Growing, growing, growing

Two little monkeys jumping on the bed (Mackenzie and Ashleigh)

Me in February (5 months)

Me in March (6 1/2 months)

Rob and Ashleigh hanging out 03/25/07

It has been a while since my last posting and I guess between the nice spring-time weather we're having and watching another toddler in addition to my own keeps me really busy. As you can see from the two pictures I posted, the first taken February 18th and the second taken March 25th, I've grown quite a bit in the last month. I'm now almost 29 weeks along in my pregnancy and pretty convinced I'm having a boy, even though we aren't finding out. I have another ultrasound this Friday, so I'll also post an update after the appointment. We're praying that all goes well and that the kidneys are back to normal size. Thank you for all your prayers!

I'm going through the book of Psalms and happened upon my posted verse on Tuesday and was reminded that everyday with our children is a gift from the Lord. It's up to him how long he gives us with them. I got Ashleigh's picture taken on Monday by a Christian girl who is ex-military and had twin girls that were born a day before Ashleigh. They were taken away to be with the Lord after 4 hours and 9 hours and I asked her if it's hard to work with kids or twins Ashleigh's age. She said she learned a lot about life in Iraq and has peace about it - that everything happens for a reason. Amazing! It was the next day I re-read my verse and it spoke to me in a different kind of way.

Doctors and Ultrasounds

I am now almost 25 weeks along in my pregnancy, had my third ultrasound this morning, and am scheduled for a fourth one in four weeks. We aren't finding out the sex of the baby before it's born, and for now we're calling it Jr. Good news is that the placenta is moving away from the cervix, so no more risk of placenta previa. Bad news is that Jr's kidneys are showing that they're dilated, which could either mean an obstruction and/or a Downs indicator. I declined the triple screen in the beginning to determine whether the baby has Down Syndrome as we would have this baby regardless of the outcome of that test. Sometimes I wonder if we really need to know this much to have a healthy and successful birth. There isn't much that can be done in the meantime while they're in the womb, other than worry about things that we may not need to worry about at all! I declined the doctor's suggestion to go see a maternal specialist and opted for another ultrasound to check it again at the next appointment instead.

Here are two pictures from the first ultrasound at my 20-week appointment. We have printed 3D pictures of the face, but not electronically. That was a goof-up on the office's part as they didn't make it onto the CD. They promised to have them at my 28-week appointment, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Things are good with us, otherwise. Busy, but that's the life of a mom. I am getting my rest during Ashleigh's nap time and exercise about 3x a week on our treadmill (walking). Enjoy the picts!