Friends Gender Reveal Party

The day after we announced the gender of our baby to our family, we had a small scale Friend Gender Reveal! Monday, July 2nd, we had 3 couples (and another friend came later) over for the fun!

Crash, Laurel, Neil & I all wore blue - guessing boy
Caleb, Jessy, Emma, Dustin, Erin & Arayah wore pink - guessing girl!

After dinner, we played an old wives tale game. This time everyone had to guess whether each question (tale) meant boy or girl. Then I'd say whether or not I displayed this "symptom" of carrying a boy or a girl and put the pink or blue sticker on the board accordingly. Turns out, there really is a 50/50 chance of being right when you guess the gender of a baby! I had 11 clues pointing to each!  



Board made by Jessy! Isn't it awesome?!
As my grandfather used to say:
"Sugar & Spice & Everything Nice? OR Hammers & Nails & Puppy Dog Tails?"

Here are some pics from the evening:
Guys and dolls:

Neil and his daughter, Emma

Crash and his daughter, Arayah

Moms and Babies:

Me & Jessy (Emma's mom)

Me with Deanna!

Me & Nicole (Deanna's mom)

After we finished the game while eating dessert, Caleb and I decided to have them put together the gender reveal puzzle we made. This time, as opposed to how we did the family gender puzzle, we left a few key pieces out so they wouldn't read the end of the poem before it was all put together.


The beginning of the puzzle!

The final piece goes in!

Jessy told me later that she has never been so frantic to put a puzzle together in her life! Cracked me up!
Everyone was SO excited to find out he's a boy and his name! As you can tell from the above pictures, we are one of the very few of our friends who will have a boy vs. a girl this year! Lots of ladies for Bryson to choose from, I guess! lol I got some interesting faces from some of these dads when I said that, followed by a reminder that they have guns... UHOH! It begins... :)

31 Weeks

Pregnancy Update September 24, 2012

How far along: 31 weeks! 63 days left... 

Size of baby: 16.25 inches, 3.3 lbs. - "4 naval oranges" (They've apparently run out of new fruit and now are just quadrupling already used fruits).

What developed this past week: Bryson is gaining more baby fat and his skin is turning more pink, less red and not as translucent. Now his irises can dilate and respond to changes in light and he can turn his head from side to side. He will double to triple in size in the coming weeks!

Weight Gain: 29.2 pounds. Spent the weekend at my Grandma's house, surrounded by food... not good news. Probably didn't help that I drank almost a gallon of apple cider by myself within a week!

Maternity clothes: All maternity.

Gender: HE'S A BOY! "Bryson Nicholas"
(Bryson means "smart", Nicholas means "winner" or "victory of the people")

Movement: He's still most active while I'm lying/sitting still. I read that he's now sleeping for 20-40 minutes at a time, as a newborn does. His body parts are getting bigger and a little easier to decipher through my belly (though it's always just a guess), so it's fun trying to guess what position he's in. I've felt kicks out my sides now too - such a crazy sensation! He's had hiccups multiple times, often I feel them pretty low, but I've also felt them up towards my belly button. My mom & Caleb got to feel them this week. A couple times he's had them when I woke up in the morning, other times it's been in the evening around 8pm.

Sleep: I've been waking up half an hour or so before my alarm goes off, which is terribly annoying. Worst part is that I've been feeling much more tired during the day at work. I hear these last 2 months can be exhausting because baby is growing so fast! So it seems I may actually get this pregnancy symptom (exhaustion) that I've avoided for so long. I'm trying to go to bed earlier to try to keep it at bay...

What I miss: Not feeling a knife in my upper right abs/bottom ribs. I will not miss this pain.

Cravings: Nothing.

Best moment this week: Seeing my relatives. So fun to have them feel and see Bryson moving around. Mom also had a baby shower for me at Grandma's house with all of my mom's family. It was wonderful and everyone was so generous! I will go into more detail in a separate post.

We had Childbirth Class #3 this week. We practiced some relaxation techniques and learned good information about pain medications and the actual birth part. Only one more class!


I had my 30w5d doctor appointment on Friday, the 21st. Everything went pretty well - I still look good and am displaying no signs of preterm labor or complications. Only thing weird was my belly measured just 26 weeks (*last appt was 28w - on track). My doctor thinks the baby was laying transverse (which I think he often does) and it just wasn't an accurate measurement. She also said that I may just hide him well and carry him differently than others because of my proportions and height. She wasn't worried about it, but said that instead of going off the tape measurement, she'd like to do an ultrasound to get a more accurate size/weight. I have NO problem with this! :) She offered to do the sono right then, but said I could wait until the next appt if I wanted... I selfishly wanted to do it right away, but knew I'd already invited my mother-in-law to the next appt. This will be SO much more fun for her to see than a normal quick check! And my husband will get to come to see our little boy too! So I am scheduled for Oct 3rd at 4pm!

What I am looking forward to: 

Putting more shower stuff away in the nursery and hanging all the artwork! I got ADORABLE wall art from my cousin, Jess, that has a giraffe with a blue background and says, "I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made".  LOVE it! Gotta find a special place for it!

