Half Way there

Well, sorry it's been a while- we've been busy! I'm 21 weeks now and we go back to the dr. this Wednesday, even thogh we've been seeing lots more doctors these past few weeks than we ever thought. Between preparing for Christmas and the multiple trips to the ER now, it's been a full few weeks. As most of you know, my kidney stone episode over Thanksgiving was pretty miserable. I thought that would be the worst till this past Saturday. Cameron came home late Friday night from traveling and I started feeling the same back pain. The good husband he is, Cameron didn't take a unisom that night, in case he needed to drive me to the ER, which he did about 1am. We didn't get admitted this time because there's really nothing they can do except soothe my pain.... I've quickly become a fan of morphine- even though it scares me to death to think how horrible it is for the baby. I'm just trying to make a good decision now to keep getting by and I couldn't have gone on without something to help me that night. We were sent home about 5am and I proceeded to sleep the entire rest of the weekend away. Cameron's been a trooper and tried to sign us up for Frequent Flier miles at the hospital. Things are better now- we just have to pray the baby stays healthy throughout all this and that the kidney stones just takes care of itself.

We did celebrate Christmas with Mal and Dal this Sunday since we're going to B'ham next week and they're headed to Louisville. We had a great time, Cameron grilled some Christmas steaks and we had fun trading gifts and watching the boys battle over fantasy. Here's a pic of dad with our gift, the big bobber! You'll have to come over this summer and dad can now float drinks around the pool and not have to get out and run in the house for refills. We'll miss them and the rest of the fam at Christmas.

We did get a beautiful early Christmas gift from David and Lea. Here is our baby's beautiful little bassinet where she'll sleep in our room (hopefully for just a month or two). We love it and Lea even got us a pink sheet to go with it!! The cats have managed to sniff it out and jump in once or twice, but we're trying to really get on them so they know this is not a toy for them. Eventually, they'll be kicked out of our room at nighttime anyway, so we're working to ease them into that.... not sure how well that'll go over, but guess only time will tell.

Thank you all for the continued thoughts and prayers while we go through this pregnancy and the unexpected hospital trips. We really appreciate it and need it now more than ever!! We continue to pray every day that she'll stay healthly and my problems will just take care of themselves in the next few days. Hope everyone has a great Christmas and stay safe if you're traveling! Merry Christmas!

Liam's Baptism

While the family was in town, Baby Liam got baptized. It was a great ceremony and he even got raised up by the priest at the end like in the Lion King! It was a nice ceremony and we're really glad that we got to be there for this event in his life.

Thanksgiving

We were so glad to have all the Smith Family in town for Thanksgiving! Cameron smoked a turkey and Mal and Lea cooked up a storm. I wish I could say I contributed more to the kitchen, but it's not true at all. I woke up on Thursday with some pretty bad back pain. Thinking it was just normal stretching and the baby moving things around, we tried to go about the day and headed on to Mom's house. After we ate our Thanksgiving dinner, I still wasn't feeling so good. Cameron, Lea and mom took me to the ER when my pain got really bad. Turns out, I have two kidney stones :( One that has already worked itself out and one that they refer to as a ticking time bomb. The dr. recommended we spend the night so they could monitor my pain and make sure the baby was never in any stress. They eventually moved us up to the labor and delivery floor about midnight on Thursday night. I felt so bad that all the family had come in town to visit us and we had to leave for quite a while, but they were so nice about everything. We were very relieved that the pain had really subsided by Friday afternoon. My doctor came to visit me in the hospital and we decided that the pain level was low enough that I could go home. I was so relieved because the rest of the family was already in town and we were supposed to be hosting mom's birthday dinner at our house that night. Cameron did a great job hosting that night and cooking for all 17 of us! He was great throughout the whole hospital ordeal and slept on the tiniest cot I've ever seen in my life! We decided the plus side to this whole adventure is we really do like the hospital where we'll deliver in April. Here's some pictures of our Friday night dinner and baby Liam! He's getting so big, I just can't believe it, he's such a great baby. It was so fun to see everyone and we really are thankful we have such wonderful family. I didn't clean one dish or pick up one thing that night...thank you all so much for taking such great care of us and being so supportive! We're so glad everyone came in town to visit!!

It's a GIRL!!

