27 Weeks

Pregnancy Update August 27, 2012

How far along: 27 weeks. 3 months from yesterday (Sunday)!

Size of baby: 14.5 inches, 2 lbs. - A "Cauliflower" 

What developed this past week: Bryson supposedly now has regular sleep and awake intervals, opening and closing his cute little eyes, and maybe even sucking his thumb! His brain tissue is more developed, so his brain is very active now. His lungs still would need lots of medical help, but if he were to be born today, he could possibly live outside the womb! Currently, they are still practicing breathing amniotic fluid, and his immune system is continuing to mature.

Weight Gain: 22.4 pounds.

Maternity clothes: All maternity. Put on a t-shirt for bed this week and realized that my belly was showing at the bottom - classy... Will have to choose my bigger (not fitted) shirts, or start borrowing Caleb's!

Gender: IT'S A BOY! "Bryson Nicholas"

Movement: Still trying to decipher his "schedule". I think if I paid more attention, or wrote down when I felt him moving throughout the day, I'd be able to figure it out. Currently, I just enjoy the movement while I'm working or whatever I'm doing and keep going about my day.

I have noticed more movement at night a few times. He hasn't kept me up yet, but last night I did shift my body a little bit to see if it'd make him stop wiggling all around. It was almost tickling me because I felt it in more than one place and kinda lightly, not just strong kicks! Any normal person begs the person tickling them to stop! :)

Sleep: I have good nights and bad nights - If I sleep too long one night, the next night I wake up for awhile in the middle of the night. But then I'm tired enough the next night to sleep well again :). This doesn't usually happen during the week, as I have to get up for work. It's the weekends that kill me when I let myself sleep in too late on Saturday... but I want to live it up while I can! 3 more months and I will never remember what it feels like to sleep 12 hours straight! lol 

I also have good and bad nights when it comes to back ache. Not sure what the deal is because I feel like I'm sleeping in the same 2 positions every night, but sometimes I wake up sore and stiff and miserable all day, and other days I'm fine! Oh well, gotta take the good with the bad, I guess! Better than only having bad!

What I miss: Nothing.

Cravings: Nothing. I tried a new fruit stuffed mini-wheats cereal this week - so not as good as plain frosted strawberry...

Best moment this week: MY DOCTOR APPOINTMENT!

First of all, my appt actually got moved up to the 21st because of a ridiculous and embarrassing fall (I tripped but managed to land on my right hip) that happened on Saturday, the 18th. Thankfully, the nurse got me a bottle of glucola to drink while I waited for the doctor to come in so I didn't have to come back the next day at my originally appointed time for the gestational diabetes blood test as well.  *For those wondering how the orange drink is - if you like orange soda, it's not so bad as far as flavor goes. It was more the thick syrupyness in the back of my throat that was weird - just chug and be done! :)

Overall, the appointment went well - Dr, Wise found the baby's heartbeat easily and it was strong 140's. She said no need to worry about him, but she did want me to go see Laura, the Sonographer, to check the placenta just in case... Which was absolutely what I wanted! To see my sweet little boy's face!!! And of course to make sure everything was really ok in there! Truth be told, I wasn't worried about his safety at all until the nurse freaked out at me for not going to the emergency room right away after the fall; I didn't think it was that big of a deal until she made me paranoid! Then I paid attention to how often he was moving, aches, pains, etc.  So not me usually. How do worrier-type people live like that ALL the time?! God bless you! I can't handle it for one evening!

The doctor answered the questions I had about what I can do for back pain and ab pain (which she thinks is actually something to do with my floaters ribs) and the BH contractions I'm feeling once in awhile (which she said are "focal something " contractions that I couldn't find any info online about???), then she measured my uterus... AND I MEASURED A WEEK AHEAD! AHH! :) I measured 27 weeks at 26w2d. Apparently my height does make for an optical illusion, as everyone tells me how small I am, and LITERALLY people are just now noticing that I'm even pregnant! I had 6 people at church come up and talk to me about the baby within the past 2 weeks, saying they just realized I'm pregnant - though I've been singing on stage twice a month almost this whole time! So funny.

Alright - On to cuter things...

