29 Weeks

We are getting closer and closer to being ready for the arrival of this little girl. Thanks to a wonderful baby shower given by Allison's friends and many generous gifts, we have just about everything we need (we think!) to take care of her. Of course, we don't want Ford to feel left out of this process, so we let him take a spin in the new stroller....

In other news, the nursery is just about finished. The walls are painted, the crib is put together, and the closet is full of baby clothes. All we have left is to pick out some decorations for the walls.

We have our final "prepared childbirth" class on Tuesday night. The nurse who is leading the class has been quite funny and has dispensed important non-medical advice such as her recommendation that dads not bring Popeye's to the hospital while the moms are in labor, unless they want to be yelled at. John has assured me that he will wait to bring the Popeye's until after the baby is born.

27 Weeks

A lot has happened in the past few weeks....John got to feel the baby kick for the first time, the nursery was painted, and we had two ultrasounds. The first ultrasound was on March 7 with the perinatologist. The perinatologist, or maternal fetal medicine specialist, confirmed that our baby girl's growth is on target overall. He took measurements of her arms, legs, waist, and head, but failed to acknowledge that she is the most beautiful and perfect baby that he has ever seen...an inadvertent oversight, I am sure.

The second ultrasound was on March 14 at a local 3D/4D ultrasound center. Allison's mom came in town for this ultrasound and we all enjoyed watching the baby move around, yawn, stick out her tongue, and suck her thumb. Even though the baby managed to keep her hands in front of her face for pretty much the whole ultrasound, she forgot to keep her legs crossed, so we were able to confirm that she is indeed, a girl.

24 Weeks

Allison is 24 weeks along and we are working on getting ready for the baby. At this week's doctor's appointment, Dr. von Almen looked at Allison's belly and commented "good growth." Allison is viewing this comment as permission to continue eating ice cream and fried chicken.

We have been busy trying to get the nursery ready. We have picked out a crib, bedding, and a chest, and are trying to decide on a color for the room. Ford and Mr. Biscuit are very suspicious of all the furniture that is being moved around in the house in order to accommodate the nursery....it's going to be interesting to see what they think when the baby toys start arriving!

Baby's First Mardi Gras

We had a great Mardi Gras this year! We went to a lot of parades, but stayed pretty close to home as Allison's energy level was still a little low. The baby's favorite part of Mardi Gras seemed to be the marching bands, which inspired her to start kicking regularly!

It's a girl!

We had our 20 week ultrasound this morning and it appears that we are having a girl! Once again, she decided to be a little uncooperative (much like the 12 week ultrasound) by crossing her legs and putting her hands in front of her face. However, between Allison's consumption of sugar this morning and the ultrasound technician pushing on Allison's stomach, she finally decided to move around enough to let us know that she is most likely a girl!

The picture above is an example of how the baby spent most of the ultrasound. For those of you not used to looking at ultrasound pictures, the baby has her two fists covering one eye, her nose, and her mouth. Her other eye (closed) is visible in the middle of the picture.

18 Weeks!

As of Tuesday, January 8, Allison is 18 weeks pregnant! It was another busy week, as Allison and John went to the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day and the BCS Championship Bowl on January 7. The above picture was taken just before the game started. Just two more weeks until we find out whether the baby is a boy or a girl!

16 Weeks!

Allison was officially 16 weeks pregnant on Christmas day. Allison's family came to visit for Christmas and everyone had fun going to tea at Windsor Court, eating John's family's traditional Christmas Eve dinner (pork and black beans), and enjoying lunch at Commander's Palace on the day after Christmas. It was a busy, but fun time. Fortunately, Allison is getting her appetite back because there was a lot of eating involved!