Week 40, my due date, and still no baby!

Well, we've reached June 2, 2009 and it's still just Mike and I. No baby yet. I've decided that Baby Byrne is taking after his dad..........sleeping through his due date like his dad is able to sleep through most things.....that's ok though, I'd rather a sleeping baby!!

Anyway, we had another appointment today and found out I'm 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced so things are progressing, but not fast enough. I lost 2 pounds since last week which is normal at this point to lose weight. My blood pressure was good at 118/62 and the baby's heartbeat remains strong at 145 - 147 bpm.

I've been feeling pretty good the last couple of days. I actually went to my prenatal yoga class on Sunday and my prenatal water aerobics class yesterday. Some folks in both classes thought I was crazy for being there, but I felt good so I thought I'd go. I might try to go to both classes again later this week. We will see. Hopefully it will help move things along.

So what's the game plan? Well, I have another doctor's appointment on Friday morning at 8am to see if I'm more dilated. If still no baby by Friday or over the weekend, then I go back for another appointment on Monday or Tuesday for another checkup. Once I hit Tuesday, which I'll be 41 weeks, then my doctor and I will talk about next steps. I don't want to be induced at this point and my doctor is not a fan of it either so at least we're on the same page. However, if me or the baby are at risk then we'll have the "induction" discussion. She said that since I'm feeling good, my weight and blood pressure are great and the baby's heartbeat is strong then there's no need to be induced. It's all about waiting for this little guy to make an appearance at this point and not forcing him to.

Some other updates..........the Nursery is finished and I've posted some pictures of it in the post below this one. I also started to pack my hospital bag......I have a list of what I want to bring and now a pile of stuff to put in the bag, but no official bag packed yet. As for our house, we are pretty much settled in our house, thanks to Mike. He's been amazing and I feel so fortunate to have such a wonderful husband..........he's taking very good care of me and making sure I'm laying down, putting my feet up, he's making dinner, organizing our house, running errands, etc. He's the best!

Other than that, we're just waiting.......and waiting.......and waiting. We will let all of you know when he's here and we'll be sure to post pictures as soon as he arrives.

Thanks to everyone for your calls, your support and your love! We look forward to introducing you to Baby Byrne!

Our Baby's Nursery

Here are some pictures of the nursery! It's finally finished!

Week 39 Update

Today we had another appointment....and again, not dilated at all, but my cervix continues to soften. Since he's not ready to come yet, we had to make another weekly checkup appointment for my due date, June 2nd. I think I need to stop feeding him sweets because he's way too comfortable in there.

Everything else was good - my weight (gained a couple more pounds), my blood pressure (116/70) and the baby's heartbeat (145 bpm).

My doctor is out of town this Friday (5/29) through Monday (6/1) so I'd like him to come before or after if possible. At this point, I think it'll happen afterwards.

We are feeling ready for him to come. I've made my list of what I want to bring to the hospital, but no bag is packed yet.

I bought a rug for the baby's room, which will be delivered this week. And Mike started putting up the shelves and frames in his room.......so I think we're ready.

Well, that's all for now......my next update will be June 2nd unless something happens beforehand. Little Baby Byrne will be here before we know it!!

Week 38 Update

We had another appt on Tuesday, May 19th. I gained 1lb, the baby's heartbeat was between 132-136 and even jumped up to 144 bpm at one point, and my blood pressure was 100/70. I'm not dilated at all but my cervix is starting to soften.

We have the baby's room pretty much ready. We still need to hang some pictures and shelves. I also need to find a rug for his room. When it's ready, we'll post some pictures.

Other than that, it's Mike's birthday on Wednesday, May 20th so we'll be celebrating that this week.

Our next appointment is Tuesday, May 26th so we'll keep everyone posted after it. We can't believe he could be here any day now.......it's so exciting.

By the way, I posted some pictures of Mike and I below.

As always, thanks for following our Baby Byrne blog! Love ya!

