Still waiting...

Not much has changed... I think I am starting to feel the contractions more, but would not describe them as "hurting" yet. I think I am just becoming more aware of them. They are still letting me eat so I had a light lunch and dinner. This makes me very happy because I was getting hungry! We will keep everyone posted here. We are hoping for some sleep tonight. Hopefully better luck then we have had so far on some shut eye. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers. Every hour baby Hardin stays in the better!

We also met with the pediatrician in the NICU. She answered a bunch of our questions. It looks like baby Hardin will definitely be in there for 2-3 weeks at a minimum because of how early it is. There are still a lot of unknowns because we don't know how the baby will react outside the womb. Craig and I are trying to wrap our heads and hearts around the fact of leaving the hospital without our little one...

In the hospital...

Craig and I have begun the hurry up and wait process....

Last night we went over to our friends Anna and AW's house and they fed us a feast! We had yummy ribs, veggies from the garden, and a Paula Dean's pound cake. Baby Hardin gave some really good kicks for them to see my whole belly move.

Little did we know I would be awake at 1:00 am trying to figure out what was going on. About 2:30 I was pretty sure it was my water that had broken. I was not having any contractions (that I could feel). Craig, although he was very tired, snapped right into action and helped call my doctor. She wanted us to go ahead and head into the hospital. When we got here they confirmed it was my water that had broken. The doctor decided that we were not going to speed it up or slow it down. So... here we sit and wait...

The estimated weight based on the ultrasound is 4.5 lbs and the baby is head down as of right now. Contractions are happening, but very light. When we arrived they were steady every 4 minutes. Now, they are happening every 2-10 minutes.

The pediatrician is supposed to be coming down soon to talk about what will happen to the baby after birth because it is early.

We will keep everyone posted. Right now we are just trying to get some rest, which is nearly impossible with people coming in and out of the room and being hooked up to all kinds of machines.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. We will be in touch soon! Place your bets on the gender!

Nursery Updates...

We hung the pictures tonight. Now we just have finishing touches to go on the nursery. Here is a quick video and pictures showing it.

Week 32...

My mom has been very helpful with all the sewing projects in the nursery. She completed the rocker this weekend. Here is a picture of the finished product. I will post pictures of the entire nursery once we hang all the pictures. I hope to do that next weekend. We also hung a mobile that was in my nursery as a baby. We took it off the original hanger and used the little clowns on a bigger mobile. It is very special to have things that are from my room as a baby!

Here is an updated belly shot. This is from the beginning of week 32. I had a doctors appointment on Friday. My mom came with me to hear the heart beat of her grandchild. The doctor said things are still on track for the right amount of weight gain, growth etc. I think the baby was having a growth spurt this weekend because I was REALLY hungry. This happened a few weeks ago and my belly did grow afterwards! I always have some back pain/uncomfortable for a day or two afterwards and then things seem to balance back out.

I had to include a picture of one of the cards that was given to me at the shower. My dad's business partner's wife said she picked it out because it reminded her of me. What do you guys think???

We also had our labor and delivery class on Saturday. It was fun to take a tour of the hospital where our baby will be born. I think both Craig and I learned something and it was worth going to. We are in for an adventure soon!

Game Time!

I am going to copy our friends Matt and Jessica. I have set-up a game for everyone to predict the gender, weight, height, and b-day of baby Hardin. There will also be a link to the game on the right hand side of our blog. If you have already guessed gender you will have to redo your guess on this game. Sorry, I should have started with this one...

Don't be shy... enter your guess!

http://www.expectnet.com/games/BabyHardin

What an Exciting Week!

It has been awhile since I have posted. We have had a lot of exciting things happen and most occurred just last week/weekend.

Craig (our family repairman) had another unexpected job this past week. Our air conditioner broke upstairs and we were expecting a bunch of people at our house for the weekend because of my baby shower (including a 3 month old baby) so we needed to get it fixed quickly. Craig is so handy he was able to figure out the problem and we were cutting pipe and draining about 10 gallons of water from our attic to our upstairs bathtub at 10 pm Monday night.

Scott and Annelise had their baby! Charlotte was born on Thursday, May 28th very early in the morning. Everyone is doing well and she is a sweet heart. After frantically moving patients at the office, Craig and I were able to visit and bring them dinner in the hospital on Thursday night. I can't wait for Charlotte to meet baby Hardin. It was very cute... while I was holding Charlotte baby Hardin gave a few good kicks. I think they were already trying to play!

After we left the hospital we went to pick up my friend Melanie from the airport. She flew in from Texas for my baby shower. Melanie and I hung out all day Friday and Friday evening Melanie's mom, Anna, Lindsay, Cheri, baby Addaline, and my mom all came over to hang out and have dinner.

Saturday morning I had a baby shower over at the Walker's house. The Walker's were practically my second family growing up. Lindsay and I have known each other since we were two years old. It was a wonderful time hosted by Lindsay, Anna, and Mrs. Walker. Craig and I are so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends. We received so many great gifts. Baby Hardin is going to be very loved! We played two baby shower games. It was determined that I am not very good at identifying baby foods. I am sure I will get better with some practice!

Grandma demonstrates the "hooter hider". This gift made everyone laugh and those who have already had kids wish they had one when their kids were babies!

My friend Jamie gave baby Hardin his/her first piggy bank. Everyone laughed knowing what a perfect gift this was for us! Baby Hardin will be learning to save early like his/her mom and dad!!

My mom gave me a quilt she made for Baby Hardin to play on and some items she made and used in my nursery.

Saturday night we decided to have a cookout with a lot of our good friends. Craig smoked some pork and served his home brew. It was a lot of fun! We played corn hole and enjoyed the beautiful weather on the back deck.

Here are some of Baby Hardin's future friends: Sarah Bess, Davis, and Addaline.

Sunday we dropped Melanie off at the airport and headed to Pentecost in the Park. Each year our church has a service outdoors and the members bring picnic lunches to eat afterwards. It was VERY hot this year so we ended up eating under the shelter instead of on the picnic blankets, but it was still a lot of fun. Our small group brought food to share- a feast like always! Craig and I decided to head to the pool after church. It was so nice to get in the cool water and relax. I have a feeling I will be spending a lot of time there this summer!!

Baby Hardin also got hiccups several times this weekend. It was fun because Craig, my mom, dad, and friends all got to feel them!

I have another appointment on Friday. I will try to post some updated belly shots.

Another Fun Weekend...

Friday I went to the farmers market. I have noticed that as I get hungrier and my belly gets bigger, I buy more and more food at the store or market. I sampled every farmer's strawberries to make sure I got the best ones. I have also noticed my belly getting in the way more often. I took a bite of one of the strawberries and my belly caught the drips! Unfortunately it was on one of my favorite maternity shirts that Bill and Gail got me for my birthday. My friends have warned me this will happen more often now and to invest in a good stain remover. Thankfully, their tip worked and the shirt is good as new!

Saturday mom and I went to a wedding shower for a family friend. Here is a picture before we left for the shower. Mom and I also finished the crib shirt. I will post pictures after I get some sheets on the crib. The nursery is coming together!

Here is a picture for the start of my 28th week. I am just about out of all of my "regular" clothes. The baby has been giving more kicks and still likes to hang out low on my bladder, sending me to the bathroom often!