A Christmas Belly Story

Tim and I attended his Firefighter Union Winter Ball this week and with it came my first encounters with inappropriate pregnancy comments:

(disclaimer: none of these comments were made maliciously and I'm sure I'll say something similar in the future)

1. "Don't worry, I gained 80 pounds"

2. "You look like Buddah"

3. "Are you sure there's only one in there?"

and my favorite...

4. "You're only 15 weeks? You're going to be HUGE!"

People are nuts...that being said, everyone was actually really great and congratulatoy and they seemed genuinely excited for us, even the ones who made the above comments, hehe. It's nice having a pseudo-extended family of crazy firemen and they're girls. By the way, drunk firefighters LOVE to touch pregnant bellies, who knew? By the end of the night I felt like a crystal ball, but I have to say I'm not one of those people who hates others touching her belly. In fact, I like that my baby is getting so many good vibes from good people, it's a blessing!

Update...

For those of you asking for blog updates, sorry for the delay. It has been a bit busy at the Beard house. Tim had his marathon last Sunday and his family came out to watch. He did great, as usual! We had Christmas early with his fam and the baby and I got some great presents. Tim’s mom got me some way cute preggo jeans and some other maternity clothes and his brother and sis-in-law got us this amazing heart beat monitor with headphones and a belly cast set, I can’t wait to use them! They also got me a wife beater that says “kickin 24-7”…fitting. We got some very cute blankets that his sister sent too. One has fire engines on it. Everyone seems to be of the opinion that Baby B is a boy. He “feels” like a boy so I’ll be shocked if it’s a girl. Speaking of girls, Tim’s eight month old niece was here too and she is the most precious little thing on the planet! She did such a great job cheering at the marathon and Tim fell in love with her immediately (as everyone does). He wants a boy but he’d be great with a girl too! We have our next ultrasound on the 22nd of this month and I’m hoping we can find out the sex. I’m chomping at the bit to start the nursery. Here is a photo of me at 15 weeks, rest assured that all that belly is now baby (not gas like before). To my horror, my worst fears are being realized and I’m gaining weight in my face terribly. I know, every woman goes through this but it’s weird to watch yourself change at such a rapid rate! I feel much better now, though, and aside from some anemia, things are going swimmingly! Here is a link to http://www.babycenter.com/ http://www.babycenter.com/6_your-pregnancy-15-weeks_1104.bc?intcmp=timeline it shows what the baby looks like and how it's developing week by week, really interesting! Thanks to all of you who continue to check in on me and Gummy Beard and we’ll update again soon!

Baby's Closeup

Well our little peanut had "its" first trimester testing today. At first there was really no movement and the tech was making me nervous (ps she had ZERO bedside manner). Finally she told me to empty out part of my bladder because I had been directed to drink a ton of water prior to my appt. Note: When you have to pee like Seabiscuit there are a few things that irritate-
1. Warm Ultrasound Gel
2. An Overzealous Technician who pushes that handle thing like it's supposed to be in my stomach, not on it
3. Being told to empty "part" of your bladder but to keep some in there...argh!
Okay, back to the ultrasound...I partially peed and when we checked gummy bear(d) again he was so happy! He could FINALLY move around and he was acting like it was Studio 54 in there! The tech said, "Wow, you had a huge bladder, it looks like the urine actually backed up into you kidneys". Really, thanks for that. After all of that nonsense, the Dr. came in and told us that everything looks great and that the baby is developing right on schedule, of course! Some of the pictures look like the baby is a clown and some look like he's either an alien or he's wearing a mexican wrestling mask so we decided you'd all appreciate the closeup.

First Belly Photo (technically)

This was taken at our first ob/gyn appt. last week. The reason it's only technically a "belly photo" is because after it was taken, the Dr. informed me that my belly was more water retention, bloating and gas than baby...nice. Also, I have low rise "skinny jeans" on that I couldn't button so they looked like I had no junk in my trunk. I only wore them because they are super stretchy but definitely don't look like skinny's at all on me. I think that I look like Hank Hill from the cartoon King of the Hill (my fave). He has a beer gut and uses a "gluteal orthodic" because he has no ass. MmmmHmmm, Yep.

