More belly pics

I finally remembered to get the belly pics that Casey took off my work computer. She has been taking pics of my belly every month since I was about 10 weeks. I don't remember all the dates, but we try to do it around the 19th of every month since she took the first one on December 19th. When I get more towards the end, I'm going to try to get Casey to take a lot more belly shots. And hopefully she can take pics when Carleigh is born, too! You can check out her work at www.caseyharvillphotography.com and also view her blog there. We should be taking more pics next week since the 19th is coming up. Stay tuned for those...

In these first pics, I just "thought" I had a belly. I'm not sure what I was thinking!

(December 19th - around 10 weeks)

It's getting bigger in these next ones!

(I guess around Jan 19th - about 15 weeks)

The last ones that she's done -- starting to really show!

(Around Feb 19th - about 19 weeks)

I also wanted to update a little about what's been going on with my pregnancy. Last Friday night, after eating dinner, I decided I really wanted to go to the mall to the Motherhood Maternity store. I was in desperate need of a pair of maternity jeans. I have lots of clothes that Jana graciously let me borrow, but I can't fit into the jeans yet (although I'm sure I will soon!). So, after getting my jeans, and a fabulous new bra, and a maternity belt (it's supposed to help with round ligament pain), I walked to a few more stores while Grady was getting a few new hats. We were seriously only in the mall for maybe 45 minutes. Well, I guess my feet didn't like it because when I got home and took my socks and shoes off, I realized I had cankles!! My ankles were sore and hurting. This was my first experience with swelling. I had a little more swelling in my feet on Wednesday after I walked around Target for maybe 20 minutes! It's crazy! I'm going to get a pedicure tomorrow, so hopefully my feet will really enjoy that!

I had an appointment on Wednesday and everything went pretty smooth. I asked about the swelling and she (I had to see the nurse practioner because my Dr. was out of town) told me that as long as my blood pressure stayed down that I should be fine. I have had to take off my wedding band and just wear my engagement ring right now. They won't both fit! Anyway, I also asked her about the tightness I've been feeling in my stomach. She said that I was having practice contractions, or Braxton Hicks, which are basically harmless unless I have other symptoms of premature labor. So far, so good. I go back on April 8th and I have to do the blood sugar test then. I'm not really nervous about that, but I have already gained a lot of weight. I know you're supposed to gain when you're pregnant, obviously, I just don't want to have tons of weight to lose after I deliver. I wasn't exactly at my ideal weight when I got pregnant. After this next appt I will start going every two weeks! Now that scares me because I know that I'm getting so close! Before I know it, she will be here and I don't have everything ready yet. My mom and I are going to look at baby furniture this weekend and hopefully get a little more of the registering out of the way.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something that I was going to tell you about, but I'll remember later. I hope everyone has a great weekend. And I really hope all of this rain goes away soon :)