I'm not sure why, but this afternoon/evening I've been feeling so down. I have been trying so hard to be positive about the baby and to give all my concerns to God, but sometimes the nagging worry just eats me up. So I know it was God's hand when I received such a special email from my friend Christa tonight. She forwarded me an account of one of her friends who recently went through a very concerning time with their own baby girl, and after many, many tests indicating abnormalities with their unborn baby, she was born completely healed and healthy. I read the inspiring email and just burst into tears, because it was exactly what I needed to put me back in a positive frame of mind. Thanks so much, Christa!
I have an appointment with my ob/gyn on Wednesday morning to discuss the outcome of our ultrasound last Friday. I'm very much looking forward to hearing her perspective, because she is always very direct and honest with me. Hopefully I'll know a little more after that appointment about the course of action from this point forward with our baby girl. So stay tuned.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Date Night
Jeff and I were delighted to finally get another date night this weekend. With his busy work schedule and our hectic lives, it is definitely difficult to squeeze time in for ourselves. It was a relatively short evening but a really nice break. We had some dinner and then saw the "Benjamin Button" movie. It was really good...the premise was a little different, but we enjoyed it.
We have been so thankful for our friend and babysitter, Cindy, because she LOVES the opportunity to come over and watch Connor for us. They play nonstop when she's here, and Connor just adores her. We laughed last night -- Connor watched Jeff and I walk out the door for our date, and he just said, "Bye!", and went right back to playing with Cindy! He didn't miss us a bit!
Here is a picture of Cindy and Connor from last year.
We have been so thankful for our friend and babysitter, Cindy, because she LOVES the opportunity to come over and watch Connor for us. They play nonstop when she's here, and Connor just adores her. We laughed last night -- Connor watched Jeff and I walk out the door for our date, and he just said, "Bye!", and went right back to playing with Cindy! He didn't miss us a bit!
Here is a picture of Cindy and Connor from last year.
Jeff and I are still digesting all the news from last week with the baby updates. I admit I've been praying often, and if I find that I can't sleep or have a nagging worry, I am doing my best to hand it over to God. We both still laugh and shake our heads at the thought of a little girl in this family. We couldn't be more ecstatic! I have been a little more emotional these days, no doubt because of the additional female hormones! :-) But it has also been very reassuring these days when I feel her move and kick inside me. This little one is VERY active in the mornings, usually between 5 and 7 am. I wonder if that's a sign of times to come!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Little Baby Courtright
For those of you that don't know, my doctor sent us for an ultrasound today after our recent bloodwork indicated that we have an elevated risk for Downs Syndrome. Although the risk isn't significant, it was worth checking out. I'm at the 18-week mark, so it was still a bit early to see a lot of detail on all the organs, but overall the ultrasound looked really good. They did, however, discover that the baby has a 2-vessel umbilical cord (most babies have 3 vessels instead of 2) so they will be closely monitoring the baby's development from now on. Unfortunately there are a lot of scary things on the Internet about this condition, so I am vowing to stay away from Internet research and just rely on God and our doctors that everything will work out fine.
The exciting news from the ultrasound is that we now know what sex we are having. If you haven't heard by now, the male-dominant Courtright clan is about to get an injection of estrogen. That's right -- we're expecting a girl!! Jeff and I were both SHOCKED in a wonderful way. We have no idea where to begin...girl names, girl clothes, and girl emotions! Yikes! :-) Below I've attached our ultrasound pics and I'll describe them for you because they are a bit hard to see at first.
That's our update for now and I'll do my best to keep you updated. We certainly appreciate your thoughts and prayers, and we have faith that everything is going to turn out just fine with our precious baby girl.
It's almost impossible to tell in this picture, but it proves that she's a girl! These are her leg bones with her little girl parts in the middle marked by the tiny X.
This next picture is a profile shot of the baby's face (towards the left side of the picture) and that's either her arm or leg in there (at the top), I can't tell which.
