20 Week Ultrasound Pics & 4th of July Beach Trip!

Our 20 week appt was this past Thursday, July 16th, & I was literally 20 weeks that day. (yes I am a lil' late getting these on here...sorry Mrs. Brenda..hopefully you're seeing these before your trip to Europe!!!) Our lil' Colton was very cooperative this go around. The nurse immediately confirmed he was still a boy. :) As you can see in the below photo. The angle is as if he were sitting on a piece of glass & the picture is taken from below the glass (for those of you who have a hard time interpreting these pictures). :)

The below picture is his little profile.. & that random circle thing above his nose is not attached :) The nurse said it's just the embilical cord floating around. Thankfully...I thought we were going to have a Rudolph for a second! :)

This picture is pretty cool because you can actually see the lense of his eye! (our friend Dr. Ricky Willams liked this one..since he's an opthomologist) I especially like how his little hand is up on his face.

This is a shot of his lil' hand...

This is pretty wild...if you take both your hands & cup them around your nose & chin like you are about to yell through them...the view you see below is of that view of Colton's face. His nose then above his lip, then the black section is his mouth, then chin area.

A kinda freaky view of our lil' man...there's that eye lense again! He must have some big eyes..I keep seeing that lense! :)

Oh..so precious...a lil' foot. I am seeing some long, french fry toes :) that could be from Mommy or Uncle Jeremy :)

Overall it was a great appointment! They took a look at the 4 chambers of his heart b/c they couldn't get a good view before. Everything was wonderful though! He weighs 12 oz. as much as a can of Coke..but he is as long as a can of Red Bull. :) I go back in another 2 weeks, July 3oth, when I am 22 weeks along. Don't know when to expect another ultrasound...have to wait & see.

Just a quick run through our July 4th festivities! It started July 1st, Wednesday, when we went to Prattville church of Christ for services b/c my brother Jeremy was speaking for their summer series. (granted...thru traffic we didn't make it until the closing prayer) :( But we still got to visit with him & Lauren & some other friends. Below is my bro & his wifey, Jeremy & Lauren Hinote, and Me & my hubby Ryan.

Brent Missildine is the preacher at Prattville & I grew up to his preaching at Scenic Hills church of Christ in Pensacola, FL. So we had a great visit with them also. His wife Lisa & daughters Sarah & Laura are below.

Then we headed to Gulf Shores to stay at the In-Laws timeshare with the fam'. We had a blast! Ate some dinner at Cobalt...Mama Key & Butchly waiting to eat at Cobalt.

The "Key Boys"...Jared, Ryan & Chad. (single girls...Jared's the last "Key" boy available...BUT his sister-in-laws Christi & Kelly have to pass you through a gruesome initiation first) :)

Kelly Key & my wonderful sister-in-law, Christi Stephens Key. She & I spent lot's of time in the pool, along the side with our books on the edge. Although..we never read our books :) we just talked & talked. :) It was great to catch up! 

Don't ask me what my hubby is doing here! So silly! :) Gotta' love 'em! 

Can I just say..I love to see her laugh like this! Somebody was really funny..I have a feeling it was Butchly.

SO...then..something snapped! ;) She'll probably kill me for putting this on here...but I couldn't pass up the 1 extreme to the other! :) She looks like she is letting someone have it..but we all know that's not true!

Sunset off the deck of the condo...thank you God for that beautiful picture! (of the sunset of course...don't want that to be taken the wrong way...not talking about Ryan & I :-)

Apparently I'm the only one that got the memo to be silly in this shot!

King Mackeral (sp) Ryan caught! I couldn't go on this fishing trip :( they were taking the boat out too far & were afraid it would shake Colton up too much. I thought it would just get him ready early for deep sea fishing? :) I DID get to go out one night with the boys fishing. Jared, Chad, Ryan & I all went out but didn't have much luck. :( Our 3 pounds of shrimp mostly died because we had too much crammed in one container...so our bait shriveled up fast! 

Sunset ride in the boat...could ride out there all day & night! Kissy hubby :)

Chad & Christi...so cute!

Kissy Key boys ;)

We take "Key family" photos anytime we're together..this one's cute I think.

Jared, Me (& Colton in my belly), Ryan, Mama Key, Butchly, Christi & Chad

Again..Thank you God for that Beautiful picture!!! Nothin' like watching this as you ride toward it in a boat!

Butch (the captain of our boat) & Bev (our baconator! best bacon cooker ever!) :) 

Ryan being silly as always! :) What I love most about him!

