Growing Like a Weed... or a Bell Pepper

Dear Sweet Baby Kay,

How funny it was to find out that you are the length of a green pepper this week!  I have started a tiny garden on the side of our house and just yesterday day we noticed our green peppers are growing.  We sifted through the plants to find 15 tiny green peppers growing!

Our tomato plant also has 2 nice tomatoes growing on it.  Won't it be fun to plant flower and vegetable gardens together once you arrive?

You weigh about 7 ounces this week and spend a lot of time flexing your arms and legs.  Your ears are in their final position on your head and blood vessels can been seen through your thin skin.  Myelin, a protective covering, is being formed around your nerves, and this will continue throughout your first year of life.  Determining if you are a boy or a girl would be easy to detect on an ultrasound.  Speaking of this, we will get to see you again in 8 short days!  We have our big 20 week ultrasound and anatomy scan next week (yes, it will be a week early when you are 19 weeks, but we aren't complaining!)  Will we find out what you are?  I don't know.  I did have my third dream on Saturday night that you are a little girl.  My dreams will either be right or wrong!  We got a great phone call from the doctor this week telling us you are clear of neurotube defects.  Your Dad and I love you no matter what, but we were so happy to hear this healthy report.

Here is a picture that gives us a good idea of what you look like right now.  Isn't it amazing!?!?  Oh, I just cannot wait to meet you!  At this time, you may be able to hear my heart beating, my tummy gurgle or loud sounds outside of the womb.  Do you know you are the only person to know what my heat beat sounds like from the inside?

Last Friday, your Dad and I celebrated a very special day for us.  May 25th is when he proposed to me in a very special way that we look forward to telling you all about. 

We thought it would be a great idea to continue to make this day special to register for you!  We headed to the store to register after we enjoyed a nice dinner.  We had fun thinking about you and things you might would like, but we were also overwhelmed as first time parents as to what we really needed to get verses what we really didn't need.  We (I) did decide on a must have in the store.  A little background:  Your Dad went to the University of South Carolina and his family members are big USC fans.  I began school at Auburn University, and my family members are big Auburn fan.  Our house is divided as the term states.

We live in USC country, so we kind of figured the baby store would be full of USC baby gear.  There was a huge wall full of baby bibs, and the only college baby bib on the wall was this one:

I, of course, thought this was the greatest thing.  Your Daddy, on the other hand just shook, his head and laughed!  He and I both were exhausted at the end of the registering process.

One of our sweet friends is going to help me get the registry straightened out so it will reflect items we really need for you and items that are safe.

Today, is an important day that we need to tell you about; Memorial Day.  This is a time when we pause to remember those men and women who have fought for our country and defended our freedom.  This is a very important day for our country and for our family.  You come from a long line of service men.  My Grandfather (married to my Sherbert Grandmother) and all of his brother's served in the Armed Forces.

Your Dad's Grandfather also served in the Army.  Your Uncle Brad has served in the Army for 10 years now.

We hope we can teach you over the years what it means to be an American, what sacrifices others have made for our freedom and how this impacts our family.

We love you Sweet Baby Kay and we CANNOT WAIT to see your beautiful face next week!

With all my love,

Mom

Orange You Glad?

Dear Sweet Baby Kay,

Orange you glad that another week has come and gone and you are still growing stronger and bigger every day?  I know we are!

We are beginning our 17th week together.  You are starting to develop brown fat under your skin to help keep you warm at birth.  Your lungs are getting ready to take in oxygen and you are about the length of a large orange, or about 5 - 6.5 inches long.  Your skeleton is changing from soft cartilage to bone, and your umbilical cord is growing stronger and thicker.  You weigh about 5 ounces now.  You are able to move your joints and  your sweat glands are developing.  Your hearing is beginning to develop and your ears are almost in their final location.  That's a lot of work for one week!

As you grow and change, I am growing and changing too.  My allergies have been a lot worse and I learned today, this can be related to pregnancy.  Since you are growing, my internal organs are moving around also, so you have room to grow.  Because of that, I have to eat several small meals a day because my stomach just won't hold that much right now.  I learned about a couple of changes the hard way - nose bleeds and sunburn.  This weekend, your Daddy and I wanted to plant some pretty summer flowers in the front yard.

All the digging and bending over caused me to have a nose bleed, another common thing to happen in pregnancy.  My skin is also much more sensitive to the sun than it has been in the past.  I did not know this, and I ended up looking like a lobster!

I now know I need to lather up in sunscreen this Summer when I venture outside.

