June Doctor's Appointment

I had my June doctor's appointment today and everything is going great. Besides my hormones constantly being in overdrive, I have had a very good pregnancy so far. My appointment was at 8AM for an ultrasound and a glucose test which checks for gestational diabetes. I was not in the waiting room for very long when I was called back to give blood. I had strict instructions to fast since midnight the night before. The nurse took my "fasting" blood, then I had to drink an orange, thick drink which reminded me of a thicker Sunkist drink. It did not taste as bad as I thought it would. =) I looked at my watch and it was exactly 8:13AM. I was told I had to come back in exactly one hour at 9:13AM to give my second round of blood that would later be sent off to compare the two sets. My test results should be in this afternoon or tomorrow morning. If it comes back positive then I have to schedule another appointment where I will have to go through all this again, plus they will take blood 4 times instead of two. No news is good news, so I hope my blood comes back negative.

Avery was very active for the ultrasound today. She is already so adorable and has the perfect little nose!! =) She weighs in at 2 lbs 7 oz. and is 28 weeks old. They could not measure her length since she is in a ball, but she is about the size of a head of cauliflower. Her heartbeat was in the 140's which is good for a girl. It looks like she will have big feet. She was kicking the entire time her picture was being taken. My next appointment is July 3, 2008 which will just be a regular check-up. Dr. Hall will measure my belly and check her heartbeat. After my July appointment I will be going for check-ups every two weeks until she decides to make her debut. Please keep praying that she stays healthy and keeps growing.

Here are her pictures from today:

She has a name...

After much thought and consideration, Ben & I have finally decided on a name for our baby girl. We both wanted a unique, uncommon yet classic name. Her names is...

Avery Elizabeth Cooper

Avery: The boy's and girl's name Avery \a-ve-ry\ is pronounced AY-vree. It is of Old English origin, and its meaning is "elf counsel". Feminine form of Alfred that originated as a Norman French pronunciation of Alfred. (Side note: My maternal grandfather's name is Alfred Preston Futch, so in a way she will be named after the sweetest man to ever walk this earth!!)

Elizabeth: The girl's name Elizabeth \e-lizabe-th, el(i)-za-beth\ is pronounced ee-LIZ-a-beth. It is of Hebrew origin, and its meaning is "God's promise". Biblical: the mother of John the Baptist. Since the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Elizabeth has been one of the most frequently used names, with variants and short forms being created today.

Cooper: The boy's name Cooper \co(o)-per\ is pronounced KOO-per. It is of Old English origin, and its meaning is "barrel maker". May also be the English form of a German surname meaning "coppersmith"

Nursery

Here is a picture of the bedding we picked out for Avery. The bedding is baby pink, hot pink & sage accented with ladybugs. It's adorable!! Ever since finding this bedding I have been obsessed with ladybugs. I think her room will be very cozy once it's all here and set up. Her daddy and I are still working on cleaning out the "office" so it can be her room soon. We have officially said that Avery's room will be ready on July 1st!! We'll see. I will post some pictures of her room when all her furniture arrives and everything is set up.

...It's a GIRL!!!

Well, it's official!! It's a GIRL!! She did a great job of giving us a "birds eye view" of her goods today during the sonogram. I was told to drink a Sprite before my visit. Supposedly this gets the baby moving around and boy did she move. Mrs. Cheryl (the sonographer) was chasing her all over my belly to get good measurments. =) She weighs about 11 ounces and is around the size of a big tomato.

I arrived at the doctor's office at about 2:45 for my appointment and they took me right back. Mrs. Cheryl poked and prodded me for about 15 minutes taking good measurments of her head, crown to rump, heart beat (150), etc. She asked if we wanted to find out the sex of the baby and I said yes, but wanted to wait until Ben was in there so we could find out together. So, she called him back there and showed us a picture of her "hiney" and her little "vajay vajay". We both cried!! I could have sworn I was having a BOY all this time. Guess I was wrong.

After Ben & I found out they called my mom and Mrs. Sally back to the room so they could have a look at the sonogram. They were both very excited when they found out their grandchild is a girl. We looked at her for what seemed like forever. She was very active and kept us entertained for awhile. I am just so amazed at modern technology and what you can see these days.

