Empty Nursery

I know this does not look like progress but after a full weekend of work, I can assure you that it is! We I finally got the "nursery" cleared out this past weekend and it is now ready to start accumulating baby things. Here are a couple of shots of our empty nursery. Not to be empty for long though... the shower is on Saturday and we are going to get furniture and whatever else we need in the upcoming weeks. We are obviously not quite set up so hopefully Vegas Baby doesn't surprise us too soon!

30 Week Appointment

We had another appointment today. This one was just a quick check-up with the doctor. We did not have an ultrasound but the doctor did measure my belly and listen to the baby's heartbeat. Everything was measuring fine. She commented that my belly was lopsided and that she didn't think the baby had changed position since my last ultrasound. She could tell that it was mostly sitting on the right. I agreed that I didn't think the position had changed - I am still feeling movements in the same places as during the last scan. So the baby is still lying sideways instead of head down.

The doctor is skeptical that the baby will change position to head down so I will more than likely be having a c-section. We will wait until my 36-week appointment and ultrasound to schedule the c-section in case the baby does change position. The delivery will be scheduled sometime during my last week of pregnancy (so probably between May 17 and 21). Nine weeks to go!

30 Weeks - Shower Invitations, Hiccups

Only 10 weeks to go! That seems kind of crazy. Are we really ready for our lives to change? Well, they are going to whether we are ready or not.

Not a lot to update on at the moment but I did want to show off my baby shower invitations. They are soooo cute! My very talented aunt Sandy designed and made them. Check out her website here. Thanks Sandy!!!

There is a small insert that looks like a book which requests guests to bring a book rather than a card and write a small inscription or sign inside the cover of the book. I think this is a super cute idea and I am excited to see what books we get. I was a total book worm when I was younger (and still would be if I had the time). The invitation itself is designed to be a bookmark. So creative!

Shower Invitation

In other news, the baby now has regular bouts of the hiccups. I notice them at least twice, sometimes three times each day. I have also recently found out that he or she does get startled by loud noises. The Big XII basketball tournament has been going on this week. We went to a couple of games the other night and the little tyke would stir around when the crowd would get noisy. The same thing happened last night when the Jayhawks went ahead and we happened to be in probably the most crowded KU bar in Missouri.

We had our second (and final) birthing class this morning. It was somewhat informative and the videos we had to watch today were much less graphic than the previous class. We had to bring pillows and a blanket to class so we thought that it would be the typical breathing exercises you see on TV. Not the case - at the end of class we just did a really weird relaxation exercise. It was definitely not our thing. We were supposed to imagine we were in the uterus and our breaths were bright lights. Then we were lying on a beach having contractions. It was quite amusing and needless to say, I got nothing out of that (nor do I think I will be using that technique during contractions).

We have a check-up with the doctor on Monday but no ultrasound so it will probably be pretty quick and routine. Other than that... I am just working through busy season and we have been watching a lot of basketball. Neither of these things is helping get the nursery ready. Oh well, I guess we should be enjoying this free time while we have it, right?

29 Weeks - Birthing Classes

As of today, we have made it through 29 weeks of pregnancy. Our 30th week starts tomorrow which means only about 10 more weeks until the baby is due. It has gone pretty fast and I hope the remaining 10 weeks go somewhat quickly as well. I am ready for tax season to be over with so I am not working late or on the weekends. I am also ready for the weather to stay nice so we can do more things outside. We took the dogs to the dog park yesterday and it was great to get some fresh air. I can't wait to open up all the windows and turn the heat off. And I am most ready to meet this baby and find out if it is a boy or a girl! I'm sure once the time gets here and I am living off of no sleep I will wonder what I was thinking. But as of now, I am really ready for this baby. Well... I guess we aren't "really" ready yet since we have almost no baby stuff.

