24 Week Doctor Appointment

Today was my 24 week Doctor Appointment. Wow - time flies! Jon couldn't go with me today, so my Mom was VERY excited and willing to join me to hear her first grandchild's heartbeat!

Everything went great! My blood pressure checked out fine (even a little low still) and the scale wasn't as bad as I expected. I always dread stepping on that scale (even though I know the weight gain is for an excellent cause). The nurses' are always so good about easing my concerns and every time I whine about the dial moving forward I am comforted with a sweet nurse who says, "your weight gain is right on track and all the weight will be well worth it in the end when you hold that baby"....They are SO right!

We heard Cami's heartbeat right away. She was running from the Dr., but eventually he tracked her down to hear it nice and strong. It even sounded different than it previously had...it used to sound like a 'whooshing' sound and today it was definitely more of a 'thumping' sound. The Dr. said that as the baby gets bigger it gets easier to get a real good listen at the chambers of the heart, which is what we heard today...so wonderful! The heartbeat was in the 150's and my Mom teared up listening to it!

The funniest thing about the appointment was when the Dr. (I LOVE MY DOCTOR!!!) asked me if we had picked out a name for our daughter yet. When I told him that her name will be Cambria, he informed me that 'Cambria' is the name of his favorite Chardonnay. How ironic - I didn't even know there was a wine named 'Cambria'....how suiting since I love a nice glass of white wine and have been missing it terribly lately. He also informed me that he has never delivered a baby named Cambria, so this could be the first! I hope and pray he is on call when I have this baby!!

That's it for now - things are great and I couldn't be happier with how things are rolling along. I will update again soon!

Belly Update...

So, here is my official 23 week belly photo. It sure does baffle me when I look at these pictures and see how much our beautiful little girl is growing. She has been kicking and flipping around a ton. I love it when I feel her kick in new places in my belly! The other night she was kicking so hard that I told Jon it seemed like she was trying to escape. I think she's just so excited to come out and meet everyone that loves her so much already! I am also beginning to think that maybe she will have a little bit of hair because for the past 5 nights starting around 6 p.m. I have had pretty bad heartburn. I get it around dinner time and it stays with me and gets progressively worse throughout the night. As soon as I go to bed it vanishes and when I wake up in the morning I feel great and am heartburn free until that night again. It's just a small price I pay in order to carry and be a mother to Cambria - I'll take it any day!! We'll keep you updated on things but for now things continue to move along smoothly.....let's keep our fingers crossed they stay that way until I deliver a beautiful and healthy baby girl!

Yay Weekend!!

This morning Cambria and I started off the weekend with some family fun. I met my Mom and Britt down at the Farmers Market in Old Town Alexandria for some fun shopping. We strolled around and found lots of goodies (cookies, fresh squeezed orange juice, beautiful sunflowers, earrings, etc.). After the Farmers Market we strolled down to the water to feed the ducks (hence the pictures below). Next we met up with Tori and Alberto for a stroll to Alberto's new house so Brittany could finally see it. After leaving Old Town we went to Kohl's and did a little shopping (shame on me!). Lastly, Cami and I came home and had a wonderful prenatal yoga workout. Wow - what a wonderful day. Tonight we are having a BBQ since Jon's college roommate is in town. Thank goodness for beautiful summer Saturday's!!

Partners In Crime!

The two loves of my life, pictured above, are already partners in crime. At about 6:30 this morning Cambria started kicking me like crazy. About 30 second later Gus started whining and pestering me to get out of bed. After waiting it out for about 10 minutes in hopes that they would both settle down and go back to bed they only continued to work together to force me to wake up! How in the world is it possible that they are already communicating and plotting against me when Cami is still safely tucked away inside me? I have a feeling these two are going to be the BEST of friends through the sweet little cherub moments and the moments when they are creating havoc together around the house and getting into trouble. Gotta love them...

23 Weeks!!

Dear Cambria,

As of today I am 23 weeks pregnant with you. Wow - it seems like just yesterday that I took that test and got a very dark "+" followed by many digital tests that gave me the wonderful word "Pregnant" over and over again. I will never forget the surge of emotions that initially went through my head. First it was "Oh my god, we did it!" followed by "Wow - I am FINALLY going to be a Mommy" and all of those thoughts were accompanied with HAPPY tears! I will never forget waking your Daddy up and telling him that we were going to have you. We are overjoyed at your impending arrival into the world in October.

So, for the past 23 weeks you have been growing and your Daddy and I continue to patiently wait for you to get big and strong enough to come and join our family. Just recently in the last few weeks I feel you moving inside of me ALL of the time and I love it! I love knowing that you are swimming away in there (your Gpa wants you to be a swimmer and based off of your arm and leg movements I think you're well on your way). Every time I feel you kick or flip it warms my heart and my bond with you gets stronger.

Last night your Daddy finally got to feel you kick. It wasn't a big kick, but he said he definitely felt it and that made me VERY happy. I have a theory that you are so calmed by your Daddy's voice that when he talks to you, your little body immediately settles down and you lay still, mezmorized by his voice and love for you. Well - last night you finally wiggled some while he was talking to you, so thankfully he got to feel a small 'kick'. Maybe now he'll begin to believe me more often when I tell him you're rolling around inside of me. He loves you so much and you couldn't ask for a better Daddy!

