I'll Have a Pink Christmas

                                     Leighton's "1st Christmas"

I truly cannot believe Christmas has already come and gone? Wasn't it just last week that we had beautiful, warm weather... oh wait, it was. Only in Alabama can you have 60 degree weather one day and snow flurries the next. No wonder people are getting so sick. Thank the good Lord, all the McGhee household is healthy, a blessing to be counted, for sure. Also, I'd like to add with all the "global warming" talk these last couple of years, it feels good to know that I serve the God who controls the weather and global warming is simply not something I worry myself with. (stepping off soap box)

We had an absolutely wonderful Christmas! We survived seven (yes, I said seven) rounds of celebrating. And when I say "we" survived, I mean everyone but my feet. Poor things were so swollen but nothing a lot of water and a little pillow propage couldn't fix. Santa brought us everything we wanted; time with our family to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas and basically just things we needed for our baby girl. We wouldn't have had it any other way. We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas as well!

We are now over 30 weeks along, which seems impossible, but it is definitely true. At 30 weeks Leighton is about 15.7 inches long and she weighs almost 3 pounds (like a head of cabbage). About a pint and a half of amniotic fluid surrounds her, but that amount will decrease as she gets bigger over the following ten-ish weeks. Her eyesight continues to develop, though it's not great just yet. It actually won't fully develop until a little while after she's born.

Well, the nursery is painted, and has new carpet. Our wonderful in laws are delivering our furniture to us not this weekend but the next and hopefully, we can get the chair molding up before then. So that way, all we have left to do is set everything up! I cannot wait to see it completed.

We start birthing/breastfeeding/infant CPR classes in the beginning of January. We have picked our maternity/newborn photographer. We are pretty sure we have picked out our pediatrician, just need to plan a meeting with him soon. The only thing we are having real trouble with is picking out the baby book! I never thought this would be so difficult! Any mommies out there have a rockin' baby book they want to show off and tell me where to purchase? I like to document EVERYTHING (obviously) so a book that does that well would be ideal. I would really appreciate it!

I continue to feel very well! My only complaints lately are are the swelling and a little bit of indigestion and heartburn, but I really don't think I could have had a better pregnancy so far! Our next appointment is the last 4-weeker. We will start going every two weeks after that. Wow, 30 weeks sounds so much closer to 40 weeks than 29 did!

29 Weeks

 Leighton Elizabeth in 4D

I am going to go ahead and warn you, this may be quite a long update, as it's been a few weeks!


Leighton continues to grow perfectly and is quite the little mover. She kicks like crazy, but I absolutely adore.it. She still has never kicked me to where it has "hurt," as a matter of fact, all I can do when she kicks is smile. Every single time. I have never felt such joy in my entire life. God is so very good.

I still tend to experience a little swelling in my hands and feet every now and then. Just getting off of them for a little while and propping them up helps tremendously, as does drinking more water. Sometimes, I feel like I might turn in to a bottle of water because I drink it non -stop! I am still very strict about no caffeine.


Another thing I have been very strict about is not taking any medications while pregnant. I know there are many meds that are perfectly fine to take and if at any point I had been told by my OB that I had to take something, I would have, but not by choice. Last week, though, I thought I may have to give in and take something because I became very ill with either a 24 hr virus or food poisoning, still not sure which.


It  first happened just a few short hours before I was to get on a plane bound for NYC for a girls trip with some of my Mardi Gras organization friends (including my mom). I got sick again in the airport before take off. Then again on the first plane. Again on the second plane. Then, again in the NYC airport. I was still in good spirits all the way up until then. I kept saying "I'm fine, I'm sure it's a 24 hr thing. No big deal. I'm ok. That's what I get for bragging about an easy pregnancy." Well, by the 5th time I realized that I had absolutely nothing left inside of me, which meant my poor baby girl had nothing inside of her either. It's my job to give her nutrients and help her grow and I was helpless to do so. I was weak, emotionally and physically. I had to be wheel-chaired out of the airport because I didn't know if I could make it out on my own.


Once we got to the hotel I decided I needed rest to beat this thing so I took a nap. I had also been advised by a nurse in our group to not try and put anything in my body for 4 hours because my body would, obviously, just reject it. So I slept, too, to keep my mind off of hunger and thirst. When I woke up I had a message from my nurse (whom I had called earlier to inform her of the situation and ask for advice) telling me she could call in a script for me and gave me some OTC options too. She told me if I wasn't able to keep anything down by the 24 hour mark I needed to go to the hospital for fluids. I didn't want to do either. I can only imagine what an ER experience in NYC would be like. Luckily, I only got sick once more, at dinner, and then I was all better. I was so glad I didn't have to break down and take any medication. The Lord was really looking after us.


I must say, Leighton was such a trooper all day. She rocked those flights, only kicking slightly more than usual but I was never in pain or anything because of her. And she kicked a little more too, I'm sure, because she was hungry. Poor baby.


We went in for our 28 week apt and 4D ultrasound thursday and it all went very well! Her heartbeat is still good and strong at 152 bpm. My OB measured my belly and said my measurements were right on target.


The 4D ultrasound was incredible, technology never ceases to amaze me! We were able to see some of her sweet features and have decided that her face shape looks round like mine and her cheeks look full like mine. We think she may also have my nose. It doesn't appear that she has any hair at this time. Our sweet ultrasound tech kept saying how beautiful she was and how cute her cheeks were. I cannot wait to kiss all over my sweet angel's face! She is still head down, which was good news. She was also talking a lot and opening and shutting her eyes, too. She decided it was time to go to sleep towards the end, being a movie star is hard work. We have many great pictures and another movie of her to watch now. I think I have already watched it 10 times.