I think I have mentioned this before but Brett is not a big fan of the prego belly. He has always said that he thinks pregnant women are gross and doesn't like to look at them. He is not interested in touching my belly or feeling the baby. It just weirds him out. I have known all this for a long time so it doesn't really bother me and was not a shock after I got pregnant. Although I did think that if it was his own wife and baby he might not think it was so bad... not really the case though. :) When I asked if he was bonding with the baby - that's what all the books say about dads feeling the baby move - he said that's what all the ultrasounds are for. He also says he would rather just wait until the baby is born to be touching it. So needless to say it had been a while since he felt the baby kick or move - probably over a month. This morning we were lying next to one another and my stomach was touching him. Of course the active little guy or girl was kicking him and he couldn't believe it wasn't me hiccuping or something. Nope, it was just our powerful and growing baby!

We have had a more productive weekend in terms of getting ready for the baby this week. Saturday morning we started our birthing classes. I took notes on the best things to pack. We learned all about labor and delivery. We went over the different stages of labor and Brett took notes on what to expect and what his "job" would be. We also had to watch videos of labors and deliveries... let's just say it was way more graphic than the high school health class video. The worst part was that they showed the placenta being delivered. Yuck! Brett was glad he wore a hat so that he could shield his eyes from everything. Afterward he told me that it was a good thing we didn't take that class before I got pregnant or we would not be having a kid.

Last night we finally got the desk moved out of the nursery. Andy and Sarah came over and Andy was so nice to help move the desk even though he was under the weather. Thanks Uncle Andy! So now we can say that even though we haven't started on anything at least the room is not an office anymore. I think I am going to try to clear out the rest of the non-baby stuff from that room tonight. Then it is just getting the baby things and putting the room together. We will probably wait until after the shower to do much on that. Speaking of the shower, we also finalized the date and time. The baby shower is going to be May 27 at 2:30 here in the KC area. My amazing aunts and mom are getting everything in order which is greatly appreciated. Invitations will probably go out sometime this week. Let me know if you don't get one... my pregnant brain likes to forget things!

28 Week Update

Well, we are officially in the 3rd trimester now... and it shows! Mom and Dad came to town yesterday and apparently I have grown quite a bit in just a couple of weeks. The baby is also becoming very active in the last couple of days.

My doctor appointments that were monthly for the last two months are now going back to every other week. I think it is just sort of standard care (minus all the ultrasounds) for the 3rd trimester. The ultrasounds will still be monthly so we will probably just have two more before we see the real thing. At today's appointment we had an ultrasound to check the baby's growth. Everything was still normal - the baby is now around 2 pounds, 13 ounces and is in the 55th percentile. The only abnormal thing was that I was really lightheaded and seeing spots so I had to sit up a few times. This was probably just caused by being on my back too long. We were also able to tell what position the baby is in right now. Its back is against the bottom of my ribs (along the top of my belly) with the head, hands, and feet down lower. Not quite the ideal position but there is still plenty of time for it to move. I don't think I will bother posting pictures - they are really grainy and you can barely tell what anything is. The baby always has its hands and arms in front of the face so the technicians have a really hard time getting good face shots.

In other news, we finally got registered at Babies R Us. That place is massive and I think there is a lot of "stuff" that they try to sell that people really don't need. Hopefully we got the necessities. We still need to pick out the infant travel system (car seat and stroller set) but Brett is doing his research first. We also registered online for some things at Target that were either more reasonable or worked better. A lot of people have been asking how the nursery is coming along. Well, we are a little behind on that. It is still an office right now just gathering a few more baby things week by week. Maybe by the time the shower is over at the end of the month we will have enough stuff to where we will be motivated to find a home for everything. Me working on the weekends now is not speeding up the process. We are also starting our birthing classes this weekend. They will be the next two Saturday mornings for about 3 1/2 hours. Brett is definitely not pumped up for that but it's part of the job.

One thing I have accomplished is getting my cloth diapers ordered. I know - we are nuts! But I at least wanted to give it a try to save our landfills from about 3,796 disposable diapers that can each take hundreds of years to decompose. Besides, they are pretty cute (for now, until they are covered in poo).

