ivy and orchid

Yesterday Shawn and I went to Allegiance Hospital for my 20 week ultrasound and found out we have a healthy baby girl. She measured in at 20 weeks and 6 days which is exactly what we were suspecting and she is 15 ounces, almost a whole pound! While we were there we saw her stretch out in a straight line and also fold up and play with her feet. I feel her moving a lot, but I didn't feel her once through all those motions. The ultrasound picture show Abigail reaching for her feet. She's already much more flexible than Shawn! It's just amazing to think she's doing all those acrobatics in there! At this point she has eyebrows and eyelids and everything she needs is formed. Now all she has to do is grow! In my life, it has always been easy to see God's blessings and miracles. I have been blessed with a great family, a warm house that is paid for, a running car, a great job with wonderful students, great friends and role models and the most perfect husband (I couldn't...

I once read that nine months is the amount of time necessary to prepare for a baby. At five months, I still feel completely uncertain as to what to expect from labor to birth to caring for the baby. I know my life will change, but I cannot prepare for the amount of sleep I will lose or how our schedules will be shaken up. I do not know how to be a parent and I feel the only way I will know cannot happen until our little one is born. I can tell you what I feel about our baby at five months in, however. I already love this little person as if I've known (him/her) for years. Perhaps it's all the changes we've gone through together. From the moment Shawn and I found out I was pregnant, I could not wait for some signs that I was actually growing a baby inside of me. It wasn't really until three months in that I really felt pregnant. I felt so tired and sick everyday due to this alien object in my belly. It wasn't until I heard the quick little heart beat that I believed ...

Our baby has officially made it halfway to its birth! The little one is the size of a banana and according to my midwife, just the right size for 20 weeks. The heartbeat was around 150-160 bpm today and I was a bit worried when I didn't hear it right away. Then I heard the familiar sound of "galloping horses" and knew our tadpole was healthy. Also, the baby is quite a kicker! I don't feel the little "fluttering of butterflies" as one pregnancy website put it. I get quick jabs in my abdomen. One day we had a boxing match where the baby would move and I would push my abdomen in return. We traded these gestures for at least 30 seconds and it was fun to think that the baby understood my game. In a week, Shawn and I will go to the hospital to get an ultrasound and find out whether we have a boy or a girl. In other news, we expect to move into our new house in about two weeks and Shawn has been busy with school and writing his infamous document. So much happening ...