I am not really having any cravings so-to-speak, but I did pick up one of my Grandmother's, your Great Grandmother's favorite desserts at the store tonight; Sherbet, or "Sherbert" as I called it when I was little (Shhh! Don't tell anybody, but I still call it Sherbert!).  She was my Daddy's mother and she was a wonderful lady.  She was very kind and loving and meant a lot to me.  I will have to tell you all about her one day.  I wish she were still here to celebrate you and hold you, but I have a feeling she had something to do with sending us down the very special gift of you, Sweet Baby Kay.

This is your four legged brother, Tanner.  He is sitting in your nursery in this picture looking forward to your arrival.  I think the two of you will be best buds.

Another week of loving you and helping you grow is upon us. We couldn't be happier. 

With all my love,

Mom



Don't Cry Over Spilled Orange Juice...

Dear Sweet Baby Kay,

We have begun our fourth month, or 16th week together.  I cannot believe we will get to meet face to face in around five months!  This week you must have been feeling kinda of cramped up because my tummy began to poke out just a little bit.  Most people still cannot even tell I am pregnant!

I have heard many pregnant women experience a variety of emotions throughout pregnancy.  I am no exception!  I always drink a big glass of orange juice in the morning to make sure you get your vitamin C.  When I was getting in my car going to work on Friday, the lid to my big cup of orange juice came off and all the orange juice spilled all over me, all in the car and all over the garage floor.  I cried so hard over my spilled orange juice while thinking "this is quite silly to be crying over spilled juice!".  Oh well!

So what is new with you this week?  Well, you are about the size of an avocado.  You are about 4 1/2 inches long and weigh about 3 1/2 ounces.  Your eyes and ears are much closer to their final position.  And you are beginning to grow toenails!  I will be sure to keep your toes neat, clean and trimmed; you can ask your Daddy how I feel about toe nails!  What are you doing for me?  Well, thank you little one, because my hair, skin and eyelashes have not looked this great since high school!  I definitely have the official "pregnancy glow"!

We had our 16 week appointment today.  We met with Dr. Reed and she was very nice.  Daddy was with me.  He likes to be at all of your appointments to hear your heart and learn all about you.  Today, we did not get to see you, just heard you heart on a doppler.  The doctor started to listen to your heart on one side of my belly, then had to move to the opposite side to find your heart again.  Your rate went from 130 to 140.  It was almost as if you were sleeping and were saying "hey!  Don't poke me!  I am trying to sleep here" as you moved away from the poking! Dr. Reed also measured my tummy and I measured exactly where I should!  You are growing just perfectly!  She is not concerned that I am not gaining weight yet because you are still growing and developing right on time.

What else has been going on?  Mother's Day!  Some of our sweet friends and family thought enough of the two of us to celebrate Mother's Day with me!  I got several cards in the mail and well wishes and some really sweet gifts.  Daddy got me a baby stroller charm for my charm bracelet too.  Just think!  Next year, I will get to celebrate Mother's day with you in my arms!

I also used my new sewing machine for the first time and made a couple of things for you.  They aren't perfect, but they are made with love.

Whoops - I broke a couple of needles in the process!

Your Daddy and I began to clean out the closet in your nursery and go through stacks and stacks of papers.  We promise to have all of this cleaned up by the time you arrive.  Your four legged sister was also quite a mess covered in mud, but wanted to help us sort through the paper mess.

Another wonderful week down.  We can't wait to see you in 22 days during our next ultrasound.

We love you so much sweet one!

With all my love,

Mom

An Apple a Day

Dear Sweet Baby Kay,

I am 15 weeks pregnant with you this week.  15!  Wow, the time is flying by.  For the first few months all I was able to eat was fresh fruit and spinach salads.  I wonder if you will like these things or completely dislike them because that is all I ate for a while!

I have not been too sick.  Just in the mornings when getting ready for work, and sometimes at night time, I don't feel so well.  I don't mind at all.  It reminds me you are healthy and growing, and is a little reminder that you are still my tiny miracle inside my tummy!

Right now, you are about 4 inches long and about 2.5 ounces; about the size of an apple.  Your lungs that will help you to take your first long awaited breath are being formed.  Your arms and legs are growing long and strong and your joints are moving now!  It is so amazing how fast you have grown! Hair may even start to appear this week on your scalp and eyebrows.

Your eyelids are fused shut, but you would be able to sense light if I shined a flashlight on my tummy, and you would probably move away from the light.

I should have gained about 5 pounds by now, but I am actually down about 10 because of not being able to eat much other than fruit and salads.  It won't be too much longer before I finally begin to gain weight, and you will FINALLY make my tummy poke out.  Most people can't even tell I am pregnant now because you are so snuggled up.

