20 Weeks...

Today I went to see my doctor for a check up. She was looking at the report from the ultrasound and was really pleased with the results YAY. She did realize there was a discrepancy with the due dates. When we went for the ultrasound according to my original due date (Aug. 13) I was 18 weeks and 4 days, however according to the ultrasound I was a week and 3 days off. So now that sets my due date at Aug. 2nd. Which the baby can come 2 weeks earlier or 2 weeks later. All I know is that our sweet baby will be here when it's good and ready to be here :).

We did hear the heartbeat again it was in the 150s so still not a lot of change there. According to Nancy, "That's the sound of a healthy baby." That's something that makes a Mommy-to-be feel good.

As far as my health everything is still looking good my blood pressure was "perfect" as the nurse said and I still have not gained any weight. She said she's still not really concerned about that but from this point on is where I should start gaining and for me the "ideal" amount is 1-2lbs per month.

We will be making the trip to Asheville for the more detailed ultrasound to check for cleft issues. At this point we're just waiting on the call back on when the appointment will be we should hear something within the next 24hrs.

My Moment Of Opening Up:

My biggest fear is that that I'm sure all expecting mothers feel at some point or another. I'm so scared that I'm gonna go to an appointment and we're gonna listen to the heartbeat and there not be one. At each of my appointments I kinda hold my breath a little until I can actually hear that precious thumping. This may sound strange to some, but I feel like I've kinda held myself back from becoming so attached because of this fear that I have. I know that this far into the pregnancy that the chances of miscarrying have dropped significantly, however I also know that anything can happen at anytime. I do pray about this everyday and I thank God for allowing me to carry this child for as long as I have. I know that I will probably not be able to completly breath easy until I'm holding my precious baby!

Baby Puckett's First Picture...

So today we went for our 1st ultrasound...YAY!! Baby Puckett is doing great. The heartbeat was 159bpm which is about what it has been each time. And to answer the big question we still don't know if it's a boy or girl. It was being a like it's Moma and Daddy..a little stubborn ;). The ultrasound tech. said that she couldn't be 100% sure either way because some views it looked girlish and others looked boyish. According to what I thought was my last MC I am 18 weeks and 4 days, however according to the baby's measurments and everything I am actually 20 weeks!!! (Apparently I was off a little LOL) I go back to see my doctor on Monday so I guess we'll go from there.

Pregnancy Cravings and Adversions

You always hear about all those wierd cravings that pregnant women have. Thank goodness I've had none of those! I've really only craved a couple of things. Doughnuts and not just any doughnuts, but those devine pleasures that only Krispy Kreme can produce. I've seriously tried so hard not to indulge myself in those because as we all know they are NOT good for you pregnant or not. I have thought about them ALOT and everytime someone even remotely mentions the word doughnut my taste buds get in an uproar!!! I told Jimmy that I was going to have to make a special trip to either Johnson City or Hickory just to get me some KK. Lastnight he came home and informs me that he had something for me, low and behold what does he pull out...A DOZEN KRISPY KREME DOUGHNUTS!!! I thought the heavens had opened up! Now just to pace myself and not eat them all at one sitting. The other thing I've craved is buttered toast. And yes I could seriously eat an entire loaf of bread as long as it's toasted with butter. I've also tried to limit myself with it because once again, all that butter isn't good for me.

Buttered toast and Krispy Kreme doughnuts are really the only that I've craved throughout my pregnancy thus far. There have been things that I've took a serious hankerin' (sp) for but once I get my fill I'm good and really don't "crave" them. Doritos, Baked Lays, Coke, Blow Pops, the occasional dill pickle, eggs, and cheese just to name a few. I am aware that most of these are not the healthiest but like I said once I've ate them a couple of times I'm good and really don't want them so much.

There are some foods that I've had pretty much quit eating. The sad part is that a couple of them are things that I LOOOOOOVED. Pizza being one of them. I used to absolutly love me some pizza however I've not been able to tolerate it since being pregnant. Another is bacon. I noticed that it kinda tasted funny one day while eating a salad topped with it. So a week or so later I tried to eat some, nope still tasted funny. A couple of weeks ago I tried it again still wasn't happening. I tried it AGAIN yesterday on a bacon, egg, and cheese bagle. I think it probably goes without saying I won't be eating bacon or pizza again until after our little bundle of joy arrives!

Week 14

So finally here's the latest update as most of you all know I went to the doctor Friday. She done the glucose tolerance test to check and see how my body reacted to sugars and that's one test that I passed with flying colors...WAAHOOO!!!