From Auntie Renda & Uncle Luke

Just when you think that Renda couldn't get any nicer, or cuter, she always manages to come up with something awesome. She's way younger than me but I want to be her when I grow up, hehe. We recieved these in the mail last week and I was so moved. Take a look! If you can't tell what they are, the first is an ultrasound frame (to which I have included baby b) and the second is a silver spoon with the words "Baby Beard, A Gift From God". Could they be any sweeter? Soon they'll be here with precious baby Makena for Tim's marathon and for Christmas, YAY!

Gummy Bear

We were telling our friends that the Dr. said the baby was the size of a gummy bear. They asked us if we'd seen the gummy bear song on youtube so I brought it up today...this is an ode to baby b!

Graduation!

Today was our 8 week ultrasound and our last day at the fertility clinic! I was actually a bit nervous today and I couldn't believe that in the two weeks since we last took a peek in there, the baby has become, well, a baby! It has arms and legs, and a head (of course) and a spinal chord, all very attractive too, I might add. This little one has it's fathers unabashed good looks but is shy like him too. It kept turning around every time we wanted to look at it. Maybe it didn't like the prodding (I know I don't). Anyway, you can see where the head and body and appendenges are and there's one of the heart rate too. Enjoy!

Puppy Love

Karyn came in on her birthday and she brought ME a present, crazy girl. Have you ever seen a cuter pup? Well, besides Scooter (and Vespa aka Scooter Jr.). At this rate, Karyn will have the baby surrounded by stuffed pups nine months from now. As for me, I've felt better, I've been really nauseaus but no puking. It's insane...I gag and dry heave regularly but no vomit...Whatever! Tim has been working tons of overtime so at least I have all these cute little furry friends to keep me company!

A Sweet Surprise

This morning we had the surprise arrival of this adorable arrangement! Tim thought I sent them to him and I thought he sent them to me...Nope! My friend (and former partner in crime), Lorrie Langlois, from JR Roberts sent it to us! She is such a sweetie. I'm having a yucky day so this was a real pick-me-upper! Thanks Miss Lorr...MUAH!

Baby B's First Photos

For those of you hoping for twins (like EVERYONE), we only have one lil guy (or girl) in there, and I use the word only very loosley. The first photo is the heartbeat, 119 bpm, about as fast as mine most of the time. The second is measurement. To tell you the truth, I'm thrilled. Yes, it would have been fun to be the mom of twins, but it would have presented many challenges too. I feel so blessed that The Lord has given us this gift and the fact that two embryos were implanted and one "took" makes me even more thankful because it could have turned out very differently. The statistics were not in our favor so to actually see a little heartbeat on the screen was surreal to say the least. On a less serious note, when we gave the news to dad (Garth) today, his response was "Only one?" He's bought enough diapers for quads. Then he proceded to ask "is there, is there, ya know...a weenie?" To which I responded "It's only the size of a grain of rice" and to which Tim added "and so is it's penis". So the gender war is on. I have great hand-me-downs if it's a girl and Tim has a name and big plans if it's a boy. Of course I guess a boy can wear Baby Juicy Couture until he's old enough to tell me "NO!". hehe.

Cheeky...

So my dear friend and neighbor Kace was galavanting around "The Fountains" in Roseville (the new chi chi place to shop...LUV IT) and whilst at Sur Le Table, she found me these little numbers. She's so clever. Ironically, I haven't really had much of a sweet tooth the last few weeks, coincidence? hmmmm...Too bad I can't have any cocktails with which to use these napkins. Maybe a virgin Vodka Tonic with Lime...yeah, I know that's just tonic. Duh.

On an unrelated note, Tim is sure that we are having two, possibley three boys because my hair is ridiculously dry. He's seen "Baby Mama" too many times...if you have too, then you'll appreciate these little tidbits that I've quoted: "Who is going to be selfish and request and epidural? Woo-Ooh! Right here" and, the ever popular "I'm not trying to be dramatic, but I would rather shoot myself in the face than eat that". I used that one last night when Tim made heat and eat polenta....G-Ross! To his credit though, he's an amazing cook, that was a fluke.

So...This Is Pregnancy

This is pretty much how you can find me most of the time. For those of you who know me, I love to lounge around but this is RIDICULOUS, even for me! I feel like I have mono. Tim snapped this (without permission) last week. It pretty well exemplifies my life right now. Rather than nap between things I have to get done, I try to get things done between naps! Tim's great. He just makes sure I'm eating enough (no problem there, I'm gaining a ton of weight already) and that I'm not stressing out (easier said than done). I'm a bit neurotic so Tim probably relishes the time I'm unconcious! Sidenote: Please notice the chew hole in the pillowcase, this is one of many made by the cat...poor guy has no clue that he's got one paw out the door. I have no doubt he could eat a small child.

