Our sweet baby is here! And it's a GIRL! Praise Jesus!

Mecaden Emarie Bennett was two weeks late but perfectly on time! She was 7lb 9oz, 21 in long at 8:33pm on June 12th. That means she's three weeks today! My little girl is getting so big! I'll update more when I have time, if that ever happens! Praise God!

Wow it's been a while since my last post.

As for updates... we are 2 weeks and 6 days from blast off. I am waddling like a penguin and am as big as a house- that should paint a lovely picture for you. I've gained just under 25 pounds but feel like I'm gaining ten more each day. I've had horrible heartburn for about 6 weeks now- and it gets a little worse every day. The doctor has me taking Zantac to help, but it can only do so much. Basically it's because the baby has selfishly taken up all the room in my abdomen and is threatening to swallow the rest of me. The growth is normal, as is pushing all my other organs up into my lungs, squishing my diaphragm (causing me to not get a good deep breath), my stomach (causing the flap between it and my esophagus to stay open, thus creating major heartburn), and my lungs. But praise God, the baby is healthy, moving all the time, and creating all sorts of entertaining bulges and darting bumps on my tummy. He or she is head-down, but seems to be "sunny-side up," a term for babies who have their heads down, but their back is against my back, arms and legs toward the front of my tummy. If this little one decides to stay this way, it means I'm in for some pretty hard back-labor. So that's a prayer request- I'd love to not have back labor along with normal labor and contractions. The baby has hiccups all the time (just like daddy!) and it doesn't seem to like them- it starts kicking and fidgeting all in my tummy when the hiccups attack- it's kinda cute. Luckily I'm only getting up once every night to use the restroom. I've heard horror stories of every hour bladder attacks, but I have been very blessed in that area. I'm sure you're excited about hearing that
Everyone seems to be split down the center in regards to gender-guessing. I have a confusing stomach and statistics, apparently. Basically, I am carrying very high (which "means" girl), but my tummy looks like I swallowed a basketball (which "means" boy). Typical heart rates for girls is 150-160 and for boys it is 140-150. Well guess where this little beebop decided to land? 150. Smack dab in the middle. I am so excited to find out what we have in the oven. And oh yes- I am lopsided. No joke- my tummy is bigger on the right side, causing my belly button (which looks like a nose) to sorta point to the left. It's kinda embarassing, but not many people notice.
I'm very ready to leave work- for many reasons. I'm thankful that the Lord had me putting braces on people every day for 4 years- I grew up a lot and learned so much. I won't be going back to that office if I have to pick up part times hours to help with bills. I think orthodontics and I have had our time together and it's time to move on. I really have loved it though, the challenges and accomplishments, the friends and some pretty great patients, hilarious situations and also the times I had to take deep breaths and step into maturity in ways I never imagined. It was a great four years I wouldn't change for anything and I have daily seen why the Lord didn't have college in His plans for me. Two reasons being my incredible husband and our sweet baby- how awesome.
Emotionally I am all over the place. Not all at one time, but at any given point in a day I can be feeling polar opposite about things. At times I get very overwhelmed, still feeling as if I'm 16 years old, getting my license and looking forward to prom. Or I'll feel overwhelmed with the fact that Todd and I have only been married 10 months (yesterday!) and still have so much to learn about one another, so much work that still needs to be done in our marriage, a ton of change that needs to take place in my heart as a wife. I feel panicky about that because I guess I feel like I'm supposed to become the perfect wife before I can even think about taking on the task of becoming a mother. I also sin in worrying about finances and how we're going to make ends meet. But then I remember that God is so in control and if this wasn't his will, it wouldn't be happening. God's timing is sovereign and in His Word we are reminded that children are a blessing. This time in my life is a blessing, not something to fret over. The Lord takes care of the birds and flowers and supplies their needs, how much more will He take care of His children and our needs? It gives me such peace to even type this-the Lord's Scripture has that effect, amen?
Well, it's time to check out of this joint. The next time I write I will probably be able to tell you what we had, and maybe some pictures! Please keep us in your prayers, this mom and dad will need a lot of them.

