Take Two!

Today Chad and I ventured BACK to Babies R Us to finish up our registry for Baby Bridges. I felt a lot more confident (still overwhelmed) than I did last time. Luckily my friend, and new mom, Hollie was shopping too! She really helped us out with finishing up and showed us some new things we may want to get! So as of today we have...
1-registered Baby Bridges
2-bought our crib
3-bought our changing station
4-signed up for childbirth classes (which start next week..ahhh!)
5-picked out paint for the nursery
6-listed up to the "8th" month on our "The Expectant Father" Cd's (Thanks Jason!)
7-found a pediatrician

Things are moving along quickly it seems! I have some showers lined up for March and April, and over the long break we have for Martin Luther weekend we plan on painting and putting together our crib and changing station! Things are getting exciting around the Bridges household!

Holiday Fun

The holidays were wonderful for the Bridges family! We were able to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas with my family, and Chad's parents will be here to celebrate the New Years with us. I know he can't wait. We got some beautiful things for the house and Chad got his IPOD! Baby Bridges even had some Christmas presents under the tree! Since everyone else was buying for him, we decided to do the same. I went with my mom and she bought him some smock Christmas outfits for NEXT year! Ha, nothing like planning ahead. We have also started to work on a paint selection for the nursery. I've never seen so many shades of brown in my life! We get to pick up our bedding set tomorrow, so we plan to have the room cleaned out and pick up our crib and dresser in the next 2-3 weeks! I can't wait! We got over our overwhelming fear of registering our baby boy and finally decided on the "important" things we need for him. We have one more week left until we go back to work, so Chad and I are just enjoying our time together by eating out, watching movies, and laying in bed discussing all the great things to come in our future! We are going to begin meeting with pediatricians and in home care givers in the next few weeks. Pray the lord brings the best of the best into our lives to help watch over our boy!

Hard Day!

Today marks 21 weeks and 2 days. It was one of my tougher days! I came to the reality that it was time to take out my belly ring. Sounds like such a simple task doesn't it? But after TEN YEARS with having my ring, it was something I have been dreading and it was really hard to do! But as my belly gets bigger, my belly button is getting flatter, and flatter, and flatter! I have felt naked all day long without it! Every time I rub my belly or look down it's like a piece is missing. However, at the same time, it is exciting to know I'm moving into a new part of life...childhood OVER!

Besides today being a rough day, pregnancy is getting more and more exciting each day! I can feel our baby move a lot more each day. Every time I feel him move or kick it is an ease to my mind that he is okay! The nights are still rough with the leg cramps and sciatic nerve pain, but it's nothing compared to what it was in the first trimester. (I'm enjoying that relief while I can because the doctor assures me it WILL be back!) There is no sickness or major wierd cravings, and all is going well!

Chad and I are enjoying our time home together for the holiday break. We have been able to catch up on some time together at home and eat out some. Chad's parents are going to be with us for a few days next week and I know he can't wait to see them! We've been able to visit with my family some and we will be spending Christmas Eve and day with them. Today we visited the cemetery and left flowers for a dear friend we lost this year. As Chad and I look back over 2008 we cannot miss the blessings that God had brought to our lives. We enjoy looking back over our time together this year but are very anxious to get into 09' and meet our new little boy!

21 Weeks and 2 Days

Bye-bye Belly Ring

Registering

Today we set out with high hopes of an exciting experience. We arrived at Babies R Us at 9:30 this morning (opening time) because we could not wait one more day to register our little man! We filled out papers and got our "gun" to begin registration...then we made our way over to the bottle WALL. Things went downhill after that. Who knew there were about 500 different brands and types of bottles!!! By the time we left we were completely overwhelmed! We actually stopped halfway through the store to take a breather and just decided to go home and think some more! Our experience was definitely exciting, it's just the realization of the MANY needs of baby can be a lot to handle. We have come home and made list of the necessities, called friends for some advice, and plan to make attempt #2 at our baby registry AFTER Christmas!

Finally!

It is finally official

It's a BOY!!!

After what seemed to be the longest wait in a doctors office, we were finally taken back to the ultrasound room. Both my mom and my little sister were able to be there with us which made things extra special! There was a lot of checking at this 20 weeks ultrasound which also seemed to take forever long! But the baby has 4 hard working heart chambers, the appropriate amount of brain and spinal fluid, and the spine and bones are measuring well! Overall we have a healthy healthy baby boy! As soon as the ultrasound picture made its way down to the opposite end of baby, it took my breath away! I saw the confirmation I needed in 2 seconds! I couldn't say anything, my mouth just dropped and the technician confirmed with "Yep, it's a boy!" I thought Chad was going to fall over. Only 8 short weeks ago we were told "girl", and today we switched to 100% boy. After the initial shock we both couldn't stop grinning!

We also signed up for our childbirth classes which begin in January, and met with our head nurse to begin talk about finding a pediatrician. It seems so early to be doing that, but really we are over halfway through the pregnancy now!

My friend Beth from work bought baby boy Bridges his FIRST official BOY TOY!!! It is a cute doggie blanket which I rubbed all over my face for hours because its so soft! This has me pumped to begin work on our nursery now! Thanks Beth!

