19 Weeks, 3 Days!

Well, here we are, right on the cusp of the half-way mark of this pregnancy! We can't believe it! This pic was taken yesterday, so today we are officially 19 weeks, 4 days. Our little girl is starting to move more frequently, which I absolutely adore. It's the best feeling in the world...like flutter of butterflies or someone drumming their fingers on my tummy. I can't feel her externally yet, so Matt is having to use his imagination and be patient. It's like little girl and I already have our own girl secrets from Daddy:)

At this point, she is around 6 inches long and weighs almost one whole pound! She is most active when I'm lying on my back either in the mornings or in the evenings. One rather disgusting analogy of her development this week is from What to Expect When You're Expecting...apparently the Holy Bible for pregnant people. The equated her size to "a mango dipped in greasy cheese"...seriously. Seriously? What the hell is that? Why even go there? I know, I know, she probably does look pretty funky at this point, but why use 2 types of food that I (used to) like separately and combine them together to make some disgusting analogy? I'll never eat a mango again without thinking about that....and I love mango! Thanks WTE!

This past Monday we spent the day shopping and pre-baby registering with my sister, Mary Catherine. I have no idea about the nursery furniture but I am pretty sure I know what I want the nursery to look like overall... but I'm going to mull it over for a while, just to make sure I'm in love with my idea:)

....which is very similar to our name situation. Matt and I are in love with a certain few names and while Matt is pretty certain he knows what he wants to name her, I am having commitment issues. It's not that I don't LOVE the name(s) we've picked out...I really really do love them! I am just having trouble committing to naming her that for the rest of her life. Its like I need to spend some time referring to her by her hypothetical name before I commit...this is normal, right? RIGHT?! Maybe I'll practice writing her name and printing it out...maybe that will make me feel better. I am a nut, this I know! We have another doctor's appoint this coming Monday where I have a list of questions to ask my doctor like how to avoid a c-section (of which I am terrified), do I need any vaccinations to go on my Rep trip to Costa Rica in April, and a few other graphic questions I'll leave to your imagination.

Think Pink!!!

It's official! We are having a beautiful baby GIRL!!! We went to the doctor for our 18 week ultrasound and the big gender reveal today and were very surprised to find out we've got a little lady on our hands! From the beginning, Matt and I have felt we were having a baby boy. I, of course, wouldn't have cared if it were a baby dinosaur (as my sister MC predicted) just as long as it was healthy! I have been dreaming that the baby is a girl over the past 2 weeks and just yesterday Matt commented that he thought it could definitely be a girl instead of a boy. Today in the waiting room we realized he was wearing pink unitentionally!

During the ultrasound, lil bebe was a perfect performer. The ultrasound tech didn't get a picture of it, but at one point the baby had her hand stretched open in a wave gesture as clear as day! The tech said she rarely sees that this early - usually she just sees fists and feet. She also commented (and took this picture above for proof) that the baby was really posing for her profile picture. Matt said "Just like her mom...and her grandmother...and her great grandmother!" It was trully amazing to see the baby so clearly. Last time we saw her, she was no more than an olive.

I wish I had remembered to bring the VHS to film the footage of the ultrasound, but at least I had the CD to record the images! I can still see her little movements as clear as day. When the tech went in to determine if we were looking at a he or a she, little girl was quite the exhibitionist and put herself in a pose that made sure we all knew there were no boy parts - only girl parts! She was perfectly cooperative and the tech said she is 100% positive we have a girl! Our tech was very cute with the whole reveal and as she slowly said "ok, are you ready? It looks like....ya'll are having...a....GIRL! The moment she said the words I burst into tears and laughter. I couldn't do one without the other. It seems like Matt and I have wanted this for so long and for a while were nervous that it might not be in the cards for us. Each time we get to see our miracle baby on that ultrasound screen or hear her sweet heartbeat with the doppler, we see that God is good and life is as it should be. Our prayers were answered. A little Devereaux girl brewing right up!

The tech said everything looked wonderful and the doctor called this afternoon after she looked at the ultrasound to tell us that everything looked great and the baby was growing exactly as she should. We are thrilled...and elated...and still in shock...and crazy in love with each other and our sweet girl. See the rest of the ultrasound pics at our online Picasa web album - link at right!