We had a very productive Baby Bennett weekend. Friday we had yet another OB appt. I was shocked to see that I have gained 21 pounds- yikes! But it's for the baby and I only have 9 weeks left, so we're good. My blood pressure is still very low- 100/64. The baby is head-down, and may or may not stay that way- but the doctors are not concerned with the baby's position until the last month or so. My gestational diabetes test came back perfect, so I can still give in to my seldom sugar cravings.
Friday and Saturday I layed out (for about two hours both days)- but not to worry, I lathered up with sunscreen (since skin pigment changes during pregnancy). I definitely feel better! So now when people ask to see my tummy I don't have to ask them to put on sunglasses. Saturday night my mom got us a crib, and it is beautiful! My sweet handy-man husband put it together, with a little bit of assistance from me and Baby Bennett.
Sunday we registered at Babies-R-Us and got THE cutest going home outfits. We already had one for a boy and one for a girl, newborn sizes- but we were told that it may be smart to get a preemie outfit for both as well, in case we have a tiny baby. I found my favorite girl outfit (todd picks out the boy one) that I've seen on a few other baby girls and just love to death- it's light pink with frogs on it, and the feet are frogs! I love love love it! Todd picked out yet another baseball themed boy outfit

Here is our travel system (stroller and carseat) that Todd's mom bought for us

And here is our crib that my mom bought for us (pictured with the bedding we've chosen)

And the accent pillow to go with the theme

Cute, huh? We're getting more excited- two months till take off this thursday!!!

Here are some pregnancy pictures. In the first, I was four weeks along.

Here I am at 23 weeks

Here I am at 24 weeks

Here I am at 25 weeks

Here is 26 weeks 

Here's 27

Here's 28

Here's the most recent, 29 weeks

Yay! So to show the big change, here's 23 weeks compared to 29. WOW!

So, another Baby Bennett update!

Todd went with me last tuesday to my OB appointment so I could be tested for gestational diabetes. I had heard all these horror stories about the glucose drink that you have to cram down your throat in less than 5 minutes.

So we got there around 10:20 and waited until 11:15 to even be seen. I hadn't eaten since 7pm the night before (in order to have no sugar or carbs in my body for the test) and I was starving. So the weird nurse lady (I had never seen her before, she seemed skittish, like a chihuahua or something) called us back and tells me to go to the bathroom and leave a "specimen", then I came out and she weighed me- I had gained about 2 1/2 pounds since the last visit (so far 16 pounds during 27 weeks) and then she checked my blood pressure. It was a nice and low 100/58. Then she hands me "the drink." Funny, it didn't look scary like it sounded. I was picturing a colorful drink with the consistency of maple syrup. This was in a clear plastic bottle, the size of one of those tiny soda bottles. It was a clear-red color, I could see through it. So I drank it and it tasted just like Hawaiian Punch- it was almost good! The worst thing though, was when she said, "Let me borrow a finger." I gave her my hand and realized- she's about to stick my finger. That is the one thing I cannot deal with. I'd rather you stick a needle into my arm twenty times than to be pricked even once. OUCH. Anyway, I finished my drink and waited for the OB to come- a new one. She was very nice, I liked her a lot. She said everything seems great- she checked the baby's heartbeat, it was ranging at 145-150... as soon as she put the heartbeat doppler (about the size of a soda cap) onto my stomach to listen, the baby slammed a foot or hand against it- I about died laughing. Such a cute personality, yet so young! It took her a good minute or two to get a good heart rate range because the baby was moving so much and she'd lose the heart beat due to a punch or flip. We finished there, waiting an hour, and then had my blood drawn for the glucose test. That took a while because the tubes wouldn't suck up my blood! I asked her why and she said "because your veins are too small" and that they really should have used pediatric tubes! Whoa! Fortunately, my veins are not hard to find or stick the needle into, which happens a lot to small-veined people- it just takes longer to get the amount of blood they need. Then she said, "We'll send these off- no news is good news- if you don't hear from us consider yourself safe from the diabetes." It's been almost a week, so I hope that means I'm clear! Then it was off to Char-Grill where I stuffed myself silly.

That's it for now- oh, and I started showing about two weeks ago. I was straightening my scrub top at work, because it looked like I was showing... well, when I tugged my shirt a little I realized- I AM SHOWING. YAY! It's about time, huh? Only took 6 months... and I'm still wearing some of my regular jeans- but they are shrinking fast. This morning Todd kissed my tummy and talked to the baby- it's so sweet! I'm waiting for him to put his head on my stomach and have the baby punch him. That would make my day. We go back to the OB for a rountine checkup at the end of the month, then we have to start going every 2 weeks. I can't believe we have less than three months to go- 85 days!!! It's about as exciting as it was counting down to my wedding!