My next appointment is just a belly check up on May 8th and my next ultrasound is scheduled for June 5th.

Keep praying that we stay healthy and keep growing!! =)



It's a GIRL!!!

Foot/Leg & Spine


Look at that sweet face!!!


Profile & 3D image

Profile & 3D image

Feet & Arm

Is it a BOY or a GIRL...?

We will find out if we are having a BOY or a GIRL on April 10, 2008. Gosh, time has FLOWN by. I am already 17 weeks. Only 3 more weeks and I'm halfway to meeting my little peanut. =)

I should be feeling him/her move soon. I read where you can start to feel flutters between 16-20 weeks. I lay still everynight right before bedtime to see if I can feel anything, but nothing yet. But then again, i'm not quite sure what i'm feeling for.

Ben & I are leaving for Branson today. We decided to take a little road trip, just the two of us, before the baby and everything gets too hectic. I'm looking forward to relaxing and enjoy spending time with Ben.

Until next time...

Doctor Appointment #2

February 22, 2008:
Ok, now that it's been over a week since my last doctors appointment, I think it's time to update everyone on what has been going on. My second doctors appointment went well. Ben was working in New Orleans all week, so I asked my mom to stand in for Ben since I didn't want to go to the doctor by myself. I had to start scheduling my appointments at 3:15 since it's easier to leave school at the end of the day without having to get a sub for my class. I arrived at the hospital around 3:00, picked up mom and headed over to the doctors office. I knew they had a bunch of stuff scheduled since my last appointment was short and sweet. We weren't in the waiting room but a few minutes when they called me back to do my second sonogram. Little peanut was very active this time. He/She has grown quite a bit. He/She is almost 2 inches and about the size of a lemon. Mom & I got to see little peanut turn flips....it was the coolest thing. I can't wait until I can actually feel him/her moving around in my belly.

I finally got to meet Dr. Hall. He is very nice and I feel very comfortable with him. I feel like he will do a great job taking care of Little Peanut and I over the next 6 months. Dr. Hall decided to move my due date up to AUGUST 30, 2008. He said that the baby was bigger and much easier to measure this time. He/She measured 11 weeks and 5 days (give/take 3 days).

I have been having tons of dreams about little BOYS. I don't know where they are coming from. Maybe it's my conscious preparing me for a little boy. So, i'm going to go out on a limb and be the first one to say that I think Peanut is a boy. Of course I may be wrong, but that is just the feeling I have right now.

I am going on 13 weeks and I have not been sick once until last Sunday. That was my first time to actually get sick and luckily it was on the weekend. Ben & I got up and got ready for church. Right when it was time to leave I started feeling woozy. I told Ben that I get nauseous often, but have never gotten sick and that it would pass soon. So we loaded up the car and headed to church. We almost got to Jackson St. and I told Ben that I needed to go back home. Luckily I made it back home and to the bathroom in time. =) I have been fine ever since Sunday. I think I have figured out that taking my prenatal vitamin on an empty stomach isn't such a good idea. I have since started taking my vitamin at night after dinner. Hopefully I won't have anymore sick episodes. I have been very blessed these past 13 weeks to only be sick once. I'm still keeping my fingers crossed.

Until next time....





February 13, 2008:
I had another Doctor Appointment today. Not much time to update right now. He moved my due date up to AUGUST 30, 2008. Turns out that i'm further along and it was much easier to measure the size of the baby this time. Will update more soon. =)

Week #8

Your pregnancy: 8 weeks

Click to enlarge

How your baby's growing:

New this week: Webbed fingers and toes are poking out from your baby's hands and feet, his eyelids practically cover his eyes, breathing tubes extend from his throat to the branches of his developing lungs, and his "tail" is just about gone. In his brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways. You may be daydreaming about your baby as one sex or the other, but the external genitals still haven't developed enough to reveal whether you're having a boy or a girl. Either way, your baby — about the size of a kidney bean — is constantly moving and shifting, though you still can't feel it.