating on that screen it is just amazing! He told us we wouldn't be able to hear the heartbeat because of the kind of dopler they had... it admits too much heat and it isn't safe to use for very long this early on... but he turned it on for a few seconds! Just long enough to hear a few pulses:) AMAZING! I have been pretty calm and almost distant, from the whole pregnancy... but i actually cried a little when I heard it!!

We did it! Finally, there is life inside of me! I almost thought I would never have a day like today... but just scroll up the page... there is my baby, for you me and everyone else to see! I couldn't be prouder!!

I just want to thank everyone for alllll of your prayers and support throughout our journey to get here today! We couldn't have done it all without you.

Please continue to pray for Thomas and all of the men and women over there! And enjoy the pictures!!

Much love!

8 weeks pregnant!

I am 8 weeks today and going into my 9th week of pregnancy:) also my first week without Thomas here:(

I'll update about my ultrasound and witha belly pic in seprate posts. But here are some fun facts about what is going on with Baby this week!



*Baby has begun movement - While still too small for you to feel, your little one is wriggling, shifting, and dancing already!
*Most joints are formed now - and trust that your little one is practicing bending and flexing.
*Fetus will curve its fingers around an object placed in the palm of its hand
*Fingerprints are already evident in the skin
*Average size this week -- length 0.9 inch (2.3cm), weight 0.07 ounce (2gm)

Daddy's gone:(

Well, the day finally came:/ We sent Thomas off to Iraq yesterday!

This is his second tour over seas. He did 3 months in Afghanistan at the end of 2006and will do anywhere from 3-6 months in Iraq this time! We are so proud to call him husband and daddy-to-be!

The deployment kind of snuck up on us this time because of the holidays so I really don't even think that it has hit me yet... But I got the call this afternoon that they made it there safely and that I should hear from him tonight or tomorrow!

The picture to the right was just something that I wanted to have. I made him set the timer on the camera and prop it up on his bags so we could get the shot. It's "Daddy kissing baby goodbye"... that's kind of the idea I wanted to have to show little Baby Whitten someday!

Last night was pretty restless for me, I don't really like sleeping alone... although having the whole bed to myself is pretty nice! But I'm planning on putting an IPOD dock in there so I can listen to music or something to help me to not feel so alone at night! So we shall see how that goes!!

I'll try and keep you all updated on how Thomas is doing and let you know if anything changes! Please keep him in your prayers... It's tough to be so far away from home especially right now... But he is doing it with pride and will be home before we know it!!

Belly Picture- 7w3d

I feel like I look a little smaller in this one than in the other few! Hopefully I'm starting to loose the bloat-i-ness:):) But this is Me and Baby at 7w3d! And the last one Daddy will be able to take of us for quite a while!!

7 Weeks Pregnant!!

So sorry that I haven't updated lately! I have fallen in love with my couch and just couldn't bear to leave it long enough to blog:( But I am here now at 7w3d and with some persuation from my baby sister, will update you all on everything!!

Wednesday night I had my first (and only, to date) experience of morning sickness! I had just gotten off the phone, complaining to my father about how uneventful my pregnancy has been... and other than being severly tired, I haven't had any other sign of being pregnant at all! Well after dinner (frozen pizza) I threw it all up. There really wasn't any warning. I just felt like my pants were cutting into my stomach funny so I decided to go change into p.j.s and barely made it down the hallway before it all started coming back up!! I can say that it wasn't totally unpleasant... it was over fast and there wasn't any bad feeling afterwards, opposed to when you're sick with the flu and you feel sick the rest of the night! I just brushed my teeth and went and ate some more pizza since I was completely starving afterwards! The next day I felt really nauseaus but haven't thrown up since! [[THANK GOD AND KNOCK ON WOOD;)]]