Cami, please continue to stay safe in there and continue to grow bigger, stronger and more beautiful with each passing day. Your entire family (including your Parents, Grandparents, Great Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and of course we can't forget...your dog, Gus) can't wait to meet you come October. Thank you for giving me the most amazing 23 weeks of my life so far. Since I've been a little girl I've wanted nothing more than to be your Mommy someday! I love you!

Love,
Mom

This is Gus at his finest. This is his "I dare you to come near my Momma and my baby sister" look. I SWEAR he knows that there's a baby on the way. He does not let me out of his sight and he snuggles right up against my belly when he naps. What a love boy he is!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

Happy Birthday to the very adorable and extra perfect Guinevere Faith Sakshaug! She was born this morning, June 22nd, and weighs in at 6 lbs 11 oz. I could not be happier to have another little niece that will only be a few months older than Cambria so they can be good buds. Congratulations to Richard and Beth on the arrival of their beautiful daughter and congratulations to Connor and Nicole on their little sister!! Uncle Jon and Aunt Meghan can't wait to meet her!

Productive Morning All Around...

So far I have had a VERY wonderful and productive morning. I LOVE SUMMER VACATION!!!

I woke up to a wonderful phone call from my husband telling me that my sister-in-law, Beth, had given birth to their third child early this morning. Her name is Guinevere Faith Sakshaug and she weighed in at 6 pounds 11 ounces. I am so excited to meet her, hold her and give her plenty of kisses. We were supposed to be going down to visit over fourth of July weekend, but I don't know if I can wait that long to meet the new little lady. I am contemplating going down earlier but don't know if it's doable. As soon as I get some pictures of her, I will give her her own special blog post with a happy birthday message

Next, as I sat and ate my cereal while watching The Today Show my baby, little Cami, was kicking up a storm. I think that was her way of saying, "Mom, do something productive today for me". So, I did. First, I cleaned our master bathroom....ahhhh, heaven! I love a clean bathroom, I just don't like doing it! Next, I did a little laundry. After that I called the insurance company and asked them my questions about adding our baby to the insurance when she's born. Then I called and set up a prenatal visit with a pediatrician that I have read great things about that is close to our house. Lastly, I submitted a warranty request with the builder of our house to get some things fixed. WOW - I have sure been busy and it's only 12:00.

We will see what gets accomplished the rest of the day. Chances are I will be watching a marathon 3 hours of TLC for A Baby Story followed by Birth Day. I love those shows but I usually don't get to watch them because I'm at work. I might even go to Panera and get myself a frozen lemonade as a special treat. YUM! I love the possibilities of a lazy summer vacation day! Ciao!

Happy Father's Day!!!

Happy Fathers Day to all of the wonderful Fathers out there - including my Dad, Jon's Dad, Grandaddy, Richard and now officially JON! :-)

We have no special plans for the day. We had chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and then were lazy until about 11:00 (love those quiet moments together)! I think for lunch we are going to either Qdoba or Chipotle per Jon's request. He has been thoroughly enjoying his Fathers Day gift that I bought him a few weeks ago...a brand new lazy boy leather recliner. I know that Cambria and he will have many special moments in that chair together.

I am so thankful to have such a great husband who I know will be (and already is) such a great Father to our baby girl. Last night when I crawled into bed I had a pregnant happy cry for a moment after Jon kissed my belly and with his face pressed against my belly loudly told Cambria, "Goodnight, I love you". What a blessed little girl she is already!

That's all for now. So far I enjoy this blog thing, so I am going to do my best to keep it updated for everyone that wants to read it. The picture above is me at 22 and a half weeks pregnant! I will do my best to post a new picture with each week to come!

22 Weeks Pregnant....

I have decided to give 'blogging' a try and see if I can keep this thing updated to inform friends and family of what's happening in my world of pregnancy, and before we know it, our world with Cambria. Let me know if you are reading this so I can know who's reading and who (if anyone) really cares and wants to read what I write.

As of today I am 22 weeks pregnant. Time has been flying by and before we know it, our daughter will be here. I can not even wait to see Cambria, hold her and give her lots of kisses. Luckily for me, today begins my summer break from teaching so I have the next 5 weeks off. I plan to use this time to prepare Cami's room and get a lot of things checked off of my 'Baby: To Do" List. All of the "little" things like pre-registering at hospital, taking hospital tour, registering for and taking childbirth classes, painting baby's room, calling insurance, looking for a pediatrician, etc. all have to get done at some time so I guess the next 5 weeks is better a time than any. I hope to have things pretty well under control when I go back to work at the end of July.

I am feeling pretty good lately, so no complaints there. The past couple of days I have had some heartburn throughout the day but nothing too serious. My latest craving has been mint chocolate chip ice cream (amongst other things...). I feel a lot of stretching and pulling in my stomach (especially in the mornings) but that just reassures me that little Cami is growing away and getting bigger by the day. Also, in the last couple of days I have been feeling A LOT more movement. The kicks/flips are getting stronger and at certain times you can DEFINITELY feel them from the outside of my stomach too. Now I am just waiting for the moment when Jon's sitting here with me when the strong movement is happening so I can grab his hand and have him feel his daughter moving for the first time too...I think it will make things even more real for him. Oh, the fun of pregnancy! I'll update more later....I really am going to try hard to stick with updating this!!