37 weeks with 3 weeks to go

I had my weekly doctor's appointment on Tuesday, May 12th. It was another check up on my weight, which I've gained a couple of pounds this past week, my blood pressure (110/82) and the baby's heartbeat (from 135 bpm to 138 bpm)......as usual, all good numbers. My doctor also checked to see if I'm getting any closer to labor and I'm not.......things are still closed down there. I think our son is going to be very obedient because I've been telling him over the last couple of months that he can't come early and so far so good! Is it possible he can hear us and understand us? Probably, he's our son and will be a smart child, right? He he he.

Other news this week, Mike and I celebrated our 3 year anniversary on Wednesday, May 13th. We couldn't be happier at this point. Three wonderful years of marriage, a new home and a baby on the way, life is perfect!!

I have some pictures to post of my belly at 36 weeks and some pictures of Mike and I. When I get a chance, I will post them.

Otherwise, my next update will be May 19th after my next weekly appointment.

As always, thanks for following!! It's been a long journey so we appreciate all of your love and support!

36 Weeks and counting

I'm 36 weeks with 4 weeks to go. We had another doctor's appointment today, which went well. The baby's heartbeat was ranging from 145 bpm to 153 bpm. I actually lost a pound, which is good. I have been more conscious about what I'm eating (staying away from sodium) because at the last appointment I had gained several pounds from all the fluid I've been consuming. And my blood pressure was 120/68, which is normal.

We also found out that the baby's not coming anytime soon. My cervix is closed, which is good considering we're still surrounded by boxes from our move last week. At least I know I have some time before he decides to come..........no need to pack my hospital bag yet!

I also was tested for the Group B Strep Test. I'll find out the results next week, but this test is normal for all pregnant women at 36 weeks.

Another piece of good news is that my doctor has decided not to go on vacation the week of my due date. Yeah!

Well, we're still getting settled in our new house. We got the baby's furniture delivered yesterday and the baby's room is painted (thanks to Mike and his dad) so we're happy about that. We'll post pictures of it once it's done.

Thanks again for being here and following our blog. I have started my weekly appointments so the next one will be next Tuesday (5/12) at 10 am again and I'll provide an update after that one. At that point, I'll be 37 weeks and considered full-term! Yeah!

Pictures of the Parents-to-Be

Here are some pictures of Mike and I.

Two pictures are on moving day - April 29th - one is in our condo right before we left for the last time; another one is in front of our new house the day we moved in.

And the other one is outside the Church where our nephew Griffen had his 1st Communion (May 2nd).

Baby Byrne Names

Everyone keeps asking if we have any names picked out for Baby Byrne. We have 3 names picked out so far and have decided that we'll choose his name when we see him. Since both of our families are Irish, we've decided to go with an Irish name.

Here are our top 3 choices:
1) Cormac Michael Byrne

2) Michael Anthony Byrne

3) Eamon Michael Byrne

We clearly want to use Michael's name (both after him and his father). With the 2nd name, we chose it after Mike's dad and my dad. Cormac and Eamon are Irish names that we really liked.

Well, that's all for now.......only a few more days before our move. And Mike's parents are coming back into town on April 30th so it will be an exciting week for us.

We'll keep you posted on any updates, otherwise, my next post will be after the May 5th appointment.

34th Week Update

Today, we had another appointment. It was an ultrasound to check the fetal growth of our baby. It was an exciting appointment. We had to be there at 8 am and needed to leave by 7 am to make sure we were there on time. When I woke up Mike, he said to me with a big yawn, "the baby is already making us get up early!"........too funny.

Anyway, I've attached some profile pictures of him and attaching a video of our son. We took a few more videos, but only loaded a short one. During the video, the technician is showing us where the baby is located in my stomach. So you'll see his spine, his head, etc.

The ultrasound went great. We found out that the baby is measuring/weighing at 5 lbs 3 oz. There is about a 12%-15% +/- variance in that weight, which means Baby Byrne's current weight could be more or less than that by about 12%-15% so not that much. He is between the 50th-75th percentile for his femur and abdomen, but his head is in the 75th-95th percentile. In other words, he's got a big head. If the baby stays around the 50th percentile and comes when he's due, then he will be around 8 lbs.