Thursday I had my first appointment! Or, what I thought was my first appointment! It turned out to be the consultation with the nurse!! A.K.A. a complete waste of time!! Thomas had the day off so we were both so excited, thinking that he would get to meet the doctor and hear a heartbeat before he had to leave! But instead, we went over family history and did a ton of paper work! I have my first-real-appointment on february 5th, my 22nd birthday! So that will be a nice present to be able to hear my baby's heart beating!! I also had to go have bloodwork done in the lab. The nurse called me later that day to tell me that my bloodwork came back negative for the immunity to the Rubella virus (or German measles). I have to go back in on Tuesday for more extensive blood work. From all I can tell from my books, I should be fine... but on the rare chance that I contract German Measles the baby could really be affected... negatively! I don't know much more than that about it, but i will let you know what happens after they do more blood work! Just pray that everything goes well and that I'm not exposed to German Measles at anytime between now and September!!

I have my first u/s (as Im sure I've mentioned a thousand times on here) on Thursday! As of right now I'll probebly be going by myself. So I am a little nervous about it... but excited too!

Other than that, I've just been working and sleeping! It's been tough trying to spend quality time with thomas because I'm so tired but we're managing!! I guess I should just count my blessings because I'm only tired and not throwing up everyday and I've been able to spend an extra week with my husband!! My parents are here for the day, visiting one last time! So I'm going to get off and go curle up on the couch and enjoy the company!! I'll be on here after the u/s on Thursday and hopefully have some pictures to post!! Hope you all are doing well and enjoying the winter weather!!

[[It snowed last night for the first time this season! It took a long time to start sticking to the ground, and didn't last too much longer after that! It's all ice now. But it was nice to watch it through the windows... from my couch of course! lol]]
Have a great night:)


>>Things happening with BabyWhitten in the 8th week!!::

*Cartilage and bones begin to form - At the end of this week your baby will have already completed 1/5th of the journey 'til his birthday!
*The basic structure of the eye is well underway - The position is more "newborn" like already!
*The tongue begins to develop
*Intestines move out of the umbilical cord into the abdomen.
*Body grows and makes room - Two months along and this little one is growing inside and out by leaps and bounds!
*The fingers and toes have appeared but are webbed and short
*Baby's length (crown to rump) is 0.61 inch (1.6cm) and weight is 0.04 ounce (1gm)

Belly Picture- 6w1d

Well, I'm not completely huge in this one... yeah right! This is me and baby at 6 weeks 1 day, after a lite dinner!-- and I'm just not going to fight it anymore, we're just going to get bigger lol!!

This is probebly the last one Thomas will be able to take of me so it should be interresting to see how I'm going to handle the task of belly picture taking all by myself! Fun Fun!!

Well, it's a pretty slack night for us just some dinner and we rented a movie! And honestly, I'm already ready for bed! But, here we are! Thanks for reading:) Have a great night!!

6 Weeks Pregnant!!

Ok! I went through all of the previous posts and corrected the timeline on them!! I am NOW 6 weeks pregnant and going into my 7th week!!

This is what the baby looks like this week!!

I have my first prenantal appointment on the 17th (if I don't have to change it due to work) and my 2nd u/s on the 24th!! I will be 8 weeks on the day of the u/s so there should definately be a heartbeat visible! So I am very excited about that!!

Some interresting things going on with Baby Whitten this week are:

*Elbows form - Again, taking a peek inside you could see your baby's fascination with bending and flexing.
*Fingers start to develop - These digits often become your baby's first toy!
*Feet start to appear with tiny notches for the toes - It is fascinating that at less than a half inch, your little guy (or gal) already is leaving "footprints" on your heart!
*Ears eyes and nose start to appear - Although they may resemble an alien life form, these all "shift" soon enough into a more normal appearance.
*Intestines start to form in the umbilical cord - Did you know that initially the intestines are not formed inside your baby's body?
*Teeth begin to develop under the gums

I'll get a new belly picture up tomorrow night, hopefully before dinner so I don't look so huge!!

