Life as a Pregnant Woman

September 16th. That's the day that life changed in a dramatic way. After multiple tests, Brian and I found out that we are going to have a baby. A few weeks later, we got our first glimpse of Baby Leymon. We estimated the due date as May 18th and began to think about life as a family of three (well six if you count the dogs).

6-week ultrasound

We had an ultrasound early on to try to pinpoint the due date. Here's what we saw.



Which meant that baby Leymon was about the size of a lentil.



13-week ultrasound

Then about two months later we got a better look at this amazing blessing.



At this point, baby Leymon was about the size of a medium shrimp.



16-week ultrasound

And then today (December 8th) we got another face up, belly up shot.



That puts baby Leymon at about the size of an avocado.



And here's how mommy looks now as well.



So what are we having? There are lots of wives tales out there, and the Chinese Lunar Calendar is one of them.



19 1/2-week ultrasound on December 30th

It's a girl! We were able to bump up our big appointment by about six days and are wrapping up 2009 with news that this little miracle is a girl. She is developing well and weighs about 10 ounces. She apparently also likes to play peek-a-boo already.



19 1/2 weeks puts us somewhere between an heirloom tomato and a banana.





And how I'm developing too



22 weeks - more than half-way there
Unless there's a problem, we won't have any more ultrasounds so the next pics of Madeline will be when she makes her debut in May.

So until then, here's where she is size-wise:

Your baby has stretched to the size of a spaghetti squash and weighs almost a pound. (Length: nearly 11 inches.)

And here's how momma is progressing, too.




24 weeks, 1 day



25 weeks, 3 days


25 weeks, 4 days
Sorry for the awful hair and red face - spent last night at the emergency vet with one of the dogs. But I thought this outfit showed the bump more than some others.


26 weeks (98 days)


Dallas Baby Shower - 28 weeks

30 weeks, 4 days

31 weeks, 2 days

33 weeks

33 week, 5 days - Albuquerque Baby Shower

My mother-in-law Marilyn, sister-in-law Kathy and mom got together to throw me a beautiful shower at my house. Little did I realize that just two days later I'd be put on bedrest until the end of my pregnancy. We had such a good time that no one really took many pictures. But we had a full house of friends and family, and I loved being able to see everyone and show off Madeline's room.

36 weeks, 4 days - The final belly shot before we left for the hospital