We did get to hear the heartbeat again :D she said it was about 160 bpm.

I did get a wonderful surprise after I got there. As Missy and I are sitting in the room waiting I hear Ms. Tracey (the receptionist) say here she is, she's all yours. I turn and look and standing there is none other than my sweet hubby :D. Unfortunately he hasn't been able to go with me to my appointments due to work and school. In January when I scheduled this appointment I intentionally scheduled it on a Friday afternoon (he don't have class on Fridays and he wouldn't be missing much work) in hopes he would be able to make it. I did kinda remind him Friday before he left that I had that appointment and that I hoped he could make it ;).

The issue of the cleft lip and palate has came up on a few occasions. Our doctor told us Friday that in about 6 weeks she would schedule our regular 20 week ultrasound. At this point we will be able to find out the sex of our baby :) and they could POSSIBLY be able to tell if there is issues with the lip/palate. This 1st ultrasound will be done at Cannon. However, Cannon isn't necessarily specialized in that area, so she is going to send us to Asheville to a specialist there that can tell us more as to whether Baby P will or will not have issues with the lip/palate. I feel like that if it does then it would cause more stress because there isn't nothing that can be done until it's born. Jimmy also has a valid point for wanting to know, if we do know then we will be able to go ahead and prepare and get things lined up medically, for when our little princess or football player arrives ;D.

Jimmy is still not wanting to find out the sex of our baby until he/she is born. He is convinced it's a boy and Missy is convinced it's a girl and the pencil tests says a girl. I guess we'll find out soon enough. (I do think that with a little more coaxing that we will find out at the 1st ultrasound).

Well I guess that pretty much sums it all up for now.

Blessings...

I have debated for a couple of days on weather or not to even do this post. I've struggled with the wording, what should I say and how should i say it, what direction should I go with it, and pretty much everything to do with today's blog. I finally decided that nope, I wasn't going to do it. As I was driving to work this morning a song came on the radio that was such a blessing to me and as it played my heart was opened and I got all the peace that I needed to write the blog and knew the direction that I should go with it.

What song was it you ask? Well it was none other than Laura Story's "Blessings." http://www.youtube.com/embed/1CSVqHcdhXQ?fs=1 I really like the whole song but the chorus, for me, really makes you open your eyes to see the blessings around you and shows you that they aren't always packaged with pretty bows. For those of you that don't know what song I'm talking about, the following is the chorus of "Blessings."

'Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears

What if a thousand sleepless nights

Are what it takes to know You’re near

What if trials of this life are

Your mercies in disguise

February 1, 2002 started as any normal day for me, I got up went to school, went to work after school, and it was as I was closing the store that I got the phone call that no 17 year old should EVER have to take and no 12 year old should EVER have to make. It was my 12 year old brother telling me that something terrible had happened to our Mama.

I didn't know what to do. I panicked. I remember telling myself that I had to calm down so that I could drive home. I was just beside myself with emotions, trying to convince myself that she was going to be ok that everything was just fine, that Matt was overreacting. In the back of my mind I knew that she wasn't ok that everything wasn't fine, that he wasn't overreacting. I knew that she was gone.

That was a Friday, the rest of that weekend and the week following were pretty much a blurr.

(To fill those of ya'll in who don't know the situation at the time, I was not living with my Moma. She and my brother Matthew, had just moved to Alabama. It was my senior year in high school and I wanted to finish it out at Avery. Moma agreed to that and so I moved in with Mamaw with the intentions of moving to Alabama after graduation.)

After Mama passed away I begin to think alot about the big milestones that were to come in my life. Getting married, having kids, and just learning about life from your mother, things that nobody else on the face of this earth can teach you. I was 17 when I lost her, it's an extremely hard thing to deal with when you are that age and you have to come to the realiziation that you are going to have to deal with life without your Moma!!! Yea, I had my Mamaw, my aunts, my stepmother, and different women who were influential in my life but NONE of them were MY Moma and, as much as I loved and love them now, they would NEVER be able to fill that position.

Fast forward life 10 years, that brings us to today. WOW it literally seems like yesterday!!! Lots of happenings have occured in the past 10 years. I have delt with big milestones, most recently getting married. It was really hard not having her there and not being able to share in that special day with her. Coming up in a few months I will be coming to a brand new milestone that I will have to deal with, that is the birth of a child.

Ok, now to the real point of the blog...

