Bardin Christmas 2008

Home for the holidays...just the six of us (Jess, me, our bun in the oven and the 3 kitties)! We weren't able to travel this year for a couple of reasons. First of all, I was originally scheduled to work on Christmas. When my boss decided to put the new girl on the schedule instead, it was already too late to buy tickets without spending big bucks!! Also, we figured it would probably be best for us to stay here since my due date is just over a month away. Although we didn't expect the little one to come this early, we figured it was always possible and better to be safe than sorry. We had a nice quiet Christmas at our house. Here are some pictures.

Jess' new "daddy outfit"!

Our Christmas Tree and Nativity Scene

Kitties getting their stocking stuffers

Baby's "first Christmas"

So as you all know, the day after Christmas there are some GREAT sales. Well we went shopping today for some baby stuff which we didn't think would be on sale. We were very pleasantly surprised to find many of the things we were looking for 50% off!!! So now, the nursery is basically complete. I'll be adding some pictures soon. Now it's just a matter of getting my hospital bag packed and waiting...hopefully not too much longer!

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Pictures

I've been promising some pictures so here they are. As I mention on the last blog, we've started the nursery but there is still plenty of work to be done. As you can see below, my belly is quite large now!

Jess putting the crib together with excitement!

Nursery furniture...minus the glider and ottoman

Up close of bedding set

Our new crib and Pooh bedding

Me and the baby decorating the tree

I now weigh (by my home scale) 158 pounds which means I've gained approx 28 pounds. I'm ok with that...I haven't gained much in the past month. Our birthing classes are going great, we really enjoy them and have gotten a lot out of it. I'm thinking about becoming a Bradley Natural birthing instructor myself sometime in the future.

We've started counting down the days until our official due date (which is January 31). As of today we have 48 days left, but who knows what God's plan is.

I'm really excited because I found biodegradable disposable diapers. For mom's reading this that have kids in diapers or anyone who might in the future, regular disposable diapers take at least 200 years to break down. So I urge you to look into using these biodegradable ones (by Nature BabyCare) or use cloth diapers like our parents did!!! I bought the diapers from diaper.com and they aren't much more than the regular disposables that are horrible for the environment.

Alright, I'll get off my soap box. Love you all. Have a Merry Christmas and I'll post more soon.

Getting closer!!!

Jess and I are getting more and more excited as the arrival of our baby gets closer. We have FINALLY been able to start on the nursery. We got new carpet this past weekend and ordered our furniture which we will pick up tonight and get put together soon. We also got our stroller and car seat which Jess just had to put together even though we aren't going to need it for a little bit, but he was sooo excited about it. I will get pictures of the nursery in the works on here soon. The problem right now is that we got rid of our internet at home so I haven't been able to work on the blog lately.

We have been going to natural child birthing classes on Monday nights for the past month. It is so much fun. We really enjoy the other couples in the class and our instructor is a blast. I'm actually considering getting certified to be a natural childbirth instructor! How cool would that be :). Jess is learning how to coach me through contractions and help me relax. I like that because he has to practice giving me relaxation massages :).

I'm going to the Doctor every two weeks now, and soon will start going weekly. No changes in my cervix but the baby is in the head-down position. Good news is that I only gained 2 pounds in 2 weeks instead of the 5 pounds I gained in between the last two appointments.

Well I will try to get pictures posted in the next week or so, keep on checking back! :)

My first Baby Shower - THANKS APRIL!!!

Jess, the baby and I went to North Carolina this past weekend for one last visit before Baby Bardin enters the real world. It was GREAT to see everyone. We really miss Raleigh and all of our friends. One of the great things about our trip is that my best friend, April, threw me what was supposed to be a surprise Baby Shower. The reason I say "supposed to be" is because a friend of ours that didn't know blew the cover the night before. But it was still a great surprise that was VERY much appreciated. We got some great gifts and got to spend time with people we love. Here are some pictures.

Tommy and Karen try to feel the baby

Cutest little fleece jumper from April

Awesome cake made by April's mom. Look at the cute designs!!!

Eeyore stuffed animal and Winnie the Pooh Baskets - LOVE IT :)

I went for another OB appt today. Things continue to progress well. To date, I've gained a whomping 25lbs. That's kind of scary!!!! I need to SLOW down on the weight gain (not according to the doctor).

We haven't started on the nursery yet because we are waiting to get the carpet redone in there. We are supposed to get that done this weekend so hopefully there will be some progress on the nursery soon. The theme is classic Winnie the Pooh because it's ooh so cute! I'm thinking I'm going to just put up a cute border and some wall decorations.

For those of you who are wondering... we still haven't made progress on baby names. But... we have started our Natural Birthing classes. There is a lot to do in preparation for a baby. It seems crazy that so much goes into it. Maybe I'm just too much of a planner, but I don't think so. The class was a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to next week. There are 5 other couples in our class, all first timers. Funny thing is they are all having girls. We are the only ones that don't know what we are having. I wonder if that is an indicator!?!

