30 week appointment

Well, it seems like the only thing I post these days are the doctor's appointments.  Oh well.  Maybe I'll get a Christmas post in soon.  :)  

I had my 30 week appt last Friday and she is still measuring right at 30 weeks.  Her heart beat was in the 160s too.  My doctor added that if she had to guess @ this point she would  be about 7 1/2- 8 lbs @ birth.  That's not too bad, but it did make me a little nervous seeing as how she was saying this 10 weeks away from the big day!  We are happy that she is growing well and healthy, so I'll take what I can get with that.  

On another note, David and I had a great Christmas, and hope all of you did too.  We were able to see both sides of the family, attended my cousin, Ross', wedding, and spent Christmas eve and day with David's family.  We are very spoiled and learned that our little girl is already spoiled as well! Like I said - I hope to get some pictures up here soon.  

28 Week check-up!

Can you believe I am 28 weeks already?!  I had my glucose test today and passed!!!  Yeah!  I did get a little nervous about it because it seems like everyone I know has failed the first one (the 1-hour test).  So, I was really excited - the lab lady said "Oh, you were nowhere near failing."  Yeah! Other than that our baby girl is measuring right at 28 weeks, so I guess things are on track.  

Now...if we could only get some of this house work done...and the nursery set up.  I think we destroyed our house this weekend moving the guest bed and dresser into the office and combining those rooms.  We now have stuff everywhere, which has been pretty stressful for me...but we've been working really hard and I am starting to see things come together.  They nursery is full of junk now...we have to store some things and go through other things, but it will all work out - it has to, right?!  It doesn't really help that it is Christmas time and we have presents and boxes on top of our usual stuff that we are sorting through.  Oh well - I love this season, so I'm not going to complain about that!!!

 I will try to get some pictures up when I get everything together, but I am having trouble "shrinking" my pictures on this imac.  It will let me shrink them, but when I save it and go back in it is the same size as when I started (which is pretty big).  So...we'll see.  

Anyway, just wanted to give a little update - hope everyone is having a great Christmas season!

The Heart Update

Hey Everyone ~

Sorry it has taken me so long to update.  I was just able to talk to the nurse from the cardiology clinic on Thursday afternoon.  They said that I did have some premature beats, but it was nothing to worry about.  This is really all the information I was able to get from her...oh, and that the ECHO was normal...so I plan to just discuss it with my OB at my next appointment.  Thanks for all the notes and messages.  David and I appreciate you guys thinking of us!  I will try to actually post with some pictures soon...you need some time to get ready for that scene!  :)

I'm guessing it's not that bad...

Just wanted to write a little update to let you all know that I haven't forgotten to give results on the cardiology appointment...because I haven't received any results!  :)  So...I am guessing if it was a big deal I would have heard something - at least I hope they don't treat their heart attack and CHF patients this way (I know, that was mean).  But...I did expect to hear something before the weekend, and even called and left a message today.  They didn't call back though, so I guess we will find something out on Monday???  

In the meantime - the palpitations haven't really changed at all...not worse, not better - and after the last 2 days @ work - that is GREAT!  My manager, coworkers, and I were talking today about how there is a constant level of daily stress at St. Jude that we no longer think about. We've seemed to adapt to it, deal with it - and do not notice it until a new nurse comes along and you can see that they are terrified!  I can look back and see how this stress has effected my life and my body in the past, so I'm sure that it doesn't help with the heart palpitations.  However, I don't know that it is enough to make me give up what I love to do.   :) 

And God doesn't give us more than we can handle.

A Day at the Doctor(s)

Well...what a day.  I had a prenatal visit this morning (@ 8:40a.m. actually) and everything looked pretty good.  The baby is measuring right at 24 weeks - so right on track!  However, there was a little setback...with me, not the baby.  I had mentioned that I have been having heart palpitations (skipped beats...) for awhile and they were getting worse.  I assumed that this was due to the increase in blood volume.  

