23 Weeks - Beginning of my 6th Month!

Wow time is flying by! I just started my 6 month today according to my "What to Expect When You Are Expecting" book. I have been feeling a lot more movement from Baby Burns lately. After my last post, I began feeling him moving at night when I would relax on the couch or sometimes while driving. Sometimes I won't feel him for a day or two, and then he comes back with a vengeance! He still has plenty of room to move around in there and if he is facing my back he is just hitting my placenta which I really wouldn't feel so I don't worry about it.

According to the book he should weigh about a pound now and should be about 8 inches long, about the size of a small doll. By the end of the month he should double his weight which I'm sure means I will be poking out much more!

I can definitely no longer deny that I am prego. My bump is out there in all its glory :) A couple of weekends ago, I flew to Atlanta for my cousin Laura's baby shower. She is also having a boy named Camden and is due very shortly (June 7). There were three prego's there, Laura, myself, and our cousin Wendy who is due with a girl about 3 weeks behind me. It was funny to see all of us in our different stages. While there, I started my registry at Babies R Us. My mom and I were walking around the store shopping for my cousin, when we found a clearance table. We found some really cute baby bedding that was marked down from $169 to $60. Corey and I hadn't even really decided our theme but since the colors were great and so was the price I snatched it up! We even found some curtains and a few accessories that matched the colors that were also clearanced out. The colors are chocolate brown, orange, sage green, yellow, red, etc. The bedding has 2 giraffes on it (Corey and I have a thing for giraffes) and then circles and stripes in all of the colors. I liked that it was more color/pattern oriented than "themed". Now there are a lot of colors so that no matter what anyone buys us it should match. I will post pictures once I take some.

The day I got back from Atlanta, Corey and I drove to Florence to pick up baby furniture at Target. Our local Target was out of stock of the dresser to go with our furniture and it couldn't be ordered online, so we drove there to pick it up. We got the dresser and changing table, and the next day I picked up the crib at our local store. We have decided to keep the paint color we already had (tan) and just add a white chair rail and touch up the baseboards, etc. We figured since the bedding and accessories have so much color than we would keep the walls neutral. Corey isn't complaining about less work either!

I go back to the doctor next Tuesday (June 1) for my 6 month checkup. After that I will go back at 28 weeks for my gestational diabetes test, checkup, and a follow up ultrasound to see if the Choroid Plexus Cysts have gone away (fingers crossed they have!).

This weekend, my mom and my sister Tina and I are going to Charlotte for a mom/daughter weekend. On accident, we happened to pick the same weekend as the Nascar race so it should be interesting! We are going to finish up my registries and do some baby shopping. I am registered at Target already but we are going to finish up my registry at Babies R Us since we don't have one here. Thankfully Toys R Us (which we do have) carries some baby stuff, but online ordering is awesome :)

We have our first baby showers at the end of June (my work couples shower and the Burns family shower) which we are excited for. My family showers will probably be towards the end of July. We have also registered for a childbirth class/tour of the hospital which we will take July 10th. In August we have also registered for a newborn/infact care class. Hopefully this will be a bonding experience for Corey and I, and make us both feel a bit more confident about our upcoming transition into PARENTS!

Also in July, we are having a 3D/4D ultrasound done to hopefully get some nice facial pictures and a video of our little guy! I am excited because we can take both of our parents/siblings to this ultrasound so they can all share the experience with us. Hopefully by then he will have a name. We are still playing around with a few, so hopefully soon he will no longer be Baby No Name!

Sorry for such a long post, its been a busy few weeks. Thanks for all of the continued prayers and support!

Love, Corey, Ashley, Baby Burns, and Izzie

Finally felt a kick!

First, I wanted to post a picture of the sweet gift from my husband for my "mother-to-be" day. He had me tricked into thinking he didn't get me anything then surprised me at dinner with this really thoughtful gift. It is a carving by a company called Willow Tree. We were given a carving of a man and woman dancing as a wedding gift. While in the mountains last month we saw the Willow Tree collection at the Mast Store and I told Corey maybe we should start a collection since they have carvings for different moments in life. I was pleasantly surprised that he remembered this conversation and got me this sweet carving of a Mother to be caressing her baby belly :)

So, for the past week or so I have been feeling little things that I thought could possibly be the baby moving but I was unsure. Everyone kept saying that it would feel like butterflies or popcorn popping and that wasn't really what I was feeling. I kept having more of a pulsing sensation down near my cervix (which at the last ultrasound was where baby's feet were, but I'm sure that changes daily!). The last few days I have also felt a sort of spasm/vibration in other parts of my uterus. One of my cousins (thanks Amanda!) told me that this was how it felt when she started feeling her babies move and I found a few websites that also described these type of feelings.

