Halfway to the Meeting Point

We hit 21 weeks today! I can't believe we are now over halfway through this pregnancy. I also can't believe there is about 19 weeks until we meet Eden. Time seems to be flying by and with all these pregnancy hormones that means a bit of added stress. See, even though realistically there are 4 months for us to get her room all ready and then get ourselves ready, for some reason when you are pregnant 4 months seems like 4 days. Good thing I have a husband who is level headed and can remind me that we have plenty of time, thanks honey! Well, now that we are into week 21 I figured I better hurry up and do my 20 week update.

We had our 19 week ultrasound where we found out the little mermaid in my tummy really was going to be a mermaid and not a merman. She didn't leave anything to the imagination...this girl really obeyed her mommy when she revealed her gender. Yes, we had multiple talks about how it was very important that she cooperate during the ultrasound. I have such an obedient child. Here is a picture of Miss Eden...one where she is actually sitting still amazingly enough...

That's our girl, sucking her thumb and all. We are very proud of her. However, there was one moment in particular that had us feeling like we had a super special baby...yes, our child gave us a thumbs up during the u/s. We are the proudest parents to have ever lived. This poor girl, we have such high expectations now that we know she gives thumbs up.

A couple days after our ultrasound we had my 20 week appointment. Here is what I looked like for that...

WHOA...who's that whale?! Only kidding! However, yes, I am growing quite a bit all the time and even had my first stranger walk up and ask how far along I was. Wouldn't have been a strange question except that I didn't expect the first person to ask that question to be a man. Oh well.

Back to the appointment. I am gaining weight just as I should which made us all very happy. There was some concern about my weight since I had lost so much prior to the pregnancy due to all of my health issues. Thankfully so far we have nothing to worry about, I am eating like a champ. What? I like food. The baby showed up healthy and perfect on the ultrasound so we had no issues there, but there was an issue with her mommy. There is a chance that I have placenta previa. This basically means the placenta is partially covering the cervix which would spell disaster for a natural delivery. Thankfully, the doctor is not worried and said she doesn't expect it to be an issue. We are going to do another ultrasound during week 28 to ensure that everything has done what it is supposed to. If they find that my placenta has either not moved or is covering the cervix we will then schedule a C-section. We figure if thats the worse that happens in this pregnancy than we are just fine. We are leaving it in God's hands and feel confident that our doctor will take great care of Eden and I.

Now that I am well into the 2nd trimester I am feeling really good and finally truly enjoying pregnancy (I think Josh is feeling better and enjoying it more too). Morning sickness is finally gone, hooray!! Now it is just about me taking care of myself so the next 19 weeks go smoothly.

We did want to fill all of you in on our name choice. I know I promised that before. So here it is:

First Name: Eden
Middle Name: Rae

We chose Eden because we wanted something that reminded us of our faith. The Garden of Eden was where it all started. From the way it is described it was such a beautiful place. Translated, Eden means beautiful paradise. To us there will be nothing more beautiful that our baby girl.

Rae actually comes from a family name on my (Mallory) side. My Grandpa on my mom's side was Filipino and his actual name was Moises, however everyone called him Ray. Although my grandpa passed away when I was young, I still had quite a special bond with him. I knew I always wanted a way to honor him and remember him so picking out our little girl's middle name was simple. We chose to use an E instead of a Y at the end in order to girl it up a bit, but it certainly doesn't keep me from thinking of him every time we say her name.

Well, there you have it. A full update and some information on why our little Eden Rae has the name that she does. Thank you all for checking in on us and for your love and prayers.