Childbirth Class Under Our Belt

This past Saturday, Jason and I had the opportunity to spend the day learning about childbirth and what we can expect.  Now, the irony of the class is that I really didn't want to take the class, but Jason has been a train wreck lately with all his emotions. 

For those of you who know us, knows these emotions are the complete opposite of us. Usually I am the one who has many emotions running through me and I am nervous, excited, anxious, etc.

Overall the class was really good, and we discussed the different stages of labor, when to go to the hospital, what the nurses and doctor will do to the baby after she is born, what to expect the first few days after delivery, and we even took a tour of labor and delivery and the postpartum suites.

I think the class calmed Jason's nerves, but earlier he was on the computer researching labor, childbirth, etc for about an hour while I did household chores (laundry, dishes, made dinner) and he didn't offer to help, which is completely out of his norm.

We are supposed to attend a friends housewarming party about 6 hours away this weekend, but Jason doesn't want to venture too far from home so I guess we will see on Saturday how I am feeling.  No, I haven't been having regular contractions, but I have been having contractions and the doctor told me today I could go anytime.  Whatever that means!

Stay tuned for more updates!

It's Shower Time!!!

Between all the holidays, my friends and my sisters each threw us a baby shower.  Each of the showers were wonderful.  I have the best friends and family members.  We couldn't believe all the baby items we received.  I think we should have nearly everything we will need, but I am sure there is something we didn't receive or we forgot to get. 

My friends  that were able to attend one of my showers

This is the wonderful cake that my aunt Stacy made for the shower my sister's gave me.

The items from the memory game that was played.

My mother and my mother-in-law on the left side.

Although I forgot to flip this picture, it's a bottle made out of diapers.

The diaper cake one of my friends made for me.

Some of my family members that were able to attend one of my showers.

All we need to bring her home is a car seat, diapers, and a set of clothes.  We have all that so we should be good for the first couple hours we are home.

Thank you to all our friends and family that attended one of the baby showers and helped us with our supply of baby items!  We appreciate each and every one of you!

The Nursery

How time flies!  Our first child is due in 5 weeks and we still have some preparing to do.  But one of the most important parts, the nursery, is completed.  It took a lot of time to complete, but we also made some of it by hand.  We found the furniture at Kids Stuff Superstore in Lincoln and the bedding was purchased from there as well. 

The letters on the wall were purchased from a hobby store and they were already white so we didnt' have to do anything with them.  The butterflies and flowers between the letters is what we made.  Jason cut each butterfly and flower out with a saw and then we sanded and painted the letters.

We are more than pleased with the way the nursery turned out.  We hope you enjoy it, too!  Now on to more craft projects!

Jason is assembling the crib.

These are the flowers that will go on the wall between the letters.

Now that the letters are hung, we needed to mark where the butterflies and flowers were going.

The nursery is finished!  We are very pleased with how the letters,

butterflies, and flowers turned out.

The other side of the room across from the crib.

These are a close-up of the finished butterflies and flowers on the wall.

Another decade come and gone!!!!

Yes, it is that time again. The time of year we all dread when we get older. Another birthday! Unfortunately for me, this year was my milestone. I hit the big 3-0.

Looking back at my 20's, I asked myself what have I accomplished. My answer, nothing! I have accomplished absolutely nothing! Some may say, well you have a Master's degree, bought a house, started a career, have a child on the way, but so has everyone else I know.

Show me a 24 or 25 year old that doesn't already have all this. I can't think of any. I can't say I reached any major accomplishment. I don't feel anything out of the ordinary was accomplished which is why I say I have accomplished nothing.

Maybe I am too hard on myself, but I guess we will have to wait and see what the next decade brings. I won't let anything stop me!

It's a ......?

We are having a GIRL! Since I am so late writing this post, I am sure most everyone has already heard the news, but I thought I would share some pictures of our Gender Party with everyone.

We had a great time host family and friends at our house so everyone could find out the gender together along with us.

No, we didn't know what we were having prior to the Gender Party. It was a great surprise to see the inside of the cake as pink. Now we can begin planning for the arrival of our little girl.




We all thought it was a boy. We were wrong. Yes, that will probably be the first and last time I will be wrong! :)

















They thought it was girl and they were right! We can't wait for the arrival of our little princess! :)








The big reveal! You can see the decorations were both pink and blue since no one knew the gender! What great decorations!

Baby Pictures!!!!!

Here they are; pictures from my last ultrasound. There is a 2D pic and a couple of 3D pics. The 3D pics turned out really well and you can see all the facial features. In one of hte 3D pics I think "baby Clark" is sucking its thumb!

Enjoy!

Halfway through

Although the announcement was made a little over a month ago about the new addition to the Clark family in February, I am halfway through the pregnancy. Time flies! I have been feeling great. I wouldn't even know I was pregnant except my belly keeps getting bigger. Yes, for those of you who are wondering, my baby bump can be seen. Finally!

At 19 weeks, I had my check-up and ultrasound last week. It was my 4th appointment and 3rd ultrasound. There have not been any problems or complications in my pregnancy so I won't bore you with all details about why I've had so many ultrasounds. My appointment last week was a scheduled ultrasound and Jason came along with me.

When the ultrasound tech began looking at the baby, the baby's hands were behind its head. For those of you who know Jason, he sleeps with his hands behind his head. (Yep, I get elbowed almost every night). The baby is about 10 ounces (9 is average for 19 weeks). Everything looked good, but the tech couldn't see the full view of the heart so I will have another ultrasound at my next appointment.

We even got to see a 3-D image of the baby. Next time I post, I will put the 3-D pics on the blog. How amazing is technology that we can see 3-D images. The facial features were amazing!

The answer is yes! We did find out the gender. Well, not exactly. The gender was determined, but the tech wrote down the gender and sealed it in an envelope. The envelope (although sitting in our SUV) will be going to the bakery.

Next month, we will invite family and friends over for a gender party. After dinner, we will cut the cake and find out along with family and friends the gender of Baby Clark. The inside of the cake will be blue for a boy and pink for a girl.

If you want to find out what we are having.......you will have to wait just like us! :)

Oh yes, I will scan the 3-D images and put them on the blog in a few days.