The exciting news from the ultrasound is that we now know what sex we are having. If you haven't heard by now, the male-dominant Courtright clan is about to get an injection of estrogen. That's right -- we're expecting a girl!! Jeff and I were both SHOCKED in a wonderful way. We have no idea where to begin...girl names, girl clothes, and girl emotions! Yikes! :-) Below I've attached our ultrasound pics and I'll describe them for you because they are a bit hard to see at first.
That's our update for now and I'll do my best to keep you updated. We certainly appreciate your thoughts and prayers, and we have faith that everything is going to turn out just fine with our precious baby girl.
This first picture is a 3-dimensional picture of our baby girl's face. Her little hand is curled up by her cheek on the right side of the picture.
It's almost impossible to tell in this picture, but it proves that she's a girl! These are her leg bones with her little girl parts in the middle marked by the tiny X.
This next picture is a profile shot of the baby's face (towards the left side of the picture) and that's either her arm or leg in there (at the top), I can't tell which.
The picture below is, again, almost impossible to see, but this is her nose and lips. (I'll take their word for it!)
The next picture below is a 2-dimensional shot of her face...looks a little smooshed at this angle!
The next picture below is a 2-dimensional shot of her face...looks a little smooshed at this angle!
Finally, the below picture is another profile of her face. Right next to her face is her little hand, almost like she's about to suck her thumb but instead making a number 1 sign. (Texas Tech fans will like this shot because that's their hand signal!)
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
A Little Anxious
You always know something's up when you get a call directly from your OB/GYN! My doc called today with the results of my Quad Screen. It's the test they do at 16 weeks to screen for abnormalities, including Downs Syndrome. Although my test levels were perfectly within "normal" range, my test for Downs did indicate an increased risk. My chance for having a Downs baby is 1/180, which is still considered normal, but based on that figure my doctor is sending me for an ultrasound this week to get checked out.
I have many friends/family members that have had the "false positive" of the Downs Quad Screen, but of course it's just one more thing to be anxious about. The good news is that Jeff and I will get to have an earlier ultrasound this Friday (our next scheduled ultrasound wasn't until Feb 3 to find out the sex.) So if we get lucky, maybe we'll know this week whether we'll have a little boy or girl addition to this family!
Of course, our guts are still telling us it's a boy...that's the only gender that seems to be produced on the Courtright side! We'll be thrilled either way, but we are definitely saying more prayers today for the health of the baby. We also appreciate your thoughts and prayers as well.
I have many friends/family members that have had the "false positive" of the Downs Quad Screen, but of course it's just one more thing to be anxious about. The good news is that Jeff and I will get to have an earlier ultrasound this Friday (our next scheduled ultrasound wasn't until Feb 3 to find out the sex.) So if we get lucky, maybe we'll know this week whether we'll have a little boy or girl addition to this family!
Of course, our guts are still telling us it's a boy...that's the only gender that seems to be produced on the Courtright side! We'll be thrilled either way, but we are definitely saying more prayers today for the health of the baby. We also appreciate your thoughts and prayers as well.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Welcome to our new blog!
I remember back in the day when I first heard the word "blog" and wondered what it meant! I just look at it as a cool way to keep our family and friends updated on what's going on with our busy family.
I've always enjoyed posting new pictures and videos through various methods, so maybe this new spot will be the perfect channel to bring it all together. I owe my dear friends Dana and Amanda for getting me excited about blogs and inspiring me to start this one. I hope you enjoy, and check back often for updates!
I've always enjoyed posting new pictures and videos through various methods, so maybe this new spot will be the perfect channel to bring it all together. I owe my dear friends Dana and Amanda for getting me excited about blogs and inspiring me to start this one. I hope you enjoy, and check back often for updates!
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Your First Surgery
After nearly a year of fighting incessant ear infections, we finally scheduled your 1st surgery to get ear tubes as well as to remove your adenoids (which is supposed to help clear up all the congestion problems). After the surgery was postponed once due to another virus, you were well enough to get the surgery on Sept. 6. I wasn’t all that nervous about it because I had heard so many times how common the procedure is and how much of a difference we would notice in the reduced number of illnesses you would catch in the future.