30 Weeks!

Pregnancy Update September 17, 2012

How far along: 30 weeks! The final "decade" of weeks! :)

Size of baby: 15.7 inches, 2.75 lbs. - A "Cabbage" 

What developed this past week: He's just growing and growing! Everything about him is developing further -eyes, lungs, all organs, etc!

Weight Gain: 24.8 pounds.

Maternity clothes: All maternity, otherwise... not attractive. lol hillbilly belly hanging out from my normal shirts! So bizarre to see such a big belly on myself still...

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

Movement: Still moves often, though last weekend seems to have been an anomaly (when he moved all day, every day for a few days straight). Now he's getting big enough that we try to figure out what body part is sticking out when we feel it! So fun!

Sleep: Mostly sleeping well. Biggest complaint still is the back pain (and rib pain, but that's not when I sleep). I keep a heating pad by my bed though, so I just flip the switch to on and lay on that - helps pretty well! I haven't had the "pregnancy insomnia" I hear so much about yet... hoping that holds off as long as possible!

What I miss: Bending over and easily putting on my shoes :). I'm glad I didn't ask Caleb to do a lot for me when I really could still do it for myself... now I don't feel guilty asking him to pick things up for me, or help me up, or carry something, etc! I tell myself that it's a good way for him to take part in the pregnancy! :)

Cravings: Loving heated apple cider right now, but that's not a craving - just a fall thing! MMM!

Best moment this week: Feeling hiccups for the first time on Friday, September 14th! FINALLY!

I was laying on my side in bed trying to get motivated to get up for work when I felt what I thought was normal movement or kicking/punching happening over and over again. I assumed Bryson was just irritated with me for leaning forward on my belly a little bit, so I thought, "OK! OK! I will move! Stop kicking me!" lol... Then I turned on my back and it kept happening! The thought crossed my mind that it could be hiccups, but I was only feeling the little thuds way down low, and I assumed my whole belly would shake with the movement of his body jumping. So I put one hand on the bumping point, and used my other hand to see if I could feel the rest of his body jolting.... it wasn't.

So I thought that maybe I was just feeling my heart beating.... I put one hand on the carotid artery in my neck and kept the other on him... the beats didn't match! And I knew it was too slow to be his heart beat. So my amazing powers of deduction left me with HICCUPS! :)

This left me wondering if he was head down, since I was feeling them so low...

He got them again after lunch that day, and 2 of my coworkers, Lynn & Joyce, got to feel them! I also emailed everyone in my family to tell them the exciting news... then I realized that I hadn't even told my husband, and other people were feeling them first! OOPS! :) I like to tell him things in person after work usually, so I didn't even think about it until it was too late. Luckily, when I told him later, he responded with, "Well maybe that's what we were feeling the other night!" OH YEAH! I forgot that a couple nights prior to this, we were laying in bed and Caleb felt Bryson bumping around pretty rhythmically, but we just assumed it was my heart beat he was feeling... it never even crossed our minds that it could be hiccups! So good news - Caleb WAS the first to feel this amazing pregnancy phenomenon! :)

The other highlight of the week, if you can call it that, was Childbirth Class #2. We watched the video... the dreaded video that makes you want to cross your legs and stay pregnant forever! :)

Actually, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be... it was done well and focused more on the stages of labor and what happens when. Only a very short part was actually watching the birth. Altogether, good information to know. 

After the movie, we were taught some massage techniques so the coaches (Caleb) can help us pregnant girls (me) relax, now through labor. I was VERY grateful for this little lesson, as Caleb doesn't like massages and therefore doesn't really know how to give one either. Since the class, he's rubbed my back multiple times, and it always feels good! YAY!

We got another thing accomplished in the nursery this week. On Saturday night, my sister-in-law, Erica, came over and helped me sort through all the clothes Bryson ALREADY has! We separated by size, and oohed and ahhed at each outfit - so much more fun than sorting by myself or with Caleb (who doesn't have the same appreciation for cute clothes! :))

Bryson is not lacking for anything blue or football themed! AND I LOVE IT! :) I'm debating buying him this:



SO TRUE!!

What I am looking forward to: Getting to see my relatives this weekend! Haven't seen most of them since July (20 weeks pregnant), and a few them since before that! My mom is throwing a family-baby shower at my Grandma's this weekend so that my aunts and cousins don't feel like they need to drive out to the shower we're having in October. Going to be a fun-filled weekend!

Family Gender Reveal Party

We decided to do something fun for the gender announcement...

So we sent out invitations to our family members that asked them to wear pink or blue, according to their guess on the baby's gender.



Caleb's whole family and half of mine - missing my sisters and their spouses.



I decorated the house in pink and blue and tried to come up with as many pink and blue foods as I could - we had watermelon, strawberries, blueberries, pink lemonade, blue water (a couple drops of food coloring), strawberry creamcheese pie & blueberry creamcheese pie (which ended up a little purple - I did my best! :)). I even had my nails done in pink and blue the night before the ultrasound.

Almond Joy & Mounds... know the difference? ;)

While everyone was hanging out waiting for dinner to be done, we had them play a little fill-in-the-blank game. We gave each person a printout of 20 or so old wives tales and they had to guess boy or girl for each one. Many of the theories no one had ever heard of before, so it was fun! My sister-in-law, Kristen, got the most right!

