Kherington Anne Ralph

Kherington has arrived! Here are some pictures! I will try to post sometime in the next few days with details of her birth :) Enjoy.

BIG UPDATE!!! IT'S BABY TIME!!!

Well, our doctor's visit on Wednesday sure was exciting. I had been feeling horrible all day. My stomach was cramping, and I was just miserable in general (the first time all pregnancy, so I know I'm lucky). It might have had something to do with the fact that BJ and I went the the VT vs. GT homecoming game on Saturday! GO...Jackets!!! OR... maybe it was the fact that the day before I went on a field trip to the Georgia Aquarium with my class in Atlanta. That of course was against my doctor's best wishes, and being stubborn as I am I decided to go anyway.

Speaking of stubborn, our little girl is just about the same way. Let me get back to the doctor's appointment now and tell you a little about what happened. The doctor asked me how things were going, and I told him about the day I was having. I also told him that BJ and I really haven't been feeling the baby move as much. He did my exam -- I'm about 2.5cm and ready to go!! He decided to go ahead and hook me up to the contraction/baby heartrate machine just to check the baby. I was having pretty regular contractions and Kherington of course started going crazy when I was hooked up to that thing (stubborn just like her mom), so he sent me over to the hospital for extra monitoring. I had a lot of irregularity in my uterus at the hospital and 3 good contractions, but not enough to keep me in the hospital. In the meantime, the doctor set up paper work for me to be induced on Tuesday morning, October 27th, if little Kherington does not come before then! I think it might have been because he didn't want me taking any more crazy trips to Atlanta at 39.5 weeks pregnant! Sorry Chip and Liz - we can't make your housewarming party this weekend!

Since then, everything has been going smoothly or as smoothly as it can go when you know that you are about to have a baby at any moment! I finally got all of my lesson plans together since I will be going out on maternity leave starting on Monday. The fact that I'm up and typing this at 6:00 on a Saturday morning shows how great I've been sleeping :)

BJ and I are super excited about seeing our little girl here in 4 days or less. We will keep you posted via this blog, email, and text message. Check back regularly. I just have to convince BJ that he really can blog!

We hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! We are going to enjoy our last one together without babies by watching football, cooking dinner, and getting grad school stuff done!

Love,
Bekah and BJ

Mommy Mobile and More Doctor Visits

Ok... the reason for not posting last week.... We were busy buying a new car!!! We decided that after many signs from God - cracked front windshield, back seat seatbelt falling out of the ceiling, headliner blocking the view of the rear view mirror, and the power windows going out on BJ as he went to pick up coworkers from the Atlanta Airport during the flood -- that it was time to trade in my JEEP :( and get a new, safer car for Kherington :). After much research, we decided on a Chevy Equinox, and we absolutely love it. So now I have my Mommy mobile... we are just waiting on little Kherington to decide it's time to come on out!

Speaking of Kherington, I have been back to two doctors appointments since the last post. At the appointment two weeks ago, we had one last ultrasound to check the position and size of our little girl. She is head down - I think I could have told you that though :) and is right at the 50% for weight/measurements. The doctor said she was about 6 pounds plus or minus pound. I don't know that I like all of this plus and minus stuff during pregnancy. The minus is so encouraging, but when I hear people say, "Oh, you only have about 2.5 weeks plus or minus two weeks, it makes me want to throw up! BJ and I have baby fever really bad. Although the ultrasound was nice, we can't wait to see and hold our sweet girl!

At yesterday's appointment, the doctor told me I wasn't dialated at all yet. All I could think of was, "You've got to be kidding me... I don't think I can handle another month of pregnancy." He told me not to get discouraged though because things can change over night!

The amazing teachers and staff at Rosemont Elementary held a shower for me the other day! The love shown for Kherington and our family at the shower was unbelievable. I don't think I could be working now without the amazing group of people that I work with!

We are heading up to Atlanta on Saturday for GT homecoming. I'm scheduled for another appointment next Wednesday, so be looking for another update!

:) Bekah, BJ, Kherington, and Dakota!

