Here's Mary Evelyn!!!

Here she is laying on her belly, feet tucked under her, and her head turned toward you!

Here are her girly parts :)



And here's one with her little foot!!

Now...a moment to whine...

I consider my pregnancy to be quite blessed so far.  Compared to the many stories I've heard about the ailments of pregnancy, mine has come nowhere near being as uncomfortable as others. 

Still, I have my days...and this week has been a doozy.

This has been the week of aches and pains.

From my hips and knees aching, to a pain right in the center of my back...you name it, I've felt it this week.  However, the strangest symptom of all was the extreme bout of heartburn (at least I think that's what it was) brought on by my favorite guacamole dip.  I've experienced some mild heartburn so far with pizza, spaghetti, mexican, and buffalo sauce, but this was extreme!!  There I was, enjoying my delicious guacamole when suddenly I have to stop eating because it feels as if it's lodged in my throat (and I know I didn't take that big of a bite!!). For the next two hours or so, I experienced waves of pain in my esophagus like someone had grabbed hold of it and squeezed tightly.  Not very pleasant!!  Even after it subsided, anything I ate or drank irritated it for the rest of the night. 

Luckily, I was as good as new the next morning, and I've haven't experienced anything of the sort since then.  Let's just say I'll be avoiding guacamole for a while!

Well Traveled Baby...

It's amazing how many places a baby will go even before it leaves the womb!  I was sitting here thinking about our upcoming trips, and realized that we have a well traveled baby!  Already our baby has been to Cozumel and Progresso, Yucatan in Mexico!  It has already traveled to the beach once and will make another journey this weekend.  Baby has been to two Alabama games, all over the state of Alabama, and will travel to Gatlinberg in November.  Heck, Baby will even go camping at the end of this month!

I think of it as preparation for the many trips Baby will take in the future! 

I sure hope he or she likes to travel....

Sleepy...

I'm waking up in the middle of the night more frequently now....for many different reasons of course!  Whether it's a potty break, aching hips and legs, or the cats romping around the room, it always results in the same thing....I can't get back to sleep!

Once I wake up it's very difficult to get comfortable again.  I blame this on my change in sleeping position.  I've been sleeping semi on my stomach for as long as I can remember!  Now that this position is becoming less convenient (thank you baby!!), it's hard to find a comfortable position.  Thank goodness my husband had the foresight to buy a body pillow before it was even necessary.  The body pillow certainly helps.  It allows me to remain in a position that feels like my old one, without squishing the belly!  This is a sacrifice for Devin, though...

Take this morning for example.

Around 4:00 am I was awake, and once I took care of business I couldn't get back to sleep.  The solution...grab the body pillow!  Once I picked a side I was snoozing in no time.  When I woke up again at 6:30, there I was sprawled comfortably on the bed with the body pillow taking up an additional foot of space, and poor Devin was lying on his side on the edge of the bed. It looked very uncomfortable, and I felt terrible!

He's a good sport, though, and he doesn't say a word.  I'm lucky to have him!

15 weeks and 1 day...or is it 15 weeks and 4 days?

We are 15 weeks, but I'm not sure of the day!! According to the calendar on my phone and my app on facebook, I'm 15 weeks and 1 day, but according to the chart at the doctor's office I'm 15 weeks and 4 days.  They've been the same until  now, so I'm not sure what happened.....either way we're 15 weeks!

We had an appointment this past Friday.  Everything went well.  I had to wait for a while (first time, but I knew it would happen eventually) because Dr. Dipiazza was on call.  Then, when I finally got back there the nurse couldn't find the heartbeat and kept jabbing me in the abdomen (OUCH!).  Not to worry....Dr. Dipiazza came in and gently found it in no time!  The heartrate was 166 and everything appeared normal.  I'm still losing weight at each appointment, but Dr. Dipiazza says everything's fine as long as I'm not getting sick and eating like normal.

Boy or Girl? We find out what we're having on October 27.....24 more days!!!  Cast your vote before it's too late!

Say a prayer for a fellow teacher at my school....she lost her baby at 12 weeks a few days ago. :(

Baby bump...

We're 13 weeks and 1 day now...and baby is starting to show :)

It's just a little bump right now, but it's there for sure!  Our last appointment went really well.  Baby was measuring 1.7 inches with heart rate of 144.  The baby should be over two inches long now, almost three.  Devin and I listened to the baby's heartbeat this past Saturday using a fetal doppler.  It was very exciting to listen to that sound!

Almost everyone knows about our big news now.  Its still making its way through the grapevine at school, but its only a matter of time before it makes it to everyone.  I'm not the only teacher expecting this year...one of our 3rd grade teachers is just two weeks behind me!

Our next appointment is Sep 30, a week from Friday.  Hopefully an update will come sooner this time!

10 weeks!!

We are now 10 weeks and 1 day....

The baby should be a little over an inch long, but we'll find out for sure on Friday!! I can't wait to see baby McAnnally again and see how much he/she has grown :)

I'm feeling about the same these days, which I consider a blessing.  I can't wait to make our news known to everyone!  It's getting hard to hold it in :)

Just five more days before Baby McAnnally goes to his/her first football game!! ROLL TIDE!! We're starting off right :)

8 weeks, 4 days...

So....we're at 8 weeks and four day...only two weeks from tomorrow until our next appointment!  I can't wait!  I was so ready for school to start, and now school has started and I'm TIRED!! Who would have guessed :)

No strange, outlandish pregnancy symptoms yet...just a little nausea each day and an aversion to some foods.  Devin had his first get-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-and-make-your-pregnant-wife-some-food experience the other night.  His mission....peanut butter toast and milk :)

Just a few more weeks and we'll make our exciting news work and facebook official! Can't wait to tell the world.

Appointment #2

We had our second appointment today!  We're six weeks, five days pregnant...not quite as far along as they had originally estimated!  That makes our new due date March 25, 2012....Devin may be getting a baby for his birthday :)

Everything looked great!  The baby's heartbeat was 133, and it measured about 0.7 centimeters, about the size of a small pea. It was very exciting to see Baby McAnnally and hear its heartbeat.  We can't wait for our next visit!

Waiting

It seems like a million years ago when we had our last doctor's appointment, but it's only been a week!!  I'm going crazy waiting for our ultrasound appointment next week.  I can't wait to see the first images of our baby. I know it will be amazing.

I'm eager for school to start so I'll have something to occupy my mind.  I'm feeling a little unmotivated so I'm looking forward to the activity of school!

Haven't decided yet when I'll tell my school friends....we'll see! 

Godparents!!

Yesterday we told our friends Ashley and Eric that we're having a baby.  It was very exciting! We also asked if they would like to be our baby's Godparents, and they said yes!! So, our baby now has Godparents.  I'll always remember how special my Godmom is to me, and I can't wait for baby McAnnally to get to know his/her Goddaddy and Godmommy!

Beyond excited!!

I am very very excited about the soon to be new addition to our family. It will be a great adventure and we are looking forward to the challenge.

We're Having a Baby!!

So it's official.  We're having a baby!  After our doctor's appointment this past Friday, we know we're about 6 weeks pregnant and our baby's due in March, just in time for Devin's birthday!  It's so exciting and scary, but we can't wait to be parents.  We know we have wonderful family and friends to support us along the way. 

More to come!!