23 weeks and going strong

I had my 23 weeks check-up today, and everything looks good. My next visit is in four weeks and at that point they'll test to see if I have gestational diabetes. After that I'll be in my third trimester and will start going to the OB every two weeks. Yes, we are fast approaching the final countdown!

In other baby news...Baby G's first toy arrived today! It's a cute little stuffed butterfly with a music box inside. Ben's mom picked it up while shopping and sent it as a surprise. It's nice to finally have a toy in the toy basket!

Also, I've got some more "Pregnant Heidi" video to share. You can really see the bump in this one! Look for the second shot of me in the tan sweater....enjoy!

http://www.arklatexhomepage.com/media_player.php?media_id=656

Holy Cankles, Batman!

Our Director, Josh Stanley took these pictures with his cell phone on Wednesday. I was having some serious swollen feet issues and the nurse at my OB's office instructed me to keep my feet elevated. So I rolled out my file cabinet and, well, you get the picture. I'm not wearing any shoes because my feet wouldn't fit in them....ahhh the joys of pregnancy!

Everyone knows now (As if they couldn't tell)

After much coaxing from my co-workers and employer, I finally gave in last night and mentioned that I'm expecting during our 10pm newscast. I didn't tell anyone I was going to do it beforehand, just in case I changed my mind.

So why last night? Well, I was reading a health story about a study that found women who have heartburn are more likely to give birth to a baby with a full head of hair. If you've been around me for the past 5 months than you know heartburn has been my #1 pregnancy woe. So I guess that means our little one will have a full head of hair; not that I expected anything else since Ben and I were both born with thick, black locks.

Anyway, you can watch the video on my stations website. The link to the actual announcement is:

http://www.arklatexhomepage.com/media_player.php?media_id=589

If you want to watch the story that lead into the announcement, the link is:

http://www.arklatexhomepage.com/media_player.php?media_id=585

Enjoy!

PS...I was told these clips will be combined, so if you click on them and they don't work you can go to www.arklatexhomepage.com and click on news, and look for the "Heidi's Big Announcement" video.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my Mom's birthday. I'm not going to give her age away, but lets just say it's a big one! And here's another hint, she doesn't look even close to her age...hope I get so lucky! I wish I could be with her on her special day, but she knows she's in my heart. She'll get the gift she really wants in June!

The picture was taken in October at The Louisiana Boardwalk during her first visit to Shreveport. This is one of my all time favorite pictures cause it's of the two people I love most in this world!

The Count Down

Thank You

Ben and I are overwhelmed by all the wonderful messages and emails we've received since announcing my pregnancy. There have been almost 200 hits on this blog in the past two days!

Isn't technology amazing? Our little baby hasn't even arrived yet and all of our family and friends across the country have already gotten a glimpse of him or her! It's so nice to be able to share our excitement with everyone; especially since it's just the two of us here in Louisiana. We are so blessed to have all of you in our lives!

Yesterday I ordered the furniture for the nursery; my mother's gift to her first grandchild! Everything should be in in about 4 weeks. I can hardly wait! I'll be sure to post some pictures once it's finished. But for now, it's off to Lowe's to pick out paint!

Baby News of Our Own!

Profile at 20 Weeks

Hand in a fist at 20 weeks

11 weeks

7 weeks

I'm sitting on the sofa enjoying a big bowl of ice cream, with my very swollen feet (which I can no longer see when I'm standing) propped up. Yes, I'm pregnant!

Ben and I are very excited about our new edition; who is supposed to show up some time around the end of June. I'm 20 weeks along this week, so we're half way there. We had another ultrasound yesterday and can't believe how much our little one has grown. You can check out the progression in the pictures above.

We've had scans done at 7, 11, and 20 weeks. Each time the baby has had a strong heart rate; which is very comforting. This time it was 157, and according to the measurements our baby now weighs 13.5 oz and is about 10.5 inches long. The baby was very active during the ultrasound, which seems to be the norm. I've been feeling a lot of movement especially at night and in the morning.

We're far enough along at this point to find out what we're having, but we've chosen to wait until the birth to find out....so check back in June!

I'm going to try and keep our blog updated with baby info for the rest of my pregnancy, so check back for updates. Maybe I'll even post a belly picture! YIKES!

PS...congrats to my cousin Heather who is expecting a little boy a few weeks before me!

Congrats Carly!

I'd like to congratulate Carly Stephenson on a job well done in the North Carolina Junior Miss program. Carly was an Interview winner and a Poise winner in the competition which was held in Greensboro over the weekend. If you like to see pictures from the program log onto www.ncjuniormiss.org and click on "orders".