Time out - *I've had these palpitations off and on for years and as a result have had thyroid testing, etc....but they are just worse now and are happening several times a day.*

I've also noticed a vibrating type feeling in my chest at times.  Now, Let me just clarify that I've debated on whether or not to mention all this to the doctor with my last two visits and decided against it, but felt that I did not want to let this go by if it really was a problem.  From being in the medical field I KNEW that by me mentioning this it would call for a further work-up.

So...they referred me to a cardiologist.  Lovely.  

The good news - I was able to get in to the cardiologist today!

The bad news - umm....that I had to go to the cardiologist!

Now it is about 3:30pm and I've been to the cardiologist, had a complete work-up including an ECHO (ultrasound of the heart) and am required to wear a Holter (heart) monitor for 24 hours...yeah.  I know you can tell that I'm just thrilled about all this.  :)

But in all seriousness - I really think everything is okay and neither doctor said or did anything to make me think otherwise.  "We" are just taking these precautions to make sure that this isn't anything that could cause a problem during labor.  I fully expect to either get a good (negative) report back on everything or just find that there is a minor valve problem that can just be watched.  

So...lesson learned - Keep your mouth shut at the doctor!  No, just kidding  :)  I am kind of laughing about all this (thankfully) because for those of you who know Jenn, know that a similar situation happened with her when she was pregnant with Wyatt.  It's good to know others who have gone through this.  :)  

I'll post again with the results...along with several other posts that I need to catch up on!  :)

It's a...

GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are so excited to tell everyone that we are having a little girl in March!!!!!!  I think David is still in a little bit of shock, but we are both very excited.  :)  Fortunately he has a few friends that recently found out they were having daughters around the same time as us...so he has a good support group!  Ha ha!  Seriously though, he is really loving it.  The doctor's appointment went great, and everything looked good on the ultrasound ~ I didn't realize that I was a little concerned about everything turning out okay until I found myself analyzing every step of the ultrasound!  But...We are praising God for our healthy baby!  

I hope you can see the ultrasound pictures okay...again, they wouldn't scan right, so we just had to try to take good pictures of them.  The ultrasound tech was so sweet and took a few 4D pictures just for fun.  So...enjoy!

Profile pic!

A little foot - I tried to get the picture to rotate, but no luck.  Sorry!

4D pic of her face ~ who do you think she looks like?!

4D pic ~ she is covering her face with her right arm/wrist...this was one of the last pictures...I think she was getting a little tired of the spotlight.

I am so happy that we were able to find out the sex.  The 4D part was especially fun.  She was moving SO much and at one point we were able to see her chewing!  I guess she likes that amniotic fluid.  Ha!  :)  

It is amazing at the thoughts and emotions that we have gone through since this morning.  My first thought was "Oh gosh, now we have to actually think of a name!" and David's first thought was "Oh gosh, now we have to pay for a wedding!"  :)  I've already wondered about her personality, what she will grow up to be, and most importantly ~ How can we really teach her about the love of God in a way that will give Him the respect He deserves.  He has been so faithful to both David and me and it brings me to tears to think that He has allowed us this gift!!!  We are in awe!

*Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us...Ephesians 3:20*

3rd Doc Appointment

What is going on?!...I mean, this is the 3rd post in less than a week!!!  (Which means it will probably be about 3 months before the next post!)  :)  

I had a prenatal appointment this morning, and it was pretty quick and uneventful (thankfully).  I am measuring @ 17 weeks...so right on track.  They were able to hear the heartbeat without any trouble, and we will go back in 3 weeks to find out if it is a boy or girl!!!  Yeah!  Not too much info today, so we are thankful. 

Updates & the Beach!!!

So...I think it has been about a month since I posted anything on here!  We have enjoyed the last month.  You will see in this post and the one under it that we have been doing quite a bit of traveling.  We went to Nashville for our nephew, Aiden's 1st birthday at the end of August, and then the 2nd week in September we went to Destin with David's family.  David's parents, Ron & Margie, just began their stateside assignment for about 7 months and are here in Memphis now.  We are lucky to have them around (especially with the pregnancy) and have really been spoiled since they arrived!  So...to start things off we took a family trip to the beach.  Since they are usually in Guatemala and can't really come in for that long (besides Christmas) we really took advantage of this time.  Here are some pictures:

This is the beach house that David's parents rented.  It was sooooo nice and we loved staying here.  

