Table

So at 34 weeks I am now finally able to use my belly as a table like everyone talks about, but only if I slump way down in my chair :) Just thought I would share with everyone! At 34 weeks, that's about all that is amusing, I am so ready for this baby to come :)

Texas Baby Shower

Hi Everyone! This past Saturday was my baby shower here in Texas. It was a great turnout! I had all my sisters and moms there including high school friends and long time family friends :) (By the way, this is a picture of me shaking my belly like a hula girl with the boppy on my belly!)

My girlfriend Tammy did an OUTSTANDING job on everything. She made the invitations, my thank you cards, my gift list, even my diaper cake :)



Among many adorable outfits, we also received all kinds of nursery essentials. You can see everything in the slide show. After the shower I went to Target to combine all the gift cards I received between my two showers then came home and was able to almost purchase both my stroller and car seat in full :) I still am freaking out though, I know, I'm a worry wart! I still need my bassinet as well as other items but I'm sure it will start to come together now :) Won't be much longer now! Less than two months but I don't think she's going to wait that long :)

Later this week we hope to get a 3D/4D image of our baby girl, IF she cooperates this time :) Last week she stayed balled up and turned toward my back so we couldn't do anything but check her heartbeat and confirm she's still a girl :) If I get any pictures at the sonogram I'll be sure to upload them for everyone to see!

26th Birthday

Well you haven't had an update in a while and even though I am closer to family now I still have some friends spread out across the states and some other family I'm not near so I thought I would give you an update. This past Sunday was my 26th birthday which turned out pretty nice even though I was missing my honey :) Saturday night I spent with the Murphy's and had Babe's Chicken which is the best chicken place in town and Sunday lunch I spent with my Mom and DJ and two of my sisters (Jo is still at school). Jonathan started my day off by calling before church and singing to me, my Aunt MB and Grandma and Grandpa Beck called throughout the day and my Dad finished up the night by calling me from Canada. I am now 30 weeks along and am REALLY starting to feel pregnant :) Hard to imagine I only have 10 weeks left but other days it's hard to imagine I STILL have 10 weeks left :) Jonathan is working on his plans to get here on Jan. 28th and the doc says we can induce if baby murphy hasn't made her appearance yet so Jonathan doesn't come all this way and still miss it! Look for more birthday pics in the slide show (click the picture of me and Jessica) and will send another update as the holidays approach. Watch out for my last sonogram sometime next month!

Presents

Most of the girls were gracious enough to get me gift cards so I won't have to move as much to Texas but here's a preview of some of the adorable gifts I did receive...


What every baby needs ... cowgirl boots! She may not be raised in Texas with all our moving but she'll be Texan born and that lives on forever :)

Neatest Diaper Caddy Ever

Not to mention Britney Suggs is my best friend and I love her more than any person, minus Jonathan, and I will miss her everyday! (she made me put that)



Reading the poem Jonathan wrote and put in a surprise present for me



Best present by far, Soccer shoes from her daddy!!!

VA Baby Shower

Well yesterday I had my first baby shower with some of my closest friends here in VA; it was also kind of a going away party since I won't see most of them before we hit the road in a few days. Our first game we played was the toilet paper game where everyone had to guess how much toilet paper it would take to go around my belly... some of my friends think I'm HUGE while others were right on target :)


Sally's guess



Dana's guess, 4 squares too many if I recall

In the end the two gals I spend the most time with got the closest, Erin only had two extra pieces while Brit was the winner with the EXACT amount, 10 squares... thanks girls for proving I'm still somewhat small! I guess it pays to see my growing belly everyday :)


Erin's guess, 2 squares too many



Brit's PERFECT guess!

Cord Blood Registry

Well hello everyone, I will be updating this again after my first shower/party on Sunday - yeah I am so excited!! I wanted to take a moment to tell everyone about a new registry I started. I want to tell everyone about it in case anyone would like to consider contributing to our registry but also to educate other friends/family and other expecting friends about cord blood banking. Jonathan and I have decided to bank our little ????'s cord blood through CBR. We both find the research into stem cells promising with the many diseases they already cure and the potential future diseases they'll cure. Please take a moment to view our registry and find out more about cord blood banking under our registry tab on the left. Oh, and all our registries are now reflecting TX instead of VA incase anyone else has problems looks us up. And if any expecting friends want to sign up for cord blood feel free to call me and I'll tell you about it and put you in touch with the same rep I am working with... plus I get a free year of banking :) Be in touch...

21 Weeks

So, I went to my check up last week and found out some interesting information. Apparently my placenta is anterior located, which basically means it needs to move before I try to give birth! If it doesn't and it blocks my birth canal then I'll have to have a c-section - no bueno. Oh, and so here's a picture of me today after working on the house.. this is sad, I am having to take my own pictures for everyone to see me... well not much else to report at the moment except that our little girl has been moving around alot today, feels kinda like popcorn popping in my stomach or something, oh and she's screwing up my back... i've been having to go to the OMT clinic. Jonathan is still traveling so please keep him in your prayers and i hope to get to TX soon. Please keep your ear to the ground for interior designers, architects, contractors and home builders. I am looking for these professionals to work with as a kitchen/bath design consultant. More to come...