I Love My Miss Gail!!

Today I saw Gail and she brought us the most BEAUTIFUL blanket! I'm so lucky to have her in my life and look forward to talking her ear off the next few months! Since I don't have much family out here, it's nice to know that there are still some surrogate "anties" around here:)

It's Now Officially Official

So yesterday we had our third of 3 pregnancy tests and, thank goodness, we're still pregnant...whew. Our initial test showed my HCG levels were at 18, three days later the count was 75... time has passed and when I gave blood yesterday, the nurse said she was looking for a number close to 1000. I got the call later in the day and the number was 3639! Needless to say, the nurse booked us for an ultrasound next Friday to see how many babies are in there...dum de dum dum! Inc celebration of the high numbers, Tim got me flowers, he likes me to feel like I actually have something to do with our blessed great fortune. He refers to the numbers as Metachlorian Levels. For those of you who don't know, high Metachlorian Levels indicate that someone is a Jedi (i.e. Luke Skywalker). I sometimes refer to the embryos as Luke & Leia, the force is strong with them! We'll see what happens this next week but as of today I'm 5 weeks and 1 day and we keep praying all the time for continued success!

Baby's First Concert-Technically...

For my birthday last July, Brandon & Farrah got the family tix to see So You Think You Can Dance (or SYTYCD for those in the know) Live! It was last night and the whole fam damily went. We had a great time and before the event started, Tim, of all people, spotted Dominic Sandoval, one of the top 20 this season, he's from Sactown...big ups! Farrah and I got our pix with him and in front of the stage, we were 7 rows from the front. It was so much fun to see all of my favorite dances in real life! I think the baby/ies liked it too cuz my heart rate was high the whole time :)!

Fun With Kace & Lulu

Yesterday Scooter, BabyB(s?) and I went to the park with Kace Schwarm and baby Lulu. Kace and I are trying to get some excercise so we walk the park while Scooter explores and Lulu sleeps. She gets to impart her new mommy knowledge on me as a fledgling. I love picking her brain. She's a great mom!

Thanks Grant & Katy!

We had the Smith's over for dinner last night and they brought me these along with some pomegranite lemonade (an homage to our pom-lemonade martinis) which I drank with dinner while everyone else had a nice merlot. I followed it up with some OJ, which I don't usually drink but Tim made a DEELISHUS dinner of monterey chicken, brocolli and loaded mashed potatoes which had bacon bits so I had to counteract the nitrates with citric acid. CRAZY! The book is so clever and the cocoa butter (for those of you who live under rocks) is for stretch marks...yuck.

Baby's First Gifts!

Tim found this card in his jacket on his way home from work the morning we we about to find out if we were pregnant. It's from his Captain Tony and his family. So sweet!
These burping cloths are from Andra Jamison and the Jamison Family. I absolutley love the color and style!


these are from Karyn Fiorica. An adorable black lab webkin who we'll name Vespa (because it's a little scooter) and an adorable fleece blanket!

The night we found out, after we made tons of calls and texts, we went to dinner with mom and dad to celebrate and I "celebrated" ALOT! Prime Rib, Coconut Shrimp, Caeser Salad, Broccoli, Baked Potato w/ all the fixins and, of course...

CHOCOLATE THUNDER FROM DOWN UNDER!!!

tuesday blood test to see if I'm pregnant. They compared the HCG levels to Sunday's bloodwork.

the test was at 9:45 am and we didn't find out till 4pm! The longest day of my life!

flowers from daddy (tim) during the dreaded week wait

First Blood Pregnancy Test, Last Sunday
...it's easier if I don't watch, hehe

Our First "Family" Photo!
Fillin the Bladder on implantation Day, this is where the magic happens!

It's Unofficially Official!

Well we found out today that we are officially expecting! We figured that so many of our loved ones knew we trying that it was futile to try and keep it secret until the first trimester was over so...fingers crossed! We'll be updating the blog so that those of you who don't live here can keep tabs (and by we, i mean me). LOL! Thanks to everyone for all of your love and prayers and we look forward to a positive experience!