Exciting News!

After much prayer and months of waiting, we finally have an offer on our house in Louisville! Yippee! We received the offer late last night, countered today, and they accepted this afternoon! All that is left is the home inspection, and we are not anticipating any problems there. Hopefully we will close within the next month. What an answer to prayer it will be to have the house sold before the baby comes and I go on maternity leave! Thank you to all who have prayed for us over these last seven months. Please continue to pray that everything goes smoothly and that we will close soon. Thank you, Lord, for Your faithfulness and provision. What an Almighty, Sovereign God we serve!

Nursery Furniture... Part 2

Since Mark was on call today, I drove into Greenville to return the damaged nursery furniture. Unfortunately, I had a little surprise (and not a good one) waiting for me at Babies 'R Us. The man who had set aside the replacement furniture for us had acidentally set aside a white crib and white changing table instead of the chocolate brown color we had requested. Sadly they did not have the correct furniture for me to take home today and had to order the pieces. So, my trip into the big city the day before Christmas in the middle of a shopping frenzy did not have the happy ending I thought it would. We will have to return to Greenville whenever the pieces come in to pick up our furniture. The good news is that they did give us another discount for my troubles. Thus we are paying a good deal less than we had originally thought! I still don't think the discount is worth the aggravation, but at least it's something:) At least we're ahead of the game and not due for another four months! Merry Christmas!

Nursery Furniture

Mark and I purchased our nursery furniture last Saturday and picked it up in Greenville yesterday. Unfortunately, it was pouring down rain off and on all day. We borrowed a friend's truck and luckily Babies 'R Us wrapped our cardboard boxes in plastic to protect them from the rain. We made it back to Greenwood without mishap, but we had a surprise when we removed the plastic wrap. The crib box had some holes in it and actually looked like someone had stepped on the box and broken through the cardboard and Styrofoam packaging underneath. Here are a few pictures of the damage.


Obviously we were not very happy because they had wrapped it up in plastic wrap and not told us the box was damaged. So, after an hour's drive home, we discovered that one of the crib pieces below the holes was cracked all the way through! The dresser arrived undamaged so we thought we had better check out the changing table before calling Babies 'R Us today. It was a good thing we started putting it together. While all of the pieces were in perfect condition, one of the ends was missing two pre-drilled holes!

Luckily Babies 'R Us was great to work with and did not put up a fight for us to return the damaged pieces. They are holding a new crib and changing table for us. Unfortunately it is an hour's drive, and Mark does not have any days off until we come home for New Year's. Hopefully Mark can get them loaded into the Jeep, and I'll be able to exchange them on Christmas Eve (since I am off work and Mark is on call and will be at the hospital all day). We'll see. Here are pictures of what the furniture looks like. We had not planned on getting all three pieces but got a great deal and saved a lot of money. Yippee! They look black below but they are really a chocolate brown. Once we get them set up in the nursery we'll post pictures.

Growing...

Sorry I did not post a belly picture at 22 weeks. Here I am 22 1/2 weeks. The belly grows daily!

Christmas Decorations

Last Thursday Mark and I put up our Christmas tree and decorated our little balcony. With weather in the 70s it definitely does not feel like Christmas or December outside! We've done our best to get into the Christmas spirit and have even watched an old Christmas movie with friends- White Christmas. We had never seen it, and we both really enjoyed it. Here are a few pictures of our decorated home.

The Prego Belly is Growing...

I am trying to be better about staying on track with posting belly photos every week. Everyone at work tells me daily that it seems as if this belly just popped out- I predicted that it would happen like this. Here I am at 21 weeks. Enjoy! It grows every day!

21 weeks

Our little man is a very active fellow. Mark has been able to feel him kick and move for the past two weeks. He felt him for the first time over Thanksgiving weekend at my sister's house. I love the look of amazement that comes over his face each time he feels our son move around inside my belly. It truly is a wondrous feeling. God is so amazing! We just can't wait to meet our little man. The first half of our pregnancy has flown by! I'm over halfway now... April will be here before we know it!

Thanks Andy & Ashley

Today in the mail we received a coupon from Mark's cousin Andy and his wife Ashley for 15% off furniture at Babies R Us. We're planning on a trip to Greenville this weekend to buy some nursery furniture so this coupon is perfect! Thank you so much for sharing this special deal with us. Along with the coupon they sent us the cutest foooted onesie in blue dots (I just love polka dots). Thank you!