20 Week Sonogram

Well hello everyone, today I had my 20 week sonogram where they measure everything and make sure it's all coming together right. Little ???? was moving around quite a bit but not cooperating for the technician. The tech actually called her a brat a few times, I think I heard her right?!? She didn't speak English very well. Hey, at least she has my spunk! :) She had her arms and feet crossed the whole time and when they went to make sure she had a nose and mouth, she covered her face and just would not budge :) This Thursday I have my 6 month check up where I hope to get the results from the quad screen and today's ultrasound. It's amazing to see how much she has grown and changed even from 2 weeks ago. The tech said she is 13 oz and when I asked if she was small or big for her "age", the tech said 80%...if anyone knows what that means... maybe you nurses in the family can help out :) Well in case you are wondering why I haven't said her name, Jonathan and I decided to keep it as something special between he and I since we aren't together during this special time and don't know if he'll be around for the birth. I am excited to report however that the night before he left, he got to feel her kick him and several mornings in a row she would be playing with him while his hand was on my belly, of course he slept right through it :)

As for other news, Jonathan is at Ft. Benning now where is he having oh so much fun going through "Anti Terrorism" Training. Today he had all his medical screenings and tomorrow he continues getting all his gear. Other than that, all I know is that he is stuck in classes most all day with little time to eat or relax, although he did sneak away for a movie last night with a Major from the SF... so at least we know he is still rubbing elbows, as he always does :) He hopes to get to an orthopedic doc in Afghanistan to check out his ankle and make sure everything is ok... it still swells up most days and with Selection coming up in April we want to make sure he will be healthy for it.

Our house should go on the market soon since we are now using a realtor and we hope that interest in the property will start back up quickly. My goal is to get to TX as soon as possible but with the looming idea of no job come October I am unsure I will make it there before the house sells. If I can line up a job in TX it would be helpful, but who wants to hire a prego? :) Still no word on when Jonathan leaves but I'll certainly pass along more info as I get it! Hope everyone is well and look for an update after Thursday's appointment. Thank you so much for all the thoughts and continued prayers. Several people, including family and friends, have called to check in on me... so many I can't keep up with the calls :) I am doing well, trying to stay busy with work, packing and school. Be in touch,
-A-

It's a ...

So today we went to have our ultrasound done only when we got there the technician said we had to reschedule for two more weeks from today because I wasn't 20 weeks. She went ahead and let us see the baby since Jonathan would not be here in two weeks and she said she would try to see the sex but that some organs may not be fully finished. Well, this was our very first shot...

What Jonathan and I thought was something else the technician said was 95% a girl. She continued to move around and check a few things out even though I would be back in two weeks and got this great shot of our new baby girl from the side...

It's a little confusing because the technician said her head is pointing downward which would explain some of my lower "pains" and hard spots I feel but the picture is of her sideways... who knows! What a cool thing to see how much the baby has grown since our first little picture! You can imagine how surprised we were to hear it was a girl only because girls don't really run in Jonathan's family but we are both very happy with a little girl and that so far she is healthy! We prayed right before we went in that God would give us a good clear image of what the sex was so Jonathan would get to know before deploying and I think he did pretty good at answering that prayer! He also answered another prayer of ours today of what will happen once Jonathan is back state side - today we got word that he has been accepted to the selection course for Special Forces, so as soon as he is back we'll have a short time to be together before he runs out to NC for a month to train and test for Special Forces. No word on the house yet, but please continue to pray that God will take care of our needs here in D.C. so I can get back home near all my great supporters! Thanks to all for your warm wishes, continual prayer and support. Look forward to reporting more in two weeks!

5 Month/Life In General Update

First, let's talk baby. Yes I am 5 months, even though I don't look like it! This was one day that you could see a small bump so we snapped a shot... most days I'm still not that big and people can't believe I'm 5 months. We had our monthly check up on Wednesday and found things going pretty much as expected... we got to hear the heartbeat again, only bigger and better :-) and I got some answers to some of the pregnancy issues I've been going thru... I got some new prescriptions for the nausea (yes, it is still very much here and I'm sick of it!!) and constipation and a referral to two different docs for my back and hip problems... we scheduled our ultrasound to find out the sex for two weeks from today, a little early, but we wanted to try to find out before Jonathan deploys.. yes, for those of you who haven't heard yet, Jonathan leaves Sept. 8th for Ft. Benning then flies to Afghanistan from there for 6 months...