Me...being normal :)

Me...being normal.. :) My "other" face shot. :) (yes..Allison Farmer that's your maternity skirt..just the back view) :)

Our Key Fella's

This is the deck of the condo where a bird decided to perch...Christi decides to get her camera & take a picture. Instead of standing back away from the sliding glass door so he won't fly away:) she goes up to the glass to get her photo & he immediately heads off... :) so funny...She at least got this shot!

Mama Key & her two daughters

hmmm..don't ask! :) Butchly decided for some reason :) to try on Christi's bathing suit cover up! Nice huh? (now ya'll know where Ryan get's it from!)

Wow...awesome shot (christi) can't have 4th of July w/o our flag!

Prior to the beach trip we had a 4th of July dinner w/ Grandma/pa Key & Aunt Carol Key. They boys decided to be just that..boys...& pass around Mama Key's wig she has through her chemo treatment. Couldn't pass up showing you these!

Ryan...a little to0 girly for me here....

The glasses are Aunt Carols..which look SO cute on her...not so much on Rino :)

Chad..wow! WE had to add the headband for him...this is too funny! He was fighting us for this shot!

And does Butchly not look like one of the singers in the country group, Alabama? :) Can't remember that guys name..but he looks just like him here!

Next was Grandaddy Key :)...Grandma Key had to get his hearing aid back in as the wig knocked it out. :)

I am sure you got some laughter out of those! I know we had a great time as we always do with his family. This past Saturday & Sunday we spent the weekend all 10 of us (gparents & all) at the Farm in Moulton, AL. Fished tons! It was awesome! And we are going back this weekend... & taking my dad with us this time! I'll post some pics from this past weekend soon! Also...fun note...have an interior decorator/florist, Mandy with Hot House Design Studio coming to the house Tuesday to check out the empty nursery to help me get inspired with my theme/color scheme. Since I work with Perfect Wedding Guide magazine here in Bham, I work with lot's of florist etc. Mandy just so happens to be an interior decorator also & once you see her work www.hothousedesignstudio.com you'll see why I like her style. Those of you who know me will not be surprised I love her work when you see her website. So check it out! You CANNOT live in Birmingham, AL & NOT go to her shop! She has the most interesting, creative gift ideas & decor for your home...on top of being a floral designer!  Since this baby has sucked my creative juices out I need her help! :) Once she helps me get my concept down...I'll be rollin' on my own to make it happen! At least I'll be rollin' & not stand still with ideas as I am now! (maybe if I wasn't so picky this wouldn't be a problem. ) :) I'll keep you posted!

19 week Belly photo!!!!

19 week Belly photo!!!

Yay..I finally took a belly photo! I am going to try to do one each week on Thursday for now on b/c that is my turnover day. This picture was taken last Thursday, July 9th, which was when I was exactly 19 weeks.

This is not a very informative post, I know I still have to post about our July 4th beach trip. Been a little crazy with VBS at church which is tomorrow night through Wednesday night. Also, I know last post I mentioned my next 2 week appt was this Tuesday, July 14th, but I had to change it. So, now it's this Thursday, July 16th, the day I will be 20 weeks. So I'll let you know how that goes. Feeling great in preggo world! I just love this being pregnant stuff!!! Fantabulous!!! :)

The Gender Is...

It's a BOY!!!

That object the arrow is pointing to are...the goods ;)

Current name idea (NOT set in stone)
Colton Christopher Key
Ryan came up with Colton about a week ago. I really do like it...I just want to keep my options open since we are just finding out what it is. :)

Today I went in for my 17 weeks & 5 day visit. :) 2 weeks ago when I went in they didn't do an ultrasound so I was bummed. But they did enlighten me by telling me they would do one at the next visit. So we have been anxiously awaiting the past 2 weeks. This is my 3rd visit to the Maternal Fetal Specialist at UAB & each visit I have seen a different dr. They are apparently passing me around so that whoever is on call to deliver will be familiar with my case. I am glad because I would like to be familiar with them too! What's crazy is the dr. today was Dr. Davis. 4 years ago when we first decided to start trying I had to go see the specialist at UAB to determine if they thought it was safe for me to have a baby after having a blood clot & having to be on blood thinners for life. Well...I saw Dr. Davis & he took my case before the board of Dr's there at UAB & they collectively decided it was safe! So..that began our journey to this little boy in my belly today. Dr. Davis is now a head dude over the specialist at UAB so I was extra glad to have him see me. He walked in & said..."I was asking why in the world this girl was on so much Lovenox (blood thinner)...BUT then I looked in your file & saw 3 blood clotting factors & previously had 2 blood clots!" He decided it was great news I was on so much blood thinner! :) He was really impressed that everything with my pregnancy is going so smoothly. I am finally gaining weight due to not throwing up so much. So we are on the right track! Our lil' man was very stubborn today & we almost didn't find out he was a "he". :) But Dr. Davis was persistent & jabbed that probe in my stomach right on that boys legs to get them moved..it finally worked! They were already discussing me coming back in 2 weeks & to drink a coke in the waiting room next time so they can get him moving everywhere to see the anatomy. Thankfully...we don't have to wait 2 more weeks! They are going to do another ultrasound then to get all the measurements etc b/c he wasn't cooperating with that either. (sounds like his daddy already!) They said everything looked really good but they will do some of it again next time. That's fine with me I'll take all the ultrasounds I can get!!! :)

