24 weeks / 6 months!

Camden grew a lot this week! 

Happy Halloween

Camden enjoyed this yummy cupcake from Crumbs. Instead of participating in our neighborhood's parade, handing out candy, dressing up, or going trick-or-treating...this momma hung out with these little pumpkins instead.

Jeremiah, 8 weeks

Kennedy, 1 week

Logan, 5 years old

Can't wait to dress up Camden next year. He'll be 8 months and we'll be able to push him around in the stroller while Logan, Jeremiah, and Kennedy go trick-or-treating.

Nursery Furniture Assembly

While everyone else was out at Halloween parties on October 26, baby daddy and I decided to tackle the project of assembling Camden's nursery furniture.

About halfway through assembly my back was starting to hurt from sitting on the floor or standing so much. I was just done, it was not fun to me. Mark said "go lay down, I'll finish" but I wanted to help so I continued. Then at some point he goes "this isn't fun to you?" haha why would it be fun? I'm like "uhh no, it's not fun...I wanna get it over with!" and he says "this is fun to me, I enjoy doing this kind of stuff". Typical male I guess? I just don't see that as being any kind of FUN...it was torture to me. 

My favorite part was seeing the end result and it made it all worth it. We started around 8pm and didn't finish until 1am. Whew! Camden better appreciate his awesome crib, changing table, and dresser! He probably won't even be in his crib for a few months after he's born since he will be sleeping in our room in the bassinet but it still felt good to get his nursery all set up. 

We ordered this set and can't wait to set it up once it's delivered. I love the gray/chevron with the turquoise. We didn't get the star mobile or the wall art in the photo above since we're going to incorporate elephants into the nursery with those things. 

It's coming along and he will be here before we know it! Like in just over 3 months...wow!

Glucose Test

On October 25 (23w6d) I went to the lab to take my glucose test. The drink actually wasn't as bad as everyone described. I got the orange flavor - she didn't give me a choice. They only give you 5 minutes to get it down and it went straight to my head when I drank it since it was pure sugar. I felt dizzy and weird. I sat in the lab for an hour waiting for her to draw my blood after the drink settled. It really wasn't a bad process, just time consuming.

I went to the doctor on October 29 for a follow up appointment to find out that the test came back and I do not have gestational diabetes. He said since I tested so early (basically right at 24 weeks) he might want to test me again in a few weeks just to be sure. What a pain...why didn't he just wait in the first place? Anyway, I was glad to get that over with and hope I don't have to do it again.

Cousin Kennedy

October 24 was a very exciting day for our family. It was the day Megan had a scheduled c-section to have her second baby. She didn't find out the gender during her pregnancy so it was even more exciting for us to find out what she was having. Logan's field trip to the pumpkin patch got rained out on October 11 and rescheduled to October 24, of all days. I agreed to go as a chaperone so that Logan could attend his first field trip. It was really pushing it with time. We got to the hospital at 7:30 when Megan was supposed to go to the OR for her c-section. She was still in her room when we got there and didn't end up going back until a little after 8:00. I was stressing out because Logan and I had to leave to meet his class at 9:00 and we really wanted to meet his little brother or sister before we left. As we were getting ready to walk out the door to head to the school Gary came down the hall saying it's a girl. Of course we didn't believe him because he's a jokester...so we were hoping they would let the baby come back into the room before we had to leave. Luckily, at about 8:50 they brought her back and of course mom, Devon, and I had to take her diaper off just to be sure Gary wasn't teasing. Sure enough, no penis...yay! After a few kisses and photos we had to leave baby Kennedy to make it to the bus for the field trip.

Here are some photos of Camden's awesome cousins on October 24, Kennedy Lynn's birthday!

23 Week Bug

I felt fine on Friday, October 18. Claudia went to get us Subway for lunch...I was so hungry and enjoyed my pepperoni sub. Mark and I decided that we were going to go to Fredericksburg to pick up the crib from Babies R Us and we would just grab dinner while we were down there. We decided on Shane's Rib Shack since we've heard it's yummy. During the commute home, I actually fell asleep which never happens. I almost fell asleep on the couch waiting for Mark to get home and was just super sleepy all of a sudden.

He picked me up and we went to pick up the crib. Thankfully it was an easy process and it fit perfectly in our SUV. When we got to the restaurant Mark had to order for me because I didn't know what I wanted because nothing looked good. I wasn't hungry and didn't have an appetite...but I knew I should be hungry since I hadn't eaten since 1pm and it was nearly 8pm. I had a few bites of mac & cheese and a couple french fries but I just couldn't eat any more than that. We brought my leftovers (sampler platter included chicken tenders, pulled pork, and baby back ribs...which I would have normally eaten since I love BBQ). I went to bed right when we got home.