We found out on Nov. 26 that we were having a little girl!! We could not be more excited. Cameron's parents and sister were all in town already so we took them along with my parents and Alex. Cameron and I went in first to get some measurements of the baby and I totally wanted to find out right away, but Cameron was a good boy and told the technician we'd wait till everyone else walked in the room. We all got to find out together and it was so much fun! The baby is perfectly healthy and growing right on schedule! She's already 9 ounces. She was sleeping for most of the sonogram so the doctor had to move her around quite a bit to wake her up. Once she was moving though, she put on quite a show for us! Here's a picture of her waving to the camera and another one of her profile. I think her belly is precious, it's so full and looks like a little bubble. She looks so perfect and we're so grateful that she seems to be doing so well!!

I also put some pictures below of our time with David, Lea and Rachel. They all flew in to Dallas on Tuesday for Thanksgiving. It was great having everyone here!!

Halloween

We went back to the doctor on Tuesday this week. We got to hear the heartbeat right away- it was 150-160. We were so excited it was easy to hear this time- DD must've been right where the doctor placed the dopplar on my right side. Everything looks good and we're on track. Today DD's the size of an apple, 4 inches, 2.5 ounces. Definitely starting to get a little bigger in my belly. The nausea is really starting to go away for the most part and I've got a lot more energy.

Not sure if you can see my belly in my Halloween costume, but here's some pics from last night's Halloween party at Liz and Justin's house. Cameron was a pimp and I was a witch. We got to hand out candy to all the little ones on our block, then went out for the night. We had a blast, but the recovery today is a little rough for one of us!! I also am putting in a pic of our first pumpkin on Blackstone Drive. Cameron did a good job carving it, but we're definitely going to have to work up to something more creative next year.

I can't believe it's November already! We've started thinking of things for the nursery, but are kind of waiting to find out what exactly it is before we buy too much. We'll keep you posted...

13 Weeks and Counting

Well, I know it's been a while since we've sent out an update. We go back to the doctor at the end of the month; otherwise, it's been life as usual. As most of you know, I'm still battling the "all-day" nausea. We're very hopeful that will pass soon since we're now over the first trimester hump. I was able to exercise for the first time yesterday, so that's a good sign!! Our baby is the size of a medium shrimp this week- 3 inches and weighs about an ounce. Pretty exciting to track all doubledown's developments. I promise I will post a belly pic soon- just don't really have one yet since I've been so sick. Here's a picture of Cameron and me at Phillip's birthday last weekend. I also included one of Ellie, Bert and Anna's daughter. She's precious. We met them at the Fair last weekend. We had a lot of fun, and thankfully Cameron and Bert weren't injured on this crazy, upside down ride they got on....We've been busy watching a lot of football and working. We'll definitely update after our next dr. appointment next week.

9 Week Appt.

We got to visit our new dr. today. We did not get another ultrasound :( But we did really like the new doctor. She tried to listen to the heartbeat through this doppler machine, but Doubledown must have been hiding somewhere far away from the monitor. That was a little disappointing, but we got to set our next two appointments. We will find out what we're having the Wed. before thanksgiving and I'm so excited cause both our families will be in town to get to hear the news. Otherwise, it's just business as usual I guess. Mom, Lynn and I went shopping afterward and checked out some baby furniture for the new nursery. At least we don't have to buy too many maternity clothes, because this furniture and accessories is all really cute. I even told Cameron they make Mascot mobiles for the cribs! I'm sure he's already purchased one online - he claims it'll match the Orange and Blue stripes he's picturing for the nursery. I have much different ideas, depending on the gender, but we'll worry about all that later.
That's all for now! I'll keep sending updates or at least a tummy shot. I'm sure those milkshakes are going to catch up with me before I know it!

Visit to LA

I was going to wait to update till we went to the dr. this Tuesday, but we've been busy! I went to LA last week to visit Liam and Emily and Nick. Liam is so cute!! I cannot wait to see him and his new cousin together in the Spring. He was such a good baby the whole time I was there and Emily and Nick are doing a great job with him. They sure do make it look easy!!! Cameron had a business trip so he couldn't go visit with me, but he'll get to meet Liam soon enough. I did want to post this picture of Cameron with Caitlin, the little Auburn Cheerleader from the LSU game. While we didn't win, we still had a great time with all our friends. Doesn't Cameron look so natural with a girl!?! Haha, just kidding baby!

I go back to the doctor Tuesday afternoon and Mal's going to go with me. I'm not positive if I'll get another ultrasound, but I'm hoping we will. I really like seeing the pictures of our little grape-that's right, doubledown is already the size of a grape this week. I will post more on Tuesday after our visit.

Our first pic!

We had our first ultrasound Monday and here's the picture!! We got to see and hear the heartbeat, which was awesome! Next Dr. appointment is Sept. 23 and we will hopefully get another ultrasound since it'll be with a new doctor, but we'll see for sure. My due date is April 25.