Here's his hand...fist clenched

Skull & two hands curled up

I am predicting he has my long legs that take up all of his body like his mommy! That's the reason we couldn't see the anatomy those legs looked all cramped up in there! :) I like this shot of his leg though...so cute!

Ryan & I went to a little shop in Downtown Homewood this afternoon to snag a lil' boy something...just b/c we could! We thought this onesie was perfect! I especially thought so...b/c if I might say so myself...if this boy looks anything like his Daddy or any of the other "Key" boys for that matter, then Chicks will definitely be diggin' him! :)

I got all the boy "stuff" out of the closet & seperated it from the few girl things I have collected over the years...Here's the beginning of his collection. Lastnight Ryan came into our bedroom showing me the Cubs Onsie (I bought like a year ago!) saying, "Awww...look at this..I totally forgot we had this!" I looked at the size & it's 18 months! So it will be a while but he'll eventually get to support daddy's team! That AU outfit...hmmm..I can't tell you how long I have had that! We'll have to get a smaller one for when he comes out of the womb! He is supposed to be here Iron Bowl weekend...

Well...I am thrilled to have a lil' boy to go mud puddling with me & Heisman. I can't wait for him to get here. I am fully convinced now that I am having a baby! :)

We are headed to Gulf Shores on Thursday to the In-Laws timeshare. We CANNOT wait! I am ready to hit up the Juicy Couture outlet to find a Juicy De Baby diaper bag! :) And we are going out on the boat fishing...which I am SO pumped about! I havn't been salt water fishing on a boat ummm...since high school! The rest of the siblings & fam are already there we are the stragglers...I'll have photo's to post when I return!!!!

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15 week Belly Picture!!!

So...you've probably been wondering when I was going to put a belly pic' on here?!?! Lately I have felt the "I'm not just plump...it's a baby bump" so I guess I got motivated! :) We had Redneck Bunco Monday night so I decided to be Redneck Barbie! As I was googling "redneck women" for ideas I found her. I am not so sure she really exists...thankfully...but I thought I would represent! As you can see below she has her cig, & beer along with her gazillion kids! And...don't let the black eye go unnoticed! :) Ryan decided I needed a tattoo with his initials in it, RCK...which everyone thought said RICK! So..that went over well with Brooke ;) Our hostess with the mostess, Robin Stover, made us all coozies with our name on them for our ROOTBEER...not really beer. :) It was so much fun...we had roadkill, gator bites, pig intestines & white trash to eat! :) The best gift of the night was the $5 gift card to Dollar Tree!!! Who knew you could get a giftcard to a Dollar store? Wow! What is this world coming too!

So...needless to say...we had a great time at Bunco! By the way that's my sister-in-law, Christi Stephens Key in the pic' with me...It's a huge deal for her to have a hat on & her hair in a ponytail...in case you were wondering how she is redneck. :)

Well...the pregnancy is still chuggin' along...I was 15 weeks on Monday. My last dr's appt was at 14 weeks but no ultrasound :( just a doppler to hear the heartbeat..which was still good & strong! And the best part of the whole visit was that I got a prescription for Zofran!!! It's a dissolvable tablet that taste yummy like strawberries & keeps you from throwing up!!! I had thrown up 8 times the day of that appt...so the Dr. felt it was time for some. :) My poor friend Faith took me to my appt at the last minute once I realized I would probably throw up while driving there. Luckily I came prepared with a tote bag with all the necessities... Apple store barf bag, roll of paper towels, wet paper towels & a bottle of mouthwash! Good thing too...I threw up in the dr's office (in the can thanks to Faith's quick reaction time!) and then on the way home in the car...but not really in the car b/c I had my Apple Store bag! But guess what? It had wholes in it where the drawstring was inserted!!! Didn't realize that until it came out on my pants and Faith's seatbelt!!! :) ewwwwww! She was a great sport though...she dropped me off at home & went to Publix, filled my script & got me gatorade & jello! Poor Ryan felt so bad...he had a very important sales appt that day with his boss...so he couldn't come. I've taken about 5 of those Zofran in the last week....but haven't thrown up since then!!! Well..stay posted...my next dr's visit is next Tuesday...16 weeks!!! Am I having an ultrasound? I dunno!?!? Wish I knew..they like to keep me on my toes apparently! If not though..it will only be a couple more weeks from then that I would for sure find out the sex!!! yay!

