Our Last Childless Christmas!

I hope you all had a blessed Christmas celebrating the birth of our Savior and LORD.  Andy and I went to GA to visit my family for Christmas.  It was awesome to be able to include Beulah in our celebrations!  See below.  Have a Happy New Year!!  Next Christmas we'll have an 8 month old!!

Latest Belly & Family Pix

These were taken on Beulah's first Thanksgiving!  We were in FL with Andy's family, which explains the short sleeved shirts and the water.  :)

Tiny Dancer!

Check her out!  This is Beulah moving at 22 weeks!  I took this video with the camera on my chest looking down at my belly with a remote on top.  The only movement that I made was breathing, the rest is her!  I edited out all the still moments, that's why the clips jump sometimes.  Enjoy the performance!

Beulah movement 22 weeks from Michelle Crissinger on Vimeo.

Meet Beulah!

Here she is!  This is Beulah's anatomy scan taken at 18 weeks.  She's gorgeous!!!

It's another long video (16 min), so you may want to jump around.  Some of the best parts are about 15-20 sec clips beginning at the following times:  3 min 35 sec, 8 min 10 sec, 10 min 28 sec, and 14 min 10 sec.  

Since it's an anatomy scan, most of the video is spent locating and measuring organs, which is fun for me to see, but maybe not as fun for you to see.  :)  But, just in case you want to watch the whole thing, here's what you will see.  The first circle you see is the abdominal cavity (AC).  The things that look like holes are actually organs!  The second big circle you see if the top of the head, the beautiful brain.  Here is a little key to some of the abbreviations you'll see.

4 CH Heart = 4 chamber heart (When I saw it I said, "Hallelujah!")

Cereb = cerebellum

NF = nuchal fold

Lat Vent = lateral ventrical

3 VC = 3 valve cord (umbilical cord)

R Vot = right ventrical

L Vot = left ventrical

Placenta Sag = means the placenta is low

Rt Ov = right ovary

LLT Adnexa = ????

Because my placenta is low I get to have another ultra sound in 10 weeks!  They say it's not blocking my cervix, so we're not worried about placenta previa.  They just want to check it again to make sure it's moved up as my uterus grows.

Enjoy my beautiful little girl, our daughter!!

Beulah Ultrasound 2 from Michelle Crissinger on Vimeo.

It's a GIRL!!

If I could express my excitement in characters on a computer screen, I'm afraid it would come out like this @#%^&*!  I am refraining from putting an infinite number of exclaimation points at that end of this sentence:  IT'S A GIRL!!!  (Could you tell by the changes to the blog?)  Our poll results?  17 people (38%) voted it was a girl.  27 people (61%) voted it was a boy.

I don't know how I knew it would be a girl (see last night's post), but I did.  The greatest blessing of all is her great health!  The tech said everything looked "normal".  We saw the four chambers of the heart, the brain, liver, kidneys, bladder, 10 fingers, 10 toes, spine, ribs, etc. and she is just perfect!  She is still measuring a week ahead of schedule, but they're not planning to change the due date.  She's the most beautiful sight we've ever seen!  Praise the good LORD!!  I told Andy that he was glowing.  He's worried about having to give her away one day.  :)

And now for the name reveal...drum roll please...

Her name is Beulah!  When you get a chance, read Isaiah 62.  I cried when Andy read it to me last night.  It has so much significance to us.  Beulah is the new name God gives Zion when he redeems Israel.  It also says in verse 4, "No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate."  That's what we were through six years of infertility.  Not anymore, Hallelujah!!  Verse 3 says, "You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD's hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God."  That's our prayer for Beulah.  

We're still toying with the middle name, but we tend to say Beulah Grace.  I had a great-grandmother named Grace.

I'll post the newest video of our beautiful Beulah after I've had a chance to talk to my friend Greg, the computer whiz.  :)

I didn't sleep well last night.  I dreamed that my clock went off at 6:30 and so I turned it off.  As I was laying there thinking about our ultrasound, I fell back asleep and woke up at the time of our appointment.  My mom was here with us (in my dream), so I made her call the doctor while Andy and I frantically got ready to go.  I kept saying, "This was supposed to be our anatomy scan.  We were supposed to find out the gender today!"  It was more of a nightmare than a dream.  I was happy that it wasn't true.  I woke up early.  :)

Since she (Did you hear that? I said SHE!) started moving a couple of weeks ago, the bonding has been so much easier.  And now that she has a name, it's even more-so.  We couldn't be happier or more thankful for this incredible blessing.  Now, I'm going to go praise our LORD for the miracle of our precious baby, Beulah.

