UPDATED BELLY PIC

Almost 30 weeks

I decided it was time for some updated belly pictures! The baby is definitely making use of my entire belly these days! I can feel him/her under my ribs a lot of the time. My skin feels like it can't possibly stretch any bigger, but I know it will continue to grow and grow over the next 10 weeks! I have started to feel a little sluggish again, but overall I am still feeling great. I have a doctor appointment on Thursday. I am anxious to see what she has to say about the size of Baby B and the effectiveness of bed rest. I had a moment of reality setting in last night when i realized we have just over 9 weeks until the baby arrives. I was suddenly thinking about all the things that need done before Baby B enters the world... Perhaps I should remind myself that if all goes as planned, I still have over 2 months to accomplish everything :) Daddy (Gabe) is also starting to get very anxious! From this point on the baby will be gaining 1/2 pound a week! Grow baby Grow!

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

I want to give a huge thank you to everyone who pitched in to get us our stroller and car seat, especially my sister Emily for organizing everything. It arrived today. I LOVE IT! I can't wait for Gabe to see it, I know he is going to love it as much as I do! I assembled it all by myself! (Ok, it wasn't hard, but still I feel a sense of accomplishment!) Having our stroller and car seal makes it seem so real! I feel like Baby B's birthday is so close and yet, still so far away! I just wanted to post a few pictures of the travel system. I tested out my mommy skills by strapping the teddy bear in the seat. It really made my day to have a package arrive so soon. I didn't think we would see it for several more weeks. I am feeling much more prepared now! Everything else has been going pretty well. I am anxious for my next doctor visit on November 13th to see how the baby is doing and hopefully get the ok to return to work on Dec 1st! I have been having a lot less contractions in the past few weeks, which is very encouraging! I feel great other than the normal third trimester tiredness and shortness of breath. Morning sickness has also been plaging me a little, but it is nothing like the first trimester. We are just getting so anxious to meet our new addition...Is it January yet???

THIRD TRIMESTER...LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN!

The "Little Stinker" Elijah and Me

The roundness of the 8-ball-hard to capture on film

7 months prego Halloween costume- An 8-ball

Oh third trimester...I can't believe we are already here! My belly has been growing like crazy! Morning sickness has also decided to show it's ugly head again. It is NOTHING like I had in the first trimester, but still not fun. Other than that I am feeling pretty good! We weren't able to do much for Halloween because of being on bed rest, but we still entertained ourselves. We just ordered some pizza and handed out candy to all the adorable kiddos! We don't get many kids at our house, so we went to Gabe's parents. My favorite trick or treater was my God son Elijah! He was a skunk..."little stinker!" He was the cutest skunk ever! I dressed up as ab 8-ball. It was hard to capture in any pictures, but the 8 on my tummy was really round. It was comfy and I still felt like I was in the Halloween spirit, so it worked. :) Here are a few pictures!

BABY SHOWER

All my nieces and nephews (bribed w/cheese!)

Opening Gifts

Mom and Me

We had our first baby shower this weekend. It was nice to be off of my couch for the first time in five weeks and onto my parents couch. I want to thank my sisters and my mom for throwing such an amazing shower! I also want to thank everyone who made it to the shower! It meant so much to me and Gabe that everyone could be there. We announced the sex of the baby for the first time to those who were in attendance. The rest of you will still have to wait. :) Our last shower is December 6th. After that shower we will announce the sex to everyone else. It has been so fun for Gabe and I to have our little secret for a few months. Baby Buresh got some great gifts at the shower and I will definitely have fun playing with them for the next few weeks until the baby gets here! We got an exersaucer which daddy has already successfully assembled even though we won't be using it for several months! It made the whole experience very real. On our car ride home Gabe and I just looked at the gifts and then looked at each other thinking...this is really happening!!! We are both getting very anxious and excited! Baby B and I have a doctor appointment this afternoon. We will find out how much bed rest has been helping. The contractions seemed to have slowed significantly in the past week and a half, so I am hoping for a good report. Aunt Emily is going to come to the appointment today too! We are excited to share the experience with her! I will update after the appointment. For the mean time, I have added some pictures from the wonderful shower. I also want to thank my 3 1/2 year old niece Kierra for doing my hair for the shower...it was beautiful! Thanks again for all the love and support we got. We love you all!

26 WEEK BELLY PICTURES!

26 weeks!

4 weeks

I just wanted to mention how much Gabe LOVES taking my belly pictures....ok...maybe not! I had to throw the first one on the website just because out cat Stormy made the photo shoot. HA! It is funny to look back at previous belly pictures when I thought I was so big and compare them to now. I know I still have a long ways to go. I am sure before I know it I will be looking back at these pictures longing to have this size belly again! I added our very first belly picture from when I was 4 weeks prego for comparison. As of today I do have to look over my belly to see my toes!

26 WEEKS!

Well, I have made it to 26 weeks! That means we have less than 100 days left until the arrival of Baby B. He/she has been growing so much over the past two weeks! I can't wait until our next doctors appointment. I am still on bed rest and will be for several more weeks. I am anxious to see if bed rest has stopped the shortening on my cervix. I have good days and bad days, but more good than bad. I take everyday that baby B stays in my belly as a blessing. I know baby B is growing stronger everyday. The next big milestone we are trying to reach is 28 weeks. The survival rate for a pre-term baby goes up much higher and the development of the baby changes quite dramatically! I am still trying to work hard on school projects as much as I can with the help of my great professors at Doane. We are still looking at a degree completion date of December 2008. Please keep us in your prayers as we work through the challenges that are handed to us. I have actually started to take bed rest as a belssing as I realize I never spent time to enjoy my pregnancy before I was forced to. Now I can really bond with the baby, read to it, sing to it (I am sure that is the babies favorite part of the day! HA!). I have also been enjoying all the movement that has been happeing in my belly. It gets more pronounced and harder each day. I have caught a few of the kicks on tape which has been exciting for Gabe so he can share in the excitement. I am trying to stay positive as we move through the next several crutial weeks. I welcome anyone visitors to stop by as the days can get pretty long and lonely on the couch. :) I will try to have Gabe take some good belly pictures tonight so you can see just how big I am getting!

6 MONTHS

We are finally to the 6 month mark! Here is a picture from a few days ago. It is amazing how big of a difference a few days can make on my ever growing belly! I am trying to survive bed rest. Gabe has been so great so far making sure I am always taken care of. Between him and my mom I am surrounded by the Bed Rest Nazi's! This is probably a good thing, because as hard as I try, it is a challenge to stay down. I am so grateful for my great family and friends who have volunteered to keep me company, cook a few meals and help with household chores. I could never get through this without you! The hardest part of bed rest thus far is just getting lonely at home all day by myself. So visitors are ALWAYS welcome! So far we are getting along great and bed rest seems to be doing it's job! Hopefully we can keep baby Buresh cooking for at least 8 more weeks! Thanks for all your support and prayers during this time!