Well today after lunch while sitting at my desk, I felt 3 distinct nudges/flicks...this time there was no doubt that I was feeling my baby boy move! I immediately went to my mom's office (we work together) to tell her. She wanted to feel him, but he had stopped by this point and I'm not sure its strong enough to feel from the outside. She proceeded to put her face to my belly and tell him to move for Mimi! :) Then I had to call Corey to tell him as he has been asking me the last day or so if I have felt anything and I kept telling him I wasn't sure.

Tomorrow I am flying to Atlanta with my Aunt Kym for my cousin Laura's baby shower. She only has a few weeks left before baby Camden makes his arrival. She and I are only 6 months apart in age (me older) so I am really excited that not only are we both having boys, but that our boys will only be 3 months apart. I am also excited to be able to go to the Babies R Us while I am there to hopefully pick out the furniture for our nursery so that I can order it and have it shipped home. I am really looking forward to a nice girls weekend with my family.

Thanks for everyone's continued prayers for me and our baby boy!

Love, Corey, Ashley Baby Boy Burns, and Izzie

Our baby boy's first outfits

We bought the giraffe blankie a few weeks ago in the mountains since it was gender neutral. Its really soft and the perfect size for a baby to hold onto!

I had picked up these onesies and pants a couple days before finding out we were having a boy. They were neutral and really cute and I just couldn't hold back from buying something! The top onesie says "Handle with Care" - cute message about the earth, animals, and of course our little one. The second one with the different color stripes says "Love Me", and the bottom one just has little monkeys, birds, giraffes and elephants on it.

So after finding out our baby was a boy, we took a small shopping trip to Target. We picked up a couple of outfits due to our excitement and to celebrate making it to 20 weeks (halfway - woohoo!) The first outfit will be nice and warm to sleep in and you can also turn it into a gown for nighttime. Corey picked out the "Rad like Dad" onesie :) The other one says "Mommy's Greatest Catch"

That's all for now :)

It's a BOY!

Arrow is pointing to his boy parts :) This pic is taken as if baby is placed on his bottom on a glass table and you were looking up. You can see his cute little bottom, top of legs, and boy parts.

Baby's profile...sweet little nose

Baby likes his arm by his face...he kept nuzzling his face into his elbow. You can see his tummy and his knee . I like that you can see his features..nose and mouth .

Baby's feet.

You can see profile of baby: head, arm by face, body, 2 knees and a leg .

So yes, we have a little Corey on the way :) Today was our anatomy ultrasound and 20 week checkup. The ultrasound went fine, we got to see the brain, heart, kidneys, bladder, arms, legs, feet, etc. At the end the tech looked for gender and said that sure looks like boy parts to me...the doctor confirmed and said "if that's not a boy then that needs to be surgically removed!"

The doctor told us that my bloodwork screening for my risks for defects and downs came back great...my risk is over 1 in 10,000.

However we do have 1 new prayer request:

The ultrasound showed a small benign fluid filled cyst on the right ventricle of our baby boy's brain. The doctor wasn't worried and said this happens in about 20% or all normal/healthy pregnancies. Normally the cyst will resolve itself and go away on its own as the baby grows, but sometimes the cyst is still present when the baby is born. They are having me come back for a 28 week ultrasound to check on it. If the baby is born with it then our pediatrician will keep an eye on it. They would just watch it to make sure it doesn't grow or leak fluid that could cause hydro-cephalis (not sure I spelled correctly). She told me the name of the cyst but I can't remember nor pronounce. Our doctor said in her 20 years as an obgyn, she has never had a case where the cyst didn't go away on its own even if it was after birth. I'm sure everything will be fine, but prayers never hurt. Please pray that the cyst will resolve itself before our boy is born, and that it will not cause any damage.

Otherwise everything looked ok, and our growth was on point. Baby is about 11 ounces and about the length of a banana. We go back in 4 weeks for a normal checkup, and in 8 weeks for the gestational diabetes test and a follow up ultrasound.

Thanks again for everyone's prayers...now time to start figuring out how to decorate our boy's nursery!