Woke up at 1am with body aches. I took my temperature and it was a low grade fever at 99.8, but our thermometer is super cheap and probably not accurate so it coulda been worse than that. I tried going back to sleep but couldn't get comfortable in any position because my back was hurting so badly. Had to end up taking two 325mg Tylenols and fell asleep for a few hours but woke up feeling the same in the morning. 

I had a photo shoot scheduled for 10am. Wasn't hungry when I woke up, but brought a granola bar and some water with me because I knew I had to eat for Camden. Luckily the shoot was for my cousins' kiddos and I didn't have to fake it...I told them I felt like crap and to bear with me. They understood and were great sports which made my job so much easier. The photos actually turned out really good for me not being on my A-game so I was proud of that! You can see the photos here.

After the shoot I met Mark at Volkswagen to have my car serviced. We went to trade in our vacuum for a new one while we were waiting for the car to be serviced. I wasn't feeling well the whole time and just wanted to get it over with. I was hoping to feel better by 4 because I really wanted to go to our nephew Connor's baseball game. When we got back to the dealership we got some bad news. My car needed brakes, rotors, and an alignment. This was a shock to us since it only had 33k miles, so why would it need brakes and rotors already?! Anyway, after talking it through we decided to look into the option of trading it in for a brand new car to see if that was a better deal and would save us money. We definitely didn't have the extra money (we had just spent $600 on a new vacuum!) to spend on fixing the car and they were saying it was almost metal to metal and I shouldn't drive it long before getting it fixed. So I let Mark do all the talking and didn't care about anything except feeling better. I was drinking water the whole time because I hadn't eaten so I knew I needed to at least drink. We ended up leaving the dealership with a loaner because we decided to leave mine there (since we shouldn't drive it without fixing it first) and were going to go back on Monday night to finalize the paperwork of buying a new one. I felt bad but had to cancel on going to Connor's game because I felt so terrible that I knew I needed to go to the doctor. 

So we were going to go to Panera so that I could get some soup but decided we should go to Patient First before we did that. When we got there they took us back right away. Had a low grade temperature there and when they did blood work they saw that I was dehydrated. They told me they wanted to put me on an IV to hydrate me. I asked if I could just go to Panera and eat instead since I hadn't eaten since 10am that morning. Not a chance - they said that wouldn't cut it and I needed much more fluid than a meal from Panera. So they couldn't find a vein opposite my elbow and had to try to put the IV in my hand/wrist. This was no fun because my veins are terrible and uncooperative when it comes to accessing them and I was tortured by the needle for what felt like forever before they finally got it in. I know Mark was laughing at me because he makes fun of how big of a wimp I am but that was like the worst pain ever! I think he was too busy taking photos of my nurse's buttcrack though...

I had to get a shot in the "hip" as they said (which really was my booty) for the nausea, and that actually helped because my stomach started feeling better. They tested me for the flu by swabbing a q-tip up my nose - definitely not a pleasant feeling either. After two bags of IV fluids they finally released me. Mark went to get Panera and I took like 4 bites of my soup before passing out. Sunday was a lazy day and I only got off the couch to go to the bathroom, which was pretty often! Couldn't go to work on Monday or Tuesday because I couldn't get far enough away from the bathroom to drive 40 miles, plus I still felt cruddy with stomach pains, so I stayed home and rested. The doc wanted me to follow up with my OB to make sure everything was good with the baby, so I went on Monday morning. He told me I basically had an intestinal flu and told me I could take Imodium and gave me a pill for nausea. He said the baby was just fine and measuring perfectly so I felt better after hearing that. I was hoping the sickness only affected me and not him and luckily that was the case. I ended up feeling much better when I woke up on Wednesday and went to work. It was like it just magically went away outta nowhere. Four days was long enough for that virus to stay with me!

Anyway, this is what we ended up getting on Monday night and we are actually saving money and have a brand new car where we don't have to pay outta pocket to fix anything AND our first month payment was waived...no brainer! We love it and I'm sure Camden will too! 

Here's the lovely 23 week photo. Nothing cute to say because I still felt like crap, sorry...week 23 was a LONG and miserable one for this momma! 

Deuce Dos!

On October 14, we went to our appointment at the imaging center (which we LOVE, btw). This was a call back/follow up appointment from when we went on September 30 and the tech couldn't see one side of Camden's face to test for clef palate. He cooperated this time and we were in and out within half an hour. 

Tanya is super nice and not afraid to explain what we're looking at on the screen. We love her!

Here are some cute pics of his little face and HUGE thumb! 

Isn't he just perfect?! Tanya said his lips and mouth look great, so no clef for Cam! 

We're waiting for a night this week where we're not super busy so that we can take the photo with the 22 week board. Stay tuned!  