We have made some serious headway on the her nursery.. We finished all of the painting on time and then we had a professional come in and finish up the complicated stuff. So, the nursery is all painted! The only big thing left to do before we can move in her furniture, will be to put up the chair molding, which we will do right after Christmas. The nursery looks exactly like I hoped, and pictures don't even do it justice, though, I will be providing them for you. Enjoy, just remember that though the stripes are uneven now at the bottom, it will be covered up by the chair molding soon. The first pictures are what her room looked like before it was hers, when it was just the guest room, so you can get the full effect of the transformation. 

 When it was still the "Guest Room" I loved the yellow bedding.

One of my favorite paintings, it has been moved to our bathroom

Our overcrowded bookshelf

Goodbye Guest Room, Hello Nursery:

One of 3 black and white striped walls

I chose these colors because I love the concept and the classy look, but I also chose them for baby's brain development. While I love pastel colors, babies can only see bold contrasting colors for a while, or so I learned in my HDFS classes at Auburn. 

Last striped wall

The back wall, where her crib will go

The rest of the back wall. Remember: there will be chair molding all the way around the room. 

We hope you like the nursery so far! We'll keep adding pics with each bit of progress.

26 Weeks

Me at 26 weeks preggo! My belly button is a full-on "outie" now.

It's insane that we are already 6.5 months along! Will we seriously be in our 3rd trimester in just 5 days? This whole process is passing by far too quickly. We have been so blessed to have a pretty easy pregnancy so far and we grow more excited each week to meet our darling daughter. We already love her more than we ever thought possible. At 26 weeks her ears are pretty developed and can supposedly hear all of our conversations. She's doing practice breathing, inhaling and exhaling amniotic fluid, to develop her lungs. She's putting on more baby fat, weighing around 1 and 2/3 lbs and is about 14 inches head to heel, the size of a cucumber.

Well, other people can finally see her move now!. My mother also got to see her and feel her move this last week. It usually doesn't take this long for people to be able to feel baby move but, apparently, the position of my placenta sort-of  "pads" her movements. I won't complain as she has yet to keep me awake at night. There is nothing in this world that brings me more joy than feeling her move! 

I said our pregnancy has been pretty easy so far. The only thing I am having issues with lately is my feet swelling a bit. I know I need to stay off of them more and prop them up but I am just not the kind of person who can just sit around. I have to keep busy. I'm trying to be a good patient, and the swelling does go down when I take it easy. 

Thankfully, I passed my Gestational Diabetes test the first time at our last appointment! Score! I was convinced I was going to fail as I am a sugar-aholic. However, I ate only eggs for breakfast and my test wasn't until 2:30 so I just drank water all day up until 2 hours before. Then to take my mind off of hunger/thirst, I went shopping (well, more like window shopping). When I got to the appointment, I drank the little drink (mine was "fruit punch" flavored) first. I just chugged it down because the one time I pulled it away from my mouth, it had an aftertaste of medicine. Other than that, it wasn't that bad. Not as terrible, or even as sweet, as some people made it out to be. The only thing I thought was odd was that I had to drink it in the lobby of the OB's office with all those people watching me. I suppose they have to make sure you get it down somehow, an insurance requirement I assume.

Then, I waited for an hour chatting with another 24-weeker who had just finished drinking her drink. When it was time to draw blood, to my dismay, it was not a blood draw from the arm, it was a finger stick. As much as I hate needles and blood being drawn from my arm, I dislike finger sticks more. That horrible "click" noise the needle makes causes me to jump out of my skin and it definitely stings more and for much longer. When the OB came in and said "Well, you passed by a long shot. 20 points under," I could have fainted, and not from the lack of nourishment. I was SO excited I could have kissed him. (If you fail the first GB test you have to come back, drink the drink again, and sit in the waiting room for 3 HOURS and they take blood every hour on the hour. Um, no thanks.) So, now I am DONE with tests and blood draws.Sigh of relief. Thank you to everyone who prayed for me that day, I know they were heard. I also, of course, got to listen to her sweet heart beat again. That's my favorite part of the appointments (other than when we have ultrasounds). It was beating mighty fast this time, I'm sure mommy's nerves and that sugary drink were to blame.

At our next appointment we will be seeing our baby girl in 4-D! I cannot tell you how excited I am for this. We will be almost 29 weeks at that point so we might get a pretty good idea as to what/who she will look like. I wonder about this all of the time.

Her nursery is coming along slowly but surely. I am hoping we  will have all of our part of the painting done by the middle of this coming week so then we can begin to get quotes for the complicated part (yes, I am being complicated, would you expect anything else?) and decide on that by the end of the week. Then, the next week get that knocked out, so that painting will be DONE and we can being moving her furniture in, which came in this week. I cannot wait to see it all set up! I promise many photographs soon.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, I know we did. A ton of food, fun, and family time with much to be thankful for and an Auburn Iron Bowl victory to boot! God has blessed us all so richly and far more than any of us deserve. I hope we all take the time to reflect on that, and not just on Thanksgiving day, but every day. What are we most thankful for in our household this year? Leighton Elizabeth McGhee, of course. 