This is the pool @ the house...where we spent most of our time.  :)

The waves were pretty big because of Hurricane Ike (passing through the gulf).  This is David body boarding.  The next day they actually closed the beaches because the waves were so big and the ocean so rough.

Our sweet niece & nephews:  Isabella, Brooks, & Aiden.  

David (Uncle Dae Dae) & Isabella playing in the pool!

We had so much fun...and what made it even better was that my nausea went away that same week!  (well, except for a few episodes).  Pregnancy really isn't that bad when you feel good.  Ha ha!  :)  I have another appointment this week, so I will be posting about that.  We are now 17 weeks!

Aiden's 1st Birthday

What a cute cake!  It matched his invitations.

Jonathan, Aiden, & Julie - Aiden really liked the icing.  :)

Yeah Aiden!  You're 1 now!!!

I know it has been too long, but at least I'm getting around to blogging now!  :)  These are some pictures of our nephew, Aiden's 1st birthday.  We went to Nashville for his party at the end of August.  It was so cute!  Congratulations Aiden - you are getting so big!

March 1, 2009!

Well, I guess it is time to let everyone in on our little secret...we are going to have a baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Yeah!  David and I are very excited, and are really enjoying everything so far.  Our due date is March 1, 2009, so I am a little over 12 weeks pregnant.  We already know of a few friends that are due around this time, which makes it even more fun.  

I had my second doctor's visit on Monday and everything went well.  We did have an ultrasound because we weren't able to hear the heartbeat with the doplar (the placenta was in the way). We weren't able to scan the pictures (just took a picture of it), so they aren't the best, but it will work for now.  :)  In the top picture you can see the back of the baby's head and back (the line down the middle is the spine) with his/her right arm waving!  The second picture is suppose to be a profile picture looking @ the babies right side.  So...so far, so good!  Just looking forward to all of this!   

I'm a FNP!

Just wanted to let everyone know that I passed the FNP (Family Nurse Practitioner) board exam today!  I'm so excited and RELIEVED that this is over.  Thanks to everyone who prayed!

~ Nekayeh

"Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.  Praise the Lord."  Psalm 150:6

The Beach!

We recently went to Destin, FL with my side of the family (my mom's side).  It was nice and relaxing, and we DEFINITELY had a hard time returning to reality.  Here are a couple of pictures...I didn't do too good at taking the pictures, but then again...I didn't mind not having many pictures of myself in a swim suit (and I'm sure my family is thanking me as well.)  :)  

Chula's Allergy Testing

So, this past week/weekend we went to Nashville - we were happy to see David's brother, Jonathan and his family...but unfortunately that was not our original reason for the trip.  Chula, our chocolate lab has battled with allergies for about 2 years now (she's 3 y.o.)...we have exhausted all of our "pill" resources without much help, so we finally broke down and took her to be tested.  Yes...we had to drive all the way to Nashville to do this (we were also given the opportunity of going to Jackson, MS...but seeing as how we have family in Nashville, and a place to stay...we chose this city.)

So, we took her Thursday morning and were about to have the testing done that afternoon.  Much to our surprise...she is allergic to almost everything that she was tested on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  When we returned to pick her up that afternoon, we walked into the exam room and a vet tech sat us down and handed us a paper filled with names of trees, shrubs, grasses, bugs, molds, etc.  She said "the highlighted items are what your dog is allergic to."  I really don't remember another time that I was so speechless.  Almost everything on the sheet was highlighted!!!!!!  So, after a long talk with the doctor and vet tech, we decided to start allergy shots.  But wait! - before your eyes get too big let me just tell you that they actually cost LESS than the pills she has been taking.  YEAH!  So, let me just take this time to insert a few pictures.

Here is the area that they shaved for the testing.

