She's Here!!

We are so happy to announce that Camilla LuJean Pierson was born on Monday July 18th at 9:35 AM. She weighed in at 6lbs. 6oz. and 19 in. long. (So technical weight for Camilla was 6lb. 6.5 oz and for Carson it was 6lb. 6.7oz. and both 19 inches long, isn't that crazy!) Also they were both born on a Monday, Carson exactly one week early and Camilla exactly 2 weeks early. (While I told everyone my due date was July 28th my actual due date was Aug. 1st but I refused to believe I would go into the month of August still pregnant :) She is just the most beautiful, perfect girl and we are so in love with her. We named her Camilla, after Camilla Kimball, who I fell in love with when I read Spencer W. Kimball's biography in college and LuJean after Aaron's mother. We have yet to agree on a nickname for her. So far she has been nothing but sweet, easy going baby. A great eater and a great sleeper.

If you want to hear the whole birth story please feel free to continue reading. :)

It started early Sunday morning. I woke up to some cramping and got up and realized that I had lost my mucous plug and had my bloody show. I thought for sure that I was going to go into labor right away but nothing happened. I went ahead and packed the hospital bag and put my family on alert anyhow and waited for any signs of contractions to start. Here I am Sunday morning:

I told Aaron that I wanted to just keep our day the same as always so I wouldn't just be sitting at home waiting to go into labor. So we went to church and then came home for naps. Sunday night was my birthday dinner in Arlington with my brother that I share a birthday with, Chris, and so we headed down for dinner. After dinner I went on a walk and jumped on the trampoline, trying to get something going but nothing happened. Here we are eating cake and ice cream. I was so happy because I knew it was the last time I would eat cake and ice cream and have it make me really sick after!

(Everyone in the room knew just what I was wishing for)

Early Monday morning a contraction woke me up. So I started timing them and then after a little bit I woke Aaron up and told him that I thought I was going into labor. So we started timing the contractions. They weren't very painful but were coming pretty consistently. I wanted to call my doctor and go in because I was worried they were going to stop. So I went ahead and called my doctor at about 4:30 AM and he told me to go in since I was a 3 at my last appointment and my labor with Carson was so fast. So we get everything together and call someone to come to our house for Carson. During this time I am having no contractions. Everything has stopped. I am devastated. We decide to head to the hospital anyway. We drive to the hospital, check in and everything and still nothing is happening. I just know they are going to turn me away but I am dying to have this baby. So I am going through the check in with the nurse and she's asking me questions and then when she gets all done, I say, "I promise I did have some contractions." She tells me that I am having contractions every 7 minutes. I am shocked I tell her I don't feel them. She goes ahead and checks me and....I am 6-7! Hallelujah, I know they won't send away that far along. So I get emitted. They call my doctor and he says that he is going to come in and break my water as soon as he can.

I tell them that I want an epidural but I don't need one at the time because I am not in pain but that when I get into active labor I will want one. So they went ahead and put it in but didn't give me the drugs and told me to let them know when I was ready for it. So we just waited for my doctor and he arrived at 9 AM to break my water. He told the nurse he needed to know when I had about 20 mins. left to get back to deliver the baby. He tells me that I will probably have the baby before noon. I said there was no way it would take that long since I was already a 9. So he leaves and about 2 mins later I have a strong, hard contraction. Another one was soon to follow and I said okay I am ready for the epidural. But, of course, the anesthesiologist is giving an epidural to someone else. And then I tell my nurse I can feel pressure. She checks me and sure enough I am at a 10+ and she is about to come out. They call the doctor, who didn't even have time to make it back to his office and he turned around and made it there in ten minutes. He walked in at the same time as the anesthesiologist. So while they are getting me ready to push, he gives me the drugs. And then I pushed through one full contraction and then she came out on the next one. It was the dreamiest, most perfect labor and delivery ever. I seriously could not believe how fabulous it was. The cord was wrapped around her neck 2 times but didn't effect her breathing. I thought she looked just like Carson and couldn't believe how much I instantly loved her. I was so happy to have her here!

