Surprise Baby Shower!

When I walked down the hallway to my classroom on Thursday, I thought it was strange that none of my students were waiting at the door for me. I walked in the door to a huge, "SURPRISE!!!" My 10th grade homeroom students surprised me with an early baby shower! I had no idea they had this all planned out, but they did a great job and they all worked together to make it happen so beautifully - something I am very proud of them for.

The precious baby girl cake, brought in by one of my boys, and a table full of gifts! My kiddos were so sweet and so generous!

Just some of the many wonderful gifts my students gave me - they truly spoiled me!

Here is a belly picture at 23 weeks, about 2 and a half weeks ago, and yes, it is bigger now! My belly button has officially "popped" and I feel like a whale! ...and to think I still have 3 months to go and to grow...oh my!

Memorial Day at Bolsa Chica Wetlands

Gabe and I drove down the road to the Bolsa Chica Wetlands Preserve on Memorial Day to take a nice long walk and see the local wildlife. It was breezy and relaxing and really just a pleasant way to spend our morning before heading to the beach to meet friends. Here are some pictures of our time and what we saw on our walk around the various inlets and marshy areas.

Mussels buried in the marsh


Pelicans roosting on the inlet shore


An Egret and his reflection on the hunt for fingerlings


Self-portrait...not so great of me, but its the only one we got of us


Beautiful color - a good part of what sustains the wetlands area


Crabby Bob - this little guy attacked a sea slug 5 times his size a
few seconds after we took this shot - crazy crab!


A Great Heron stakes out his fishing spot on the rocks

A 1lb. 5oz. Praise Report!

Gabe and I met with the neo-natologist this afternoon for our level 2 ultrasound to check out that cyst that showed up in our last ultrasound. AWESOME NEWS...not only did our little girl show no signs of the Trisomy disorders, but also no birth defects and the cyst has shrunk to half its original size! Praise the Lord!!! We are on cloud nine right now! We also had the doctor check one more time to make sure she was really, really, officially a girl and he said, "Oh yes! There's no mistaking that. She's definitely a girl." So that is also good/fun to know! He also went over all her anatomy and internal organs again and explained everything as he went, which was so nice because the regular ultrasound techs aren't allowed to really discuss much with you. She is healthy, about 1 pound 5 ounces, and a little on the petite side like her momma! I asked him about all the kicking I've been receiving in my, ahem, lower regions (I'm sorry if that is TMI) and told him I thought she had her feet wedged down near my cervix. We took a look and she had one foot exactly where I told him it was and the other one up by her head! ...and she seemed to be sleeping comfortably in that position which starts me thinking about gymnastics already! What a little monkey... The doctor gave us some more pictures of her, but they didn't print out very clearly, so I'm not going to post them (I can barely tell what I'm looking at). We just wanted to share our praise report and our news with you! Thank you all so much for praying for our growing family!

Hi Family,

My appointment yesterday went pretty well! My CNM said my blood tests came back great and that my whatever-their-called numbers that give you your risk of genetic problems like Downs, etc. were really low, so that is a good thing! She also said that every other thing from the big ultrasound I had a few weeks ago came back perfect, which most likely rules out any type of Trisomy disorders.

I will still go see the specialist on June 1st. He wants me to wait until then so that the baby is more developed and he will be able to see more as far as any possible deformities (if there are any) go. My CNM said she would be really surprised if anything other than a perfectly normal baby showed up. She also said that we will be able to find out for sure if we are in deed having a girl or not. She said Dr. Marshall is the best of the best and has the best of the best equipment and that I am actually really lucky that I get to go see him because he does amazing work. So, I guess that's a good thing. There's just a bit of irony with the whole "he's amazing, but you only get to see him if there is a problem with your baby"! Ha, ha, funny how that works.

I also talked to her about birthing options and mentioned that I'd like to try to go all natural (which I'm sure most women say BEFORE they go into labor!). She said that was a good goal, but did mention that I am pretty small and we really need to wait and see just how big this baby is going to be before we commit to a natural birth. She said cesarean may have to be considered if I go full term with a normal sized baby, which is fine by me too (I kinda figured that might be a possibility).

So, other than that, we are doing good! I'm, of course, staying super busy with school and grad class, etc. but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel...only 7 more weeks of school! Yay! Then I should be able to focus a bit more on getting ready for baby and getting the house in order, etc. I am hoping to work a bit this summer on an AP Art History video project for a company in Korea, so you can pray for my demo lesson to go well so that I actually book the job. It would pay about $3000 out the door, which would be a nice little cushion for maternity leave, since my school doesn't offer any compensation whatsoever. Also, please keep Gabe in your prayers. He is trying so hard to be a provider for our family but is really struggling in this economy. Please pray that God will provide for us and that he will be able to earn enough to allow me to stay home with the baby in September. We don't need a big salary - just enough for us to live simply - but benefits are the biggie because we will definitely need health insurance.

That's the update for now! We'll keep you all informed as we learn more. Thank you for praying!

Beth, Gabe, and baby Brent

The Scary Phone Call

Dear Family and Friends,

I just wanted to write and ask you all to pray for Gabe and me and the baby. I got a message yesterday afternoon from my doctor saying that I needed to schedule an appointment with a specialist because of the results of my last ultrasound. I talked to my doctor's nurse this morning to schedule my appointment with the neonatologist. I will be going in for a level 2 ultrasound on June 1st with Dr. Marshall, the specialist.

I asked the nurse if she could tell me why I was referred to see the neonatologist and she told me that my 2nd trimester ultrasound revealed a choriod plexus cyst and they want to take a closer look and do some more testing to rule out anything serious. I told her thank you for the information and promptly went to research just what in the heck a choriod plexus cyst is!