Poor Chula - I hope her hair grows fast!

Chula posing with her test results - the highlighted items are what she is allergic to...this is the 1st of 2 pages. :)

Chula says "Mom, I hate it when you get carried away with that camera...enough already!"

So, besides our adventure at the pet allergist...we had a great time visiting with our brother & sister-in-law - Jonathan & Julie and our nephew, Aiden.  Aiden is almost 10 months now and he is getting so big!  We had so much fun playing with him and just spending time with Julie and Jonathan.  Unfortunately we don't have any pictures of Aiden from the trip!!!!!!!  I know, that is horrible.  Everytime I got my camera out he was either sleeping or fussy and heading to sleep.  So, I just did a bad job of catching those moments.  So...maybe next time.

Thanks Julie & Jonathan for your hospitality!

Meeting Brooks

Okay, let's try this again...

I have been working on the post off & on for about 2 weeks, and have not been able to get these pictures to upload...so hopefully it will work this time!

A couple of weekends ago we were able to travel to Shreveport to see our newest nephew, Brooks!  We had such a great time and were happy to have the chance to go.  Isabella was so funny - she is 20 months old now and full of personality!  She really kept us entertained.  Here are some pictures!

Mr. Brooks!

So cute!

Look how big he is!  :)

Sweet Isabella lovin' on her baby brother.

I just thought this was a cute picture of Isabella...

So David and Isabella had this game...David would pretend like he was sleeping and then Isabella would go and "wake him up," and then David would sit up and point to her and say "What do you think you're doing?!"  She thought it was so funny and they played this for about 30 minutes (at least) one morning.  After awhile...once she woke David up she would point at him too and say something (in her own little language) and just laugh!  You can see what I mean in the next few pictures.


I'm so happy that I was finally able to post this...and we are looking forward to the next time we get to see Ben, Kristen, Isabella, & Brooks!

Happy Birthday Dad!

I'd like to wish a very happy 63rd birthday to my daddy! - Reid Pennington.  I thought he was 64, but found out this weekend he is actually just now 63.  :)  Anyway!  I hope you have a wonderful birthday, Dad!  I couldn't ask for a better Father than you.  I love you!

Brooks Anderson!

I'd like to take this chance to welcome our nephew, Brooks Anderson, to the world! He was born yesterday, June 5, @ 11:19am in Shreveport to David's brother, Ben & his wife Kristen. ...And was an amazing 9lb 15oz & was 20 1/2 inches long. Everyone is doing great, and we are so excited to see them all next weekend. We know that his big sister, Isabella, is doing a great job of entertaining him as well. I will try to post some pictures as I get them.





...on the other hand - I appreciate the comments that we have received on here. I am really new at this and still learning about it all. I do appreciate the encouragement though! :)

Graduation Party

David's coworkers recently threw a graduation party for David and me.  They are so sweet and it was so much fun to celebrate with them.  The party was a surprise for David, which is really funny because David hates surprises.  I had to sneak right past David's office so that he would not see me.  The girls were so sweet to include me in the party as well.  Here are some pictures.  Thanks Monique...and all!

A New Chapter...welcome to our blog!

Well, we are finally taking the plunge and creating a blog.  We have enjoyed reading the blogs of our friends and family for so long and think it is a great way to keep others up to date on what is going on in our lives.  So...here goes!

After 2 1/2 long years, David and I both recently graduated with our Masters degrees! We are so excited to have this accomplished, and are now looking forward to actually spending time with each other for a change!  I graduated May 3rd with my Masters in Science - Advanced Practice Nursing.  I will soon sit for the certification exam to be a Family Nurse Practitioner.  

Here is a picture of David and me at my graduation.

David graduated with his Masters in Christian Studies.  He will continue his job at the University of Memphis for now...as we pray about what direction God wants to take us in the future.  This is David and his friend, Wade.  We are so excited that they are finished!

For now, we are enjoying the summer - excited to be able to get out of the house and do what we want.  We have a couple of trips planned over the summer that we are definitely ready to take!