Gifts from Nana

Our little man received some clothes from his Nana today. It is so fun to get little boy clothes and caps. Here are some pictures of the goodies sent in the mail. Thank you, Nana!

Nursery Chair

While we were in for our brief visit over Thanksgiving, we were able to go to a store in Plainview Shopping center called USA Baby. They had all kinds of cute baby gifts, but we were most excited to find the chair we wanted on sale! We couldn't decide on the fabric so we ordered swatches to be sent to us here in SC. Well, after some thought we've finally decided and ordered our chair in "latte" microfiber- aka medium brown.We really wanted an upholstered rocker that we could use for a long time and that could function in our room once we no longer need it in the nursery (a long ways away). It's a bit of a splurge for us, but we know that it will be around for a very long time. Anyone who comes to visit us and our little man here in SC will get to try it out and see how comfortable it is. Here's a picture of it in a striped fabric but you can see what it looks like. Ours is a solid brown, not striped.

Ultrasound results

We had our ultrasound today - Beth's right at 20 weeks - halfway! The survey of baby's anatomy looked good, definitely growing on track. It is so amazing to see that little heart beating away and baby moving all over the place. Hands and feet with growing little fingers and toes are just awesome. What a blessing to see our child growing and developing well.

But that's probably not what you were looking to see.

After a little searching and convincing baby to move around a little the view was finally clear - we're going to have a boy!! We'll post ultrasound pictures when we can get them scanned. There's also video evidence of boy parts, but we're not savvy enough to get that transferred to the blog.

Here's also a new belly picture of Beth - she definitely popped out over the past weekend. Sorry for the delay to those of you requesting new belly photos, we'll try to stay more on track, especially now that it's growing a little more visibly.

20 weeks

Weekend Trip Home

We went home for a very quick weekend- we left at 1:30pm on Friday afternoon (after Mark finished his Thanksgiving night on call) and got back to South Carolina at 2:00am on Monday morning. Unfortunately Mark had to get up and be at the hospital by 7:00am! While the time home was definitely too short it was wonderful to see our parents and some of our family. We were so grateful for the lower gas prices:)

We went to my sister's on Friday night and played with our nephews and then stayed up way too late hanging out with my sister and brother-in-law. We were able to get up early with the boys and play Saturday morning before heading into Louisville. Here are a few pictures:

Lucas dressed up in the Thanksgiving outfit he made at school.

Knox and Lucas getting sleepy and both wanting to snuggle with Uncle Mark.

I was able to go to a baby shower on Saturday afternoon for Mark's cousin's wife, Ashley, who is due in January with a little boy. It was a sweet shower with a wonderful devotion on Godly parenting by Marcie (actually the wife of the minister who married us and did our premarital counseling). Her three recommendations were to: love the baby's heavenly Father, love the baby's earthly father (aka my wonderful husband), and to include the baby as part of our family but not make the baby the center of the family. She reminded us that having a child was not when our family started, but that it was when we were married that our family was formed. Our children are additions to our families not the basis for it. I really appreciated her simple reminders and can't wait for baby Puckett to get here!

Baby Puckett once again received a little something while we were at home- his or her first Cardinal blanket in support of the Louisville Cardinals from Mark's parents. I also received a surprise from my mom- a Willow Tree figurine. Here are some pictures:

Baby Puckett's first Cardinal apparel

Pregnant woman Willow Tree figurine from my mother, Nana.

Baby Puckett on the Move!

Well, for the past week and a half I have been able to feel our little one moving around inside of me. A pretty cool feeling! It's amazing to think that a living being is growing inside of me and developing more and more every day. How can people not believe that God is sovereign over all? I can't understand how one can look at the creation of human life and not recognize Him at work.
On Wednesday I actually had my hand on my belly and felt a good kick! By the time Mark put his hand on my belly there was no more kicking to be had:( Hopefully he'll get to feel baby Puckett moving soon! I'll post a new picture soon... my belly is growing!

A few thoughts

I've been working in OB/GYN for about 2 weeks now. The benefits of seeing Beth more often at work are obvious since she works exclusively in the labor and delivery unit, but it has caused me to think even more about our impending parenthood.

One of the biggest things I learned in medical school was simply to be in awe of the design of the human body. I remember thinking throughout my entire gross anatomy course how amazing it is that our bodies are so intricately designed to work so beautifully. I remember specifically dissecting the heart and holding it in my hands, struck by the glory of God's intentional design in our bodies. Add to this the biochemical events that take place on a millisecond and nanometer level to keep each and every cell in our bodies from spontaneously disintegrating and you have a true masterpiece.