Soon after the delivery I realized how much I missed my baby boy. My parents went to go and get him and brought him up to the delivery room. Now getting an epidural 3 mins before your baby is born is great and all but it means you are numb for hours after your deliver. (well worth it) So when Carson came I couldn't move my legs but he didn't seem to mind. He instantly wanted up in my lap and wanted to give Camilla hugs and kisses. He just kept saying baby, baby. Now I can't say for sure but I think he realized this was the baby that he had been talking to in my belly. I had low expectations on how Carson would respond but he was fabulous, didn't act jealous at all.

Aaron and I both feel like the hospital was wonderful. The nurses were outstanding and I loved everyone that I worked with and the food, oh my gosh, it was so delicious. They also fed Aaron and on our last night we had steak and lobster and the chocolate cake, oh I still think about it. Just very different from my experience with Carson. I could go on and on about it and I do think about the whole delivery all the time, I just think its magical.

I can't believe my sweet girl is already a week old. I want to write more about her and coming home so I will update again soon, she already looks so different to me, they change too fast! I love this newborn stage and just feel so blessed to have added Camilla to our family.

Pregnancy Update

So I have not kept track of this pregnancy like...at all. Just a quick update as we close in on D-day. I have 13 days until my due date...13. I am just so anxious I can hardly stand it. With Carson I was just laid back and ready whenever he was ready. This time I'm like, "get out, get out, get out." Just to quote my favorite show Friends. This pregnancy has been so different. Being sick for 9 months has not been fun. I think I just kept thinking...I will feel better at 20 weeks, 25, maybe 30... and then it just never came. Now I am to the point where I just can't wait to eat food after the baby comes, I mean think how good it is going to taste to eat whatever I want and not be sick afterwards!

We are so excited for a little girl, I can not wait to put up pictures of the nursery when it is done. I got the cutest bedding, I love how we painted and her crib just got here this week. Clothes are everywhere in this house. We have been so blessed with people giving us clothes and I got adorable things are my shower. I am loving the girl clothes, I mean they are just so cute. I could spend an entire paycheck at baby Gap in about 10 minutes.

At my 38 week check up I was dilated to almost a 3 but my doctor didn't seem to think labor was coming any time soon. He will induce if I make it to my due date...if I want. I really want to go into labor on my own but I think if I go that far with no baby I will just be so anxious for her to come that I will go ahead and induce. Plus I am delivering at the world's busiest hospital (perhaps an exaggeration) but I have to be on a waiting list to get induced anyway and if I go into labor on my own they have to take me.

They have been worried about her being small a couple of times here at the end so I had a sonogram at 34 weeks and 37 weeks but she looks just right about 6lbs at her 37 week so she's not small, I'm just carrying her differently and so I am not measuring as big. I had a rough couple of weeks around 36-37 because I got sick twice. Plus I had acid re flux really bad and that made it worse because I couldn't keep food down, like not even crackers. But I have gotten new meds and my cold is now gone so I am actually feeling much better for these last 2 weeks.

She has been so active, so much more than Carson. I hardly ever felt Carson move but little girl is on the go all the time. It is so fun to feel her spinning around and kicking me. She gets the hiccups a lot and I think its so funny. I always think I can tell if its her hand or foot I am feeling. She doesn't keep me up at night but the evenings are her most active time. I am just so anxious to see what she will look like!! We are pretty for sure on the name but don't want to say until we are 100% which won't happen until she is born I think.

Carson doesn't seem to notice anything is going on but I keep trying to take him into the baby's room and talk about the baby. Then he just says, "baby" and gives my belly a hug. I think he will love her but is going to be very jealous, so I am working on how we can all adjust as a family. It is still so hard for me to believe we will be a family of 4 soon!

Did you notice...

A big upgrade in our picture quality lately??? That is because Aaron finally forked out the cash for a new, fancy camera. Can I just tell you how much we LOVE it! I am so happy that he finally got one as he has been researching and thinking about it for a couple of years. Aaron worked very, very hard this year and we are so grateful for all he does for us. Happy (better -late-than-never) Father's Day to the love of my life. When you come home it is the most exciting part of our day!