Our First "Children"

Today's post is going to be a little different but no worries, I will do an update, like I always do, at the end. :)

Though Leighton Elizabeth is our first baby, our family actually began about 3.5 years ago. This was when we added our first member, Baron McGhee. He is our brilliant, sweet, and hyper-active Rat Terrier. (Cousin to the Jack Russell)

He was born the day after Valentines day in 2007. We welcomed him in to our family in late March that same year. I picked him out specifically because he had a slight, natural mohawk on the top of his little head. He still has it. Baron is the smartest dog in the whole world, and I'm not just saying that because he's ours. He was potty trained in a mere two weeks, and does every trick in the book. We call him our "circus dog." He sits, lays, stays, jumps, dances, high-fives, shakes, etc. And he does most of these by hand signals that we came up with, kind of like sign language for dogs. His favorite things in the world are: chasing the red dot from the laser pointer, eating, playing fetch, his brother, treats for being a "good boy," his toys, people in general. Most dogs, believe it or not, are not attached to their owners like most people think. Baron is very sweet and loves just lounging with us but he is also very hyper and loves chasing, playing, etc. He does tend to jump on new people (a habit we have tried sooo hard to break, failing miserably) but he is harmless. He will turn 4 just before Leighton is due.

Then, in May of 2009 we added another member to our growing family. 

Barlow McGhee, our Miniature Dachshund, was given to me on my birthday, May 27th. He was born April 3rd. Barlow, well, he's our pretty dog. He is dumb as rocks but my goodness one look at his sweet "please pet me" face and you're hooked. He is the happiest, sweetest dog in the universe and his being dumb is a great source of entertainment for us; there is never a dull moment. It's almost impossible to have a bad day in our household because of him. Baron didn't particularly like his brother at first but now they love each other. They love playing together and only get jealous on occasion. Barlow was a much more difficult dog to train. It took an entire year to potty train this poor thing and there were so many times I'd want to give up and give him away and then he'd crawl in to my lap, turn over on his belly and give me the saddest face you've ever seen. Naturally, I could never do it. Barlow's favorites are; his mommy, his toys, his brother, food, treats, being outside, people in general, and being loved on. Barlow will turn two about a month after his little sister is due.



We love our dogs. We treat them as family members, but not as people. We are a little concerned as to how they will react when Leighton gets here. We have done all the research and gotten tips like "bring home blankets from the hospital with her scent on it before you bring her home" and "before she comes, play crying baby sounds for them often so they will be used to it." We want to know what worked for you? How did you get your dogs used to the idea of a new member? How did you handle jealousy issues? Safety issues? We only have dogs, no other pets, so any advice is welcomed and we thank you in advance.

Now, for the regularly scheduled update. We are 24 weeks pregnant as of Friday! Baby girl is now more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound, about as much as an ear of corn. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that her increasingly developing ears pick up are preparing her for when she gets here. Supposedly, loud noises that become familiar to her now probably won't bother her when she hears them after she's born.  She has a tiny figure now, but her body is filling out proportionally and she'll soon start to plump up. Her brain is also growing quickly now, and her taste buds are continuing to develop. Her skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.

I feel her little kicks a lot more recently and I can now see them. 

I have begun to get a little swelling  in my feet when I am on them for too long so I try to rest a little during the day and the back pain before bed is no fun either but luckily once I fall asleep it seems to disappear, it's just the falling asleep part that is uncomfortable.

Gestational Diabetes test tomorrow afternoon! I would appreciate anyone who will say a little prayer for me for this delightful occasion.

I think that's all I have for now, hopefully I'll have nursery progress pictures posted soon. We are working on it right now! 

Baby's First Vacation

Well, the past 2 weeks have gone by so fast! I was always told that after the first half, your pregnancy seems to go by much slower. Not for us! At 22 weeks gestation our baby girl now weighs 1 whole pound (ohmygosh that makes me tear up a little bit... silly pregnancy hormones), and is around 11 inches long, about the size of a squash. Her lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and she's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath her gums. Her eyes have formed, but her irises don't have a colored part yet. Inside her tummy, her pancreas is developing.

Leighton has officially taken her first vacation, which was also her first time out of the country! We went on a cruise to the Bahamas and Key West (one of my favorite places in the Continental US). It was an absolute blast.

While on the trip, I ate so much that baby Leighton may actually weigh more than one pound! ;) I've only had a couple of headaches so that made me happy and I never broke down and took any meds. I don't know why I have been so against taking anything, it just never felt "right." But, I appreciate all of the advice everyone gave me as to how to get rid of them. While on the cruise I read "Baby Wise." It all sounded great and I'm hoping it all works as fabulously as everyone says in the reviews. I would love any advice about it from you parents who have followed it.


I have been feeling her move a lot more recently which is my absolute favorite thing in the world! I have been having some minor back pain that is a little frustrating when I am trying to sleep but it could probably be much worse, so I am not going to complain. 

I 100% understand pregnant brain. I forget everything unless I write it down immediately and that is so not like me, and it seems it gets worse the further along we get. I have so many reminders in my crackberry now, that it's alerting me like every 5 minutes!


Nursery preperation is underway! All of her bedding is in (except for a few minor things) so we are just waiting on the furniture! We have started moving everything that is currently in her room out of there so that we can begin the painting process. It's going to be pretty complicated so I am hoping to begin later this week. This is the most exciting part so far, aside from finding out the sex, of course! 


Also, in just a couple of weeks I go in for the dreaded gestational diabetes test. Any advice for that would be much appreciated as well!

I have had the craziest dreams during this pregnancy. I'll either have the most terrifying nightmares or dreams that are so weird that I'd kind of be embarrassed to share.  

Lastly, here is a picture of me at 22 weeks pregnant! A couple people mentioned they want to see a pic of my actual belly. Well, your wish is my command. Enjoy!