Even greater is the awe of developmental biology. The infinite number of events that must take place to produce a healthy, living human are astounding - a true reason to be thankful for each and every time it happens. And to praise God. I honestly do not understand how any person could look at the intricacies of the fully developed body and the delicate process of development and not be convinced that only a Creator with purposeful intelligent design could create such a beautiful thing.

A few thoughts about this -

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
-Psalm 139:13-14

For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible...all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
-Colossians 1:16-17

My only response to this is to thank God for providing such life.

Boy or Girl?

Beth and I have finally decided that we will attempt to find out the sex of our child at our ultrasound scheduled for December 3rd. Of course, that all depends on our child cooperating with the ultrasound for good views! We really went back and forth for a long time, pondering the pros and cons of each side. One day I was praying for our child and was just thinking how nice it would be just to connect even now with our son or daughter on another level. I though of how much more specifically could I prepare physically, emotionally, and spiritually for our addition knowing which we will have. Certainly our greatest prayer is to have a healthy child that will grow to love the Lord, and we will be excited either way. So, in light of our decision we have a new poll for your votes, with an answer that none of us can control.

Getting a Belly!

Well, my midsection is filling out. Not quite as fast as I would like it, but definitely a noticeable change. My pants are starting to get a little snug, and soon I will be in maternity pants! I bought a pair in Greenville yesterday, and they are so comfortable. Everyone has told me that once I start wearing maternity clothes I won't want to go back to my prepregnancy clothes! I now know what they're talking about!

Here I am at 17 1/2 weeks.
Still no huge belly but definitely a little bump with my midsection filling out!
As many of you know, I have the remarkable talent of appearing pregnant when, in fact, I am not! Well, now that I AM really pregnant I can do this unashamedly when I want everyone to know I am pregnant. Unfortunately, I can still hold it all in and this belly isn't here to stay, yet! This is a preview for those of you who have not seen this talent in person. And, no, this is not a pillow or a ball under my shirt:) This is what I will look like soon, and I won't be able to hold it in!
I can't wait!

More ultrasound pictures!

One of the unwritten benefits of being a doctor is getting to play with the toys in your office. This includes spending an hour on a Saturday afternoon looking at your baby on the ultrasound machine. Let me tell you, tons of fun. I will quickly confess that my ultrasound skills are still in early development, but I was able to catch a few shots to show off our growing little one. I will also confess that while we haven't decided if we want to find out the sex, I was definitely looking for boy or girl parts. But, like I said, I'm still learning and every time I thought I saw something it turned out to be umbilical cord. Oh well. We did see good heart beats and took some rough measurements that seemed on par for where we should be. It was fun to see little arms and legs moving around, and it looked like he/she was either sucking a thumb or playing peek-a-boo with us. Enjoy!

The head is on the bottom, with the body on top of it, kind of leaning.Here is a side view of most of his/her body with a leg to the left.
Here's another body view with baby's chin tucked down. Good spine.

This one really didn't come out well. The black space in the middle is baby's heart beating.Here's baby holding his/her arm up toward his/her face.This is baby's arm and hand. We watched the hand open and close a few times like he/she knew we were watching and was waving.

More Belly Photos

Well, I have been slacking when it comes to posting belly pictures. Here are two more. As you can see, I still am not showing very much (but am gaining weight appropriately). However, right after I eat, I have a little belly and it makes me look more pregnant! Oh well, soon enough I will be showing and everyone will know I'm pregnant! As for now, I will continue to enjoy wearing my own clothes and postpone maternity clothes for an undetermined amount of time. I think that I shall just wake up one morning and realize my clothes no longer fit and that my belly finally looks pregnant!

14 1/2 weeks pregnant

16 1/2 weeks pregnant

More Gifts for Baby Puckett!