  

Boy's room

 (Funny how even in families, the boys go to one room and the girls hang out in the other! See above and below...)

Mostly girls room

Dad Winn & Laci

Emilie & Rylie

Drew & Addie

Mom Farrell & Leah



Crystal admiring the sonogram banner I made



Laci and me!



Though everyone was mad that we didn't announce the gender at the beginning of the night, we had come up with a surprise way to announce after dinner. We made up a poem, wrote it onto thick poster board, and cut it up into puzzle pieces. It was hard to write a poem that wouldn't give away the gender if you just saw one or two pieces, but we wanted to make sure everyone would find out at the same time - at the completion of the puzzle. We should have kept a few key end pieces out even, but oh well! They finished the puzzle and FREAKED OUT!

"DADDY CAN'T WAIT TO SHARE HIS TOYS"

IT'S A BOY!!

As soon as everyone was assured they guessed boy correctly, they wanted to know his name. If you remember back to my 19 week post, I told how Caleb and I hadn't 100% decided on the middle name, because I wanted to use a family name and he wanted "Alexander", just because he likes the name.

So when our family asked, I wasn't sure what to say - Caleb jumped right in and said that we're naming him Bryson Nicholas! I cried. So special to me to use my Grandfather's name.

Everyone was so excited! Hugs all around!

Then I got out the clothes we bought at Kohl's and showed everyone his first outfits!

After we told everyone the baby is a HE, I was able to add the 3rd letter to my "family" necklace! YAY! I love personalized things, so this necklace is one of my favorite possessions.

These pendants have since been discontinued, so it looks like I'll have to give all my kids names that start with a B, C, or N! lol

Overall, one of the most fun & exciting nights of Caleb's and my life!

We are ecstatic to be having a baby BRYSON!

29 Weeks

Pregnancy Update September 10, 2012

How far along: 29 weeks. 77 days left!

Size of baby: 15.25 inches, 2.5 lbs. - A "Butternut Squash" 

What developed this past week: Everything is getting bigger, including his head to accommodate his developing brain. His bones are also hardening, with 250mg of calcium a day deposited into his hardening skeleton.

Weight Gain: 24.2 pounds. Took a week off from gaining somehow!

Maternity clothes: All maternity. 

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

Movement: The past few days I feel like he's been awake and moving ALL day! Not sure what the deal is - I'm not doing anything differently as far as food/beverage choices... Good news is that other people have been able to see/feel him more!

Sleep: Sleeping well - got another 11-hour night on Saturday! Unfortunately, I followed it up by a 6-hour night. Guess it averages... :)

What I miss: Not dreading things like sneezing and stairs, which sometimes bring on Braxton Hicks contractions... Really any time I overexert myself, or by the time I get to the end of a long day, I get a few BH. Not painful, just uncomfortable!

Cravings: Nothing new.

Best moment this week: Our first childbirth class! I think Caleb got more of an appreciation of the hard work my body is doing, the weight it's carrying, and a better understanding of what is going on internally (organs shifting, why I eat smaller portions, pee more often, etc). Next week we have to watch the dreaded childbirth VIDEO! That should be interesting... yikes!

I also had [another] doctor appointment. I feel like I'm always there with this every-other-week schedule! Listened to Mr. Bryson's heart, which was beating strong, and measured my belly - came in at 28 weeks - right on track (despite the fact that I STILL hear every week how small my belly is)! BP and everything else checked looks good, so going back in 2 weeks to check again.

The BEST part of this week was, of course, the WONDERFUL baby shower my in-laws threw for me!! The details and pics will be coming in a separate post, but suffice it to say that every last details was thought of and everyone had a great time! So many gifts - we are overly blessed!

My gorgeous hostesses:

Thank you girls SOO MUCH!

What I am looking forward to: Getting the nursery all set up and ready for Bryson! After this shower, we have the crib mattress (Thank you Kujawas!) and a beautiful piece of art my sister made in coordinating colors to hang in the nursery. Will be so nice to have the room finished!

Here's a teaser picture:

Farrell Family Baby Shower

On September 8th, my husband's side of the family threw us a baby shower! They did an adorable blue/yellow/gray theme and incorporated it into everything they could! We had brunch, and the food was delicious! Muffins, fruit & dip, quiches, orange juice, etc!

Close ups of all the food:

These were the favors: Cutely patterned tissue packs with a handmade coordinating "Thank You" stuck on them! So creative!

My SIL's house was decorated so cutely!

My MIL made this precious blanket for Bryson! I love it!

So wonderfully blessed with lots of generous family/friends to love on us and our son!

My friends Meg & Nicole:

My mom and sister:

My MIL and Caleb's Aunt Mel:

Caleb's cousins Nadine and Terra:

Caleb's cousin BJ and his aunts, Char and Nancy:

Caleb and I in front of the awesome "BRYSON" banner my SIL, Laurie, made!

My gracious hosts! We are so grateful for your planning and hard work! Everything turned out wonderfully and was so fun! Thank you for showering us with love! :)