Belly Pics -- 23 weeks

Since I'm starting to show now, I thought I'd post some belly pictures. We had some exciting developments this past week, too. At times we can now see him when he kicks -- he's making noticeable indentions when he's in a really active mood. We can also feel where he is positioned when he is toward my front.  We can't feel exactly which body part is which, but we can feel very hard spots where he is lying.  It has all been very cool to experience as he grows.  Enjoy the pics, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

Fetal Echo Results are good!

We had a fetal echo today just as a precaution and everything looks great for baby boy Perry!  Praise God!

And, while I was waiting for my appointment, I got to witness a miracle - and just had to share. A family was waiting for a little boy to have heart surgery and they were expecting he'd be finished about noon. At 10am the doctor came out to talk to the mom, and she was shocked, as you would expect, since it was still 2 hours early.   About 10 minutes later she returns from the consultation room and tells the family the hole in the little boy's heart had disappeared!  When they scheduled the surgery, it was 2cm and surgery was critical, they said. But now, the hole was so tiny (smaller than the size of a sharp pencil tip) and there was no need to operate!  To watch this family as it sunk in that they had just received such an amazing miracle ---words can't adequately describe what that was like!  I hope this inspires everyone else as it did me -- God works in mysterious ways!  Later, the same doctor came and analyzed the results of my fetal echo. I told him, I saw you got to witness a miracle today, and he just shook his head in amazement. He said, I have no idea what happened.  But as the family was saying, of course, we know, don't we?!

Merry Christmas everyone!

20 week ultrasound photos

Well he's definitely a boy and he's looking perfectly on track so far! We had the detailed 20-week ultrasound today and everything looks great. I've posted a few pics from it below. The first one is his first "footprint." And the other 2 are side profiles. He was moving all around during the ultrasound, so that's also great. And we had a very exciting milestone this week -- Phillip could feel him kicking for the first time from the outside. He's positioned head down at the moment, so he's been kicking around my belly button - easier to feel those little pecks. Very cool!  Enjoy the pics...

Thanksgiving in Nashville

Just spent a great thanksgiving wknd in Nashville with family. Here are some cute pics....

Shiloh at Opryland Hotel

The Jansen/Branson/Perry girls at Arrington Vinyards

It's a Boy!

Baby Boy Perry is measuring about a week older than his due date would suggest (he's measuring just over 16 weeks as of today). He is right at 4 inches long. These are probably the last photos we will get of all of his body until he is born! You can see below how much his skeleton showed up in the ultrasound, especially his spine and his femur bones. We also heard his heartbeat today - loud and strong. Very exciting day!  His head is on the right side of the pictures. His knees are bent and it looked like his feet were crossed. Last time he was laying face-up, but today he was laying face-down. He seemed to be sleeping during the whole thing, but he was kicking his legs a bit. Enjoy!

11 1/2 week ultrasound photos

Here are the pics from 10/8...you can see his/her fist just above his/her mouth in both photos (his/her head is on the right side of the photo, in case you can't tell!)

 

We're Having a Baby!

Yes, we are finally sharing the news with the world!  Phillip and I are expecting our first child sometime around the end of April, which means I'm about 12 weeks along now.  We had an appointment yesterday and heard its heartbeat, saw the baby holding its fist by its mouth, as if it was sucking its thumb, and then flip and kick around. It was very exciting!  I'll post ultrasound pics here as soon as I can scan them.  We are excited to share this experience with you all!

Our precious nieces and nephew

Jordyn

Kaleb

Shiloh

Sydney