We are already being asked what the name will be for our baby boy, but for now we are just going to keep it to ourselves! We are trying some out to see what we like best :) I'll let you know as soon as possible. We don't go back to the doctor until January, so in the meantime, we will enjoy Christmas with our family (Yeah! Chad's family will be coming to town) and I'm sure we will have to venture out and buy some boy things for Christmas as well! Chad and I are enjoying laying in bed talking about the future of our little one...footballs, soccer balls, baseballs, Chad's favorite-guitar hero buddy. We just can't wait for what's to come!

It's a Boy!!!

More to come later...Exahusted after a long afternoon at the doctor! But it is def. a boy!!!

HALFWAY!!!

It seems like just last week I was waking Chad up to tell him I had taken a positive pregnancy test! Today marks the halfway point in our pregnancy and we can hardly believe tomorrow we will be putting a name to the "it" in my belly. As we look back on the last 4 and a 1/2 months in our lives we become very aware of the many blessings God has given us.

1) Getting pregnant for us happened quickly and easily.

2) The bleeding hemmorage which could have had a horrible result slowly moved out of my body with no harm to baby.

3) The first 12 weeks were not TOO horribly bad, and I was able to make them though without missing one day of work!

4)All of our genetic and blood testing came back with clear results.

5) The large amount of iron that I have had to take to help me cope with my severe anemia has not had any major side effects.

6) I have a nurse who takes my calls at all hours of the day (and sometimes night) to answer every stupid question I have!

7) Friends and family have shown great support which lets us know our baby is going to be very loved!

8) Chad and I both have bosses who support us though this time and have been very understanding about the days we are on the phone with each other or doctor, and the days we have had to leave early for doctors appointments.

9) I have managed to find some of the "cute" maternity clothes everyone keeps talking about!!!

10) I don't think I've driven Chad too crazy yet!! No MAJOR, let me repeat...MAJOR mood swings yet! :) Love you honey!

I know there are like 100 more blessings that I am reminded of everyday, but with my pregnancy progressing I am forgetting things more and more!!! (I think Chad likes this a little too much!) As we move into the 2nd half of pregnancy, we are thinking we are ahead of the game! We have purchased a crib and bedding set, which we will pick up and work on the nursery over Christmas break. Once we find out what baby is we will go ahead and paint the nursery. I have a shower in early February and the rest in March, so then we will have a place to store baby Bridges new things! We have decided on names for the baby, which we can put into place tomorrow...and we are almost positive we have childcare taken care of. We have two wonderful (in home) places which would work for us. And I'm still hoping Laura will decide to stay home and watch my baby :) :) All we have to do now is register for our baby! Hopefully we can get that done over our nice Christmas break from work as well.

Thanks to everyone who has emailed and written such sweet thoughts to Chad and I. We are so thankful we have you all to share this experience with!

Two Days!!!!

We are only 2 days away to finding out what baby Bridges will be! We hardly know how we will sit this weekend. Our appointment is at 3:00 on Monday! Hopefully baby will cooperate and we will get a clear view of what we need to!

Scroll to the bottom of the page to vote for what you think the baby will be! We have an idea, but we'd love to know what you think!

Family Fun

This weekend my sister and I drove to good ole' Norway, SC for my grandfather's 80th birthday celebration! It was fun to get together with family we haven't been able to see in a while, and share the news of baby Bridges with those who don't live close. And my little sister has decided to drive back next week to go to the doctor with us when we find out what the baby is which is exciting. I'm glad "Aunt Britt" will be able to be there! The countdown is now at 5 days!!!

My cousin Joseph, and my little sister Brittany.

My mom, grandaddy Joe, and little sister.

Holiday Fun

Last night Chad and I were able to let go of some stress and get together with friends for my work Christmas party. It was a lot of fun! With the holidays coming up, both of our groups of kids (middle school and elementary school) are becoming a little hard to handle. They are so excited about school break coming up. As are we... We were able eat dinner and hang out with some people we have been meaning to get together with, and get to know some new people as well. We have been so thankful through this experience to have such understanding bosses who support us in our journey with baby Bridges. They have been great about when we have had to leave early or be on the phone with the doctors. This Christmas season we have a lot to be grateful for!

18 Weeks

We are 18 weeks now...almost 19 really! I am getting more and more anxious to find out the gender of our little one! Only 11 days to go! It is a scary reality to realize that also on that day we will be marking the halfway point in our pregnancy! In 4 short months (give or take a few days) we will be parents. We have gotten a lot accomplished such as: buying our crib, buying our bedding, painting the nursery... But we still have A LOT to do before baby gets here. I'm feeling pretty good most of the day. The baby has shifted itself on my ribs which can make standing and sitting a little uncomfortable. Everyone keeps saying "Get your rest now, because when the baby gets here...." This is almost impossible for me because night time is the worst! The baby decides to throw a party in my belly each night causing me to have to go to the bathroom one hundred times! Oh well, I know it will all be worth it in the end!

Birthday Fun!

This past Saturday I turned 27. Despite the devastating loss the Gamecocks suffered, it ended up being a GREAT day! My best friend Amanda bought me my first baby gift (an infant Gamecock outfit and Gamecock pacifier!). How appropriate! She also gave me a precious Carolina cake which like the real Gamecocks, quickly disappeared! So I got to spend the day with the best husband and friend someone could ask for, and later that day after I had gotten home I got the best birthday gift ever....our baby moved for the first time!!! It was so exciting! Although the baby moved to permanently secure itself in my rib cage, I feel blessed to know the baby is alive and well (and very active). Our doctor's appointment has been moved up a few days, so on December 15th we will be able to announce what baby Bridges name and gender will officially be!