During the ultrasound, they checked to make sure the amniotic fluid is normal, which it is. They also checked to make sure Baby Byrne is getting enough blood and oxygen through the umbilical cord and he is.......so again, everything looks great and he seems to be a healthy little boy!! Oh and we did double check that our baby is a boy and he definitely is. We didn't want any surprises so we thought we'd ask again! The technician did show us where his back, head, feet, hands are all positioned. We figured where everything was but we love knowing for sure so when I feel a jab or we see a movement across my stomach then we can tell what body part it is.

I had my blood pressure checked and it was 106/62, which is good. We also heard Baby Byrne's heartbeat which was around 137 bpm......strong little heartbeat. Mike had a heart murmur when he was a baby and he asked if they can hear if our baby has one. My doctor said she does listen for it and didn't hear one in Baby Byrne.......more good news!

As for me, I gained some more weight which my doctor said is a lot of fluid. She also said that the fluid gain has a lot to do with why my hands and feet have been so swollen and achy. She said to cut back on sodium and that should help with the fluid intake. I've definitely have been more achy lately (everywhere) so the effects of the 3rd trimester are hitting me........only 6 more weeks! However, I'm still exercising at least 2-3 times a week - prenatal yoga and prenatal water aerobics.

My doctor also confirmed that our decision not to breastfeed is a wise one especially if the baby could be at risk so that was good to hear! We also told her that we've decided to donate the baby's cord blood. I've already requested a kit from LifeSource and just need to bring it to the hospital when we deliver......hopefully it will save another baby's life!

We are taking a few baby classes and have 2 of them this week. We're looking forward to them!

Our next appointment is scheduled for May 5th, which starts the weekly appointments. We move next Wednesday, April 29th so wish us luck. I keep telling Baby Byrne he needs to stay inside until June 2nd, although he's getting plenty big already. And my doctor is going to be on vacation as of May 29th through June 7th.......so I'd be ok if he came before she goes on vacation.

In any case, we'll keep all of you posted. As always, thanks for following our blog and for caring about our little Baby Byrne! I'll update the blog again after our next appointment if not before then.

32 Week / 8 Months Update

Mike and I had another doctor's appointment today. It was another general checkup but another great appointment. My blood pressure was 110/62 (excellent), my weight gain was 4 pounds in 2 weeks (yikes, but my doctor said that's good because I haven't gained a lot during the pregnancy), and our baby's heartbeat was between 136-141 beats per minute........so it's slowing down from where it's been, but my doctor said that's normal as you get closer to the due date. Anyway, everything was positive which we like to hear.

I did find out that I won't be able to breastfeed due to my Crohn's Disease medication that I have to take. There would be side effects to our baby that Mike and I didn't want to risk. I was disappointed to hear that I wouldn't be able to experience that, but I know that I need to be healthy and clearly want our baby to be healthy so in the end it's the right decision. Mike's response though was "That one call from your doctor just cost me a lot of nights sleep!".......aaahhh, my CFS husband!!

Other than that, I'm having trouble sleeping at night......I wake up during the night and stay awake for 1-3 hours at a time. My doctor suggested I take Tylenol PM, which has been helpful, but I've only taken that a couple of times when I'm really exhausted and need my sleep.

Lil' Baby Byrne gets the hiccups a lot, which are so cute. He gets them at least 2-3 times a day on average......poor little guy!

Our next appointment is April 21st, which is the 34th week ultrasound. We are really excited for this because we haven't seen our baby since the 20 week ultrasound. If he's anything like his father, he'll probably sleep through the whole thing. Ha!

Thanks for staying close to our blog. I've been bad about posts lately because we're moving soon (April 29th), but will definitely update it after our appointment on the 21st.