When I think about my Moma, I think about Blessings. What a blessing it was to have her for the 17 years that God allowed me to. What a blessing it was being raised by her. I know that I will only be a stronger Mom to my children because of my Moma, because of the things she taught me in that short amount of time. No she was not perfect she did make mistakes but I feel like she done one heck of a job raising me and my brothers.

One line from the song that really strikes me is "What if your healing comes through tears?" I feel like alot of my healing HAS came through the tears that I've shed. BUT, I know that God has always been there and comforted me and lessened the pain. I'm not saying that I don't miss my Moma, Lord knows I'd give my right arm to have her here with me today. I'm just saying that by God's grace I know I will see her again.

"In the worst of time, there is the possibility of seeing hope...We can say 'I can be a rainbow in the cloud for someone yet to be.' That may be our calling."~ Maya Angelou

In closing I just want to remind you to NOT overlook the blessings in your life. No matter how big or how small. What some may see as a burden, others see as a blessing.

Now That The Cat's Outta The Bag :)

For all of you all that have been waiting, here it is...

Since I started blogging Jimmy has asked me why I've not blogged anymore. My response: I'm afraid I'll let the cat out of the bag. Well if you are one of the few that missed out, JIMMY AND I ARE EXPECTING!!! Now it's out!!! Around the end of November/1st of December I had my suspicions and on Dec. 5th those suspicions were confirmed. It was so very hard for us not to tell but we really wanted to surprise his family with the news on Christmas.

Tentatively, baby Puckett is due August 13th. Geigh told me she hopes it will come on the 12th ;). To answer a few of the obvious questions, I honestly don't care if its a boy or girl, as long as I have a healthy baby I will be ecstatic. Obviously Jimmy is hoping for a boy, but ya'll know just as well as I do that he will be just as happy to have a little princess. I'm not sure if we are going to find out the sex yet. We have talked briefly about it Jimmy said he don't think we should, but I want to know!!! Yes, we have thought of names, most of you know them but if you don't, I'll have to discuss it with Jimmy before I let the whole world know.

I went to the doctor today and we did hear the heartbeat!!! YAY. I have not had an ultrasound yet the doctor said she probably wouldn't schedule it until I was about 18-20 weeks. I have lost 7lbs since I was there in Dec. She said at this point she wasn't really concerned with that weight loss (because apparently it's normal to lose weight during the 1st trimester), but if when I go back and I have lost much more then she would start to REALLY become concerned. I know I need to eat and eat better but I have been sooooo sick that I just can't hardly stomach anything. Early on I was able to eat through the nausea, but for the past couple of weeks it just aint happening!!! She told me I could expect about 6 more weeks of it...WHAAAAT are you kidding me?!?!?!? And she expects me NOT to loose much more weight? If I stay sick for about the next 6 weeks, I WILL LOSE MORE WEIGHT!!! I know it's hard to predict how and when things will start and stop and I know that every pregnancy is different but I'm just saying her expectations of me being sick longer and NOT losing weight is a little crazy. Don't get me wrong I really like my doctor, I just thought it was a little contradictory. But, who knows I'm not the doctor.

I just thank God for ALL his blessings that he has poured out upon me. I do ask that you would pray for us and for our unborn child.

New To The Blogging World

Soooo about a year and a half ago I created a "blogger" profile in hopes of starting a blog. As time went on I just never did get around to doing it. Then when I did start messing around with it I could never figure it out so I just gave up on it. Now that I have ALOT of time on my hands I have decided to give it a whirl again. So with a few frustrations I think I've got it figured out :). When I first told Jimmy about it he said he thought it would be a good idea for me to do this so...HERE I AM!

I really don't know that I need much of an introduction, because if you know me, well then you pretty much know all about me. But for sake of the "blogger introduction" here goes... I like to find humor in all things, and I love making people laugh. I am a very strong-willed individual. In February I gave my life to the Lord.  After several of years of thinking that I was saved, God got ahold of me and shook me up and let me know that I was not.  That was the best day of my life.  I know that I fail him everyday, and feel like I spit and slap him in his face, BUT, I know that he loves me unconditionally and I'm so thankful for the mercy and grace that he pours over me daily.  In July Jimmy and I finally got married after dating for over 4 years!!! He truly is the love of my life, he loves me no matter what, even when I KNOW that I'm not too lovable!  I have 3 brothers Ben, Matthew, and Brandon.  I also have 1 nephew Colton who will be 2 in March.  Spencer Lee was mine and Jimmy's wedding gift. 

Ok now I feel like I'm just rambling, as I often tend to do, so I think I'll just end it now.  Check back for updates in Sunshine Corner.  God Bless!!!