And one thing we went backwards on is names. Brett has decided that he is not into "Kyler" for a boy. So we are back to square one. Boy names are tough! We are trying to find a name that is not in the top 100 for popularity but is also not way out there. We can't seem to agree on one. So if we have a boy, he may not have a name for a few days. The one name that we both like (but is really popular right now) is Gavin. Brett is still hung up on Jacoby but I just can't do it. He also came up with Sanders the other day - again, can't do it. So we bought a baby name book with over 100,000 names. Hopefully we can agree on one!

24 Weeks

We had another appointment this morning. It started off with an ultrasound. The objective was to take measurements to ensure that the baby is growing normally. Everything is looking good. Measurements were all normal and the head is a little wider than normal but that may be due to the shape of the head. The baby weighs about 1 pound 10 ounces. It is in the 63rd percentile and is measuring at 24 weeks and 5 days (about 4 days ahead of the estimated due date of May 23).

The technician worked hard to get us some good pictures. The ones I have posted are the best we could get since Vegas Baby was not cooperating very well.

This one is of a leg (you can see the picture is marked with the thigh, knee, and foot).

And this is of the bottom of the feet (the baby has its legs crossed at the ankle).

This was a 3D ultrasound so it would have been really neat to have a picture of the face but the baby was being very shy. Its head was face down and would not budge. Of course 10 minutes after we left the room the little thing was moving all over the place and has been all day since. I have been feeling a LOT of movement all over lately.

After the ultrasound we had an appointment with the doctor. Nothing really new there. I have gained a lot more weight than 1 pound 10 ounces but the weight gain is on track for the amount I am targeted to gain - about 30 pounds by the end of the pregnancy. The doctor also asked us to start getting ready for the delivery - taking birthing classes, getting registered at the hospital, and deciding what type of delivery we want.

Less than 4 months to go and we have a lot to do! Brett and I have each purchased one item for the baby. I went to Lincoln last weekend with some of my family and picked up a little Nebraska hat for our Husker baby ;) Brett was skiing in Steamboat Springs and bought a tee shirt. It was really cute... although the smallest size they had was a 2T so the baby will be a toddler by the time we can get some use out of it. Needless to say, we have a long way to go. One of the next few weekends I am determined to get some furniture purchased so we can at least get started on the baby's room.

20 Week Appointments - Halfway There!

I had two more doctor appointments this week. Monday with with the perinatologist and Tuesday was with my obstetrician. Both went really well.

The perinatologist did another ultrasound and the baby is getting bigger... yay!

Here is a profile of the face.

And this is a pretty good shot of his or her hand which is pretty cool to see.

The baby was moving around quite a bit (as usual - at every ultrasound we hear that we have a very active baby). The crazy thing is that I couldn't even feel it. I can't imagine what that kiddo looks like moving around when I can feel it! Anyway, the doctor was very pleased with how everything looked - normal. It is still breech but the baby is growing at an appropriate rate which was the main reason we were having to see a specialist. So now unless something else comes up I don't have to go back to her anymore. Let's hope that is the case for the sake of the baby.

On Tuesday I had an appointment with my regular doctor. Nothing new there. She told me that the max I can work is 50 hours per week - darn! ;) We will also be doing ultrasounds once a month throughout the rest of the pregnancy. Starting in March I will be in to see her every two weeks.

I am getting more and more anxious to start doing more baby things. We haven't bought anything yet and are trying to hold off for a while. It has been fun to get a few gifts from family members and that makes it a little easier to wait. I've also been online window shopping if that makes any sense. We did have to start shopping for maternity clothes which was painful - I hate shopping, and finding cute maternity clothes that I can wear to work has been a pain. My belly is growing and Brett is definitely not used to that - he makes comments daily and says things like "you really are pregnant." Not sure why it has taken him this long to figure that out...

And the most exciting thing for us this week is that we found out some close friends of ours, Paul and Amie, are expecting at the beginning of August! I think that makes Brett feel better... he isn't the only one whose "life is over." :) And it will be nice (and fun) to have friends with a kid the same age as ours. Too bad they don't live in KC!

Happy New Year!