Baby Shower - April 4, 2009

My family and Mike's family put on a wonderful shower for me. Here are some pictures from my shower. If you want to see some additional pictures, please click on the link below.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=u0twltd.2bv4auth&x=0&y=-y2uyri&localeid=en_US

My shower was on April 4th from 12 to 4 at Osteria Via Stato Restaurant in downtown Chicago. It was beautiful. It was in this gorgeous room with different rustic tables. My sister, Erin (with the help of my niece, Shannon) put together several beautiful flower arrangements for the tables. My family also organized a fun game of "Guess the Baby Food". Shannon also was a huge help with this along with my cousin's daughter, Maeve (see the last picture above)! Those that won the game got to bring home an arrangement (lucky them, they were amazing!). Finally, the food was excellent. It's an Italian restaurant so of course I enjoyed every last crumb!

After the meal, we played the game and opened the presents. Wow did we receive a lot....thank you to everyone that came and contributed to Baby Byrne's new wardrobe, nursery or playtime. He will be very grateful to all of you!

I think two of the best parts of my shower were 1) my sister, Holly surprised me by coming in town all the way from London for it; and 2) Mike's parents drove up from Atlanta to be at that shower, which is so thoughtful considering that was their first of 3 trips to Chicago in 3 months! I'm so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful, loving and caring family members!

So I need to tell you a little about the pictures:
1) Baby Byrne's parents after my shower!
2) Everyone's generosity....wow!! Thank you to all of you!
3) This picture is of all the ladies at my shower who were pregnant. Mary Beth, Andrea and I are days apart, then Courtney is due in August and Lauren is due in October. So exciting!
4) In this picture, I'm holding the "personalized" onesies from Keelin, Ed, Ryan and Carter. They were a big hit and will be when Baby Byrne finally wears them.
5) A picture of all the Barrett women!
6) Catherine (my mother-in-law), myself and Triona (my sister-in-law)
7) We were the last to leave and thought we'd take a picture since my dad and Mike were there. My mom pointed out that there are actually 4 generations in this picture. Mary Jane (my grandmother's sister), my mom, me and Baby Byrne.
8) My niece, Shannon and my cousin's daughter, Maeve monitoring the "Guess the Baby Food" Game.

Thank you to my family and Mike's family for everything you did to make my shower so special and perfect. I really loved it and can't tell you how much that day meant to me!! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

30 Week Update

I had another doctor's appointment today. It was a general check up. Unfortunately, my doctor wasn't in so I had another doctor. The other doctor was ok, but rushed through the listening of the baby's heartbeat, which is my favorite part of each appointment. Overall though, the appointment was fine. I've gained 2 pounds since my last appointment, which is good. I'm gaining about a pound a week. My blood pressure was 108/62 and the baby's heartbeat was around 150 bpm......similar numbers as the last appointment.

My appointments will now be every 2 weeks for the next 2 months. My next appointment is scheduled for April 7th.

We only have 10 weeks left before Baby Byrne arrives. We're getting excited, but also worried since we're moving a month before his due date. We hope everything is ready for him to come home by the time he's ready to meet the world!

Other than that, I've been feeling good, but have been experiencing some low back pain daily for about the last 2 weeks so the doctor suggested that I go for Physical Therapy. This Friday (3/27), I'm going for an assessment and then starting physical therapy next week. I've always had chronic low back pain so I'm actually surprised and happy that it hasn't bothered me until now. You have to count your blessings, right?

Baby Byrne continues to be active and I can tell he's growing. His jabs and movements can be a little painful at times, but still cute! I love feeling him and so does Mike so I'm not complaining!

Well, that's all for now. Thanks for keeping an eye on our blog and I'll continue to provide updates as they come! Love ya!

Glucose Results

I received a call from my doctor that the glucose tests came back Normal. Yeah! We were relieved to hear that.........not sure I was more relieved to hear it b/c I know it means the baby and I are healthy or if it's because I can continue to satisfy my sweet tooth........wins all the way around!

Also, I forgot to mention that Aunt Erin was over here recently and felt the baby kick/move..........she's been the only one to see and feel Baby Byrne moving and kicking besides his lucky parents! It was fun to see her reaction.