Well that's it for now, but things are changing quickly now so I'll try to keep this updated more often!

Getting Closer

Well, I'm officially in my third trimester. How exciting! That means I don't have much longer. Not too much has changed since my last posting. I mean of course my stomach is getting quite large now.

(27wks lying flat on back)

(28wks big)

(28wks belly view)

My pregnancy continues to go very well, Thank the Lord. I still haven't really had any problems. I've had a few episodes of pretty mild heartburn...but that's about it. Sleeping is a little more difficult because I've never really liked sleeping on my side but now I have to. I use a body pillow on one side and Jess on the other to help keep me on my side! :) It doesn't always work though. I'm starting to feel like a whale...not really. But bending over to get things and getting up from a soft chair or getting out of my car is starting to get a little challenging because I don't have much for stomach muscles anymore. That's a little frustrating since I'm used to having pretty strong abs.

Starting next week I'll be going to the Dr. office every two weeks. Jess and I were supposed to start our natural birthing classes yesterday but it got postponed. We are excited about it though. Everyone thinks I'm crazy for wanting a natural birth, but who cares. I'm the one that is going to have to endure it right!

Now that we don't have anyone living with us anymore, we are ready to start on the nursery. We are trying to find carpet first. We have decided to decorate with classic winnie the pooh because it's cute and neutral!

Now that I get bigger daily, I'll try to be better about taking and posting pictures! But I can't make any promises.

Love and miss you all.

New Pictures

Well, it's been almost a month since my last posting...but there hasn't really been much to post! My pregnancy is going really well. I, thankfully, haven't really had any of the typically pregnancy issues such as swelling of the feet or heart burn. The baby is kicking up a storm these days which is a lot of fun. Jess doesn't have any problem feeling it now. You can even see my belly move sometimes. It makes me laugh every time.

I had my monthly OB appointment today and the doctor said that everything looks good. To date I've gained a whopping 16lbs (blah). I've been told this is perfectly normal but it seems like a lot to me, especially considering I'm only 5 feet tall. 16lbs is a lot for someone of my stature!!! I'm trying not to let myself worry about that though....just keep praying I don't get the dreaded stretch marks. Not sure how I will handle that...pretty sure I'd never show my stomach again though!

My next OB appointment is in 4wks, at which time I will have to undergo a horrible glucose test where they will make me drink a disgusting sugar drink and then check my sugar an hour later. I am looking forward to that, I tell you what! But the cool thing is that after that visit my appointments will go from every month to every two weeks. That's cool because it's a sign that I'm getting closer and closer to holding my little baby in my arms. Wow... how weird did that just sound. I still can't believe that we are going to be parents soon. I still feel like I'm trying to figure out how to be an adult...and now I'm going to be a MOM.

We tried to register last weekend and that was a huge ordeal. I never thought that registering for baby stuff would be so difficult, but it was. It was very stressful and overwhelming. They give you this HUGE list of about 5 thousand things that you supposedly need. I'm not sure I really think that any baby needs all that junk, but we are trying to figure out what stuff we really do need. We are thinking that the nursery will be decorated in Classic Pooh because it's the only neutral decor that we've found that we like. But we have yet to find any furniture and we have only registered for about 20-30 things between Babies R Us and Target. We are going to try again this weekend, but who knows.

So here are some pictures of my belly. We haven't had another ultrasound, so unfortunately no new baby pictures.

Taken on Sept 15, 2008 (about 20wks)

Taken October 9, 2008 (about 24 1/2wks)

Such a funny feeling

So like I've mentioned recently, I have been feeling the baby move around some for the past few weeks. But last night I started to feel what I assume is either kicking or punching...or both. I laid down on my stomach to write in my journal (which my OB doctor says is fine to do as long as it is comfortable) and I felt the funniest feeling in my belly. I think I finally felt the "fluttering" sensation, but it only happened once so I'm not really sure about that. But then I started to feel some obvious thumps from within. And what is even more exciting is that it was FINALLY strong enough that Jess could feel it too. It was so exciting and so much fun to see the expression on his face. He was finally able to "feel" the baby and I think it makes him feel a little more connected to the baby.

Still no names... which is somewhat worrisome. I know that we still have several months...but I'm so indecisive. I'm worried that once we choose something I'll decide a few weeks later that I don't really like it as much as I thought. Another thing that seems daunting (but fun) is registering. There are SO many things that the baby will need and I don't know where to start. I don't know when I should start. Part of me wants to go ahead with it, but part of me thinks it's way too early. We can't start working on the room yet because we have a friend living with us for the next few months and the guest room is going to become the nursery. The cats get to keep their room! :) So a question to all you moms, is it too early to start? And are there any items that are essential that I might forget. Or do you have anything that you just LOVED and recommend me getting?