Ok, here's the 22 week photo. Can't believe Camden is 1 pound already. 

And the fact that I'd rather have chocolate ice cream than leftovers from the Japanese steakhouse is a sure sign that I'm craving it. And I had it for dinner tonight too. Mmm!

Daddy's Week

I walk into the kitchen and see Mark drawing on our dry erase board. I thought he was just playing around and writing a joke or something silly. I was surprised to see that he actually created the board for the 21st week of our pregnancy! I made him add in the "written by daddy" part because I didn't want people to think my handwriting was that bad, although a few ladies told me they thought he had good handwriting so it's a win win either way!

So, Camden is usually pretty active after I eat or if I'm laying down. Before, I could only feel him move from the inside but the other night I put my hand on my belly and could feel it on the inside as well as from the outside. I told Mark to put his hand there and he felt it right away. Pretty cool!

Holy Swoly

So I was lucky enough to not have any swelling for the first half of my pregnancy. Didn't take long after the halfway mark before I literally woke up this morning to swollen ankles and sore feet. I don't understand how it can happen overnight but sheesh it's not pretty! I hope it's not stuck like this for the remainder of the pregnancy. Please please please, swelling...go down!

At first it started with my fingers and the rings were getting tight but now my hands are the least of my worries with these huge CANKLES I got goin on!

I'm hoping for a foot massage tonight...hint hint, baby daddy.

P.S. Can you believe people are liking my FB status/photo about these damn cankles? This is NOT a likable situation, people!

Whooooooooaaaaa...we're halfway there!

Whoooaaa livin' on a prayer!

These first 20 weeks have flown by. I doubt I'll be able to say the same for the next 20 since I'll be bigger, uncomfortable, and probably miserable. At least it's not summer though because I think I'd rather be fat and cold than fat and hot! 

We had our 20 week ultrasound appointment yesterday (20w2d). Baby Camden looks great, and is measuring at 20w5d for his head and abdomen and his arms are measuring at 21w. So he's got a big belly, a large head (oh no!), and long arms!

During the 20 week ultrasound, they basically do a full exam of the baby's anatomy. The exam takes about an hour and 15 minutes and they make me come in with a full bladder after drinking 16oz of water. The ultrasound tech was shocked that Camden was giving her all of the hard things first. He cooperated very well when it came to checking the various body parts she needed to check. The tech explained that the black hole in his abdomen was his stomach. If momma woulda eaten breakfast the hole would have shrunk but they told me not to eat because they needed to see an empty stomach on baby, just to make sure he had one.  

He definitely didn't cross his legs for this one - of course he is as stubborn as his father and would only do that during the 17 week ultrasound when we were trying to find out the gender but now that we know, he wanted to just verify for us. He is indeed a boy and very proud of it...he was not shy at all when it came to showing off! I think he was showing us so that we were 100% and didn't buy him anything pink. Still saving "Kinsley Brielle" as a name for Camden's little sis one day so don't steal it! 

About halfway through the exam she was checking and measuring his big ol' head. When she was pressing on my belly with the wand to read the measurements I could feel her pressing on my bladder. I said "his head must be right on my bladder huh?" and she laughed because it sure was! Then she let me empty my bladder, ahhhh!

The rest of the exam was just checking things like his legs and arms. She had to move him around in different angles in order to get a clear shot of the four chambers of the heart. His heart rate was 128bpm but he wasn't cooperating with the way he was positioned so she had to do a video clip to send to the doctor to show that there were four chambers, you just can't really tell in the photo clip. So she was happy with that and moved onto the next and final check. 

She couldn't seem to get Camden to move away from the placenta long enough to get a good view of the one side of his face. She was looking for the skin between the lip and nose to ensure he didn't have clef palate. She saw from one side that he was good to go and she even got an aerial view of the nose and mouth. She said she can tell that he does NOT have it but that my doctor might want the exam to be complete by including the photos of the other side of the face. She didn't want to have us come back so she broke out the 3D sonogram machine and the placenta was still in the way. She tried having me lay on my right side...didn't work. Tried laying me on my left side...still didn't work. So we have to go back to officially complete the exam (because that'll satisfy the doctor) and hopefully when we go he will cooperate and show the other side of his face.

I didn't mind them saying we had to come back because any chance I can get to sneak a peek at our baby boy is awesome! So on October 14, we have an appointment to hopefully confirm that he does not have clef palate. This must be a new procedure with the 20 week exam because my sister didn't have that - or maybe her ultrasound tech didn't tell her because her baby was positioned correctly and she could tell for herself that she didn't have it so no point in telling my sister. I'm glad our tech was talkative and had a great personality, made the visit that more enjoyable. 

So enough of me ranting...here are the photos of little baby Camden at 20w2d!