16 Weeks (December 28) and 17 Weeks (January 4)

This was taken last week, but with all the traveling and holiday celebrations going on, I'm a little behind on the blog! For those of you who don't know, I am tracking the week by week growth of the belly, which is why I take a photo every week. I was suppossed to take it in the same spot in the same outfit every week, but I got bored with that:)

Here is the belly at 16 weeks. It's pretty round for just one baby in there (and believe me, I made the nurse check for twins at the last ultrasound since they run in my family!), says all my already mom friends. I feel absolutely wonderful and had a really good last 2 weeks. At 16 weeks and 4 days I felt my little miracle babe move!!! I have been waiting for that for a while and knew that I should feel it between 16 and 22 weeks. I was so shocked and excited when I realized what that funny sensation was! We were in the car on the way to the airport for Matt's good friend's wedding in FL and right before we arrived, I had that flutter sensation around my belly button. I just knew it was our little baby:) Since then I've taken my good friend Katie's advice (mom of three, so I listen pretty closely to her baby/pregnancy advice!) and tried to prompt another baby flutter by resting a cold or hot drink on my tummy. Katie says she felt each of her 3 daughters move in her 16th week. She said after that first movement, they would react to a hot or cold drink resting on her stomach! It hasn't worked for me yet - it seems this baby already has a mind of its own!

The second and last time I felt the baby kick was (of course) during Pilates this past Wednesday. For those of you who don't know, I am addicted to Pilates. I go 2-3 times a week. It's the one chance I get out of the "office" during the week! And I love, love, love my instructor, Rachel - she's become one of my close friends! Everyone in class is already excited for me so when we were doing high rows on the machines (arm excercises) and I interrupted everyone with an "OH!" (then explained I wasn't hurt - I had just felt the baby move)everyone was so excited for me! It's a wonderful feeling to know others are genuinely excited for us, and my Pilates instructor is no exception! She was one of the first people to find out, because I had to disclose my pregnancy with her for health/safetly reasons in class. She has been an angel since then - offering me 'solicited' advice, maternity clothes, modifying her already busy classes to get the best prenatal Pilates excericises in there for me. And get this, she texted me a few weeks ago to tell me that at bedtime prayers, her 3 year old son "prayed for mommy's client that has a baby in her belly". I was so choked up when she told me, I cried! I love that sweet child!

Anyway, while this is a terrible photo taken after a 6am flight on a Monday morning, here is the belly at 17 weeks.

I finally talked my doctor into scheduling the big reveal ultrasound for 18 weeks instead of 20 weeks, so we'll be going to the doctor next Thursday! We cannot wait to find out. The chinese calendar predicts a boy, and so do Matt and I...though I have had the strange feeling over the last week that this could be a girl...who knows -we are all 50% right in this guessing game! Until next week!!!!

Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday to Millie!!!

Click the image to watch this precious video!! Happy Birthday to my sweet, sweet Millie! After Christmas, we had dinner in NOLA at Cafe Giovanni where Millie was serenaded by a true opera singer!!!

We had a wonderful holiday - one spent on the road, but none the less wonderful. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Natchez, celebrating Mom's birthday on Christmas Day and Millie's Christmas morning Santa reveal. Look what my Mills got!!! Yadybugs!!!!!!!



Then we drove over to Hattiesburg on Christmas Day to see Matt's family. We often like to refer to Matt's parents' house as the Ark - because when we all gather there we usually have more dogs than humans! We had 6 dogs there on Christmas day...count that, 6!!! We are really into dogs... We've got Berti and Gus, two mini-schnauzers, Matt's sister Megan has Tilly, a mini-schnauzer, Matt's parents have Sophie, also a mini-schnauzer (we like schnauzers, can you tell?) and Matt's brother Marc and his fiance' have Bailey, a sweet old cocker spaniel and CoCo, the 6 month old rottweiler. It was madness! But we all had such a good time.

Marc's fiance Heather is also expecting, due April 16th (just 2 months before us!) and Heather and I talked babies non stop! Matt's mom pulled out Matt and Marc's baby stuff and showed us their hospital pictures, their door decorations and what they each wore home from the hospital. If we have a boy, Matt's mom is going to lend us Matt's coming home outfit!:)

After Christmas, we met my Dad in NOLA for for Millie's big 2nd Birthday Party and then followed Dad home to Jacksonville, FL where we spent our New Year's! Matt's good friend Lance is from Jacksonville and got married yesterday so we've had a big weekend full of celebrating the New Year and their nuptials! We must say we are pooped - but all the traveling was totally worth it! We got to see all our family and tons of friends so we count ourselves very lucky this holiday season! We hope each of you had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!!