And no names yet for the little guy......we have a few in mind, but haven't settled on anything. We still have a few more months and will let you know if we do come to a decision......until then it's still Baby Byrne!

7 Months/28th Week Update

We had another doctor appointment today for our 28th week checkup. It was another general check up, but they also drew my blood for a glucose screening to check for gestational diabetes. I should get those results back in the next day or two.

My blood pressure was 108/60, the baby's heartbeat was ranging from 148 to 151 to 155 bpm and I've gained about 5 pounds since the last visit. All great numbers once again. When we were listening to Baby Byrne's heartbeat, we could also hear my heartbeat (71) so we were hearing mine and his at the same time. How cool is that? We really enjoyed hearing both beat together.

I've been feeling good for the most part. I had a bad day yesterday with dizziness, some lightheadedness and nausea, but it just lasted a day. I also came down with the stomach flu a couple of weeks ago, but again that only lasted a day. Other than that, I've been doing really well and feeling great.

Baby Byrne has definitely grown since my last update. I can feel him moving more and more and the kicks are getting stronger. Mike and I enjoy watching my entire belly move from the little guy. He still seems to be very active which is starting to worry us that he's up more than he's down. Yikes! We are hoping for a sleeper but might not get that.

We have 12 weeks to go and are starting to prepare for him to arrive. We have purchased most of the nursery furniture by now and my baby shower is April 4th (thanks to our families for organizing it), which we'll get more stuff for the baby then. However, we won't be preparing the nursery until May because we hope to move into a new house by the end of April (keep your fingers crossed for us). Nothing like getting a new job (me), having a baby and moving into a new house all within 6 months. Mike and I love change and I guess we like to do it all at once to keep our lives exciting.

That's all that is new with us. We will now have our doctor appointments every 2 weeks so the next one is scheduled for March 24th, which is just another general checkup. I did confirm with my doctor that we'll get another ultrasound at the 34th week appt for them to check the fetal growth. It will be fun to see how big he's gotten since the 20th week ultrasound.

Thanks to everyone who continue to follow our blog and for your support. We are getting very excited for little Baby Byrne to arrive and for all of you to meet him!!

24 Weeks/6 months

I'm 24 weeks or 6 months, only 16 more weeks left. Yeah!

Today, I had another doctor's appointment. It was 60 degrees in Chicago and it was so nice to go downtown when it wasn't below zero. It made me think about spring and once spring arrives, then our baby will be here shortly after that.

Anyway, it was a general checkup. My doctor checked my blood pressure, which was 112 over 60. She also checked our baby's heartbeat, which was 155 beats per minute.......strong as ever!! We will never get sick of hearing that little heartbeat inside me! She also measured my belly which measured at 24 weeks so the baby's growing just as he should. At the end, she said I looked healthy and thought everything is going great for us.

I'll post some more pictures of my belly. I'm definitely growing and our baby is still very active. I swear he's going to be an athlete with all the kicking he does!

As for other updates, we're starting to shop for cribs and other baby furniture. We also plan to register soon. It's all so very exciting.

That's all for now. Our next doctor's appointment is March 10th when I'm 7 months. After that, we'll have appointments every 2 weeks.

6 Month Pregnant Belly Pics

Here are some pictures of me at 6 months/24 weeks.

23 weeks

My sister, Holly, who lives in London keeps asking to see pics of my belly so I took one today.......I'm 23 weeks.

No real update other than our baby is super active...........I constantly feel him kicking........but then there are periods where I think he's passed out like his dad......maybe he has CFS too (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). In any case, he's going to take after his dad in more ways than one - sleeping and kicking (our lil' soccer player).

Well, that's all for now. We have our next appointment on February 10th. It's just a general check up, but we'll update the blog again after that.

My Pregnant Belly at 20 weeks

For those of you that aren't seeing me daily, I thought I'd post a picture of my belly. It's definitely starting to grow! This picture was taken on Sunday, January 11th, at the start of my 20th week.

