Early Arrival!!

Camille had plans of her own! She was brought into this world (rather quickly) on Tuesday, November 17 at 2:58pm. Being 6 weeks early, she was a good weight of 4lbs 14oz and 18 inches long. She tried to come through this world naturally, but we did have to have an emergency c-section.

10min apart contractions on Tuesday morning quickly led to some intense pain and an unscheduled visit to the doctor where we learned that I was 10cm dialated and ready to push! We were quickly rushed next door to Rex to have an emergency c-section since Camille was on her way whether we were ready or not.

We are all doing well. Camille is in the NICU until her temperature is more stable and until she begins to eat on her own.... but she is sooo precious and is making improvments each day.

Nick and I are very proud parents and can't wait for everyone to meet our little girl.

Please continue to pray for Camille and her speedy progression to coming home to us!

34 Week Checkup & Lots of Changes

It has been an interesting turn of events as of yesterday. I have been experiencing Braxton Hicks contractions for about a week or so now, but they began to get painful and more consistent on Monday afternoon. I figured this was all still normal, though I wasn't enjoying the discomfort. Nick and I decided that we needed to play it safe and go see the doctor just to make sure all this was normal.

They treated my visit like a normal checkup since my appointment was already scheduled for later in the week. I had only gained half a pound, but my blood pressure and everything else checked out fine. Camille's heartbeat was great and the nurses seemed to think things were fine, but they wanted the doctor to do an exam just to double check since my symptoms were a bit odd for someone at 34 weeks.

After taking a quick look, both through ultrasound and manually, the doctor said that I needed to come have a "pow wow" with him. I knew that that meant something had changed. Turns out that I am 70% effaced and 2cm dialated! Talk about shock! The doctor didn't seem completely worried, but said that I needed to go on immediate bed rest to try and buy some time for us. He said that Camille has developed enough to be delivered, but they just want to drag it out as long as they can since 37 weeks is full term. He was certain that she wouldn't be staying put for more than 3 weeks.... but that she could debut as early as this week! Again, complete shock!

I have been put on some medication to help relax the uterus and slow down the labor, but he said it is a 50/50 shot as to whether this will work at this point. He said just to relax, stay put as much as I could.... I can still work.... but just via email at home. He said my main focus needs to be relaxation and mentally preparing for an early arrival! She is still VERY breech, so a c-section is certain at this point. They don't want to schedule anything, since at this point, all we can do is listen to my body and see how the clock will work with us.

I am going back to the doctor on Thursday if nothing progresses further b/w now and then.

Nick has been amazing thus far.... making sure I don't lift a finger if I don't have to :) He is being so supportive and jumping in to take over some of my to-do's that we need to hurry and take care of before our little girl comes (installing the carseat, packing for the hospital, etc).....

Please continue to pray for a healthy baby!

Guess its on to Plan C :)

Birthing Classes- some funny commentary :)

So Nick and I have been going to some birthing classes offered by our hospital every Monday night. We have attended 3 thus far and have discussed things like pain medication options, the layout of the hospital, what to expect when you check in, breathing techniques, stages of labor, etc. They have been quite informative, sometimes too informative :)

I thought I would share some funny commentary from the class last night. We were doing some exercises, similar to role playing, though our teacher refuses to use the word role play. Each couple was given a card with a scenario on it (time of day, contraction length & strength, feelings, etc) and we had to put the cards in order of the stages of labor. When it came time for your card, you had to say what positions and breathing techniques were best used during this stage, as well as what the husband's role should be at that time. Nick and I had one of the final stages, so we got off fairly easy, but some other couples had some funny reactions.

A couple that had an early stage of labor had a funny answer. When our instructor asked the dad-to-be what he would be saying to his wife who was having mild contractions that were getting closer together, he replied, very casually, "How's it going?" The instructor shot him a look and told him that is never something you want to say/ask. She then asked him what he would be doing for her at this time and he replied "grab a rag and give it to her?" Wow! Our teacher quickly explained what some correct answers would be and quickly moved to the next couple. I think that guy is now in the doghouse, not only with his expecting wife, but with our instructor.