On Saturday, Baby Puckett received a package in the mail from Mark's grandma. In my excitement I almost opened it while Mark was a the hospital. Silly wife! Luckily I came to my senses in time and saved opening Baby Puckett's present until we had dinner with Mark at the hospital Saturday night! Grandma sent some special books, including Baby's First Bible and Baby's First Book of Prayers. She also sent God is My Song: The Land of Milk and Honey, which is a 2 book set with Baby's Book of Bible Songs coming from Psalms and Baby's Book of Bible Poems coming from Proverbs. We love these books because we'll be sharing God's love with our little one from before the time he or she is born. God is so good! Also included in the package was the softest little outfit that came all the way from Pascagoula, MS. How thoughtful! Thank you, grandma! Here are pictures of the sweet gifts:

Visit with Nana

My mom, Nana as my nephews call her, came down to visit this weekend and stayed from Friday until today after lunch. We had a wonderful time together, and I'm so grateful that she was willing to make the 16-hour round trip to come spend time with me. I kept her up past her bedtime on Friday and Saturday nights and she hit the sack pretty early on Sunday night! She even came to pilates class with me Saturday morning. Way to go, Nana! Mark was on call on Saturday and had to work the other days so he did not get to hang out with us much. Bummer! All in all, it was a refreshing weekend, and we ended her trip with a tour of labor & delivery and a sushi lunch. Thanks for visiting!

Costume Fun

Last night the residency program had its Halloween costume party. It was a lot of fun and we enjoyed everyone's costumes. Some were more original than others...

Representing the 'ville!

The hostess, Christy (aka Dr. Cavanaugh)

The host, ChristianLaura Lee as Pooh (aka Dr. Stuart)
Rocker Chick Chelsea (aka Dr. Meharry)Good and EvilHouston (aka Dr. Davis) and his fiance KatherineKarissa (aka Dr. King)Sally as a Black-Eyed PeaDanny (aka Dr. Pike) forgot to dress up so he "borrowed" elements from everyone's costume.
Not sure what he thinks he is....

New Church Home

Well, yesterday Mark and I joined South Main Street Baptist Church here in Greenwood, SC. We have been visiting this church pretty regularly and have gotten involved with a Sunday School class. They are without a pastor right now (theirs was killed in a car accident last fall) and the interim pastor is actually an ENT physician here in town. It was his Sunday School class that we started attending.

We miss Cedar Creek greatly but need a church home in South Carolina for the next two and a half years before we come home. This church is very friendly and on fire with the Gospel. The change they are going through and the direction they are headed remind us of Cedar Creek. We are excited to get to be a part of God's ministry here in Greenwood and can't wait to get plugged in!

Crisis Averted

On Friday I had a huge scare. I had a labor support class at work and there were four of us orientees in the class. When asked, all but one of us said we were going to be working day shift. The instructor looked surprised but said nothing. After a break, the instructor (who is part of the leadership team) brought a message back from the director of the women's center: "There are no open positions on day shift, while there are four open positions on night shift. No one will be moved to days until there is an open position. Day shift positions will be filled based upon seniority."

Needless to say, I was instantly concerned and worried. This had to be a mistake. When I was offered my position, I thought it was only for day shift. I worked night shift the first 8 1/2 months of our marriage (as many of you remember), and it wasn't fun. I definitely did not want to be on night shift, yet labor and delivery (and the rest of the women's center) is the only place I want to work. Unfortunately the director had already left for the day when I stopped by her office to clarify this announcement. I would have to wait until Monday.

Well, this afternoon I was able to talk with my director and she just laughed at me. She said that I was not included in that blanket statement because my work agreement (aka contract) was for day shift. The others were actually hired for nights but had come to her equesting days due to personal situations. She told me I should have called her on her cell phone Friday evening to clear things up. Talk about relief flooding over me! God definitely provided and answered prayers. I prayed throughout the weekend not to get worked up over this and that it was probably just a misunderstanding. God is so good!

Initial Belly Photo

Many of you have commented that I need to post pictures so you can see the growth of my belly. Well, here I am at 13 1/2 weeks. Not much to be seen yet, but I can already tell a difference. Luckily all of my clothes still fit normally so hopefully I can wait a few more weeks before switching to maternity clothes. We'll see...

Over the past two weeks since we told family, little baby Puckett has received a few cards and gifts. My mom and soon-to-be Aunt Sarah and Uncle Tom (Mark's brother) sent adorable cards, and Mark's cousin Andy and his wife Ashley (expecting their 1st baby, Jackson, in January) sent two board books to start our little one's library. Thank you!


Mark's mom had a little gift waiting for the baby when we got into Louisville on Thursday- she just couldn't help herself! She loves these "sweet pea" gowns, and we know they'll come in handy for middle-of-the-night diaper changes! She picked out gender neutral yellows and a white one with ribbon trim and matching blanket. They are sooooo soft!

Here is a close-up of the ribbon trim. So sweet!

The little one also received its first toy, a frog. The frog croaks when you squeeze its belly and Maggie, Mark's parents' yellow lab puppy, thought it was a toy for her!