Here are the pictures of the cutest little boy ever (I'm sure you'll agree...)! :)

It's so crazy - he looks like he's full term and ready to come out and meet us, but he's only 26 weeks 2 days here!
I LOVE his little face! I started freaking out about how cute he is when the dr pulled up the 3D screen. My mom and I were both squealing the whole 8-minute scan! lol
We saw him do a few cool things - As you can see in the 2D pic, his mouth is open - this was in the middle of us watching him eat and swallow. We also saw him kicking me! And the crazy part was that I could feel him doing it as I watched! I always wonder what he's doing in there when I feel movement - so that was cool to see!
I thought he'd be pretty squished in there by now, but he was sitting (breech) on my bladder with his head on my top left and his legs at a 90 degree angle on my bottom right. We watched him pick his feet up and stomp back down on me, like he was trying to walk somewhere. He didn't get anywhere fast... And I'm glad it's not painful yet! :)

As for the gestational diabetes test, she took my blood shortly after my ultrasound was done, and the results came back a few days later - glucose is good! :) But I do have a slightly low blood count, which means I need to take ferrous sulfate (iron) and vitamin C (which I believe is to help the iron absorb well). No big deal - just need to get to walmart!

What I am looking forward to: Getting away for Labor Day weekend with my honey one last time before baby comes! :)

Just for fun:

This weekend, the 25th, Caleb was an usher in his friend's wedding. He did a great job of lighting those stubborn candles, greeting people, and of looking good while doing it! :)

Here are a few pics!

Now you see where Bryson gets his good looks, huh!?! :) 2 handsome men in my house!

26 Weeks

Pregnancy Update August 20, 2012

How far along: 26 weeks. Only 98 days to go!

Size of baby: 14 inches, 1.75 lb. - A "Hothouse Cucumber"  A what?! Let's hope Bryson isn't that skinny... :)

What developed this past week: His eyes, which until now were developing under fused eyelids, start to open! Of course, there's not much to see in there, but if baby spots a bright light (or hears a loud noise) near my belly, he may increase his fetal activity because his brain is more developed and sophisticated!

Weight Gain: 21 pounds.

Maternity clothes: All maternity. Finally fitting more of the size medium shirts I bought online (thinking they'd fit right away).

Gender: IT'S A BOY! "Bryson Nicholas"
For fun, here are pictures of baby Caleb (daddy) as a newborn & at 6 weeks old!

Movement: Bryson likes to move at night when Caleb and I lay down to go to bed. Maybe he likes daddy's voice, because he doesn't seem to move much when I go to bed alone (before Caleb). I took this video the other night. I had felt a weird tightening sensation in my belly, so I pulled my shirt up and saw that baby was pushed up on one side! Then he kept moving and moving and moving! After a few minutes, I realized I should grab my ipod to record his craziness for all to see.  Click the link - it will bring you to the youtube video: Belly Bumpin' - 25.5 Weeks

Sleep: I feel like I'm getting tired earlier in the evenings these days. But it could just be because I go to work at 7:30am vs 8:30 now. The hard part is that if I go to bed too early, I wake up in the middle of the night, or at 4:30 with Caleb's alarm, and have a hard time falling back asleep, especially if my back is aching. But most of the time I sleep well and don't wake up often, just enough to roll over. Sometimes I'll go to the bathroom at 4:30 when Caleb gets up, but usually I don't want to get out of my comfortable bed and am able to sleep a couple more hours.

What I miss: Nothing - I feel bad complaining about the few minor inconveniences and pains when I am SO happy that Baby Farrell is doing so well and getting closer and closer to term! Can't wait to see what he looks like!

Cravings: Nothing. I'll eat anything :)

Best moment this week: My first baby shower! Thrown by my coworkers on 8/15. Will write a separate post with the details and pictures!

What I am looking forward to: My next doctor's appointment on 8/22 - I will finally get my belly measured so I can know if people's perception is off, or if I really am "small"! People are always incredulous when I tell them I'm 6 months pregnant! Also going to do the gestational diabetes test - I've heard bad things about the orange soda drink, but am confident I can choke it down quickly! :) Hope all is well with it - who wants to watch what they eat and take their blood multiple times a day?! Not me! :) Results come the next day.

Sisters - Gender Reveal

I'm hoping we are far enough removed from the whole gender reveal process that no one gets mad at me (or Caleb)... but one of my gender-reveal plans changed at the last minute. And I can't keep it to myself - this was so fun, and my sisters are absolutely hilarious. These pictures are them to a T; I have to share!