The next funny response came from a dad-to-be that had a card that was the transition phase of labor- the longest and most painful stage. When asked what he would be saying to his wife, he replied "Something positive, since I will be the sane one, I mean one of us has to be." Yikes! That didn't get such a good reaction from anyone... ha! This same guy later asked the instructor how clean the birthing room would be- were we not in one of the top birthing hospitals in the state? Guess he is a complete germ-a-phobe!

Anyway, thought these were funny enough to pass along b/c we got quite a kick out of them. I do have to say Nick was one of the best dad's in the class- he will be a great coach whether we are going with Plan A or B. I was proud! :)

32 Week Checkup

Sorry the picture turned out darker than I planned... the dark shirt didn't help...

I had my 32 week checkup this morning with Dr. Woodruff. My blood pressure and everything was good. I hadn't gained any weight since my last appointment, but he said that was fine as long as I hadn't changed my eating. I like that I didn't gain weight after having Halloween leftovers :) Mmmmm :)

I measured right on track and Camille's heartbeat was strong as usual. I actually got my H1N1 vaccine today too b/c they had gotten a shipment yesterday that they hadn't expected.

The focus of the appointment was on Camille's position. She is still very breech and Dr. Woodruff said that its very unlikely that she will move down on her own at this point. He said that they would be continuing to monitor the position, but that I should probably go ahead and mentally prepare for the option of a c-section. He said over the next appointment or two, they can do some of the manual versioning to get her to move, but that with my petitie figure he doubts that it will fully accomplish what we want it to. Not the news I wanted to hear, but I guess that you can never fully plan around a birth.... it goes the way God wants it to and I have no control of that. So while a c-section isn't 100% at this point, it is very likely that that is the path will be faced with.

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as Nick and I begin to mentally prepare for Plan B. The doctor could tell I was upset by his news, but he did say that with me being such a planner, that their was good news in that I could actually pick Camille's birthdate..... :)

My next appt is on the 19th....

Camille's Nursery

The nursery is painted!! Thanks to the hard work from Nick and Christy, the nursery is getting closer to being completed :) Now we just have to get the furniture in, etc.... It is looking quite precious and girly!

30 Week Check Up

Had my 30wk checkup this morning with Dr. Creighton. I had gained another 3lbs and had great readings for blood pressure, etc. My iron count had even gone up a fair amount, so no need for any supplements thus far! (all that peanut butter must have done the trick) I also got my 2nd Rhogam shot. Ouch! It brought back memories from the 1st one... not pleasant!

As I was waiting to see the doctor, a woman came in crying and had the most miserable look on her face. Turns out she was due any day and this was going to be the day. She could barely walk. They ended up wheeling her next door for labor admission. The woman was moaning as she walked by and of course I get put in the room next to her..... so all I hear is her painful cries! I hear the doctor say "You're 4 cm dialated- let's send you on in for delivery." She started crying more and her poor husband looked almost as miserable as she did. All my hormones then took over and I started crying. Dr. Creighton wondered if I was in pain.... nope, just scared out of my mind from being next to that poor woman!! Dr. Creighton told me that the woman was well on her way for delivery and would be receiving an epidural within minutes and that everything was fine. Easy for her to say- she isn't about to pop a child out in less than 10 weeks!! Yikes!!

Dr. Creighton said I was measuring on track for end of December. The heartbeat was great! She did notice that little Camille is very breech. That alien like lopsidedness to my belly is Camille's head showing that she isn't ready to move downward yet. I have a few exercises to do over the next few weeks to "encourage" her to make her way down. I will have an ultrasound at 34wks to see the progress she has made. Dr. Creighton did try some "aversion" which is where they manually try and move the baby downward. That felt very uncomfortable to me! Camille reacted well and moved, but then came right back within minutes! She is already a strong willed child! A combination of the exercises and "aversion" will be used over the next few weeks until the ultrasound. If Camille hasn't moved downward by that point, they will start discussing alternatives like accupuncture because breech babies are only delivered via c-section these days. I am going to try and avoid that if possible, but the plans of Camille and God may be different. More to come in the next few weeks on that front......