Love, Corey, Ashley, Baby Burns, and Izzie

My humps, My Lovely Baby Bump

So I never knew how difficult it would be to take a picture of my bump by myself. I finally figured out if I took in front of my mirror, I could see the display on the back of my camera so I could actually see what I was taking a picture of! I have been meaning to take pictures since I found out I was pregnant but always forgot. I can no longer deny my bump so figured now was a perfect time to start taking pictures since I am beginning to grow much quicker now. These pictures were taken at 19 weeks, almost halfway through my pregnancy. Enjoy :)

19 weeks :)

I haven't posted lately as not much has been going on. I went back to the Dr. last week to do the second blood draw for the 2nd part of the screening test for downs/chromosomal defects. I also had a quick checkup that day, and Baby's heartbeat was a strong 150 bpm. I asked the Dr. about sleeping positions, as most pregnancy books tell you not to sleep on your back past 4 months. I am normally a side sleeper but lately sleeping on my sides has been uncomfortable. My hips start to ache which makes my legs hurt and I have been getting cramps in my calves. She told me this was the #1 question she gets from her pregnany patients. She told me for now it was fine to sleep on my back if I was comfortable. She said if I can sleep comfortably without having shortness of breath, then Baby was also getting enough oxygen. She said pretty soon, I wouldn't be comfortable on my back due to the extra weight around my tummy. This has helped since before I would roll over on my back due to my hips hurting, then wake up freaking out about it! I still sleep on my sides some, but I am using about 4 pillows (1 under head, 1 in front of belly, 1 between knees, and 1 behind back) which is definitely helping. Apparently the hormone (I think its Relaxin) that helps your joints loosen up is what's causing my hip pain. Thankfully between the pillows and my favorite chiropractor (love Dr. Kelley!) I am doing just fine...I better be since I know its only going to get worse!

We go back May 4th for our next ultrasound and check up. Corey and I have both taken the day off in hopes that we will be able to find out the sex of Baby Burns, and we can finally have a shopping trip that day! We did buy a small baby blanket and a onesie while visiting his Grandparents in the mountains a couple of weeks ago. The onesie has a weiner dog on it (it honor of our first baby Izzie), but it has little puff sleeves so if its a boy I will have to return. But there was only 1 and it was on sale, so I had to get it just in case! We are ready to buy the baby furniture and bedding, and start registering for everything else. I am trying to get our spare bedroom cleaned out so that once we decide how to decorate we can get started.

I still haven't felt Baby Burns move yet, but the Dr. said it may take me up to 22 weeks with this being my first. Can't wait to start feeling Baby move, as that will also make me feel better between appts. For now the only way of knowing that everything is going OK is when we get to hear the heartbeat.

Well that's really all that has been going on, thankfully I am still being blessed with a pretty uneventful pregnancy. Please continue all of your prayers for us, and thank you again for them!

Love,
Ashley, Corey, Izzie and Baby Burns

16 weeks (4 months)

Time is flying by! I am now a little over 16 weeks. Feeling really good lately. Starting to have more "round ligament pain" with my pelvic ligaments beginning to stretch more. Only tends to hurt if I get up too quickly, sneeze, or sometimes just for no reason. Unfortunately I always sneeze 3-4 four times in a row, so those sharp pains hurt! I am beginning to notice my tummy rounding out a bit below my belly button - feeling a little puffy lately! My family and Corey are noticing the changes more than me most of the time. I need to get better at taking some belly shots as soon I will be showing a lot more all of the sudden. Right now Baby Burns is about the size of an avocado. Baby is weighing about 4-5 ounces and is about 4-5 inches long. Baby is getting ready for a big growth spurt, by the time we go back to the Dr. in just 4 weeks Baby will have doubled its weight and added 3-4 inches!

Had my 4 month checkup yesterday. My blood pressure was a little high when I 1st got there but I think it was from running around before getting there which makes me a little short of breath the bigger baby gets! After laying on my left side for about 5 minutes my blood pressure was back to normal. Once the Dr. came in I got to hear Baby Burns sweet heartbeat again and it was very strong :) Now they have no problem finding the heartbeat - it comes on as soon as the doppler is pressed to my tummy. I will go back in 2 weeks for the 2nd blood test screening for downs/etc. Not worried about this since I passed the 1st screening and nuchal.

Exciting news - Corey and I go May 4th for our anatomy ultrasound. After they check all of Baby's measurements, if Baby Burns cooperates, we should be able to determine if we are having a boy or girl! We had thought about letting it be a surprise but I am too excited to find out! We are ready to buy some baby clothes and start figuring out how we want to decorate the nursery. Can you believe I haven't bought any baby stuff yet?! Besides that 1 pack of diapers I have been holding out until we knew the sex of the baby - this has been very hard for me as I am sure you all understand knowing me!

I am going to try and attach a video (sound only) of Baby Burns heartbeat. I think the Dr. and I were talking in the beginning (sorry forgot I was recording) but towards the end you should be able to hear it :)

Thank you for all the continued thoughts and prayers for our family - love you all!

Love,

Ashley, Corey, Baby Burns and Izzie