To back up a little, let me remind everyone that we found out the baby's gender a week before our family gender reveal party, therefore making everyone wait - no fun for them (and let me tell you, I was harassed and analyzed that whole week)! Both of my sisters live out of town (8 hours & 2 hours away), but we were all getting together the weekend of our gender party for my younger sister's bachelorette party in Cleveland. The plan was to tell the girls on Sunday morning before driving home to our family gender party that evening. That way everyone would find out the same day, albeit at different times of the day. But that was as "fair" as we could make it, while still being able to announce to Lindsay and Melissa in person.

Fortunately for my sisters, unfortunately for the rest of our family who had to wait until Sunday evening, Lindsay, Melissa & I went to dinner on Friday night upon arrival into Cleveland, before the rest of the party people came. They begged and pleaded and reasoned with me to tell them while it was just the 3 of us so that we could all talk about it and be excited together, versus waiting until we were running out the door at 7am Sunday morning where I would just have to say it and leave - boring!



Lindsay & Melissa YEARNING to know! Who can say no to these faces?! :)

So I called Caleb to get his input on doing away with the fair plan we had and we decided that we would tell my sisters, but keep the fact that they knew a secret so that THEY COULDN'T SLIP! That way if anyone heard them say "him", others would assume it's just because they've always said they think it's a boy. I know how much every thing I said was analyzed when I knew and others didn't for the week, I couldn't take the chance that someone else would accidently give it away! Especially to friends before family knew!



This is when I said, "OK!! I'll tell you!" They said "YES!!!!!"

So this is what I did:

I wrapped up 2 baby outfits - one blue and one pink.



Like my fancy white tissue paper wrapping?! :)

I told them to unwrap the gifts FULLY - as in, unzip the sleepers until you get to the note inside. But I couldn't say the unzipping part because I didn't want to give away what was in the paper, so they both thought they had the "right" one just by looking at the color. It was so funny! Lindsay screams," IT'S A BOY!" and Melissa says, "IT'S A GIRL!" Then they both look quizicallly at eachother, then the opposite outfit, then me. Melissa said, "It's twins?!" hahha! I said, "No! I told you - unwrap it FULLY - UNZIP THEM!" :)

Once they got to the notes, they started freaking out - I heard plenty of "I KNEW IT!s" hahaha

Those girls crack me up! They are SO excited to be having a nephew!

L & M with the outfits & notes they opened. See how happy they look!?

THE FINAL ANSWER:  BOY!



Aren't they the cutest?! Many conversations about names and plans and pregnancy were had over the course of that weekend. As guilty as I felt at first for not being fair (and basically lying about it! I'm confessing now, does that make it better?! :)), I wouldn't change it! It was one of the most fun things EVER to tell my sisters! They are going to be such great Aunties! Love you girls! Thanks for being so excited - and capturing your emotions in pictures! Now we'll NEVER forget your faces when you found out about Bryson Nicholas, the favorite first nephew! :)

25 Weeks

Pregnancy Update August 13, 2012

How far along: 25 weeks.

Size of baby: 13.5 inches, 1.5 lb. - A "Rutabaga"  

What developed this past week: Body parts are becoming more proportional, and more fat is forming underneath his skin. Also, his hair is growing and developing texture and color! I wonder what color...

Weight Gain: 20.4 pounds.

Maternity clothes: All maternity.

Gender: IT'S A BOY! "Bryson Nicholas"

Movement: Still moving all the time. And still looking forward to feeling hiccups! Nothing yet...  

Sleep: Sleep is fine - waking up is not so fine. Sore, stiff back most days...  Trying to decide when to use the pregnancy massage gift card my wonderful sister-in-laws got me for Mother's Day!

What I miss: Not aching - it's amazing what we take for granted! 

Cravings: Nothing.

Best moment this week: #1 - Having MANY family members (SILs, Aunt, Niece) [try to] find the baby's heart beat using a handheld doppler (so lovingly given to me by my friend Tiffini)! Since there isn't a good way to have all these girls attend my doctor's appointments, this is the next best thing. Actually it's even better since family just gets to listen at the doctor, not find!

#2 - My mom came over after church on Sunday and stayed until 10pm. We hung out for awhile, then decided to get things organized in the nursery and spare room! We have everything almost all done! Just some blankets and scrapbooking stuff needs reorganized in the spare room! Nursery is ready! YAY! :) Thanks, Momma!!!