Half Way There

A little Bon Jovi anyone? "Ohhh we're half way there...." too much?
Well, it's very hard to believe that we've made it to 20 weeks. It feels like just a couple weeks ago we were sharing our news with the world and now we have reached the half way mark! Baby girl now weighs about 11 ounces. She's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel, about the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against it's torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of it's head to it's bottom, the "crown to rump" measurement. After 20 weeks, they are measured from head to toe.) She is swallowing a lot these days, which is good practice for her digestive system.

I have been feeling her little flutters of movement lately which is SO exciting! I absolutely love feeling her move, it brings me so much joy. I cannot wait until she is kicking enough for others to feel her!

I had my first random stranger come up to me and touch my belly the other day at the mall. I didn't like it. It was weird. I would never touch a stranger's baby bump. Oh, and then this stranger told me she could sell me something for my acne (caused by the pregnancy). Umm, thanks?

Sadly, I think I got a little ahead of myself when I said my headaches were gone. They returned last weekend with a vengeance. I still couldn't bring myself to take any medicine. However, with the weekend gone, so were the headaches again. None this week so far.

We had our 20 week ultrasound this afternoon which confirmed, she's all girl! It was so incredible to sit there and watch my baby girl move. And was she ever moving! She had the hiccups (sooo cute to watch even though I know she didn't like them) so that made her kick and squirm like crazy! We also got to observe her touch her face with her little hands and play with her feet. She is no longer Breech (YAY) but again, she still has lots of room to move around so that could change any time, though we will keep praying that it won't! The u/s tech and OB both confirmed that she is perfect as far as growth of all limbs/organs. 

Oh, and mommy to be is growing well, too. I have gained 9 lbs thus far (and at halfway there, that's pretty perfect). They told me at the start of this process I should gain about 25-35 lbs. I also found out today that my blood type is A+. Yeah, I know it's sad I didn't know that before age 23andahalf but as you know, from reading previous posts, I don't just willingly give my blood away, and I guess I just never really needed to know. Her dad is A+ as well, so I guess it will be no surprise what Leighton is. And, maybe her grades in school will be around that same letter ;) This will be way easier to remember than all of our Social Security and Drivers License numbers! 

We got a video of her u/s today, so hopefully I can figure out how to upload it. Until then, as promised, here are pictures of nursery inspirations (see if you can try and envision what her nursery will look like from these little clues), and an updated "bump" picture.  

Nursery Inspiration Pictures: (Some items pictured may be things we are actually using, some may just be ideas, some may be in there just to throw you off. You just never know...) Cannot wait to hear everyone's thoughts/ reactions!

                                               And....

                               The growing belly: 20 weeks!

18 Weeks

I know, I am a few days late posting the "weekly update." I have gotten a few remarks from some of you that you have been looking for it! Apparently, the food comparisons are a hit, everyone wants to know what "vegetable" she is this week. Ha! Well, baby girl is now around 5 and 1/2 inches long, about the size of a bell pepper. She weighs almost 7 ounces! She's now flexing her arms and legs, so we should feel some kicks any day now!  You can now see her blood vessels through her thin skin, and her ears are in their final position, although they're still standing out from her head a little. A protective covering of myelin (remember that from college Biology 2 class anyone?) is beginning to form around her nerves, a process that will continue for a year after she's born. And, all of her parts that make her female are now in place.


I continue to feel great! Thank you to those who are always asking me, it's great to have so many people who care about mine and baby girl's health. Speaking of baby girl's health, we had a tiny scare last week and after praying about it, I just knew everything was going to be ok, so I decided to wait until we knew everything was fine before I made it public knowledge. I just don't like a lot of drama/attention.


Ok, so you remember at 16 weeks we had all of that blood work done and I wrote about how I agreed to a quad screen? (if not just go down a few posts) Well, last Monday was a week since we'd had it done and we got a call from our OB that morning and they left a message saying we needed to come in to discuss our blood work, and they had an opening at 1 p.m. We knew this meant something bad because they had told us if our blood work came back fine that we wouldn't hear from them, we'd just see them at our next apt. So, immediately I began to panic. I called Jeremy and told him that he had to come home right then from work and I was so upset I could barely speak.

I called the OB office back and told them I could come in and I asked (I just had to) if this meant something was wrong. The nurse said that yes, this meant there was an abnormality in the blood work. My heart fell to the floor. I was so confused. We had just seen her on the ultrasound screen on Friday and she was just fine. I called my mother and told her what was going on.


After a long hour in the waiting room, our OB came in and began to explain the lab results. He said the Trisomy 18 and Downs tests all came back fine. But the test for NTDs (Neural Tube Deffects) such as Spina Bifida came back abnormal. He said that this didn't diagnose anything, it just didn't rule it out. He said the target afp (alpha fetoprotein) level they like to stay around for this particular test is 2.5 and mine was 2.7. He said he had never ever seen such a low number and a number so close to the target number turn in to any sort of defect, that most defects are much higher numbers, like in the 4s. I wanted to hurt someone. They made us worry that much for .2 points. I was angry but I tried to calm down and remind myself that they were just doing their job.


Then my OB said he wanted to take one more vile of blood, run the test again, and if the levels went down, then that would be that. But if they were still elevated then they would send me to do a level 2 ultrasound at UAB. He said an amnio wouldn't be necessary to which I responded, "good because I wouldn't have one done anyway." (I feel like I am way to young for that) After more blood work, they told us we would know by Friday. So, I just gave the situation to God and let it go. I just knew in my heart everything would be fine. God really gave me a peace about it.