OH... Wait...It's OCTOBER?!?!?!

Ok... so it has been way too long since I last added a post to the website! Since the last post we went home for a wonderful baby shower! It was very obvious that Kherington is going to be a little let's say...um... spoiled :) The shower thrown by my sisters was so much fun! We had great food, fun games, cute cake, beautiful flowers, and many friends and family to share a special day with! BJ and I both appreciate all the love and support you have shown for us and our little girl!

Other big news... Dad made it home safetly from Iraq over Labor Day weekend. It was great to have the whole family together again (well at least on the same continent). Dad got to see our house for the first time, feel Kherington move for the first time, and talk to Kherington for the first time. He made sure he filled her in on all important information such as Grandpas named Ron are the smartest people on the planet. He even told her that she couldcheck with her dad's dad just to make sure!

BJ and I also had our last big trip! We went to Saint Simon's Island for Trey and Rebecca's wedding! It was a beautiful ceremony and the weather was perfect too! Just a little warm for a pregnant person, but we made it! It was nice to get away one last time. The time is flying by now and according to everyone I've talked to it's only going to go by faster!

Now on to the whole pregnancy thing. Well, I'm rounding out now. According to everyone who sees me ... I'm tiny and all belly... the scale begs to differ! I'm going to the doctor every week now, and everything seems perfect on paper. Now it's just a waiting game! BJ and I can't wait to hold our little girl. We can see her little rear end as she still rolls and kicks all over the place especially at night. I will try to update every week from now on since we are closer!

Thanks for checking in on us!

Bekah and BJ

10...9....8...7

Yes!! Only 10 more weeks to go! We just came home from our doctor's visit. I am now going every two weeks! Everything is right on track.

The doctor's main concern right now is the flu/swine flu that is already going around in the schools! Yuck... and yes... I've had a sick one already this year. Needless to say, I've stocked up on Chlorox wipes and hand sanitzer.

My main concern....is the fact that Kherington seems to be lodge sideways with her arms/hands up in my right ribs and her feet constantly protruding from my left side! Let's just stay that most of the time, I don't have that cute little beach ball belly that everyone tells me I have. Usually it looks more like I've got a rod sticking out of the side of me!

We will go back in another two weeks and get to hear her little heart again! It's my favorite part. Today the nurse had no trouble finding it - it was a steady 136bpm, too!

BJ and I are looking forward to taking our last trip home before the baby comes this weekend for a shower! We can hardly believe the countdown has officially begun!

Sorry no new pictures this time. New belly pictures and nursery pictures coming soon! Probably after Labor Day when mom comes and we make all of the linens for the room!

Until then, We love you!

Bekah, BJ, Kherington (she was kicking so hard while I was trying to type this that I thought about letting her type her own name :) ), and Dakota!

Yellowstone and 28 week update

Since our last post, Kherington took her first plane trip! She was just about as excited about the turbulance as her mom was. We had perfect weather while in Yellowstone and in Montana. It never got above 75 with 0% humidity... you can't beat that in July! We had a great time visiting BJ's grandparents and family. Here a just a few pictures of Yellowstone.

Petrified Tree

BJ near a hot pool


Great Fountain Geyser (only erupts every 12-18hours... we got lucky)

Old Faithful

I'm now officially 28 weeks/7 months. Time is flying by. I hope it continues to do so now that I've started back to school! I bet it will. BJ and I can't believe that we will be holding our baby girl here in less than 3 months. She is flipping and flopping all over the place now. We can tell where she is and what she's up to. I go back to the doctor on Wednesday, so I will have a new report then! Until then enjoy the pictures and take care... we love you!

The Ralph's

25 weeks

Well, we had an unexpected trip to see the doctor today. I have been leaking (sorry, TMI), and we wanted to make sure it wasn't amniotic fluid. Luckily it wasn't and we were able to see our little girl for a bit while the doctor was checking the fluid levels. Here are the newest pictures. We are headed to Augusta for the weekend!

Love,
Bekah, BJ, Kherington, and Dakota!

Check out those cute little fingers!