Just a Few Pics

Cute, cute socks for Anna Kate



Anna Kate's first tutu



22 weeks and counting!

Heaven is the Face of my Little Girl

It's been nearly a month, so I thought I would write. I have a lot to say, because we have "discovered" a lot since the last time I wrote.

We are SO excited to be having a little girl! Let me tell you about the ultra sound which was last Thursday. It was me, Zach, and my dad who went and we were so happy to see Anna Kate's bones, ribs, little legs moving out and in (I'm sure she was running), her little heart in all its perfection, her brain, her lips, and little nose. The ultrasound tech took 60 pictures documenting her growth and head size, etc. We were so ecstatic to hear that she looked healthy as I have been worried since you can't even tell I'm pregnant and we are nearly 22 weeks. We couldn't have been any happier until we heard the very last of the news. I was laying there and she said "so what do you think you are having?" I said, "I want a little girl the most, but I am sure it is a little boy." She just looked at the screen and pursed her lips and shook her head. Then she said "Its a GIRL!" Dad squeezed my pinky toe and we looked with excitement at the pictures she had as she showed us how the gray and white was a little girl and not a little boy. I was on cloud nine!

Oh yes, the whole time we were in there Zach was asking scientific like questions. "What are you measuring there?" "Is that the amniotic fluid?" "Is that the brain?" "Do you think that it is the radiation from the ultrasound that is causing her to kick?" What can I say, the guy is a learner and is always curious.

Anyway, after that I met up with a good friend and her two daughters and we went SHOPPING! The first thing I bought sweet Anna Kate was a purple tutu and a darling little purple hat with a purple bow on it. Just what she needed, right? What a FUN day! It will be remembered always as one of the best and most memorable days of my entire life.

The next day, I drove to Little Rock and shopped with my grandmother. We picked out the Crib and furniture at Kid's Furniture and then we were done with that! We also shopped at some sweet stores. It was amazing how long we spent just looking and choosing hair bows. Finally my grandmother said "okay, we have GOT to get out of these bows!"

We spent a lot of Saturday shopping around with my dad and we even squeezed in a stop at Fort Thompson gun and sports store in North Little Rock. Hey, I had to give a little, right? Look what my guys were doing for me!

We ended the weekend with a drive to Hot Springs to eat dinner and shop a little with Zach's Dad and Step Mom. They are so much fun to be around and we enjoyed ourselves tremendously.

In other news, the swatches of fabric for the crib bedding came in recently. I still am not ready to share the colors with you until the finished masterpiece is constructed. I do love the colors, but I am having a hard time choosing just the right ones from the 18 that I ordered!

The only piece of bad news that I have to report is that yesterday when I went to the dr for my normal monthly visit, she let me know that the ultra sound showed a healthy, beautiful baby girl but that I had Placenta Previa. Of course, I have no idea what that is. She said that the ultra sound showed that my placenta was sitting on my cervix. Picture a large pancake sitting on top of a little hole. The placenta moves throughout the pregnancy, but you do not want it sitting over your cervix. Anyway, she said that sometimes the placenta is just sitting near the cervix, but that mine was literally smack dab centered on it and overhanging on each side. Great, huh?
Well what this means is that I cannot deliver Anna Kate normally and that I will have to have a scheduled c-section. We scheduled another ultra sound to see if it moves in four weeks, but she warned me that the likelihood that a full placental previa would move completely off is slim. There could be other complications with placenta previa, i.e hemorrhaging (most likely), bed rest because of that, early delivery, and even at its worst possible hysterectomy! However, I choose not to worry about any of that until 4 weeks has passed. Besides, it is going to move anyway, right?

I am a pretty laid back person and so I choose to not sweat it at this point. I am going to focus on her words that were strong when she said "Anna Kate is beautiful, healthy, and going to be just fine" and the rest will fall into place.

I asked her if this was because I had been running and she assured me that it was not. I asked if I should stop running, and she said no that I was still good to go on that. She did have me stop a few things that could cause hemorrhaging, but not running. Thank goodness. I have a feeling that I better enjoy it while it last, because bed rest may be in my future.

Well, that is all for tonight, I am genuinely head over hills for Anna Kate already and consider myself beyond blessed in so many ways. I'm not sure what I did to deserve such happiness, but I will not complain.