Ultrasound Update

Today we had our follow-up ultrasound. We are 28 weeks today and Rex is growing well. Quotes from the day:
"He's very active"- Ultrasound Technician
"She has a great scan"- Ultrasound Technician
"What a great looking heart, he sure is cooperating"- US Tech and OB
"He sure has great looking brains"- OB/GYN- this was by far the best quote of the day!
"There's his face"- US Tech, right as Rex moves his hands to cover it. He was being shy today.
"2 lbs, 13 oz"
"Looks good"
We loved having my mom join us for this one. I think it made Rex even more real to her! It is such a special experience to share being a future mommy with my mom. I can't wait for her guidance once Rex comes along.

Here are the pics and descriptions. Unfortunately, our scanner didnt work that well, but hopefully you can see some of the detail:

The first two pictures are pictures of his face. You are looking at him straight on and can easily see his eyes, nose, lips, etc




Profile shot

Rex being shy or playing peek-a-boo! Hands in a fist over his eyes, nose in the middle of the triangle made by his fists and arms and the top of his lips.

Another one of his face with the cord wrapped at the top that looks like a big "blob" on his forehead. You can easily see his little eyes, nose and mouth, with an adorable chin. To give you a hint: It's the right side of this photo that I'm talking about and he is facing the left!

Isn't he adorable! We can't wait to meet him.

Pop goes the belly and belly button, apparently!

Rex has been growing by leaps and bounds, literally. He is so big now that you can visibly see him pushing, kicking and moving around. It's such an amazing feeling! Lee and I absolutely love feeling Rex kick around. He is especially active right before bedtime. He loves to respond to Lee's voice. We can't wait for him to join us! I havent been the best at keeping the exact dates, so here is a bit of a preview of how he has been growing lately.

By popular request... here are the pics you have all been asking for:

23 weeks + a few days:



Packing for my interview at UAB. Isabella always knows when we are about to hit the road. She decided. We took some pics outside at Lee's parents. Can you tell that our little girl is still the center of our attention. My how her world will change once Rex comes along. She seems to love the little ones in our neighborhood, so hopefully she'll be good with her little brother. And to answer all of the grandparents questions, No, bella will not go home with you after Rex is born. She already responds when I put on the music in the bassinet. I wanted to be sure to get her used to everything.

We loved spending time in Birmingham. My interview went well and we are looking forward to visiting everyone over the holidays. Lee's mom has already set up the nursery in the guest room where we stay, which made it even more real. I love how excited the future grandparents are!

I'm 24 weeks in these pictures:

Here's one during week 25. I was having a rough hair day and minimal makeup, therefore I'm only putting up the belly pic:

AND finally... Week 26 + a 2 days (this week). Note a little pop to the belly button!


A picture that captures it all. We were actually recording Rex moving in this picture. Lee's hand is right where Rex's little feet were. The fact that it captures Lee's delicate touch and excitement so well, made me decided to expose my belly and share this special moment with you all. I love pictures of hands with rings. It serves as a reminder of the promise that we made on June 23, 2007. What a blessed life we have lived so far and we can't wait for the next step together. And of course, I have to comment on bella! She of course is in her favorite spot, her daddy's lap. She loves to cuddle and Lee seems to win the cuddle war. I couldn't have painted a better picture of God's blessings in my life!


Last but not least, Lee and I attended a class last night called little fingers, little toes. It was a review of how to care for a newborn baby: changing diapers, bathing, swaddling, etc. There was a slideshow with normal/abnormal newborn findings and then a pediatrician q&a session. Lee and I were definitely a bit ahead of the game. Seeing as I'm going to be a doctor in a few months, I knew the answers to the basic questions and felt a bit silly by the end of the class. He did a great job and I couldn't help but capture this on camera.

A bit of inspiration!

For those of you that aren’t aware, my grandfather suffered a stroke in the Summer of 2008. He was actually moving furniture to take it to a family in need when the dolly got caught on the side of the curb and through him backwards into a brick wall. Initially they thought he simply had a head laceration, but unfortunately he had been placed on Plavix, a blood thinner, secondary to his recent cardiac stent placement. I remember distinctively receiving a call from Mom and Catherine explaining what had happened and asking why they had not yet done a CT to check for a bleed. Unfortunately, that is exactly what ended up happening. He had a bleed in his brain that caused him to have hemiparesis and severe difficulty swallowing.

I remember this time vividly. I had just finished first year of medical school and came home for an extended period of time. I shared experiences with both of them that can never be replaced, nor forgotten. I remember the conversation with Grandmother when she said, “He’s ready to go.” There seemed to be a great deal of suffering at first, Grandfather was sent home on hospice and things weren’t looking good. It was a very rough time for the family, but amazingly God brought us through this and proved his faithfulness.

I am currently rotating at a Rehabilitation hospital here in Lexington, KY and felt compelled to write this in honor of his improvement, determination and amazing recovery. I walk into patients’ rooms and it serves as a constant reminder of everything that could have been. It was sheer determination, family support and my GRANDMOTHER that made this a story of survival and recovery. Now I know that Grandmother will argue that he still has a long way to go, and while I agree there is room for improvement I look back to where he has come from. I compare with patients at the hospital that aren’t advocating for improvement, that don’t want to do anything for themselves and are simply miserable to deal with.

This is to honor my Grandfather, his hard work and continued spirits. I know it must be hard at times. Life has drastically changed for both my Grandmother and Grandfather. My Grandmother has certainly been the absolute best example of unconditional love. She is a model that I can only strive to compare to one day. This post is in honor of Wilma Wallace as well. She is a pillar of strength and determination. Always tries to find the best in each day and continues to have her sweet and determined spirit.

When I think about what could have been, should have been and probably would have been… I stop and thank God for the opportunity to learn and appreciate the true meaning of family and love. Up until this time I was blindly naive in thinking that nothing would ever happen to my family members. I wanted to be immune to the natural course of life and the traumatic events that we face.

I seem to be rambling on. I’m hoping that this made a bit of sense. I’m in Knoxville waiting on my next interview dinner to start. We have a lot of exciting times coming up in the next few months. I have new pictures of my growing belly, but haven’t uploaded them to the computer. Hopefully will be able to update at the end of the week/ weekend.

Boy or Girl???

Last Friday, Lee and I went for the all important sex determining ultrasound. We are excited to say that our Baby J is a BOY!!!! Rex Anderson Johnston is perfect. He wouldn't really cooperate with us on Friday, other than being quite proud that he was a boy. Because they were unable to assess his heart, face, etc. they kind of scared us by saying we needed to be referred to a perinatal specialist to be sure that he was healthy. Needless to say, this caused a lot of anxiety and prayers were lifted up! It was hard to continue to have faith and wait until Wednesday. His heart rate at this ultrasound was 146, which is perfect. He has been moving around much more and we have been having so much fun. We have tried to scan the pictures so everyone can see just how cute he is.

This is us right after we found out it was a little boy!


The ultrasound pictures!
1. It's a boy (you can see his legs and a little something in between):

2. His little (or not so little) feet:

3. Flexing his legs, you see the bones of his legs and his little spine.
4. Top of his head, patting himself on the head with his hand.


Hope you enjoy these. I'll post pictures later of his little face and update how the follow-up ultrasound went.