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.