We had the briefing for Thomas' deployment last night! As tough as it is to realize that my husband is about to go to war for up to 6 months, I know that he is doing a great thing by serving our country! I couldn't be prouder to send him over there knowing what a difference he and his unit make for those people and our people!! I truely am blessed to have such a courageous, brave, Godly husband that is willing to serve his country and his God in this way! Please continue to keep all the men and women that are fighting for our freedom this very second in your prayers! Thanks:)

Next U/S scheduled

For the 24th of this month!!

I will be 8 weeks on that day, so I'm praying sooo hard that I will be able to see a strong, fast, beautiful heart beat! --And that I can get some pictures this time:)

Thomas will be gone before then so it is a little sad that I will be doing this without him but we're still so thankful to be pregnant and that he will be home for the birth!

I'm a bit queasy today but still no real sickness and I'm still exhausted all the time! So let's pray that I can make it through this trimester without getting real sick!

I'll go through my previous posts and edit the time line and update soon on what is -really- going on with baby whitten this week!!

Follow up

I had an appointment this morning and had an internal ultra sound done. It was pretty nerve wrecking because the doctor just sat there the whole time without saying anything to me! My levels have gone from 3406 to 8 thousand and something... so they did rise. The doctor said she could see a normal looking sac in my uterus (not an ectopic pregnancy) and that there was a fetal pole... but it was only measuring 5weeks and 5 days--I'm supposed to be 7 weeks tomorrow!

But here's the thing, I have longer than average cycles (33 days compared to 28 days). And this month I felt a little crampy around days 20/21 of my cycle and some light jabs in my low abdomen about a week later. These are all consistent signs of Ovulation on day 20/21 and implantation a week later! All normal and healthy. With that information, it looks like the baby is measuring right on time... they will just have to move up my due date. But since there are no definites in this and there was no movement or obvious heart beat, they can't tell me anything without having another ultra sound! The doctor put the order in to Radiology. So I have to call tomorrow to find out when the next one will be. It should be within the next 2 weeks. At the next u/s they should be able to tell me whether there is a growing, developing baby in there or if the baby just stopped growing at 5w5d.

Again, I ask for prayers! I am pretty confident that I just Ovulated late so the baby is younger than what we originally thought and still growing beautifully! So please just keep the positive vibes coming our way!! I'll update as soon as I know what is going on:)

Appointments and whatnot!

OK, We got home from another small visit to Jacksonville last night and I had some brown spotting! So we googled it and read up on it in my books and everything we read said that it was probably nothing since it wasn't red bleeding and I wasn't cramping at all, but to call the advice nurse whenever possible!

This morning I got the call about my referral to the OB. The next available appointment was for the 17Th so I had to jump on it. But I still wasn't happy about waiting that long since I'm still spotting and Thomas will probably be gone by then. So I called the advice nurse and she told me to come in for more blood work to check my HCG levels--to make sure my numbers are still rising like they should be-- and then to come in tomorrow morning at 9:15 for a doctor's appointment to go over the results of the blood work and go from there!

I, of course, have work tomorrow morning so I will have to ask for it off. Which makes me feel bad, but the nurse sounded pretty confident that it was worth missing a day over. I also have a New Parent Support Group meeting at 11:00 that I was going to try and reschedule, but will go to now that I'm taking the day off!

All-in-all, I was pretty nervous last night about the spotting... but I feel a lot better knowing that this time tomorrow morning I'll know what is going on, good or bad! I just wanted to update everyone... mostly I just needed to sit down and type this all out so I feel a little better about it! Of course, I'll be on here again tomorrow letting you all know what happened!

Please just say a little prayer for our precious baby! Thank you:)

Belly Picture--5w1d

Ok... We had Japanese for dinner tonight so I look huge since I pretty much ate allll of my food tonight! So I'm in Thomas' comfy camo jammies that my mom got him for Christmas!! But this is me and Baby at 5 weeks 1 day (for those of you that didn't know what the title stood for)!