My next appointment is Nov 5th.

29 Week Belly Shot

Another funny moment...(provided by the neighborhood kids!)

I know how much you all appreciate the funny belly stories... so I felt like I would post my most recent funny moment.

On Tuesday night, I was home alone and decided to use my time wisely and go for a walk in the neighborhood, especially given it was the last day of warm temperatures! I was walking at my normal "waddle" pace and got to my favorite col-de-sac on the other end of the neighborhood. I particularly like this area, b/c there is a precious little boy (prob age 7) that always rides his bike alongside me as I walk his circle. Well this night he happened to have a little girl friend with him that also lived in the neighborhood. Now keep in mind that it has been awhile since I have been seen walking :) Laziness set in early with this pregnancy! Well I came walking up and was given the stare down by both children.... The little boy started to ride beside me as he always does, but you could tell he had a question he needed to ask. He said "Do you have a baby in your belly?" I replied, "Yes, its a little girl!" His eyes got big and he said "Should you be walking?" The little girl followed with her own opinion. "You are walking to try and get it to come out, aren't you?" I laughed and told them that I was walking for exercise and have hopes that the baby stays put until late December! They both looked at me as if I was crazy! The little girl preceded to tell me which house she lived in, in case I needed her while I was walking, in case the baby came. The little boy followed up with, "My mommy has a belly like yours, but she isn't pregnant."
Wow, gotta love the honesty! They both urged me to walk home fast so the baby didn't "slip out too soon."

28 week checkup- I Passed!!

Nick and I appreciate all the thoughts and prayers this week as I anxiously awaited the 28 week glucose test :( This is to test for gestantial diabetes, as well as some others things like iron and syphillus (state mandatory- go figure!). The test requires you to stay away from sugars the night before and the day of- much harder than I thought! At the doctor's office, you drink a sugar solution and then wait for one hour and then they draw your blood and can tell you then & there if you are borderline diabetic. I was so nervous about this test for some reason... maybe the thought of having to alter my diet while pregnant is what did it :)

Well, I passed with flying colors! And I have to admit, the orange drink tasted like a flat Sunkist, so I didn't mind gulping it down. I did feel a little nauseous afterware because you have only a few minutes to drink it all. And have I mentioned how much I hate having my blood drawn??!! It all ended up being fine, glucose levels were great, my iron was a bit low, so I have to start being more aware of getting that into my diet- (here i come peanut butter!)

Camille's heartbeat was just as strong during this visit at 153bpm and my blood pressure was good. I had gained another 4lbs which suprised me b/c I didn't feel THAT much bigger than the last visit. Oh well.... all in all a successful appointment with Dr. Woodruff.

Now that I am in my last trimester (very hard to believe), I start going to the doctor every 2 weeks instead of every 4. So my next appointment will be at 30weeks.

Counting down for Camille's arrival :)

Belk Baby Poll

Since Belk was having some great sales this past weekend, I decided to do some deal shopping on Friday evening. Finding a few things, I made my way to the checkout. The woman checking me out said "Wow, I'm impressed you are out shopping being this close to delivering." I laughed it off and said "Well, I have 3 more months to go, so I hope I still have lots of time for errands." The lady seemed shocked and preceded to call another employee over to "check out my baby bump." This employee said "From behind, you would never know you were pregnant, but that baby bump of yours sure screams any day now." I have become used to these comments and just smiled and hoped that I could quickly be on my way, but boy was I wrong. As the one attendant was asking me if I had multiples in my family, the other was telling me that I should really consider a c-section if this baby is over 9lbs! I had totally lost sight of the fact that this was too much information coming from these ladies, but instead was focused on the fact that they thought I could birth a 9lb baby!! They finished their rants and then introduced me to other employees who they wanted to "guess" my due date... needless to say, no one guessed December, or even November.... October was the month of choice for most. Yikes!

