test results and other updates

well, we know the test results of part one of our birth defect screening. all is well with the blood sample as well as the neck measurement! the nurse said everything looks good! yay! we will have one more screening on june 23 when we go back to the doctor. we go to the ob/gyn on june 15 and should find out if we will be buying pink clothes or blue clothes! that will be an ever-so-exciting day! we are in the process of selecting names (one set of each so we are prepared either way)! we are leaning toward an original name for the baby's first name and giving a middle name that is named after someone we know...family member, friend, etc. we really like the names we have selected thus far and are now just narrowing down our middle name options! it is all so exciting! on tuesday, when i had my 12-week sonogram, i was exactly 12 weeks and 3 days along. during that visit, i was surprised to hear the nurse tell the doctor that the baby's measurement was around 13 weeks and 3 days. yikes! baby billett is already larger than average. i guess that is to be expected since austin and i were both large babies! i'll be interested to see how things progress. summer is upon us and we are both glad as can be! austin is starting his master's degree this summer and i am going to have a few tutoring clients to work with. i will also be making time to volunteer at the haven animal care shelter, work on baby stuff, sew quilt tops, organize the garage and have a garage sale, as well as work on other miscellaneous tasks in and around our house! it's going to be busy...but i can smell productivity! take care one and all, :) carianne

heartbeat

greetings! yesterday, austin and i got to hear baby billett's heartbeat for the first time. it was sort of like a horse trotting underwater...a very refreshing sound! the doctor said everything sounded good and that the little one's heart was beating around 160 beats per minute. i asked when we find out if "little one" is going to be wearing blue or pink and she said next time! woo hoo! my next scheduled appointment with her is june 15! i am already soooo excited, as is austin. this afternoon is a sonogram and birth defect screening with a different doctor. i am anxious to see how much the baby has grown. my hope is that everything is going fine and baby's development is right on track! we chose to have the screening done just so there aren't any surprises later...we want to be prepared for every possible scenario. i guess that is all for now. i am thankful that i continue to feel great and that my schedule allows for napping. take care, :) carianne

mother's day weekend

technically, i am not a mommy yet...but I AM a mommy-to-be!!! austin and i had a nice weekend, mostly spent in odessa. we ate, visited, relaxed, went to the midland rockhounds baseball game saturday night, and then ate some more...mom made a cake that was quite deeee-lish! we also had a wonderful breakfast of homemade pancakes and bacon this morning before coming back toward lubbock. we went to our church in brownfield and then i came home and napped for awhile. later in the afternoon, we took austin's mom out to dinner for mother's day and had a yummy mexican food dinner. now we are home for the night. we played with our "girls" out in the backyard, got a few things taken care of for the week, and are getting ready to watch the finale of the celebrity apprentice. we have followed it on and off throughout the season so we are interested to see who wins. baby billett is now the size of a fig. making progress! hooray! before long, i will be showing...and i am sooooo excited about that! i am still feeling great. well, except for the sore throat and cough i have had all week. the sore throat is gone, but the cough lingers. hopefully it will be gone soon and i can have a normal-colored throat again! right now, i am VERY thankful for popsicles! hope all of you readers out there...all two or three of you...have a wonderful week! :) carianne

early in my pregnancy

so as of today, may 7, i am 10 weeks and 5 days pregnant. i had my first appointment on april 14 and found out from a sonogram that we are dealing with one embyro, and not two! you should have seen the relief on austin's face! on tuesday, may 5, i had an appointment to meet one of the nurses i will be seeing many times throughout the next several months. it was basically a meet and greet, a time to review paperwork and medical history, q & a time, etc. then i was sent over to another building for bloodwork. my next appointment is my 12-week appointment on may 18...and from what i hear, we should be hearing the little beating heart within! that will be soooo exciting and i am looking forward to that visit a great deal! the following day i will have a birth defect screening. as far as how i have been feeling...pretty great overall!! the only difference in the way i feel now as opposed to pre-pregnancy is that i am more tired, more often. i am thankful that my current schedule allows me to nap almost daily. another thing is that i have alot of (annoying) vivid dreams now, which was not the case in the past. the last thing...a no brainer...is that i am hungry more often. i am very grateful that i am one of the "lucky ones" who has not had to deal with any nausea, morning sickness, discomfort, etc. i only hope the next six and a half months are as smooth sailing as these first two and a half have been! i am keeping a journal where i jot down random things at random times about things i hear, things i feel, things i eat, people i talk to, and so on. i hope to get better and better at giving my journal a few minutes of attention each day, instead of a couple times a week. i am sure that as i get further and further into the pregnancy, there will be more exciting things to report! all you moms out there can probably confirm that! well, i guess that is enough out of me for now. i have a few things to do around the ol' house! :) carianne