On Thursday afternoon my sweet, favorite (and also pregnant) nurse called me right before their office closed to give me the GREAT news; everything was fine! So, needless to say, I am now pretty strongly opposed to this Quad Screen (some doctors call it a tripple screen, they are the same). If you are young and have no history of birth defects in your family, I suggest you skip this little test that causes way more worry than necessary. Not to mention, most of these birth defects can be detected by ultrasound anyway. I just did the quad screen so that we would be prepared if there was something wrong, but as I said, they would have been able to see it via ultrasound anyway if there were something seriously wrong and we still would have been able to be prepared. I will never have this test performed in any other pregnancies I may have. Everyone is entitled to make their own decisions but I am going to take every opportunity to share our story. I love modern medicine, do not get me wrong. But sometimes I think they carry things a little too far these days. Oh, and I should say here: Sis, I should have listened to you! (my sister had a similar experience and her baby girl, who was born this summer, is just fine. She warned me not to do the test and I didn't listen. Lesson learned.) 


On a lighter note, my headaches (knock on wood) seem to be gone! Hooray! Also, last week was filled with starting to pick things out for the nursery! I am dying to show you all everything we have picked out so far, our plans, and where I got my inspiration. My mother has always been the decorating genius and it's all finally starting to rub off on me. I LOVE to decorate, and I think decorating her nursery will be the most fun project yet! In the next post, I will share a bunch of pictures that inspired me for Leighton's nursery so you can try to guess what the nursery will look like! Also, I will put up a new belly picture next time, since some of you have been asking for that. Until then, have a blessed week!

IT'S A GIRL!!!!

First of all, I want to say, "Thank You!" to everyone who has wished us "Congratulations" the last few days, it has meant a lot to us! Sorry we haven't been able to respond to them all, but know that we appreciate each one of you who is following our journey and praying for us. It means more than we can say! Ok, on to the juicy stuff... ;)


Friday evening, September 24th, was the night we got the best news in the world, we are having a baby girl! Here is the story: 


When my OB told us we wouldn't find out the sex of our baby until I was 20 weeks pregnant, we thought it seemed like a really long time to wait but, hey, if it was what the doc said, that's how it would be. However, when I announced our pregnancy news to my wonderful AML Float 3 sisters (Mardi Gras Organization) one of our dearest friends who is a sonographer asked, "When will you find out what it is?" When I said "20 weeks is what the OB told us," she said, "Come see me at 17 weeks." I was so overjoyed and thankful that she would do this for me but I had no idea exactly just how much I would appreciate this kindness.


17 weeks came quickly and I became more and more anxious!)  My mother accompanied me instead and I was excited she'd get to be a part of it! We asked our dear friend not to tell us what the sex of the baby was, just to type it on the picture and seal it in an envelope so that my family and I could find out together that night. She did such a good job not giving anything away! She told mom and I to close our eyes any time she went near any areas that hint at the sex. 


During the ultrasound, our dear friend took the time to show me every organ and every bone we could see! She showed me the spine and explained how it looked good, and the same with the heart (all 4 chambers are present and the blood flow looked great), the brain and all of it's parts (which is actually measuring a week ahead of schedule, we may have a little smarty pants on our hands), the kidneys (both are present) the bladder and stomach. She measured the leg and arm bones which are all right on schedule. We also counted the finger and toe bones, and they are all there. It was so kind of her to take the time to do all of that.I owe so much more to our friend than just her telling us the sex. And it's amazing we were able to check all of these things out and gets tons of good pictures because baby was moving.like.crazy. She appeared to be having a dance party. It's so strange to me that she can be moving so much and I can't feel it, yet. Also, during the ultrasound she looked like she was trying to suck her thumb so badly, she just couldn't quite find it. It was the most adorable thing I've ever seen. She's currently breech, and I know we have a lot of time to change that, just pray that she turns eventually. 

After the ultrasound, it was almost impossible to not peek at the pictures but I didn't cheat! When everyone finally got in town we opened the envelope together in front of my mom, brother, and Mark, and announced it was a girl, through tears of joy! We ate a quick dinner and then it was off to tell the rest of our family at their Kids Consignment business, Kidz Klozet (their Fall consignment sale in Mobile is open to the public this week and they have some great stuff, more than they ever have, this year). I had baked two cakes (a blue one and a pink one) and I brought the appropriate cake and all of the ultrasound pictures with us. We showed everyone the pictures first, minus the ones showing that it was a girl. Then we had Leighton's "Honey" cut in to the cake to find out what baby McGhee was. Then, of course, we shopped Kidz Klozet! Everyone is so excited and ready to spoil this precious baby girl! We go for our regularly scheduled 20 week Ultrasound in just a few weeks where hopefully they confirm it's a girl (our friend hasn't ever been wrong) and hopefully baby girl will be just as active.

 What's in A Name? 

As most of you already know, we are naming our sweet baby girl Leighton Elizabeth McGhee. (Leighton pronounced "Lay-tin.") And you may be wondering how we came up with her name. Well, Leighton is just a name we loved. I met someone with this name years ago and always loved it.The name Leighton is Old English in origin and means "near the meadow." The name meaning sounds so peaceful to me. 

Elizabeth was chosen as her middle name for a couple of different reasons. Elizabeth has been a family name on my dad's side of the family for 8 generations, and is also my middle name. Also, we wanted our baby to have a biblical name, be it first or middle. The story of Elizabeth has always been one of my favorites and it's so fitting because it's all about the miracle of having a child, motherhood, and trusting in the lord. In case you are unfamiliar with the story, it is found in Luke, Chapter 1. Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah were a childless couple who were getting older and had given up on having children, though they wanted children very badly. However, Zechariah has a vision and Elizabeth becomes pregnant. While pregnant, Elizabeth is visited by her younger cousin, Mary of Nazareth, who is also pregnant. (with baby Jesus, of course) When they meet, the both realize their children are a huge part of God's plan. Then, Elizabeth's son John (referred to most often as John the Baptist) is born. There is so much more to the while story but there is a breif synopsis. So, after reading the story, it should come as no surprise that Elizabeth means "God's promise."  

