Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Its been a busy week! One of my good friends from high school, Christina, got married last weekend and everything was beautiful. After the wedding we were able to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa Connell to celebrate Ed's 28th Birthday! On Sunday we had a nice family visit with my family, my moms sisters and their cousins. My mom and I did a little furniture shopping before Ed, Mary Beth, and I headed up to Pittsburgh for the Lash Thanksgiving. While up in Pittsburgh we were finally able to spread the news to the rest of the family. Everyone was very excited!

I wanted to show everyone the cute little bibs I bought a few weeks ago ... they were just too cute to pass up! And yes, they are from Carter's!

14 Weeks and Counting!

Welcome to the second trimester!

This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.

In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

We had another doctors appointment last week and they said everything seems to be going great. We got to hear the heartbeat again and right now that is the only way I know that there is a baby in there! Otherwise I am still doing great ... I did have to start shopping for new clothes! There is a little visible bump. We have one more appointment before we have our second ultrasound. The ultrasound will be around the last week in December and at that time we should be able to tell what gender Baby Lash is!! Oh and I'll try and post some "belly" photos later this week!

Happy Anniversary to Grandma and Grandpa Sullivan and Grandma and Grandpa Lash!!

Info from www.babycenter.com

12 Weeks and We've got Reflexes!

The weekly email:

The most dramatic development this week: reflexes. Your baby's fingers will soon begin to open and close, his toes will curl, his eye muscles will clench, and his mouth will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your baby will squirm in response, although you won't be able to feel it. His intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into his abdominal cavity about now, and his kidneys will begin excreting urine into his bladder.

Meanwhile, nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in your baby's brain, synapses are forming furiously. His face looks unquestionably human: His eyes have moved from the sides to the front of his head, and his ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, your baby-to-be is just over 2 inches long, about the size of a lime, and weighs half an ounce.

Info from www.babycenter.com

We are 10 weeks!

From my weekly email:

Though he's barely the size of a kumquat — a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, your baby has now completed the most critical portion of his development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in his body rapidly grow and mature.

He's swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including his kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy.

If you could take a peek inside your womb, you'd spot minute details, like tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin.

In other developments: Your baby's limbs can bend now. His hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over his heart, and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body. The outline of his spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from his spinal cord. Your baby's forehead temporarily bulges with his developing brain and sits very high on his head, which measures half the length of his body. From crown to rump, he's about 1 1/4 inches long. In the coming weeks, your baby will again double in size — to nearly 3 inches.

Info from www.babycenter.com

Introducing .. Baby Lash

Ultrasound taken October 2, 2008 .. we were 7 weeks and 3 days



We went to the Dr's office today so they could draw some blood and run all of those good tests. Hopefully all will come out well! But before they did all of that they attempted to find the baby's heartbeat. After a few minutes of probing around she was able to locate it and Ed and I were able to hear the heart beat for the first time! Words cannot even describe what we felt .. it was awesome! Our next office visit is in 4 weeks and we are moving right along!

Yes, we're expecting!

That's right, you read it correctly! We are expecting our first baby! We are surprised, excited, shocked, and nervous all at the same time.

It's still early, but, we wanted to share the exciting news with our friends and family. As of today we are 9 weeks and 2 days pregnant! We actually found out that we were pregnant on September 11, 2008 when I came home with several pregnancy tests. We had several exciting and fun filled football weekends ahead of us and I needed to know. There was no question, but Ed insisted that I take another test just to be sure. We made our first appointment with my Dr. on September 12th where they confirmed that we were going to have a little one. We were so excited, but hated that we could not share with anyone. We kept the news to ourselves for several weeks ... that has been the hardest part!


Our first ultrasound was October 2, 2008! It was so amazing to see such a little thing, heart beating strong, on the screen that would eventually become our little one. She confirmed that our due date would be around May 18, 2009. Ed and I were finally ready to tell everyone the great news and spent the next several days, Ocotober 2nd-5th, driving all over Georgia telling the future grandparents and aunts. They were all very excited for us, which seemed to help with the shock that was still setting in ... it was a great weekend!

So far the pregnancy hasn't been too bad ... keeping my fingers crossed. I have not been sick, just very tired and a little sick to my stomach feeling. Hopefully that will pass in the next few weeks. Wish us luck- I'm still not really sure what to expect at this time! We promise to keep everyone updated on the website as to all of the happenings for Baby Lash!