I just smiled and quickly explained that I needed to get going. When I got to the car, I just had a little "talk" with Camille about her growth and told her that since I am limited for space, she might need to rethink this plan of measuring big :) Otherwise, we will keep being the talk of the town!

NCSU Game

Dad thinks that Camille will come out "howling" rather than crying after all these State games! : ) I think Nick would be fine with that!

25 Week Belly

Another belly pic... I am amazed at how much this belly can grow overnight!! I might have the Morgan experience of a very watermelon shaped belly earlier on in my pregnancy. I have had a few people ask "How soon are you due?" and "Are you sure there is just one in there?" They seem a little shocked that I still have until end of December!

p.s. Yes, Mom and Jeannine- I am wearing the dress you got me in this pic :)

Diagnosis: Preggo Brain

This post is inspired by Julia, who along with others, find my recent "preggo brain" symptoms quite amusing. For those of you who aren't aware of this so-called "preggo brain," it gives mothers to be brief moments of forgetfulness or even downright stupidity. Well I think Camille is borrowing some of my brain while hers is developing- that is the only explanation I can think of :)

A few examples:
I was finalizing some proposals at work and began to file their customer folder away, when all of a sudden, I could not for the life of me remember the order of the alphabet! I was trying to file "T" before "O" and was trying to sing the alphabet (embarrasing enough) to help but to no avail!

Today, I was running out the door to an appointment, got in the car, and realized that I didn't have my cell phone (which was in my hand a few minutes earlier). I went back into the office and suddenly couldn't remember what I came back to look for. I went back to my car, sat for a moment, and remembered it was my cell phone I was missing. I went back into the office and retraced my steps in hopes to quickly find it. I was giving the whole admin staff a laugh as they pointed me to the mailroom. I had somehow put my phone into my mailbox instead of papers and walked away.

Lastly, and probably worst of all, and not to worry my parents, I had a slight incident with my car. I was leaving for Greensboro for work and had even pre-programmed my GPS with the directions while I was still at the house since Nick always tells me not to touch my GPS while I am driving. I was so careful not to pull out of the driveway until it was set to go. I remember backing up and pulling into the street... next thing I know, I have run into our neighbor's mailbox. Well, the mailbox post needed replacing and my car needed some TLC, but what I was most embarrased by was the fact that I couldn't relay to my neighbor how I had ended up into her mailbox.... I have no recollection. Our neighbor was very nice about it and still gets a laugh out of it when she reminds me.

Amensia you say? Nope... apparantly all part of the enfamous "preggo brain."

Fun with the belly....

Katie and Stephanie came for a visit on Labor Day and had some fun with the belly :) The sad thing is that it looks like I am poking out my stomach, but I am not.... that is it in all its glory!

24 Week Checkup

I had my 24 week checkup this morning with Dr. Creighton. She is a new doctor to the practice, but I loved her... and turns out she is best friends with my regular doctor :)

Anyways, fairly standard appointment- My blood pressure was great. I had gained about 3 more pounds which is right on track with where I should be..... It is still ALL belly! Given that I have 10 extra pounds on my belly, it is getting much harder to bend over these days! Also, Camille's heartbeat was just as strong as the last few readings at about 156 bpm.

I actually got the general flu shot while I was there too... I still need to get the H1N1 shots, but those won't be available for another few weeks or so.

My next appt is in 4 weeks, but will be the glucose testing (as in, not fun!) to determine if I am at risk for gestational diabetes. So that appointment will be full of blood drawing and more shots :(

I plan to post another belly pic soon since it has dramatically changed since the last one!

We have a name!!!

Our little girl will be named Camille Ruth Cox.

Camille is French and means innocence and swift runner. We liked the French background after my DesVergers side of the family!

Ruth is Hebrew and means loyal friend. We loved the biblical tie-in, but also because it is a last name on Nick's side of the family- Routh is spelled differently, but pronouced the same.

We hope you love this name as much as we do!!

We have a theme!