Two side notes: I am officially in maternity jeans. I can wear my pre-pregnancy jeans with a bella band, but it just adds another layer and makes me sweat. Though, it's getting much cooler now so, maybe I'll try it again if I face a situation where all of my maternity jeans are dirty or something. (though not very likely, as I am a laundry freak) Oh, and I appreciate everyone who gave advice as to where to find long maternity jeans! Lastly, I am having dull headaches that last for long periods of time and they come and go at random. My OB said they are caused by the major increase of blood flow in my body, due to there being another person in there and all. He said they could last several more weeks. Boo. I haven't taken anything for them as of yet because it just doesn't feel right to me at this point. My OB scolded me and told me it was ok to take a couple Tylenol and not to be miserable, that baby would be fine, but I guess it just doesn't "hurt badly enough" yet. I doubt I'll take anything, though, the pain seems to stay the same and not get worse. Sorry, this was such a long post. If you are still reading, I love you!

16 Week OB Appointment

We have to say that this appointment was my least and most favorite visit all at the same time. The reason it was the worst: blood work. I am deathly afraid of needles. And I don't care how scared you may think you are of  them, I promise you I am more so.  How do I know this? Have you ever physically harmed a medical staff member (doctor, nurse, etc.) due to a needle phobia? Do you cry your eyes out so hard before the needle touches you that they have to take off the tourniquet, tell you to calm down, and then re-do? Have you ever passed out watching someone else give blood? Does just the thought of needles make you sweat and feel faint?  If you answered yes to all these questions, then we can talk. Yes, that's all true and all about me. It's called "belonephobia" or, the "fear of needles." Yes, its a real condition.

So anyway, we had the routine 16 week blood work done today (about 4 viles worth). A lot of you were praying for us today and we literally felt them, thank you, thank you! I did get a little weepy before hand but the nurse told me I had to calm down so I did. The nurse was quick, efficient, and it wasn't too terrible. It literally took less than a minute and the sweet nurse kept me occupied by talking about my favorite topic right now, my baby! I agreed for them to test me and baby for everything they wanted to test for. Yes, I agreed to a quad screen but it's just because I am a planner. I would never terminate a pregnancy in which the baby was thought to have a birth defect (or any pregnancy for that matter), I would just want to be prepared. We should have all blood work results back in a week or so, so PLEASE pray that everything is fine with our little Tiger! This may be one of the most important prayers you could pray for us and we would appreciate it so much! 

Now, on to why it was the best apt. We got to hear little Tiger's heartbeat again today and this time we heard it immediately and it was very loud and very strong. I could have listened for hours. I am so in love with this baby and I don't have a clue what it looks like or even if it's a boy or girl, but that matters not. I.am.head.over.heels..in.love.with.my.baby. We also got a BPM (beats per minute) reading (which some people read in to to try and determine gender early though it's only correct about 50% of the time) but we aren't revealing what that was. I am going to keep it to myself until I actually know what we are having because we don't want anyone jumping to any conclusions. Sorry, don't hate me! 

One side note, I no longer fit in to any of my jeans, thank goodness for the bella band I bought this weekend so that I can still wear them. I have been unsuccessful in finding any maternity jeans that are long enough for my super tall self. If anyone has any tips on where I can find some, that would be lovely.

Also, I have put up a poll on the sidebar of the blog, so you all can vote on what you think baby McGhee is, as we might (fingers crossed) find out Friday, at 17 weeks. Go vote!

16 Weeks

We have reached 16 weeks in our pregnancy journey! In the next few weeks, our baby will double it's weight and add inches to his length. Right now, Tiger is about the size of an avocado, as you see pictured above, 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. The legs are much more developed, the head is more erect than it has been, and our baby's eyes have moved closer to the front of it's head. I wonder if Tiger's eyes will be brown or blue. Baby's ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of baby's scalp has begun, though there is no hair yet, not that baby will be born with any hair if it takes after it's mother who had no hair until she was 2. Baby has also started growing toenails. Also, baby's heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day! 

It is so hard for me to believe we are almost half way there! We might find out what baby McGhee is next Friday!! (17 weeks) Anyone have a guess at this point? If they cannot tell next Friday we will have to wait until 20 weeks. Oh, how we hope they will be able to tell.

Lastly, we would like to ask for prayers for this Monday, Sep. 20th, as we have our 16 week appointment and they'll do all of my blood work. I am not a huge fan of needles and blood, which is actually like the understatement of the year. I tend to pass out, get very weak and I have been known to cause accidental (but only minor) bodily harm to the person with the needle. Most importantly, pray that when all the blood work comes back that everything is just fine with our sweet baby. Thank you so much for all of your prayers, they are the best gift you can give us and our baby! 

15 Weeks

Our baby is now 15 weeks along and about the size of, you guessed it, an apple! He or she now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weighs in at about 2 1/2 ounces. Baby's lungs are developing and it's legs are starting to grow longer than it's arms. Baby can now move all of it's joints and limbs, so I am sure it won't be long before I can feel little Tiger kicking away, as they say thinner women tend to feel baby moving sooner. We shall see. Baby's eyes are still fused shut but apparently, baby can still see light. They say if you shine a flashlight on your belly, baby will move away from the light. I think I'll just take their word for it. Baby is also forming taste buds, though there really isn't much for he/she to taste yet.

