Family & Friends make everything twice as exciting!

We cannot thank all of you enough for your support! This has been such an exciting time for us, and it only makes it better to know we have family and friends out there who are just as excited! Thanks for your sweet posts. I've had SO much fun reading them!

I'm still feeling good... I little scared to say that -- I'm terrified it's going to hit me all of a sudden, and then I'm going to regret bragging about feeling well! I get quesy at times, but no true nausea. Luckily the only food I crave at this early point in the pregnancy is fruit and cooked vegetables! I sure hope it stays that way. :)

I've laughed so much since my appointment last week -- I'm only 8 weeks 2 days, and I've already got people trying to guess the baby's sex. :) I mention the 162 heartrate and people start screaming "it's a girl". Then I mention no morning sickness, and people start screaming "it's a boy". It has been quite entertaining! And I've loved every minute of it.

8 weeks

It's been fun each week reading thru my books that Lisa & Heather gave me. My mom gets a kick out of them comparing the baby size to a food each week. Thought I'd share these with you. God is such an awesome God -- It's a miracle to realize how babies come to be babies. To look at an infant or child and think about how they grew those nine months is just amazing.

From "What to Expect When You're Expecting":
Your baby is growing up a storm, this week measuring about the length of a large raspberry. And that sweet little raspberry of yours is looking less reptilian and more human, as his/her lips, nose, eyelids, legs and back continue to take shape. And though it's still too early to hear from the outside, your baby's heart is beating twice as fast as yours. Something else new this week: Your baby is making spontaneous movements (twitches of the trunk and limb buds too tiny for you to feel).

From "The Pregnancy Book":
Baby is around 1.5 inches long, about the size of a large olive, and weighs around 1/2 ounce. The previously hunched-over head and curved body are now more erect. All the internal organs that will be present in the fully grown infant have already been formed. The heart is now divided into four chambers. Hands, feet, fingers and toes are fully formed. Major joints, shoulder, elbow, wrist, knee and ankle are evident. Mouth, nose and nostrils are more formed, earlobes show, and all the structures of the eyes are found. Body and limb movements can be seen on ultrasound. The developing baby is no longer called an embryo -- it is now a fetus (meaning "young one") and begins to look like a miniature human being.

First Ultrasound

So today was the big day -- our first ultrasound! Since Patti (Jay's mom) is a twin, we were a little nervous about how many heartbeats we may hear today. Conclusion: only one! I've been saying this whole time that I just don't think God made my back to carry two babies. :)

Dr. Gayle said everything looks perfect. The heart rate was 162, and it was such a wonderful experience to hear it for the first time! Fast and strong. He gave us several printouts, but this one is the clearest. The 3D ones look a little too much like a baby koala bear (or a bighorn sheep, according to my dad) from the way the yolk sac and baby are positioned, but the other images came out pretty clear. Today was so much fun because it makes it so real! Seeing the flickering heart was so amazing. Though I see baby ultrasounds on the labor unit pretty often, it was just so much more touching to see our own little baby growing. What a blessing!

I like HAPPY pregnant people

The 14 months of working in Labor & Delivery at Willis Knighton Pierremont was such an unbelievable experience. I quickly found my nursing niche. But when it came time to graduate, with no positions available at WKP (at the time), I was excited to accept a job at LSU in the Labor Unit / Triage. I figured such a high-risk labor unit would be an awesome learning experience. And it was...for the 3 weeks I was there. Yes, you read that correctly...I quit after only 3 weeks.

Loved their unit, but if you know me at all, I think you'll agree that I'd rather be around HAPPY pregnant people. And "happy" is not the word I would choose for the majority of pregnant women there. So, I quickly changed from LSU to WK Pierremont. Luckily the timing was perfect, and they had a day position for me. I am SO excited!!! I'll be back with my WKP girls!

Little Langham

Anyone who knows me knows I'm way too impatient to wait until later to spread the news. WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!!! It's still pretty early, so all we can do is keep praying and hoping everything goes well. But there was no way I was going to be able to hold in the good news for another six weeks. I did good holding it in for 1 week! :) And it was extrememly difficult getting Jay not to tell anyone.

The only thing I wish I would have done last Friday when I first found out was set up a video camera when I announced it to Jay. The moment was priceless. Even after handing him the test that said "pregnant" bright as day across the result window, he still didn't get it. Then it clicked...and he kept saying "you're pregnant? No you're not. Are you really? No you're not. You are?!" We both smiled and laughed and were so excited. But it's still taking a few reality checks to believe it's real.

The World of Blogging....

I feel old. And not just because I'm getting closer to 30 than I am to 25. For some reason I totally missed out on learning about the world of blogging. That is, until I visited a family friend's baby website about a year ago. Though I spend tons of time at the computer on the internet, I never knew how popular blogs were! But now I have to admit.... My name is Sarah and I'm an addict.

I have to give thanks to Natalie for introducing me to this awesome thing! I have had so much fun going to her website each week just to get an update on little Bennett. I was definitely one of her blog "stalkers" -- once I saved the link in my favorites, I found myself going there daily just to read her updates! But it probably didn't help that her posts were always entertaining to read.

I couldn't believe the number of people with blogs once I saw her long list of links! And now I'm hearing of so many people in Shreveport who have started blogs to keep family & friends updated. So here I go.... but I'm warning you....once you start, you can't stop.