~Kelly & Baby Key

1st appt with the High Risk OB! & more...

Well, I went to my first appt with Dr. Kimberlin at UAB's Maternal Fetal Medicine yesterday. (monday 5/18) Everything went well...she did a lovely full exam on me & discussed my 3 blood clotting factors. She decided to add more medicine to the 7 pills & 3 shots I currently take each day. I have to add 1500mg of Calcium because the blood thinner I am on, Lovenox injections, can cause you to have osteoporosis. I have been aware of this, that is why at times my Hematologist (blood dr.) has made me come off of it(& back on oral pill Coumadin) to give my body a "break". This Dr. prefers I take the calcium since I have to stay on the Lovenox injections until I am finished breastfeeding (if I am blessed to be able to do so.) So..that's cool...what's a couple more tablets! :) Besides that, I had 4 vials of blood drawn...which I have no clue what those were for. I get so much blood drawn that I don't question it anymore. :) Then I went for an ultrasound & that was pretty funny. I was 12 weeks yesterday & so the technician immediately went to my stomach to do the ultrasound. Well...I have the picture below to show you that you can't see a thing! :)

We could see the baby on the screen but barely. She said my uterus is tilted back, which is fine, it just makes it hard to see the baby on an external ultrasound. The Dr. just wanted to be sure there was still a heartbeat...and the tech immediately said..."oh there's a heartbeat b/c that baby is moving around like crazy!" :) She did go ahead & listen to the heartbeat & FOR ALL OF YOU WANTING TO KNOW THE HEARTRATE.... I finally remembered to ask! It was 176. The tech said the idea that a certain heartrate can predict gender is a myth. She said basically you have a 50/50 chance of it being right so...of course at times people will guess correctly! She said they have had some that went along with the myth & it was right & some that were wrong. So it's just not a good prediction. BUT I decided to research the internet anyways...and 176 means a girl. Once I start popping out I'll have to do those other silly gender test too! :) Another question many of you have asked is whether or not the dr's would prefer with my high risk bleeding condition that I have the baby vaginally or have a planned C-Section? THE ANSWER IS....vaginally if at all possible!!! Quote from the Doc! I'm excited about that...I am looking forward to the excitement of not knowing exactly when I will go into labor! :) You mom's are probably saying I am crazy...but as of right now...it excite's me! :) So that was about it...overall it was a good visit. I liked my dr. & it's funny to come from seeing a regular OB then to a High Risk Specialist...she just acted like I was a normal pregnant woman! It was a great feeling...she is just so confident..like she has no worries about me & this pregnancy! I go back in two weeks, on Tuesday, June 2nd. At that point I will be 14 weeks. I asked the lady who checked me out what I will be doing at that appt..ultrasound? just seeing dr.? and she said she didn't know it didn't say on my form! She also said not to expect an ultrasound b/c normally they don't do ultrasounds each visit...but she said she doesn't know my high risk story..so they might! So..I don't know...I hope another ultrasound is to come!

Now I want to update ya'll on some other things in our life. Yes..we DO have a life..it isn't just about me being pregnant. :) 1st off..I had to take this picture of ALL my needles from the In-Vitro process!!! Yikes! Before I took them to the Dr's sharps container...

I had to keep a memory. :)

So...you probably didn't know that my Dad who we now like to call, "Senor Andy" :) has been driving up from Pensacola, FL since the end of February to remodel our master bathroom! When he started he would come up on a Monday & stay until Friday then go home for the weekend. He did that each week for a while. Then he started coming up on Mondays staying until Friday then heading home for a week long break then back to Bham! Currently he is "off" :). He'll be back next Monday or Tuesday to continue his work. When we bought our house it was 4 bdrms 1 1/2 bath. We knew going into it we had some remodeling to do. We hired out the job to make two bdrms into one master bedroom. That has been finished for a while now. Those guys framed out the mstr bath during that process but we planned on them coming back a few months later to finish that part. THEN, my wonderful, retired, can do anything he puts his mind too, Dad offered to save us LOT'S of $$$ and remodel the bathroom himself! He kept hinting each time he would visit that he could do it, he could do it and it would save us money. I just felt bad taking him up on it..once he said he needed a project I said OK! :)

The below picture was our former Half Bath that is in the mstr bdrm.

