The Barker's Adventures...: April 2014

I have been in Utah now for many years and I have always wanted to go to the annual tulip festival held at thanksgiving point gardens but never have gone until this year! Growing up in California I never really saw tulips growing unless they where store bought, they are such pretty flowers that I'm always excited to see them bloom during spring in Utah. The festival only runs for about two weeks and they plant over 250,000 tulip bulbs from Holland over their 55 acre gardens. I have been wanting to take some pregnancy pictures before I get too big and uncomfortable to get around, and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to get some shots of the belly and the weather was perfect not too hot or cold! Jon wanted to rent a golf-cart to drive around so I wouldn't get too tired but I made it through the gardens without passing out, but I was super exhausted at the end of the day. I'm glad we went and thought my photographer (Jon) did great at getting some cute pictures! These pictures where taken a couple of weeks ago, I was 33 Weeks and 5 days.

It's felt like a decade since I last posted anything on the blog! Life has been super busy the last couple of months... I started my 3rd semester of nursing school back in the fall and found I was pregnant early October. I felt normal well maybe just a bit more tired than usual for the first few 7-8 weeks of the pregnancy. Jon was skeptical when I first took a home pregnancy test and it said positive he didn't believe it but he said "Wait two more weeks and take another test", I was a surprised to see a positive result as well and kept thinking could this really be true? but long behold a few more weeks and I started feeling super sick, so we decided it was time to go see the Dr. and they confirmed the pregnancy, got my first ultrasound and got to hear baby's heart beat for the very first time! For the next 4-6 weeks I was super sick with morning sickness that would last pretty much all day. I remember being too weak to get out of bed to do anything and just throwing up through out the day! I tried to do my clinical rotations but it was way too hard for me to be up by 4:30 am and be in clinical rotation by 5:45 am and try to make it through a 12 hour day! At this point I decided my body just needed to rest and I was hoping and praying that the entire pregnancy was not going to be like this, because I don't think I could make it through 40 weeks of just complete misery! So I decided to keep 2 out of the 3 classes for the semester and finish them up but the third one just required me to do a ton more of clinical rotations, and my body was too weak to be able to accomplish them so I dropped the one class and tried to push through the other two classes. This was a hard decision because I knew I had to go back complete the one class I had dropped and then still have one more semester after that and it would postpone my graduation date from April 2014 to either August 2014 or December of 2014 (An extra 4-8 months, depending if I took the summer off to deliver and be with the baby for the summer). I had a hard time still making it through the other two classes my brain was not functioning like it was before I got pregnant! It was hard for Jon to be able to go to work each morning knowing that I would be at home in bed pretty much 24-7 and was struggling keeping anything down throughout the day. The Dr. prescribed some pepcid and vitamin B supplement to help with the throwing up but it wasn't much help! After those awful 4-6 weeks I started feeling slightly better I would have a bit more energy to get up and out of bed and try to do more things around the house, I would still have nausea and vomit but it wasn't nearly as bad and it got better as the day progressed. Second trimester was a lot better the nausea/vomiting had subsided and I started to gain more energy! It's amazing how hard your body works when you are pregnant and how tired and exhausted you feel, but at this point I was feeling great, more energy and started to feel more like the human being that I was before. I was able to pull through and finish the two classes for the semester and I decided that I could take the one class that I had dropped the semester before for winter semester. I'm glad for a supportive husband and my group for their help in helping me with car rides and encouraging me to be able to make it through clinical rotations! The last few clinical rotations where about 2 hrs away so we had to stay at a hotel down there, but having 3 back to back clinical days of 12,12, 8 hrs. I was so beyond exhausted and at that point I was only 29 weeks far along in the pregnancy. Third trimester has been a lot of growth and weight gain for both me and baby! I'm now 34 weeks 6 days pregnant and this trimester has been a lot of probably the most uncomfortable one but I would rather be uncomfortable than have to go through the whole morning sickness again! My back hurts if I'm sitting or standing too long, I don't sleep much at nights anymore I have to get up to pee every 1-2 hours, I'm having a hard time rolling out of the bed or standing from the couch, I feel super hungry all the time, belly feels super huge, heartburn, pain around my ribs from baby growing and pushing my insides! We have 5 more weeks until baby's due date (june 2nd) I'm hoping she comes in time and doesn't want to stay an extra 1-2 weeks because I'm sure it will continue to get more and more uncomfortable until she gets here. We now have just a few weeks left to completely focus on baby girl getting here and preparing for her arrival! I think we have most of the things we will need for her but are still trying to gather a few last things that she will need. It's been kinda hard to gauge and know what she needs because we have never done this but I hope we have the essentials ready to go.We are so grateful to our heavenly father for our baby girl and humbled to be able to meet our baby girl in just a few more weeks, it has been a humbling and learning experience for both of us and hope that we can provide and be a good example and guide for her!