Welcome, Bryton!

Team Camwell welcomed Bryton John Palmer Camwell into the world today, May 6, 2010 at 12:57pm after 12 hours of labour. He weighs 8 lbs. 15 oz and is 21 & 1/4" long. One pound less and one inch shorter than his big brother 2.5 years ago! :) Mom and Bryton are doing really well, and Harry was excited to meet his baby brother about an hour ago! Here's a picture of Bryton and one of our new family of four.

39 weeks

My parents arrived for the baby visit on Friday night. I've finally finished everything big on my "to-do before baby" list, including 2 garage sales, 2 Pampered Chef shows and my students playing at Festival yesterday. Baby can come now, please! I'm DONE. At my 38-week appointment, Dr. O said to hold tight because Baby wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. I'm considering asking for an induction at my 39-week appointment tomorrow.

Oboes and Babies

My favourite section mates (Barb and David) serenading the baby bump after my last concert with OI. :)

37 weeks

This baby is due 3 weeks from today!! I'm physically ready for this pregnancy to be over. This has been way more difficult than being pregnant with Harry. Still, I've always said I'd happily (moderately!) be sick and bed-rested for 9 months to have a happy and healthy baby. While I'd be happy for this pregnancy to be over, I have things to do before he arrives. I'm in Iowa City this weekend for a symphony set, two concerts next week, a garage sale next weekend, two Pampered Chef shows the following week, and my students' festival on May 1. Sooo...any time after that, Baby can come!

And now for TMIFSOY (too much information for some of you): At my 36 week appointment on Monday, everything looked good. I was only dilated 1 cm but ready to hear I was 3 or more! I'd gained 3 lbs from the previous appointment 2 weeks before. Still 10 lbs under my weight when Harry was born. I somehow doubt I'll gain that much in 3 weeks. I had an ultrasound on Tuesday, mainly to check for Baby's size, as I'd been measuring big. Well, at 36 weeks, Baby was measuring 7 lbs 15 oz!! Average baby weight at birth is 7 lbs 10 oz, and average weight at this point in pregnancy is 6 lbs. He's in the 98-99th percentile right now.

Now's a good a time as any to play the guessing game! If you haven't already done so on Facebook (and even if you have and would like to put it here too), put your guess in the comments section below for Baby Boy's date and time of arrival, as well as your best guess for weight and length.

Really hoping my nausea subsides in the next 10 minutes...I'm heading out to an Indian restaurant in Iowa City with some friends. Come on, baby! Make some room!

34 weeks

I had my 34 week appointment today and saw my regular doctor...for the first time this pregnancy! She didn't even know I was pregnant...how crazy is that?

Baby's heart rate was 131 and I measured 35 weeks, which surprises me a little, as Baby feels soooo big! I'm actually feeling stretch out clear all the way to my side--draw a line straight down your side from your armpit, and that's where he's kicking! I didn't know my uterus extended that way... I also only gained one pound in the past 2 weeks, same as 30 to 32 weeks. My blood pressure was good. Dr. O thinks Baby is head down, as did the doctor last time. Harry was breech at this point, and he only turned quite late, so let's hope this baby stays put!!

We've painted Baby's room (I should say Dave has, not me), and this week when Jen comes for a visit (Dave's sister), we'll finish decorating. I have an almost-hospital bag packed. I just need to toss in a few more things. Hmmm...should I bring my hospital bag with me to Iowa City/Cedar Rapids when I have my orchestra concert set 2.5 weeks from now?? Speaking of orchestra, so I'm no stranger to playing right before my due date. I played the broadway show Camelot 2 weeks before Harry was due (3.5 weeks before he actually arrived-haha), but I did not have a problem with breathing. I'm a little concerned this time, as this baby seems to be sitting so much higher. I can hardly breathe some nights, he feels like he's pushing up into my sternum. Maybe he'll drop by then! Hmmm...then I'd have a whole other set of worries on my hands.