On that note, I'll fill you in on my plan, well the plan that keeps getting curve balls thrown at it :-) I think I'm going to try to come home but don't know when since we have to sell our home :( I have been working with my boss to figure out how to keep working some since they have expressed how much they don't want to lose me, which is a good thing! Please keep us in your prayers that God will show us which path to take, although we are already thankful for the opportunities he has shown us recently!

On another note, I woke up this morning to find my car had been broken into and my GPS stolen (the only thing thankfully). The cops and CSI came and dusted for prints and today the glass is supposed to be getting fixed but of course it just added more stress to us financially, so again, just keep us in your thoughts and prayers all around: for both my health and the baby's, for Jonathan's health (especially his ankle), for the stresses in our life like selling the house, details on me working, maybe going back to TX, where I should deliver baby murphy, etc. :-)

As for other things going on in my life; I am scheduled to start back in to school Sept.6th. I will be attending the Academy of Art University because they are the only ones who offer an Interior Architecture and Design degree. I am mainly interested in this because it will allow me to design plans and know how to make most structual changes without an architect, defintely without a contractor or builder... and this is important since I have been working towards starting my own business (website will be launching soon!!). Obviously with all the changes in our life I am having to rethink how many hours I can take (if I can go home, I'll be able to go full time).

Lastly, I thought everyone would like to read something special from my sister-in-law and her cute little boy:

Hey guys,
The past couple of days, Will keeps mentioning that he and his brother and sister are...and then the story goes anywhere from there. So I told him that he had a brother but that he didn't have a sister and he said that his sister wasn't born yet. So I asked him where the baby was and he said she was in Adrienne's belly!! So we had to explain that you were pregnant with his cousin not his sister and we didn't know if it was a boy or a girl yet. He says he does know and that she is a girl! Wonder if he is right??

Well we'll all find out soon and of course we will update then, if not before!

Quick Update

Well I went to the doc to weigh in since I've been on my new anti-nausea medicine and found that I gained barely ONE whole pound. I kinda feel like I'm in Weight Watchers only they want me to gain weight! :-) Today I've felt a little weird, all kinds of stretching and aches in my tummy area. There's a slight bump forming so I'll post a picture soon for those of y ou who keep bothering me! :-)

2nd Trimester Starts Monday!

Well last night we had our 12 week check up and got to hear the heartbeat! It took the doc a second to find it, which freaked I know her and I out after last time, but what a relief and neat feeling when she found it!! I think the doc said it was somewhere around 160 - which I think is good :) We had a very good visit with the doc and got alot accomplished. As many of you know, I have been very sick the last few weeks. Last night we found out I have lost about 5 pounds and the nausea has been so bad some days that I am not keeping food or liquids down. The doc was not happy to hear about that and said that if we couldn't get it under control they would have to admit me so she prescribed a second anti-nausea medicine. I am supposed to weigh in again in about a week, have my regular check up in about 4 weeks and hopefully find out the sex in 6 weeks! Already today I am feeling some relief from the new medicine so I am hoping it just continues! As for the family, my little brother keeps asking "Am I really going to be an uncle?" and all 6 grandparents are being very supportive! Kels has been helping around the house, which has been awesome, especially on days I am very ill. That's all for now, look forward to reporting on zero nausea and new cravings instead!

11 Weeks

Well, I'll be 11 weeks on Monday and I think I've hit the peak of morning sickness and am on the way back down. Last week was the worst at Jonathan's grandma's funeral. I wish it hadn't been at such a tough time already but I AM glad that this week it hasn't been AS bad! My next doctor's appointment is in one more week and although we won't find out the sex, we hope to hear the heartbeat!! We started registering but will continue to modify it and update it. So far we DEFINITELY found our stroller and I'm so excited! It's a knock off of the bugaboo but $600 cheapier :) Yeah!! We are having a touch time finding a reasonably priced crib that I like so we're starting to look on ebay and craigslist. Any suggestions from you moms out there? My mom has been in toen for the past few days helping Jonathan switch the house around. Now we have the bedroom upstairs (next to the bathroom!) and the office will continue to be my home office until closer to the due date. Kels has the basement now and I'm not sure if we'll still put the bathroom in down there. I think that's all for now - I'll write more after our doctor appointment next week! Don't forget to check out the ticker at the bottom of our page to watch our progress!!

Acupuncture

Well on Wednesday I met an acupuncturist who gave me a free demonstration. I was very nervous getting needles poked in me but it actually didn't hurt; it just felt like she pinched me over and over again, sometime I didn't even feel that much. During my 30 minutes of laying there I could feel my nausea melt away and a focus on my rumbling tummy come. I felt pretty good the rest of the day, just extremly hungry. The next day wasn't that great though. I almost puked several times through out the day and just generally felt worse than I had the day prior. Today I feel better than yesterday but pretty much back to normal. I think I'm going to give it another try just to see if it really works. Who knew?