Last but not least.... the worst thing about being pregnant is getting bigger. Not just because you get bigger, I don't really mind that. It's because it makes clothes shopping, which was already difficult, practically impossible. Not to mention the fact that you have to get something new every few weeks because you grow out of what you just bought. So far I've put the whole shopping thing off, but now I'm to the point where I really CAN NOT fit into any of my regular clothes anymore. I tried to go shopping for maternity clothes today and it was very discouraging. I don't really like anything out there that I've found so far. So... I got one pair of jeans. Nice.

Ok... now that I've typed way to much I am going to go. Thanks for reading and there will be more to come soon.

Can we do that again???

This morning Jess and I had the awesome experience of having an anatomical ultrasound done. It was so much fun to see the baby. We told the ultrasonographer before we started that we didn't want to know the gender and thankfully we didn't see anything we didn't want to! But we did get to see the baby and all his bones, his heart, kidneys, bladder, brain, etc. It was so amazing. I want to have it done every day. I wish I could buy my own ultrasound machine like Tom Cruise. They recorded the ultrasound for us but unfortunately they are still a bit in the olden days and it's on VHS which means we can't easily load it into the computer or burn it onto CDs for other people. We did however get a few pictures which are here for your viewing pleasure. So take a long look at my precious little baby growing! :)

Open mouth... I think he was going for his thumb!

Waving at the camera...or just randomly moving about.

FINALLY some movement

For a while now I've wondered if I might be feeling the baby move. But I didn't want to assume. As we all know when we look too hard for something we usually think we find it even if we didn't really. But I can now definitely say that I have been feeling the baby move for about the past 2wks. I was surprised though because it is not the sensation that EVERY pregnant person I've talked to has described. Everyone keeps telling me about this "bubbles" or "fluttering" sensation. I have had NEITHER of those!! :) I have felt a few "thumps" as well as what feels like the baby is rolling around. Is like a pressure that I can feel move across the inside of my stomach. It makes me laugh most every time because it comes out of the blue. I can press on my belly and find almost exactly where the pressure is coming from. I get frustrated when I go hours without feeling anything, but I've been assured that I should be thankful as I will soon start to get elbowed in the ribs and kicked in the bladder. haha.

My belly is continuing to inflate. The picture with this post was taken today. I'm a little over 20wks along. So I guess so far I'm not that fat! Haha. I have my anatomy ultrasound this coming Thursday. Hopefully they will let me record it and if so I will post some pictures up for all to see.

Oh...and if anyone has any cool name ideas I'd love to hear them. Jess and I still have NOTHING and we have to come up with a boy's and girl's name in the next few months. YIKES!!! We want something either meaningful or unique...but nothing too crazy.

And as a side note... I just want to let everyone know how amazing Jess has been in this whole process. He is very supportive. He has come to all of my doctor appointments, rubs lotion on my belly, is cleaning the litter box routinely, he's writing a lullaby, he talks to my belly (well the baby inside of course), helped me set up this blog, takes pictures of my "transformation" regularly, and even went looking for baby gear with me yesterday. So for all of you future daddies... your wives now know what a husband is SUPPOSE to be like and you'll have to live up to it! :)

Baby Bardin's Heartbeat

ok...so i'm (jess speaking) not nearly as creative as faryn when it comes to comments for our posts :)

here's baby bardin's strong and healthy heartbeat:

Second Ultrasound - Aug 22, 2008

So... there is an ultrasonographer that works at our clinic and does these ultrasounds for free. As you can imagine, it's a nice benefit considering ultrasounds cost a couple hundred dollars and insurance only covers ONE. These pictures were taken on August 22, 2008 which makes me about 18 and 1/2 weeks pregnant. The belly is definitely starting to stick out now and NOTHING fits. I'm actually having to wear maternity clothes now..haha!

Belly sticking out a little

I know it's hard to tell but this is the belly (lt), butt and legs (rt).

First Ultrasound - July 18, 2008

This isn't the VERY first ultrasound but it's the first one that you could actually see something!!! We captured a few images from the video and thought it would be fun for you all to see them. This was taken on July 18th, which puts me at almost 14 weeks pregnant. At this point my stomach still looks pretty normal...just a little chubbier! :)

Still looking pretty normal...just a little more of a pooch.

14 weeks profile view

14 week front view

Come Join Us

Well...we decided to start a blog for anyone out there that would like to keep up with what is going on in our lives. Most recently, for those of you who may not know, we are expecting a baby in late January. We wanted to find a way to share the journey with friends and family that aren't here with us...and this is it! We will try to keep you updated with postings and pictures as the baby grows and inevitable my stomach gets larger! :) We would love to hear from you as well. We miss you all and wish you could be here to join us in this exciting time, but this will have to do for now. God Bless,

Faryn and Jess

The morning of May 19th...definitely a SHOCKER!!!

Jess gave me rose!!

Celebrating the news at one of our favorite restaurants...Macaroni Grill