5 Month Belly

Here I am with my 5 month belly. I can't believe we're half way there already! Some people ask me if it's gone by fast. In some ways it's gone kind of fast, and in other ways time is dragging on. I can definitely say that I love being pregnant, other than my really bad acid reflux/heartburn.














Your baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. (For the first 20 weeks, when a baby's legs are curled up against his torso and hard to measure, measurements are taken from the top of his head to his bottom — the "crown to rump" measurement.

He's swallowing more these days, which is good practice for his digestive system. He's also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in his bowels, and you'll see it in his first soiled diaper (some babies pass meconium in the womb or during delivery).

5 month appointment

Well, we were reassured- it's a girl in there! It was an exciting appointment, for other reasons as well. All of her measurements (which they can tell a lot about regarding genetic disorders and what not) are perfectly normal, and the blood work last week to test if I had any blood disorders which can cause stillbirths came back negative! Praise God! I know there is always something that can happen, but a lot was ruled out today; which made John and I both feel better! I think the ultrasound pictures are pretty clear to see what you're looking at.

Here are some pictures from our appointment today:

Beach Games 2010

The awards ceremony

Claire, Katey, and me

Self-explanatory

All the girls: dry and pretty

John and Stew competing in the wake board wheelbarrow race!

Dan and Cam competing in the wake board wheelbarrow race!

Fierce competitors

Dan bobbing for shovels...in nasty ocean water!

This past weekend we had a great time with friends at Beach Games 2010! A small group of us started this 'tradition' last year on Easter, where we played games on the beach. It was a pretty simple idea we and the Tollers came up with, and since it was so much fun, we decided to make it an annual event!

This year was a even BIGGER! There were a lot more people (18 instead of 10), and there were 7 events instead of 3. The events this year ranged from wake board wheelbarrow races to water jug relay races. It was so fun to watch the guys compete (some more competitive than others), and enjoy company of awesome friends as well!

After the events were over (which lasted about an hour and a half), we had a nice BBQ on the beach. Everyone pitched in by bringing/making food so the expense was spread amongst a lot of people.

I think the best part was just watching, and enjoying a day filled with laughter! John and I are so incredibly blessed with amazing friends! Funny, outgoing, adventerous, amazing friends!

Fear vs. Truth

Before you're pregnant, you meet/her of people who have had miscarriages, and then when you are pregnant the stories don't stop. They just keep coming, and coming...

Just when you think you're in the 'safe' zone of being past your first trimester, you hear NEW horror stories that make you even MORE nervous than when you were just a few weeks along in the pregnancy.

I'm a little over 18 weeks pregnant, and so far this pregnancy has gone smoothly. There have been so many times however, that the words people say to me fuel fear about losing the baby, instead of fuel confidence in God, and His will for this baby.

I just in the last three days read two terribly sad stories of women who lost their babies at 35 weeks along for various reasons. And although this is very uncommon, it clearly still happens. When I tell people these stories, everyone's response (including the doctors') is "Well, that is very uncommon, and the chance of that happening to your baby is so rare." When people say that, it makes me think that it can't be that rare. I mean I hear stories almost every week about women losing their babies during the 'safe' zone. And I'm sure the women who lost their babies would never have imagined that they would be part of that very rare statistic.

Constantly I have to remind myself (with a lot of help from my awesome husband), that God has a plan for this pregnancy, and our baby. Even though I can fill my mind with discouraging stories, God's truth is so much more powerful than my fear!


The following verses have been helpful to me during our pregnancy, and I keep them in my purse so I can read them when I get fearful:

"I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted what I asked of him"
~ 1 Samuel 1:27

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb."
~ Psalm 139:13

"From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another."
~ John 1:16

"For God has not gives us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." ~2 Timothy 1:2

Veggie Baby and 18 Week Belly...

Head to rump, your baby is about 5 1/2 inches long (about the length of a bell pepper) and he weighs almost 7 ounces. He's busy flexing his arms and legs — movements that you'll start noticing more and more in the weeks ahead. His blood vessels are visible through his thin skin, and his ears are now in their final position, although they're still standing out from his head a bit. A protective covering of myelin is beginning to form around his nerves, a process that will continue for a year after he's born. If you're having a girl, her uterus and fallopian tubes are formed and in place. If you're having a boy, his genitals are noticeable now, but he may hide them from you during an ultrasound.

Here I am at 18 weeks along. I kind of think I look bigger than I really am in this picture, maybe because the tank top I'm wearing is loose, and not form fitting.

Surprise Appointment

As a lot of you guys know, our scheduled appointment to find out the sex of the baby is May 24th. One of our good friends is an OBGYN, and asked me if we wanted to come to her office, so we could find out the sex of the baby a few days sooner...um, yea! (She works at a different office, with different insurance, so I wasn't sure if that would be ok.) She assured me it was totally fine, and just something we'd do for fun, and advised me to keep my other appointment coming up. The appointment on the 24th will reaffirm that it's girl, and that ultrasound is used to check for any abnormalities, check the due date, and so on.

Needless to say, we took her up on her offer, and was SO excited! We got there first thing in the morning! Our friend was so patient trying to find girl/boy parts. The baby was a little stubborn at first, and kept her legs locked for a while. It took about 15-20 minutes, but Avery opened her legs a little bit, and it was pretty clear to see. Our friend said she's about 90% sure it's a girl. She said when it's a boy, the parts are 'right there', and easy to spot. It was so neat to watch Avery on the screen, moving around like crazy all bendy and cute! We're still really excited for our appointment in a little over a week, because we'll get to see Avery again, and because hopefully it's confirm that SHE is a SHE! Here are two pictures from right after our appointment!

It's a G-I-R-L !!!!!!!!!!!

There's a story that goes along with our appointment being today, instead of a week from now...which I'll share in a different post with more pictures from the morning. Super excited to announce that we're having a GIRL!

Avery Paige Dorr is one modest little girl!

(Click on the ultrasound to enlarge it.)