First Visit to the Doctor

Today was our first appointment with the doctor and everything went really well! Sam went with me for moral support - I feel so much more at ease having him there. I can't begin to describe what an enormous weight was lifted off our shoulders following this appointment. Dr. Austin said I looked great and felt our guess at timing was accurate. Right now we are looking at an August 23rd due date. I have been having a lot more problems with morning sickness recently which really made Dr. Austin happy. Funny that anyone would be celebrating morning sickness but he said that news alone was a really good sign that everything was progressing correctly. Because of the previous miscarriage, he suggested we do an early sonogram to see if we could see a heartbeat. Just a few minutes later we were seeing the baby’s heartbeat for the first time. In 29 years I have seen a lot of amazing things and have had my share of excitement but that little “thump thump thump” was one of the most exciting things I have ever seen. I think I was in tears almost instantly. The lab technician was one of the sweetest ladies I have ever met and really let us get a long look at “our little diamond” (that is what she called it). Then she made several copies of the picture so we could take them home. I know it isn’t much to look at but here is a first glimpse at baby Coverdale:

We are about to start getting ready to head out to celebrate the New Year with friends. Our friend Veronica is hosting a New Years Eve party at her house on Mud Island. Almost all of our Memphis friends will be there. It will be a little different ringing in the New Year without champagne but I think we have enough to celebrate without it! Happy New Year!

Home from Holiday

Wow, it has been a long time since our last update. So much has happened since that time. Christmas was really nice this year. It was great to have an extra long vacation. We were able to spend time with our families and have a little time at home after the holidays. I definitely needed a little rest after all that travelling!

It was so good to see our parents, brothers, their wives/girlfriends, and my extended family. Having everyone together for the holidays really made it special.

We got to share our exciting news with our immediate families over the holidays. We told my parents first since they were our first stop along the way. We wrapped a gift with a message inside and gave it to them as an early Christmas present. It was so much fun to watch my mom and dad’s reaction. It is such fun news to share. Sam and I told his family a few days later during our Christmas celebration. I was a little surprised by their response. Evidently there were already a few speculations from Sam’s mom and CJ (Matt’s wife) – and we thought we were being so sneaky :-)

Heading to the Coast

Today is the big day! I am so excited about going home for Christmas this year. This is a special year for both families since we will all be able to be together. My brother and his girl friend are coming in either tonight or tomorrow. I don’t get to see him very often so I am really excited about hanging out with him and Karen over the holidays. Sam’s family will be in Pensacola this year. What a treat to be able to spend time with both sets of families. We will do a Christmas dinner with Sam’s parents and both brothers and their wives on Sunday. My family will spend Christmas Eve and Christmas day together. I am sure there will be a lot of driving back and forth but it is a small price to pay to get to see all of our loved ones.

Telling and Receiving Good News

We had desserts with Amy and Matt Murphy last night and decided to share the news. Actually, Lilly shared our news by sporting a cute “Big Sister in Training” t-shirt. Here is a picture from the website...haven't gotten a chance to take a picture of Lilly wearing the shirt yet.

Sam and I felt that it would be good to have someone for me to confide in. Since Amy has been so supportive through these last few months and since her mom is an OBGYN nurse, it seemed like the best person to share our secret with. Once we have our doctor’s check up and we hear a heartbeat (a milestone I am really nervous about) we will share our news with a few more people. It is so hard not to tell everyone.

I received an exciting call from my mom this morning. One of our friends in Fairhope has just discovered that she is expecting a baby. We are only days apart! The conversations are so funny at this point because my mom is so excited but doesn’t know that she is about to receive similar news from me. I am sure she will be stunned. Funny how things happen :-)

Guess What?

Yippie! I am pregnant!

I am happy to announce that two pregnancy tests have confirmed that Sam and I are expecting. We are somewhat shocked that we will be welcoming a baby into the world. For those that do not know, I had a miscarriage back in October. That was a painful time in both of our lives but in the end it confirmed how much we wanted a child and how much we loved each other. We never expected to be pregnant again so soon. I guess I am lucky to be super fertile (Sam says we could be super heroes…that might be going a bit far). We definitely feel blessed!

We are heading down to Fairhope on Friday night for the Christmas holidays. I am really excited to go home and spend time with our family. We are trying to think of a clever way to tell our parents the happy news. I would love to wait until we had a doctor’s confirmation but I am far too excited about telling them face to face. It’s fun news to share over the phone but even better in person. I think we may incorporate Christmas into the mix…maybe a little gift to open or something like that.

The appointment with the doctor is scheduled for December 31st. I am nervous and excited all at once. Since it is a higher risk pregnancy, we should be able to do a sonogram sometime soon to try and hear a heartbeat. I would love it if we could do it during our checkup. It would be nice to have a good appointment and then ring in the New Year with good news. What a wonderful gift!

I hope you have enjoyed this first installment of the Coverdale Chronicles. I will try to keep this blog updated over the course of the pregnancy so that loved ones can stay up to date. I have enjoyed reading other friends stories and hope you will too.