We have decided on our color scheme and bedding! I just LOVE it and hope you all do too!
http://www.cocalo.com/item.asp?id=235&brand=1&g=1&coll=&cat=1

My mom is already hard at work with this theme :) Her grandma instincts are already kicking in! My sister in law, Christy, is already offering her creative services for decorating! Can't wait to hear her ideas!! This is going to be one girly nursery- my dream! Ha!

22wk Belly Pic!

I know its hard to believe how much my belly has grown in the past few weeks! Thought you all would enjoy an update.....

Lots of Movement!

I have been anxiously awaiting the "flutters" or "bubbles" to occur to let me know that our little girl is moving. We could see in the ultrasound that she is a busy body, but I have been ready to feel it for myself! Finally at 21 weeks I have experienced what I would describle as bubbles popping. Very odd, but exciting. I first noticed them during a church meeting as I became distracted due to the consistent popping feeling that was occuring. Ever since then I seem to feel the movement several times throughout my day, especially when I am sitting still. I get so excited each time I feel a "pop." I know this is nothing like the kicks that will come later on, so I'm glad that this movement still warrants good sleep at night! :)

It's a Girl!!!

Nick and I were thrilled to find out that our lil baby is a girl! Let's hope she is just like her mom! :)

We had such an exciting appointment and ultrasound. Our lil girl was moving all around, giving us great views for 100% confirmation of the gender :) She was rolling over, waving, and in quite the limber position as you can see in the picture! She is giving a whole new meaning to fetal position!

We are still on track for the due date- she weighed about 11oz (better than average) and still had that strong heartbeat... The technician kept saying "beautiful, just beautiful." We were very proud parents to be!

I checked out fine too :) Great blood pressure and weight... even though it is quite hard seeing the numbers on the scale keep going up! I have gained 4-5 lbs since my last visit...... Yikes! Guess I have to get used to this.

So... all anxiety aside now.... we can now call our baby a "she" until we come up with a name! Now on to the nursery planning.... :)

17wk Belly Pic

Ok. Priscilla reminded me that it has been awhile since we put a belly photo up... and my how much my belly has grown :) This picture was taken last Thursday (7/23) at 17 weeks. I am definitely finding comfort in the stretchy clothes these days!

16 Week Appointment!

I had my 16wk checkup this morning. I am always anxious in between appointments because 4 weeks is a long time to go without some reassurance! The appointment went great! I had gained 2 more pounds from the last appointment (which I am told is perfect). My blood pressure and iron and all the general stuff checked out perfectly too! Nick and I both got to hear the little heartbeat again :) It was amazing- 155bpm!!! Baby Cox is a strong one and Dr. Wind was very pleased yet again. So all in all, a very successful appointment! We go back on August 13th for our ultrasound to determine the gender!!

First Stranger Comment

For all of those asking about my baby bump, you may appreciate this! Up until this weekend I was assuming the bump was just enough to make me look chubby, but not pregnant.....

I was standing in line for the bathroom at the Durham Bulls game on Friday and a lady tapped me on the shoulder and asked me with a smile, "When is your due date?" I was so thrown off by her question, as it was a first for me.... so I just stared at her. After some time I then looked down and remembered that I was in fact expecting and replied "end of December." She just smiled and said "This is the first one, isn't it?" I let her know that it was, but continued to be confused since I couldn't decide if she was too nosey or if this is something I am going to have to get used to. :)

Amazing how much can change in two weeks since my last belly picture post!

A little cousin for Baby Cox

Congrats to Morgan and Patrick who welcomed Bryce Dewey Johnson on Monday, June 29th!! Bryce is the first great grandchild on the DesVergers side and is soon to be followed by Baby Cox :) We are excited that the cousins will be within 6 months of each other! I suspect that Morgan will have lots of advise for me over the next few months!

Okay.... So you asked for it..... (against my will).... My first belly pic... Taken at 13 weeks!

Nick and Laura... Counting Down to the Arrival of Baby Cox....

Nick and I are excited about being first time parents! What an exciting year full of sibling weddings, a new job, and preparing for our little one to arrive! Thanks to the advise of MB, we decided to create a baby blog to keep our loved ones up to date on the pregnancy journey! We can't wait to share this experience with all of you!