Pierson Family Reunion

This year the Pierson Family Reunion was in Arkansas, centered around Grandma and Grandpa's pool. We spent a week with Aaron's family and had a great, hot time. We got to stay with Spencer and Kellie who were so nice to host us the whole week. The week flew by as we had activities planned everyday. On Sunday Aaron's Dad was released from his calling in Church (which is why we all went that weekend) and so we went to church and then had family pictures that evening. Can I just throw in a complaint that I am pregnant all the time in family pictures, like really pregnant, not cute bump pregnant. Then on Monday we went swimming all day and had dinner all together. On Tuesday we went to the Traveler's Game and had the box. It was so fun to watch the game and see Carson be more interested in baseball this year. On Wednesday we had a crawfish boil, but with shrimp and sausage (way tastier) at Amanda and Joshua's house. This was true southern food. They boiled the shrimp and sausage with potatoes and corn and mushrooms. It was seriously so delicious. Then you just throw it out on the table and eat it all with your hands and dip everything in butter. I loved it! Then we celebrated Carson and his sweet cousin Hallie's B-days since they have the same birthday. We did cupcakes and ice cream and the kids ran all over the huge back yard. Then on Thursday, we spent the day at the waterpark, and then all the adults went downtown to see a play while the kids stayed at home with babysitters. It was nice to get out all together. Then on Friday we headed out a day early because I was so exhausted and in dier need of sleeping in my own bed. :) Thanks to Aaron's parents for all the hard work they put into this trip. It was so fun. Never a dull moment with the Piersons. It was so fun to see everyone and especially to meet our newest niece, Emmeline. She was just a few weeks old and as precious as can be. I couldn't believe how tiny she was and that I am so close to having something so tiny in my house. I am so lucky that I enjoy spending my in laws so much, we had a blast!

Happy Birthday Carson!

That's right, our sweet boy turned 2 whole years old. I just can't get over that I have a toddler now. He has seriously grown over night. He looks so big to us now. We can't believe how much he has changed lately and how much fun we are having with him. Here are his stats:
Height: 35" (60-70th)
Weight: 27.8 lbs. (50th)
Head: 19.5" (75th)
Some fun things that Carson is up to lately are anything that has to do with letters, numbers, and reading. He has an obsession with it and Aaron and I aren't sure who he gets it from. He loves songs, church songs, songs on the radio, fun rhyming songs, he loves to sing them all. It cracks us up how he is able to memorize songs so well, out of nowhere he'll start singing a song that I didn't even know that he knew. Carson loves to give hugs and then say..."so sweet." He gives hugs to his friends and us and lots to Josie. He loves to play with her and say, "come one Josie." But she doesn't come...poor guy. Carson still loves to eat like nobody's business. He has to have food in both hands and he stuffs his mouth until it is so full it can't fit anything else. He has gotten pickier with his what he wants but he still eats just as much. His favorite shows are Barney and Super Why and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He loves to run and jump and climb all over the place and us. He loves the nursery at church, LOVES it! He is our water baby, he loves to go swimming everyday, just like his mama, it works out perfect. He is such a fish swimming all over the pool, jumping off the diving board, and sliding down the slides. He can throw a fit when he doesn't get what he wants and usually has to go into time out for doing something again and again after I tell him, "no." He for some reason thinks its hilarious when I tell him no, even when I do it with a very serious face. He would rather not have his diaper changed but hasn't shown any interest in the potty...none. The hair keeps on coming, he has now had 2 hair cuts, go Carson. We sure love this little guy and have more fun with him all the time.

For his birthday we had a little party with friends in our backyard. We set it up with pools and slides and water games. The kids had fun running around and getting wet. There was lots of watermelon, strawberries, corn dogs, and chips consumed. And of course, cupcakes and ice cream were a hit. Carson didn't seem to know it was his birthday but he sure had a fun time. It was so nice of our friends and family to come and celebrate the big day with us. Eventhough it was a lot of work and this pregnant mama was worn right out by the end of the day, I was so happy that we did something fun just for Carson before baby girl gets here and rocks his world. :) Happy Birthday Carson, we love you!