Little Tiger (btw, this is what we have officially "named" baby until we know what he/she is) had quite an outing last weekend. We took baby to it's first Auburn Game. It was a beautiful day. We got to see many friends, sat on the 50 yard line 8th row, and Auburn won. Of course, if they don't start playing better I may have to quit watching them, that kind of stress can't be good for baby ;) Yeah, like that's gonna happen. Here are a few pictures from our adventure:

God is an Auburn Fan ;)

The slightest "bump," though for some reason I looked more pregnant that day than I do today. All that tailgate food, perhaps? Sigh.

One last thing, the Bladder must be a very comfortable organ, because that's where baby is layin and baby.won't.budge. I have tried talking little Tiger in to moving to another area, to no avail. Oh well, pretty soon sweet baby, you will be laying in our arms. How we cannot wait for that day. 

14 Weeks

Yep, that's a picture of a lemon! And, no, I didn't just post that because I LOVE lemons and could eat them all day long, but it's about how big Baby McGhee is today, at 14 weeks! It's pretty hard for me to believe. Right about now our baby is developed enough to squint, frown, and possibly even suck it's little thumb!

I have begun to show just a teeny bit, so that is exciting!

I had my first true craving on Wednesday, Chinese food. Now, I'm hoping the rest of them will be healthy cravings!

These last couple of Sundays we have been learning how to raise Godly children. We have really enjoyed these lessons as God is clearly preparing us for parenthood. So, we are currently praying these prayers for ourselves and baby: 1. That we will be able to teach our baby that the word of God is an absolute truth. (2 Tim. 3) 2. That we will be able to teach our baby that everything in life must revolve around scripture. (Matt. Ch. 22) 3. That we will be able to teach baby to view everything in this life through a biblical perspective. 4. That we will be intentional in teaching these truths. (Deut. 6: 4-7 and 7:9) Will you join us in praying these things, we sure would appreciate it!

Our little Tiger will be attending it's first official Auburn game this weekend! War Eagle! 

12 Weeks!!!

We have made it through the First Trimester! We were so excited for our 12 week OB appointment today at 3:30. We got to hear our sweet baby's heartbeat! Baby McGhee was trying to hide from us and it took a while but, then, there it was, faint but very strong! Sweetest music to this momma's ears! We didn't get to see baby today (sadly, no pics) but hearing it's sweet heart was perfect for us! We asked our wonderful OB lots of questions today, mostly about traveling during pregnancy, because ya'll know I am always going somewhere, and about Cord Blood Donation. We have chosen to donate sweet baby's cord blood so hopefully our miracle will be someone elses too! We will do an entire post later as to what this means, why we chose it, Donating vs. Banking, etc. This is probably your first time reading this blog so please read all the previous posts to catch up on our baby's journey so far! Thank you all for your love, support, and prayers through the First Trimester! Please continue to pray for baby and mommy's health and ESPECIALLY for our next appointment, September 20th, (our 16 week OB appointment) as I will be having lots of blood work done and ya'll know how special I am when it comes to all that! 

First Belly Picture

This is my baseline belly picture. This is for me to look back and compare what my belly started out looking like, and how big it gets! Unfortunately, I was SUPER bloated in this picture, as I was about 6.5 weeks. So I guess it won't be completely accurate. Also, I'm not sure why my hands look so awkward here. I guess because I was trying to keep them out of the pic. Oh well! Here we grow!! 

Reactions

Ok, so here are some pictures and some explanations as to how we told our parents (and our grandparents) that we are expecting! Everyone we have told so far has responded exactly the way we had hoped, tons of excitement, a few tears of joy, and lots of love! Some reactions I didn't get on film, unfotunately, so I will just explain them. We wanted to tell everyone in a special way, not with just a "hey we're pregnant" phone call. That's just not our style. So, enjoy! (Note: at this point we have only told parents, grandparents, siblings, and a few close friends, so there will be more reactions to come!)

                                 My mother was the first to know! 

Ok, so my mother had suspected I was expecting the weekend of the 4th of July (story from the very first post) because of how tired I was, etc. So she had been calling me every day asking, "Are you?" "Did you take a test yet?" The day we found out and I called to make my first doctors apt, they had no dates or times that worked out with Jeremy's work schedule, and I wasn't about to go to the doctor alone, so here's what I came up with. I called my mom and fibbed a teeny bit, saying I decided not to buy a home pregnancy test, I was just going to go to the doctor instead but Jeremy couldn't be there due to work, so would she come up? She said of course she would. I had to wait 6 long days and she came up to our house the day before the apt, that Monday. The whole week she had been getting excited and only wanted to talk about "baby stuff" and she'd add in every now and then, "I hope I'm not getting my hopes up." Little did she know. So when she got here on Monday I had wrapped up the items pictured above. She opened the bibs and book first and looked at me puzzled like "shouldn't you have waited to do this if you don't know?" I just smiled and told her to keep looking. She finally pulled out the test (the second one I took for this purpose). However, she didn't have her glasses on so she couldn't read it! She kept saying "What does it say? Tell me! I can't read it!!" I was laughing hysterically that she couldn't read one little word, so finally I told her it said "yes" and that she was going to be a Grandmother, and that we still had the apt in the morning. Well, if you know my mother, you know exactly what happened next, tons of tears of joy! Then she read my sweet letter and there were more tears. I actually took a video of the whole thing but mom is embarrassed by being so confused and unable to read the test that I didn't post it, for her sake.  For the record, mom will be called "Bella," which is what our dogs have "called her" for a few months now. (Bella means beautiful, because she's way too young and hip to have a "grandma" name) This will be her first gandchild and her vote as to the gender of Baby McGhee is Boy.