As it turns out, it could resolve itself and end up being nothing to worry about, or, in the case that my other tests on June 1st return questionable results, it could be an indication of a chromosomal abnormality (like Downs Syndrome or Trisomy 18). As far as I know from my blood tests so far, my markers for chomosomal abnormalities have been low (which is good!), so hopefully this means the chances of them finding anything more scary than this are also low.

I believe they will offer me an amniocentesis (an invasive procedure which carries a risk of miscarriage, but can identify the exact chromosomal problem 95% of the time), which I will decline. Like I said, I really do not expect them to find anything further, but if they do, an amnio is not going to fix the problem and will only lead to further possible complications. If our baby is going to have Downs or Trisomy, then our baby is going to have Downs or Trisomy. She will be a gift from God, regardless, and I don't feel the need to run further risk by poking her with a big long needle.

So, if I could ask you all to keep us in your prayers, I would be truly grateful. June 1st is a long way off and sometimes I get anxious about things like this because I am so impatient. I do have a regular appointment with my Nurse/Midwife tomorrow, so I will see if I can get anymore information or just some reassurance. Thank you all for praying for us - I feel so blessed to have you all surrounding us in love and prayers! You all are so special to us and we are blessed to have you all in our lives!

Beth, Gabe, and baby Brent

Baby Brent Update

Hello Friends and Family!
I just wanted to take a minute to update you all on baby Brent. We found out last Wednesday that we are having a girl! Well, at least it looks that way from the most recent ultrasound. After a 1 hour long level 2 ultrasound (checking all anatomy and structures), the ultrasound tech looked between baby Brent's legs and said, "Well, I don't see anything." Gabe asked her if she would please check again because he swore he saw something. She suggested it was probably a foot, but said she would look again. She still didn't see anything, which led her to believe we are having a girl. I started giggling because Gabe and I, and most everyone we've talked to, have been pretty sure we were going to have a boy (for one reason or another). Ha, ha, so funny! I really didn't care what we had, as long as it's a healthy baby. Gabe, well, Gabe had his heart set on a boy so he is working on warming up to the idea of a girl.Wednesday night we got together with my parents, aunt and cousins for dinner and "the big reveal". I baked a cake with pink food coloring but covered it with chocolate frosting so nobody would be able to tell what color the cake was. I told everyone the secret was in the cake, so we all rushed through dinner and went straight on to dessert! They were so anxious to know if we were having a boy or a girl, it was kind of comical! Anyways, uncle Ryan's birthday was just two days away so we lit the candles on the cake, but totally forgot to sing Happy Birthday to him! Poor Ryan, maybe combining a gender-reveal cake with a birthday cake was a bad idea! Leave it to me and need to multi-task! Sorry Ryan! Anyways, Ryan cut into the cake with everybody's heads sandwiched in around him to get the first peek. They saw pink and got so excited (again, they all were thinking boy)! My dad was especially excited because he REALLY wanted a girl. It was a great evening and a fun way to celebrate the coming of the first child/grandchild! Anyways, here are some recent pictures from the last week in the lives of the growing Brent family.

This is the most recent "belly-pic" we've taken. 18 weeks, 5 days.



The gender-revealing birthday cake



Anxiously waiting for Ryan to cut into the cake and reveal the big surprise!
...notice the father-to-be in the background who can hardly contain his excitement...ha,ha!



Secret's out!


And a recent picture of our "not so little anymore" baby. She's about 10 inches long now!



And here's my favorite! I outlined this picture because it was a little hard to see, but I just love those little thighs and toes! She is sitting "Indian style" here, so what you're seeing is the left leg with the right foot crossed over.

Trip to Solvang over Easter Break

Gabe and I had the opportunity to get away for a quick trip to Solvang over Easter Break. It was a well needed change of scenery even though we only stayed one night! We left mid-morning, stopped at In N' Out for lunch in Ventura, then continued up the coast and inland to the little Danish town of Solvang. Gabe had never been before and kept asking, "Now, what do they have here again? What are we going to see?" Ha, ha, explaining Solvang to a boy as a cute little Danish town with cute little shops and cute little windmills didn't exactly go over so well, but oh well! We visited a lavender farm in Buellton and enjoyed just walking around town and sampling a couple of pastries when we got there, even though most of the shops were closed for the day. We stayed at the hotel part of Split Pea Andersen's and had dinner there as well. Yep, just as I thought...I still DO NOT like split pea soup!

The next day we went back into town to walk around and actually visit some shops. It was relaxing and fun and we were able to pick up a couple of gifts as well. After shopping and eating, we hopped over to the Santa Inez Mission on the edge of town. We walked the grounds, which were beautiful, but we didn't go in because it seemed a bit pricey to us, but we did enjoy the flowers and the view!

After the mission, we headed over to the Quicksilver Miniature Horse Farm. This was fun! Who doesn't love miniature horses? Especially when they are foaling and there are miniature, miniature horses all over the place! They were so cute and mostly friendly - rather like dogs, they loved being petted and scratched. We talked to the stable lady for some time and just watched the babies play. Relaxing and fun!

After the horse farm, we headed down the road in search of a winery where we could do a tasting. We ended up stopping at the Gainey Vineyard on our way out of town as we were told they had a tasting running for a decent price. I'm so glad we stopped! Not only were the grounds beautiful, but for ten bucks we got to taste six wines and take home a souvenir glass. Not bad! And Gabe and I just shared one tasting...basically, I took one small sip from each pour, just to taste them, and he finished them off. It was a great weekend!