I heard from my nurse this afternoon and I basically have to wait until Tuesday to call in for an appointment since it takes a while for the referral to go through! But I'm excited nonetheless!

Hope you all are doing wonderful! I'm off to cuddle up in bed with Thomas and read... enjoy nights like this while I still can!!

Three Thousand, Four Hundred and Six!!!!

I'm verrrrry pregnant!! That number (3,406) is my hCg level from my blood test yesterday!!

The nurse put me on hold and I thought I was going to faint! I was so nervous that she was going to come back and, somehow, tell me it was negative! But she actually sounded a little surprised at how high the number was. So there it is:)

I sat on hold with my clinic foreverrr! But they put the referral order in for me so I should hear back from someone soon and find out who my OB or Midwife is going to be! Say a little prayer that I hear back from them today so I might have a chance of calling today to set up an appointment for next week sometime so Thomas can be with me!!

I'm very excited and it's all starting to sink in a little more. And I'm sure sitting in a doctor's office and/or having an ultra sound done will make it all the more real for us!

I'll let you know when I find out about the doctor and the appointment and I will get a new belly picture up here tonight! Hope you have a great day!!

5 Weeks Pregnant

Happy New Year everyone!! I hope you all had a very special holiday and that 2008 is a wonderful year for you and yours!

I'm 6 weeks pregnant today, starting my 7th week! This pictures are the product of the 7th week!

I have been wanting to clear out the "nursery" for months now. It's basically just our junk room and Thomas promised to help clear it out as soon as I was pregnant. And I held him to it! We got home yesterday and we spent the whole afternoon going through boxes, moving and reorganizing everything. I had a gallon of yellow paint from last year when I was going to paint the dinning room

and decided against the color. So I got it in my head that I HAD to paint the room asap lol!

So we painted last night as well. It's definately sunshine yellow, so I'm not too sure if we will keep it that color for a boy, but I love it if we are having a girl, my room was yellow as a little girl!

I heard from my nurse today (she was returning my call from over the holidays) and I'm going in for a blood confirmation test in the morning. I should have the results by the afternoon! So say a little prayer tonight just for safe measure! After the blood test I have to go back to

my Primary Care Provider at the Pope clinic and get a referral to an Obstetrician or Midwife! I'm hoping for a Midwife. So hopefully I will be able to get in for my first prenatal appointment soon:)

Today was my first day back to work in a few weeks and I can honestly say that it is soooo much more enjoyable knowing that I will be taking care of my own baby soon!! Thomas' mom, Michele, came to visit us today! It was the first time she has seen the house and I was happy to be able to show off the newly painted room to someone! She brought Thomas' baby book

and the outfit he went home from the hospital in! He was 5 weeks premature so his little outfit was sooo tiny and precious! We really enjoyed her company especially now that we're expecting and she's going to have her first grandbaby!!

That's about all the news for now. I'll do a new belly picture in a few days even though I

don't think there is much of a difference, but we'll see! Here are a few "fun facts" about what is going to happen with the baby's development in this week!!

*The arms and legs continue to develop - These limbs are stretching out more and more.
*Brain is growing well - Did you know that over the course of the remaining months that your baby's brain will develop over 100 billion neurons? This is just the beginning!
*Lenses of the eyes appear - If you could catch a glimpse inside, you would notice your baby's appearance becoming increasing like a newborn's.
*Nostrils are formed - The position of the nose seems to shift into its proper place as well. Soon, the nerves running from the nose to the brain appear.
*Intestines grow - Initially these are actually located outside the baby's body within the umbilical cord.
*Pancreas - Your baby is now equipped to deal with digestive enzymes and take on processing the insulin and glucagons the body needs to function.

The next few weeks will be pretty busy around here since it's the countdown to Thomas' deployment! But I will be sure to keep you all updated with the doctor's appointments and pictures and fun facts:)