This past Saturday was Cinco De Mayo!  We went to a neighborhood party with about 20 adults, 12 kids and 4 other babies-to-be.  You will really like where we chose to raise you.  There is a pool around the corner and lots of very nice Mom's and Dad's and kids to play with.  There are 6 Mom's including me who have babies on the way!  You must have really been excited about meeting all of your new neighborhood friends, because when I woke up Sunday morning, I felt you moving around for the very first time.  It took me a minute to realize it was you, but there was no denying it once I knew!  You felt like a happy little butterfly with hard plastic wings moving around.  It did not hurt at all!

On Sunday we went to a baby fair downtown and learned all kinds of things about what it will be like to have you here and got lots of free goodies to help you grow.

Most of the people who guess think you are a boy.  I have had two dreams that you are a little girl.  It doesn't matter what you are.  We are just so grateful that you are ours.  We haven't decided yet if we will find out before you are a born if you are a boy or a girl.... we will just have to wait and see, sweet one!

With all my love,

Mom

Tiny Miracle

Dear Sweet Baby Kay,

There are no words to express how excited we are that God has given us the gift of your precious life.  We have prayed for you and dreamed for you since the moment our lives joined together on August 5, 2006.

Time started to go by, and days turned to weeks, turned to months, turned to years.  We were so sad thinking that we never would get to meet you.  We did not understand what was wrong.  We went and saw many doctors and took many tests all to discover there was no answer to why we did not have you.

Your Daddy and I spent many nights crying over the thought of never having you, meeting you, holding you and kissing your cheeks.  We spent a lot of time talking about the "what if's" for our life if we never got to meet you.  We met many friends along the way who understood how we felt, and then they were blessed with their own tiny miracle, leaving us to wonder "why not us?".

A couple of years before we learned of you, we were thrilled to find out you had an older brother or sister on the way!  This was a joyous time as we thought our family was finally beginning.  Unfortunately, as hard as your sweet sibling fought to live, they just weren't strong enough to survive. 

A couple of days before Christmas, this tiny baby, who we call Andrew, went to heaven before all of us.  We cannot wait to meet him one day, and for our family to be all together in the glory of God's Kingdom.  We can only dream of what an overwhelming and beautiful day that will be for all of us.

Oh, Sweet Baby Kay!  We have prayed for you for so long.  We weren't sure in what kind of package you would arrive to us, but we knew that when it did, we would be on our knees, so grateful for the gift of you.  Your Daddy and I realized a couple of things this year:

1. We don't make babies, God makes babies.
2. All children are a gift from God and each one is His child first and foremost, sent on loan to us on earth to love, nurture, teach and protect. 

We realized that God will build our family in His time and His way, and we both completely surrendered to his will.  We began our adoption paperwork, and signed our statement of faith.

We turned it all over to God's will for us to begin our family.  We were pre-approved for the adoption process.  We were all set to go to our first adoption information session, when I discovered you.  Yes, Sweet Baby Kay, you.  What a beautiful, tiny miracle you are.  Your Daddy and I are so overjoyed that God chose us to be your Mom and Dad.  He loves you and us enough to bring us together in His way to be a family.

We cried Sweet Baby Kay, oh did we ever cry! Your Grandparents cried, your Great Grandmother cried, your Aunts and Uncles cried, your cousins cried, our closest friends cried. So many tears of joy for the beauty your life! We all have prayed for you and cannot express to you how grateful we are for your tiny life. You are a miracle.  You are so loved already.  You are perfect.  You are the most amazing gift your Daddy and I have ever received.  As we promised to each other in our wedding vows Joshua 1:5 "I will never leave or forsake you", we make that same promise  to you Sweet Baby Kay. 

You, our precious child, are a gift from above.

PICTURE TIME!

This is a picture of you and at the bottom is record of the very first time we heard your tiny heart beating.  Simply overwhelmed at the thought of you.

What a tiny peanut you started out as!

We saw you a few weeks later and found you to be healthy and strong with your tiny, perfect T-Rex arms!

Again, your tiny heartbeat can be seen below.  It was music to our ears.

At our 12 week appointment, you were more recognizable as a tiny human.  It looks like you will have long legs like Mommy and will probably be tall just like both of us.  We were so thankful to see your face and watch you squirm around.  At one point during this visit you even raised your hand as if to say "hi Mom and Dad!".

Look at your heart beating so strong.  We count you and your heartbeat in our blessings every single day.

It has been a long road to get to you.  We had many twist and turns and heart wrenching difficult times.  BUT!  At the end of the road, it was worth every second of the journey to know you are our child, our gift, chosen for us.  We are super blessed, graciously humbled, and incredibly grateful.

With all our love,

Honored to be,

Your Mommy and Daddy