Ugly..ugly...ugly.. what is up with that blue?!

Now, as you see that blue floor is a shower floor!!! WE made the whole half bath one big walk in shower! This picture is actually a couple weeks old..b/c now my dad has the whole shower completely ready for tiling!

This used to be the closet in the mstr bdrm...now it is a "toilet room". It's small but get's the job done! It has a pocket door that goes into the wall & comes out if you want privacy. We did that for the next person who buys the house..we'll never shut that door! :) We're real modest! :)

This is the new vanity area! Yay for 2 sinks!!! My OWN space! We are currently sharing our full bath off the hallway..which has one little vanity space. Fun for when you have guest & you all get to use that shower & sink! ;)
Notice this mirror has no frame. I had glass cut the size I wanted & installed. Then the glass folks told me about Framed Reflections!

Ta Da! Doesn't that frame make it just pop?! Ryan & my dad thought I was crazy..that it was a waste of money & it looked fine without the frame... I don't think so! :)


Somewhat the whole view of the vanity.

By the way...my dad has never done plumbing until now! He did all the plumbing, wiring, sheet rock...just everything! He spent many a days under our house in the crawl space. He's a great worker b/c he's a perfectionist...so I know I can trust anything he does to be done right the first time! (and he's free) ;) just kidding!

So...since all this baby talk...I have updated you on our pup lately. He is currently our baby until Baby Key comes along! Heisman is now a year & half. He's our wonderful behaving lab. After lot's of storms this wkend I asked Ryan if he wanted to go with Heisman & I "mudpuddling". My term for putting on your Leopard print Golloshes (sp) :) and walking in mudpuddles! Heisman LOVES the water...so we knew he would enjoy this! Just across the street was this water & he just laid & stretched all in this!

We didn't get the camera out until the end so we don't have a shot of him in this persons yard rolling all around in a mud puddle! It was so funny! We couldn't get him to leave! Once he got in the puddle above it rinsed most of his blackness off. But daddy gave him a good spray down once we were finished with our walk. Heisman just stood there letting Ryan spray him! what a great dog!

Now! for the shake off! Is this not the craziest picture. It kind of scrared me at first...I was like where's his head?! Apparently his eyes are squinted shut, ears flopped down, and mouth spread out by the shake! Kind of hard to tell just by glance though!

Here he is all cleaned up! He's so cute!

Ryan & I decided we can't wait until this lil' one comes along so we can ALL go "mudpuddling"! :)

Today's OB visit...

So...today's 1st visit to my "new" OB didn't go quite as planned. I got there & filled out all that paper work (which w/ my medical history...takes forever!) Then, the doctor comes in & tells me she is not going to treat me. Ever since my infertility dr had scheduled this appt for me her & him have been in lot's of discussion apparently. She came to the conclusion that she would go ahead & meet me at my appt today so she could explain in person why she doesn't feel comfortable being my dr. She is sending me to UAB's Maternal Fetal Specialist a.k.a high risk doctors. She said when she trained at UAB during school she dealt with anticoagulated (blood thinner) mom's. So she is familiar with it but that still doesn't mean she specializes in it. She cannot guarantee that she would be the one on call to deliver my baby...and if someone else in her practice is on call then she wouldn't feel comfortable with them delivering. She thought it would just be silly not to have the Maternal Fetal Specialist have me when they are right down the road! And I will be rotating amongst all ( 5 ?) doctors so they will all be familiar with my case. And they are all trained in this so any of them can safely deliver my baby. Needless to say I am pleased she was so up front about this. She could have just kept me to make money...or just being prideful...but she didn't. Now I have an appt with the specialist OB's on May 19th. But this Friday I go back to this regular OB I saw today for an ultrasound to determine two things: My for sure due date (based on measurements etc) and if I am having multiples. She wants to check thoroughly to be sure. :) I am real excited about that visit! Because today we didn't do an ultrasound like I thought...I miss seeing my baby! They have spoiled me with seeing he/she every week! All in all...it was a good visit. I and all our families will feel even better with me having specialist OB's.

So..I spoke too soon about throwing up only 3 times. Today made 4! :( Actually just a bit ago...when I got home from church...there went my KFC potatoe/chicken bowl I had for supper! What's funny is I just left church saying I was hungry..got home pulled out the KFC cole slaw & ran to the bathroom. So no cole slaw for me. :)

Please continue to remember my mother-in-law, Bev Key, in your prayers. Just last week she had her 2nd chemo treatment. She is doing as expected...has already lost her hair :( ...her attitude is great as always though.

~Mama Kelly