Morning sickness ... not when it lasts all day!

So today I decided to write about how crappy I've been feeling just so you could all get the FULL experience, as promised! :) So I have been feeling cruddy for like 2 weeks but it has been worse that last few days. All day yesterday I had to literally sit on the couch while Jonathan tried to hobble around the house taking care of everything, which he did so wonderfully! No real cravings to report yet, it's more what sounds good today doesn't the next. I'm eating lots of flavored popsicles and have sea bands on my wrist all day, not to mention the saltine cracker occasionally, especially at 1am when i wake up nauseous. Everyone says this phase doesn't last long but I still have 3 or 4 weeks left, which sound like FOREVER! If you look at baby murphy's blog at the bottom of the page, you'll also see that he is wrecking havock on my stomach; yesterday I felt like my tummy was tearing all day. And for all you moms reading this, next time don't say "oh you'll forget all this once the baby's here" instead be like Niccole and Britney and tell me just how much this time sucks! :)

Our First Picture of Baby Murphy

Here's my first picture! For those of you not knowing where to look, im the little thing inside the little black sac on the left. And if you look at the bottom of the page you'll see i'm not so cute right now :) But just wait!

Our First Scare

Well today we went to our first appointment to meet the doctor. She did all the normal physical stuff then went to get the doppler thing to find the heartbeat. After a few minutes of no success she said she was going to get the ultra sound machine and another doc. I thought, no big deal, sometimes it's too early to find the heartbeat. They both came in and started trying to find something on the ultrasound but couldn't find anything at all. By this point I am pretty well aware that something is wrong. The senior doc begins to explain what might be happening. She says one of three things could be going on: a) I'm not as far along as we all thought I was, b) it is caught some where or c) the embryo has been lost. Then she says, do you have any questions - UH, YEAH! So after discussing my options they both leave and call up to Labor and Delivery to see when they would have time to do the "other" ultra sound (some of you ladies know what I mean). They came back in and said to be in Labor and Delivery at 1pm. Noticing it is 10:30 I suggest we both run home, grab a snack and a quick nap then head back up but the doc says no eating in case they have to do emergency surgery... EMERGENCY SURGERY? Ok, totally freaked out now. Also, STARVING, hadn't eaten yet since I was so sick to my stomach. So we ran home, I did have a cheese stick then we were back up at the hospital at 1pm. Unfortunately, the doc doing this ultrasound was still in the OR so we had to wait around another hour for her to arrive. Within minutes though she found a little, fast paces, flickering light and said "OK, I see one pregnancy". SIGH... What a relief to see this little thing inside you and to know that little light was their heartbeat! it was an amazing moment! She measured it from crown to rump and calculated that we are 6 weeks and 3 days - NOT 11weeks... guess those kind of mistakes can happen when you are regular nor count days :) We left with our first picture and I took a very long nap... and of course ate! Talk about a stressful day, but what a blessing!

OB Registration Today

Well, I am just getting back from my OB Registration today. The appointment started at 11am and we didn't leave until 1:45! When I first got there I had to go to immunization to make sure I had been given a tetnis shot back when I went to Africa b/c I stepped on a carpet nail this morning when I was nauseous and not fully awake. Then I had the cystic fibrosis test on my forearm where the nurse proceeded to draw a smiley face around the spot and said "don't scratch the nose". For those of you familiar with the military, you know that I had already been at the hospital for an hour by this point, so getting tired I made it to the lab to fill 7 vials of blood and piss in a cup. Then I finally got to sit down with my OB Coordinator and fill out a TON of paperwork. We found out the due date is Christmas day, however, since I was 2 weeks early and Jonathan was so late he was eating his own poo - I doubt baby Murphy will come on the 25th - if they do, it will be our little Christmas miracle! Anyways, we watched a movie about babies that I'm pretty sure was as old as I am then we finally got to go home, but not without a ton on literature! Now, I am totally wiped out so I will be grabbing a quick nap then working from home the rest of the day - Gotta love working from home!! Stay tuned for my first doc appointment this Thursday where we are supposed to hear the heartbeat!!

PREGGO

So, I think everyone knows by now but I thought I would make it official since I am finally back in town and hope things slow down soon! I found out a week or two ago that I am prego :) Haven't had my first doc appt yet, it's this thursday, so I'll post something after it to keep you all informed. We will also be setting up a website so all the friends and family spread throughout the four corners of this earth can feel like they're right here! :) If anyone knows my mom then you can imagine how NUTS she went... especially since she had been BUGGING me for so long... I think she actually screamed for 5 minutes straight... and probably again when we hung up :) Jonathan and I are both very happy and even though I don't have a hump yet, I have definetely lost my curves :) My coworker says I am more "round". Leave it to her to be blunt :) I haven't been too sick which is nice, just exhausted and starving :) So, stay posted!