We are hoping for a very happy 2010... so far so good. We had our annual new years party last night and it was a great time. It was definitely the latest I have stayed up in quite a while! A lot of our friends found out our "big news" last night and Brett has been calling a few other friends today. He seems to be getting more and more into it the more people we tell... I think he feeds off of everyone else's excitement (and forgets all the stressful parts for a minute). The baby has also been kicking so much that he has been able to feel it a few times.

We have an appointment with the perinatologist on Monday to check for growth restriction. Will update more then.

Happy 2010!

Christmas

Well, Christmas is officially over and we definitely can't complain. We have been blessed this year with a new little guy or girl to look forward to in May! Here is a recap of what we have been up to the last few days...

Brett and I headed to Wichita on the 23rd to spend Christmas with his family. On the way there, we decided that instead of waiting until Christmas day to share our news, we would probably have an opportunity to do so that night. We needed Brett's parents and grandparents to open their gifts at the same time in order for it to work. As it turned out, Grandpa Sonny was bowling that night and got home after Brett's dad had already gone to bed (he had to work the next morning).

On Christmas Eve, we traveled to Great Bend to have lunch and spend time with the Brack side of the family. We had to keep our secret for the day since Brett's parents did not know yet. We gave Brett's grandparents a gift box (with their great-grandparent mugs) and told them they had to open it after we left since it was the same thing Brett's parents would be getting. I had left a note explaining that we wanted to tell them in person that we were expecting but we had not told Charlie and Tammy (Brett's parents) yet. Brett and I were alone on the way back to Wichita so he gave his grandma a call... from the sounds of it, they were very excited!

That night, we thought maybe we could get the word out but Grandma and Grandpa Weber had their lights out by 8:00... so we ended up waiting until Christmas morning just as planned. We went over to the farmhouse and handed out gift boxes to Brett's parents and grandparents. I told them they might be mixed up since they were wrapped identically.

(Here is an example of what the Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle, and Aunt mugs looked like.)

When Tammy opened their box, she noticed that it said "Grandma" and immediately switched boxes with Grandma Joyce. When that mug said "Great Grandmother" she caught on right away. Our plot had worked just as planned!

Enter the password "brett" to see the video embedded in the blog.


Needless to say, we had a great Christmas and will hopefully have an even better one next year when little Austyn or Kyler is with us!

Telling Cindy's Family

Well, it is Christmas time. And that means it is time to start telling people that we are going to have a baby by the end of May.

Prior to this past weekend, the people who knew we were expecting were my parents, Brett's brother Ryan and his wife Jessica, my co-workers, our friends Andy and Sarah, and five of my best girlfriends from college. We started off the weekend by telling some friends from college, Lynch and Sadler, on Friday night. I think they were pretty shocked and equally excited.

Then on Saturday it was time to break the news to the Olberdings. I had come up with a plan on how I would be breaking the news to our families. I ordered mugs that said things like "Great Grandma" to give as Christmas gifts.

So that is what I gave my mom's mom. It took her a little while to figure out what I was trying to tell her... at first she thought I messed up and got the wrong mug.

Enter the password "brett" to see the video embedded in the blog.


But when the family started putting the puzzle together, it stirred up a lot of excitement. My aunts couldn't believe it... they had all been well aware with my fertility problems so there were tears in many eyes. Poor Traci missed the excitement. She went up to get some beverages and have a bowl of soup when our 8 year old cousin told her what was going on. Don't worry, we have the whole thing on video. My aunt Sherry and by brother were shocked that my parents kept the secret for so long - it was over 2 months!

On Sunday we went and told my dad's parents in the same way. They didn't catch on either. Although to their defense, they were already great grandparents so it wasn't quite as obvious. When I told them there would be 4 great-grandkids by June, they thought my cousin was expecting twins (she has two kids and one on the way this June). We can't be at that Christmas because we need to go see Brett's family so I emailed other members of the family to get the word out.

We are glad that everyone is as excited as we are and can't wait to meet little Kyler or Austyn. Oh, and we are not finding out the gender of the baby for those of you who have been asking.

We will be telling Brett's family on Christmas day and I will post on that later. Merry Christmas!