We took you to the Cy-Fair Surgery Center at 6:30 a.m. They called us back to get you dressed for the procedure, and I was surprised to see a little toddler-sized hospital gown set aside for you. It was just like the adult ones with the ties in the back, but it was purple and had little dinosaurs on it. Once I put it on you, it was precious! Your little diaper and chubby thighs were poking through the backside as you waddled around to check out the waiting area. So cute! And of course, the nurses were quite charmed by you with your blond curls and angelic face. When they took you away to the operating room, you just happily sucked on your pacifier and never uttered a sound. You were the model patient!
Dr. Lui, the ENT specialist, came out about 25 minutes later and told us you did great with the procedure. Another 10 minutes went by, and they finally came to let us sit with you in recovery. When we went back there, you were trying to wake up but were still feeling the effects of the anesthesia. It made me cry to see you because you looked so out of it – you were a bit combative and were making these funny sounds from your throat like a seal (caused by the breathing tube from the surgery). I held you and gave you your pacifier, which instantly calmed you down. You drank a little Pedialyte but you didn’t want to wake up fully. It reminded me of when you were born; you didn’t want to cry, you just wanted to sleep!
After another 30 minutes, you had your eyes open and we departed for home. When I pulled into the garage at home, you were fully awake and even uttering some sounds. But I knew you needed to rest, so I carried you upstairs to put you in your crib. By the time we made it upstairs you were asleep already! You ended up sleeping for 3 hours that morning and another 2 hours in the afternoon. But by the time your Dad returned from work that evening, you were back to your normal self.
The next day, your Dad stayed home with you to make sure you were recovering well. That morning, you went to the hardware store and the grocery store. At the grocery store, your Dad put you in one of those racecar-shopping carts. He said you loved it so much that you were shrieking in laughter the whole time! I was so glad to hear this because of all your previous whiny behavior and temper tantrums. Could it be that the surgery would help you feel so much better that your former self (laid-back, mellow, and happy) would return? Only time would tell…
We took you to the Cy-Fair Surgery Center at 6:30 a.m. They called us back to get you dressed for the procedure, and I was surprised to see a little toddler-sized hospital gown set aside for you. It was just like the adult ones with the ties in the back, but it was purple and had little dinosaurs on it. Once I put it on you, it was precious! Your little diaper and chubby thighs were poking through the backside as you waddled around to check out the waiting area. So cute! And of course, the nurses were quite charmed by you with your blond curls and angelic face. When they took you away to the operating room, you just happily sucked on your pacifier and never uttered a sound. You were the model patient!
Dr. Lui, the ENT specialist, came out about 25 minutes later and told us you did great with the procedure. Another 10 minutes went by, and they finally came to let us sit with you in recovery. When we went back there, you were trying to wake up but were still feeling the effects of the anesthesia. It made me cry to see you because you looked so out of it – you were a bit combative and were making these funny sounds from your throat like a seal (caused by the breathing tube from the surgery). I held you and gave you your pacifier, which instantly calmed you down. You drank a little Pedialyte but you didn’t want to wake up fully. It reminded me of when you were born; you didn’t want to cry, you just wanted to sleep!
After another 30 minutes, you had your eyes open and we departed for home. When I pulled into the garage at home, you were fully awake and even uttering some sounds. But I knew you needed to rest, so I carried you upstairs to put you in your crib. By the time we made it upstairs you were asleep already! You ended up sleeping for 3 hours that morning and another 2 hours in the afternoon. But by the time your Dad returned from work that evening, you were back to your normal self.
The next day, your Dad stayed home with you to make sure you were recovering well. That morning, you went to the hardware store and the grocery store. At the grocery store, your Dad put you in one of those racecar-shopping carts. He said you loved it so much that you were shrieking in laughter the whole time! I was so glad to hear this because of all your previous whiny behavior and temper tantrums. Could it be that the surgery would help you feel so much better that your former self (laid-back, mellow, and happy) would return? Only time would tell…
Friday, August 3, 2007
3 Months
Connor is now 3 months old and still off the charts for babies his age! Since the last monthly update, Connor started daycare and seems to enjoy his teachers and surroundings. He can now roll over and delights us with a hearty laugh once in a while.
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