20 week Ultrasound Video

We have attached a video of just a portion of our 20 week ultrasound. This one goes through mostly the hands, but at the end of the video (around 2 minutes) the technician points out the boy parts again to us. She had already told us it was a boy at this point. Unfortunately that video (of her telling us) was too large to attach. In any case, we have one more boy to add to the Byrne clan (poor Ciara) and the first nephew on the Barrett side! Enjoy the video.......there are many more videos from that ultrasound so if you would like to see more, just let us know!
Also, if you have trouble with the video or if it stops when there is still more time to it, just fast forward a little bit and press play again, it should play. Or if it stops while it's still on the "play" button, then just let it sit for a minute sometimes it starts to play again (sorry this might be a pain). Hope you are able to enjoy it!

1/13/09 - 20 week Ultrasound - IT'S A BOY!!

Today was a great day. We not only found that we're having a boy, but we also found out that our son is normal and healthy. We could not have received better news!

The ultrasound was amazing. The technician showed us in its entirety the anatomy of our baby from his head to his toes to his cute little beating heart. It was really exciting. Then halfway through the ultrasound the technician asked us again if we wanted to find out and we said yes. She said that she thinks she knows what the baby is, but needed a better shot of the little one......finally, she told us "It's a boy!"......we were shocked because we were both convinced it was a girl. All of my dreams have been that we're having a girl.....so much for my instincts. We were thrilled though and a whole new excitement came over us. It's been fun calling our baby by "he" or "him" or referring to him as our son. We are so happy that we found out.

The technician continued to look at our baby's anatomy in detail and concluded by telling us that we're having a healthy baby boy. We were ecstatic.

Mike did a great job videotaping the ultrasound, which I'll attach a video or two. We also got several pictures from the ultrasound which are attached. I think the best picture we got was the last one before we were finished with the ultrasound....and that is with our son giving us a thumbs up (last picture above this post).......as if he was telling us that everything is all good! So cute! The other pictures are: 1) The boy parts 2) our son's profile (you can see his cute nose and lips) 3) our baby laying down which shows his head, a little hand on one side and his body 4) his spine and finally 5) the thumbs up!

After the ultrasound, we went to my doctor's office for some general tests......blood pressure (110/64), baby's heart beat (152 bpm), etc. All great numbers!

We then headed home and called our friends and family to share the news. Our next doctor appointment is scheduled for February 10th, which is just another general check up.

By the way, the baby has been kicking like crazy....typically around 10-11 am and occasionally throughout the day and then again around 10-11 pm. We've been enjoying feeling his little kicks and seeing my belly move from the little guy. Adorable.

I have been feeling great so far which I'm happy for. I've been exercising at least 3 times a week doing yoga, water aerobics, and other light exercises. I do get the occasional aches and pains but I know that's all part of pregnancy and probably preparing me for aches and pains of motherhood. Ha!

No other news so we will continue to post things when we have updates! Love all of you!

Mike saw a few kicks!

Mike and I were watching TV on the couch today and I could feel the baby kicking a lot........Mike thinks the baby might be a soccer player like his/her mommy and daddy. Anyway, we were watching my belly and Mike finally got to see my stomach move from some kicks or maybe they were punches....either way, it's cute! And we're both excited because this is becoming more real for us.

Saw my belly move from the baby kicking!

Little Baby Byrne has been very active today.......lots of kicking. I haven't actually seen my belly move from the kicks until this evening. Mike and I were sitting on the couch and I kept feeling the baby kick so I decided to watch my belly to see if I could see it move..................and it did.....just a couple of times. Unfortunately, Mike didn't see it.....but hopefully soon he'll be able to feel the kicks and actually see my belly move.

I'll be 20 weeks on Sunday, January 11th....halfway there!

Only a few more days until we know if Baby Byrne is a girl or boy! Yeah! The ultrasound is scheduled at 11:00 am on Tuesday (the 13th) and then we have a doctor's appointment after that at 12:00 pm. We'll share the news with all of you after the appointments.