It's His Turn!!

As Andy was teaching children's church this morning I was listening with my hand resting on my belly when the baby kicked and I felt it in my hand!  So, tonight when the baby started moving I called Andy over and he was able to feel it twice!!  It is so great for him to be able to participate in the excitement that I feel when s/he moves!

So, tomorrow's the big day!  We find out in the morning whether it's a girl or a boy!  I see on the right side of the blog that most are voting for a boy, so it will be fun to see who was right.  I will post as soon as we get home, so check back when you get a chance, and if you haven't placed your vote...there's still a couple of hours left.

FYI--I think it's a girl.  Andy thinks it's a boy, but he's starting to have his doubts.  We'll see!!  Hopefully I'll sleep tonight.  :)

More Thoughts

My friend, Amanda, took more pictures of my belly a few weeks ago for the gift she's making me and these were the thoughts I sent to her this time.

1.  (after seeing the first ultra sound at 11.5 weeks)  "I never knew a spine could be so beautiful!"

2.  Psalm 139:13-16  The pressure is off of me to be perfect when I consider the fact that God is the one who is knitting my little one together and that He has already planned who he wants him/her to be.  Thank God it's not up to me!

3.  I STILL can't believe I'm pregnant!!

More Belly Pix!

OK, folks, in keeping with election week, you have one more week to vote on our baby's gender! Next Monday, November 10th, we find out whether the X or Y chromosome has won! So, Nikki and Heather, here are your latest belly pix (at 17 weeks) to help you decide on your vote.

The Moment I've Been Waiting For!!

We've got movement, people!!  What a ridiculously amazing miracle!!  I've heard it described as a flutter or a feeling similar to gas bubbles, but the best word I can use to describe it is energy.  It feels like a ball of energy inside.  I have to be very still to feel it, but when I do, I could just lay there for hours.  Thank you, God, for this privilege!

What's Going On Here?

Last week I wore a pair of jeans that someone loaned me.  They were a little loose, so they were comfortable.  It was possible that I could wear them for a while because they are low waisted.  But, this week...they don't fit!

Yesterday I subbed and went straight to the Y afterwards.  I went in the locker room to change into my workout clothes, but promptly left when I couldn't fit in those pants either!

I knew my hip bones would spread, but I thought it wouldn't be until closer to delivery.  I was relieved Tuesday when I talked to a girl who is 9 weeks ahead of me in her pregnancy and she said she went in to get fitted for a bridesmaid dress a few weeks ago and when she went back to try it on her hips were measuring two inches bigger!  I'm just glad I'm not alone.

This is one of those times when I'm reminded how important it is to have community around you.  If it weren't for the girls who have so generously loaned me clothes to wear throughout my pregnancy, I'd be sporting pants that were never intended to look like spandex!  Thanks, Pricilla, Jeni, Kylie and Courtney! 

My Growing Belly

Per the request of many of my out of town friends and family, here is a picture of the beginnings of my baby bump!  It looks big to me now, but I know it will grow significantly before all is done.  I love it!  This picture was taken at Mike's wedding.

Our Baby!

Here it is, thanks to Greg!  It's a LONG video (13 minutes) but it gets better as it goes on.  If you don't have time to watch the whole thing, start it at the 7 min. 30 sec. mark.  That's where you'll really see some action.  

Throughout, the tech stops to take measurements.  One time you see the arrow point around the boy/girl area, but she was pointing to the bladder, so don't get too excited.  Although I got pretty excited because that was a good sign that the kidneys were working properly!  At one point you'll see the crown of the head.  It might look like a circle to you, but if you look in the circle you should see a butterfly.  She said it's called the "butterfly effect" and it shows the two hemispheres of the brain.  And yes, that little flutter you see is the HEARTBEAT!!

I wish I could watch it with you so that I could point out the times where you can tell I'm laughing.  You'll see the walls of the uterus contract quickly and repeatedly.  She was trying to make me laugh so that the baby would move and change positions.  My favorite parts are when you can see the spine, the little bottom, the legs kicking, etc.  It's amazing that they have the technology to look inside and see all of that at only 11.5 weeks!  Unbelievable!!

Our anatomy scan should be the week before Thanksgiving, so don't forget to cast your vote for boy or girl in the poll on the right before then!

Baby Crissinger Ultrasound from Michelle Crissinger on Vimeo.

Milestone!

Celebrate with me today as I enter my second trimester! Hurray!