After the doctors apt. the next day, we called my Nanny, (who will be called GiGi) my mom's mom to tell her the good news. (as she suspected we were expecting on that 4th of July weekend as well and pretty much knew why mom was coming to visit me a second time in such a short period.) Now, I must tell you that my Nanny is not a "crier." She didn't cry at her husband's or her son's funeral, and she loved them both dearly. She just doesn't cry. Well, when I told her, she began to cry and said "I am so happy. I never thought I'd live to see a great grandbaby." (she's 86) It makes me tear up every time I think about it. Such a special reaction for me. Obviously, this will be her first great-grandbaby.

That following Friday night, we told Jeremy's parents! They were coming back through Montgomery from being in Atlanta at market and had already arranged to stay with us that night before heading back to Daphne on Saturday. A little background information: Monica (my mother in love) and her sister Michelle, own a Kids Consignment business called "Kidz Kolzet" (check them out HERE) which is based out of Mobile but they travel and have sales all over Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisianna. They have been doing this for about 10 years now. 99% of their business, baby stuff! So, Monica has had grandbaby fever for quite some time. Ok, back to the story. So, Monica and Mike got in really late on Friday night (I mean almost 11:30) but we were too excited and had already set up, so we decided to go ahead with our plans. We told them when they got here that we knew they were tired but they had to do one thing before they could go to bed. We explained that since we never got to see Mike to give him his Father's day gift, we wanted to give it to him. We told him it was too awkward to wrap so we hid it somewhere in the house, which is something they do for us at Christmas for a gift that can't be wrapped. I then told Monica that I didn't want her to feel left out so I hid a little happy for her too. They had to follow a couple of clues around the house before they ended up at their gifts, which were hidden in seperate places. Mike's clues led him to one of those plastic fishing poles for kids, with a pacifier tied to the end of it. He loves to fish and He and Jeremy love to fish together, so this was for his new little "fishing buddy." He got it right away and was so excited. Jeremy was taking snapshots of him on his camera, so I dont have them yet. For Monica, I had decorated a sign that said "Our Kid'z Klozet" and hung it on the guest bedroom closet doors, which will soon be the nursery closet, so it is literally our kid's closet, well, future closet. Well, I made all the lettering and decor look exactly like the actual Kidz Klozet logo, which I knew would throw her off and make her think I had gotten her something for Kidz Klozet, and I was right! She totally bought it.

  

Here is the sign.

So she took down the sign and opened the doors to find her happy....

And when she did, she found....

An "I love grandma" bib and a onesie! To say she was excited is an understatement! She kept screaming "oh my gosh!, Oh my gosh! Are you serious?!!" Then there were lots of hugs and love for everyone! It was so late, but now we were all wide awake! Here is a picture of the in-laws with their gifts. (Oh and by the way, we gave him his actual father's day gift right afterwards.) For the record, Mike thinks it's a Boy, Monica votes Girl. This will be their 3rd gandbaby, as Mike's daughter, has two girls, Lindsay and Camryn.

"Honey and PawPaw"

Next came my bonus dad, Mark. Mark has a very special relationship with our "first babies," our dogs, Baron and Barlow. He loves them and they love him, it's a very special bond. Mark also LOVES babies, so we knew he'd be thrilled. So we had T-Shirts made for the pups so they could "tell him." We decided that would be the most special for him. When he got home from work, the dogs ran to greet him wearing their "I'm the big brother t-shirts." Mark was so excited, he said he was "just tickled to death." This will be Mark's first grandbaby.

    Mark is home, the pups rush to greet him.

                                                  

         

He picks Barlow up to get a closer look

                                                  

And he's excited!

Really excited!

Their shirts said "I'm the Big Brother" and their name

Mommy's little helpers! (This is also how we told my brother and my bonus sister, who both think Baby McGhee will be a girl.)

Next came my daddy! I really wanted to surprise him so I decided to show up at his work! I got my favorite florist to do a beautiful, fragrant arrangement for he and Kathy and I brought them to his office. For the card, I had chosen one that was pink and blue, and had written "Congrats! You are going to be Grandparents...Again!" Daddy already has 5 grandchildren from my two older sisters so this will be number 6th! Poor dad! haha! He was thrilled for us and loved his sweet note I wrote him to go with the flowers! He took me to breakfast a couple of days later to celebrate!

Opening the Card

Happiness!

We then told the rest of our grandparents. For my Mamaw (my dad's mom) and Jeremy's Nanny and Poppa, we showed them a picture of the positive pregnancy test, knowing they would have no idea what it was. It was funny seeing them try to guess what the picture was of! They finally got it right and were very happy! This will be his Nanny and Poppa's first great grandbaby, and my Mamaw's 6th! Then we told Jeremy's Meemaw (his Mom's mom). We brought her a small arrangement of pink, blue, white, and yellow flowers with a small "Congratulations" balloon inside.

When Jeremy gave it to her she thought it was so sweet he'd brought her some flowers and then she noticed the balloon. "Congratulations?" she asked. "What's the Congratulations for?" I responded "Oh, we heard Congratulations were in order." She asked us what we were talking about to which we responded, "We heard you were going to be a great grandmother again!"

She was so excited, Meemaw sure does love babies! She has 19 grandchildren and this will be her 2nd great- grandbaby! 

Unfortunately, my two older sisters live in Texas, so I was unable to tell them in person, but when I called them after our first ultrasound to tell them, they were so excited! Stacey has 3 kids and Amanda has 2 (including a newborn) so I am very lucky to have them to answer any questions I have!

Hope you enjoyed, I know this post was super long!