#3 - Once again, we are overly blessed with family and friends giving us wonderful gifts! This week we got to open a gift bag full of ADORABLE boy outfits, a book, & baby wash/lotion from my super-thoughtful SIL and Niece, Laurie & Emmie! I'm told they bought some of the outfits before we even knew Baby Farrell IS a boy! They are too cute! Love you girls!

#4 - Talking to my Grandpa (Robert Nicholas) on the phone and announcing Baby Farrell's name to him. He was very touched that we are naming our boy after him - Grandpa said, "Bryson Nicholas? Well he sounds like he could be the President!"  He has told each of kids that we are smart enough to be the President our whole lives, so it's only fitting... :)  He said now Joscelin (my niece) can be his favorite great-granddaughter, and Bryson is his favorite great-grandson. Perfect! (**If you remember back to the bib we bought my dad to announce we are pregnant, you'll see that the men in my family like to say people are "favorites" - always classifying further so that each person can be a favorite in a different way - IE I'm currently the "favorite pregnant daughter", as I'm the only one...).

What I am looking forward to: This week my coworkers are throwing me a baby shower on Wednesday! They have been SO excited about Baby Farrell ever since we announced his impending arrival. It will be great to celebrate with them! Thank you to Joyce & Lynn for pulling it all together!

Just for fun:

Is it just me, or does week 23 look smaller than 21?! I must be standing at a different angle, or maybe I just hadn't eaten dinner yet! lol

 This is a little easier to see the changes...  That very round pregnant belly you see in movies - FAKE! :)



*Note - Click on the images to see them bigger.

24 Weeks

Pregnancy Update August 6, 2012

How far along: 24 weeks.

Size of baby: 12.5 inches, 1.25 lb. - "An Ear of Corn" 

What developed this past week: Bryson's lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help air sacs in the lungs inflate once baby hits the outside world. The lungs are now moving amniotic fluid in and out in preparation for breathing, though he still gets oxygen through the placenta.

And, as I found out when Caleb had his hand on my belly and said he could feel Bryson up high in my abdomen, my uterus is now about 2 inches above my belly button. It's the size of a SOCCER BALL!

Weight Gain: 19.2 pounds.

Maternity clothes: All maternity.

Gender: IT'S A BOY! "Bryson Nicholas"

Movement: He moves all the time throughout the day. I'm trying to figure out if there's any pattern to it to see if he has a regular sleep schedule or if my eating affects him. Haven't figured it out yet.

Many times I've put my hand where he's kicking, and he bumps out the other side! He's a stinker :).  

Sleep: Sleep is hit or miss as far as comfort goes. Most days I wake up with an aching back. I'm still working on the pillow situation to see if I can come up with something that keeps everything in the right place so I'm not sore in the mornings.

What I miss: Not being in pain throughout the day! This last week I've started having really bad upper ab, rib & back pain. The only thing I've found to relieve the tightness/stabbing pain is to actually stand and walk around for awhile. Sitting, no matter how hard I try to have good posture, hurts!  

Cravings: Nothing.

Best moment this week: Putting the nursery furniture together! Caleb and I got it done in about an hour and a half on Saturday. Since I hadn't seen the furniture in person, I was a little nervous that there would be something we wouldn't like about it, but I LOVE IT! After assembling the crib and setting up the dressers (they came assembled, just needed to put the knobs on right-side-out), Caleb and I went recliner shopping. To our surprise, we found a chair we liked at the second store we visited! This chair is crazy -  it vibrates, heats, has a cooler & cupholders in the arms! Caleb wants to keep it in the living room forever until the baby comes :).

The other best part of the week was having my SIL, Laurie, over (and niece Emilie for the last hour)Sunday night to help me arrange and re-arrange and re-arrange the room until we figured out the best set up! It took much muscle and lots of time, but we figured out a functional and aesthetically pleasing layout. Then we put up the tree decal and got out the bedding. It's really coming together! Once the room is picked up and ready to show, I will take pictures for everyone to see. Thank you SOOO much Laurie and Em for your help! It wouldn't have been half as much fun without you!

And a big shout out THANKS to KC, as without his help to carry the bed and tv up to the attic, we couldn't have even started the room transormation! :)

What I am looking forward to:  Hiccups! They say it's coming soon... I'm so excited to feel this crazy-awesome phenomenon!