32 weeks

Yowza! Yes, I know I'm big!! But I'm still 9 lbs under the weight I'd gained with Harry up to this point. Baby is measuring 2 weeks big, so that makes me think it's all baby in that belly. In a few weeks, we'll play the guessing game on this blog! I'm feeling pretty good. I have severe heartburn at night, and I've had to take stronger medication that lasts 12 hours. It still doesn't always work for me, and some nights I'm up for all but 2 or 3 hours. And I don't even have a cute newborn to cuddle with! Anyone who says these sleepless nights are just nature's way of preparing me for a newborn again can come on over, watch Harry during the day, and let me sleep. In other news, I'm a delightful, cheerful pregnant woman. :) Dave painted the baby's room this week, and we are moving some furniture around so we won't have to do much else in the next 7.5 weeks besides wait for the little guy to make his appearance. We've definitely decided on a name, and for fun, you can see the initials to the right of this page...eliminating the letters of the alphabet that will not be the first initial in his name! :)

More diapers

Now that we've gone through the whole cloth diapering thing with Harry, we are very confident we can do it again with Baby #2. We won't need to buy many diapers, but I would like to get maybe 6-12 more per size, just so we have a bit less laundry to do. Plus, some of the one-size diapers (diapers that grow with Baby from birth-toddler--some awesome ones are Blueberry, Happy Heiny's and Bum Genius) have worn out a bit, particularly in the snaps and velcro closures. So while the fitted diapers are great from child-to-child, the one-size are pretty much one-baby shots (still very economical compared with disposables). No baby shower for Baby #2, but now you know what we need if you're looking to get him something... (maybe I'll put a list on the side toolbar)

In the meantime, I'd love some opinions on some really cute Fuzzibunz diapers. My question: Can I get away with putting these on a boy?? Girls have all the fun. Please leave your comments below, including thoughts on diapers 1-3

#1--Blue Daisies


#2--Red Daisies


#3--Green Daisies

Go Canada!

We're home cheering on Canada vs. USA tonight. I don't have a Team Canada jersey, or a Flames one for that matter, so Iginla will have to do! At least he's on the Canadian team. Coincidentally, I have 12 weeks to go! Go Iggy! Go Canada!

26 weeks

Quite the difference between 18 and 26 weeks!! From the beginning of this pregnancy, I've gained 15 lbs. At my 20 week appointment, I was measuring 24 weeks!! At my 24 week appointment, I was measuring 25 weeks, so Baby and I are on track. I was really careful with what I ate during my first pregnancy, but it's been much harder this time around. I try to get some protein in with each meal, but even that has been difficult at times. I try to nap whenever I can, but sometimes I just lie there in bed (if Harry even lets me nap--he's been a stinker these days), completely unable to sleep even if my body is screaming to! I don't remember Harry flip-flopping around this much this early. Sometimes I feel like Baby #2 is HUGE already!! He stills plays shy with Harry and most people that try to feel him kicking, but Dave has felt him move, and I'm feeling him all the time. I get some Braxton-Hicks contractions, heartburn, lots of round ligament pains, and painful muscle spasms in my calves at night. So far, I think this pregnancy has been more difficult physically. We've picked out a name though, and we'll try to keep it a secret!! I'm keeping a list of first initials on a side bar on this blog...first initials that Baby Boy Camwell will NOT have! Have fun guessing!

No, thank you!

Harry and I have been talking about his baby brother every day. Yesterday I asked him,

"Harry, who will your baby brother look like? Mommy, Daddy or Harry?"

Harry: "Um, Daddy?"

Mommy: "OK, you think the baby will look like Daddy?"

Harry: "Um, Mommy?"

Mommy: "OK, you think the baby will look like Mommy?"

Harry: "Thomas!"

Mommy: "No, let's hope the baby does NOT look like Thomas the Tank Engine!"

Baby's first present

Baby #2 got his first Christmas present--first present at all!--from Uncle Derek and Aunt Jan. I can't wait to fill it up with this little person! There's nothing sweeter than a warm little baby in a cozy sleeper. :)

It's a...

...boy!

Baby Boy Camwell made himself known right away at my ultrasound today! (We won't show you the photo with his boy parts!) He wouldn't cooperate with us, so we don't have a cute profile photo. This one is like our little skeletor baby is peering up against the window that is my uterus. :) Peek-a-boo!


He was kicking up a storm, so the technician had a hard time getting a shot of both precious feet.


Harry is very excited to be getting a baby brother!

Place your bets...

My ultrasound is on Monday, Dec. 21. Is Baby #2 a boy or a girl??

Leave your guess in the comment section below. :)

18 weeks

I'm a little late on my "16 week" shot...


Things are good! I'm generally feeling well. I have some heartburn like last time, and depending on what I eat, I've had some bad gas pains that keep me up at night. But I'm feeling baby kick more and more, and pretty soon Daddy and Harry will be able to feel the kicks too! Harry likes laying his head on my tummy and sucking his thumb. It's very sweet...and then he sticks his finger in my belly button or pinches my tummy hard! My 16 week appointment went well--Baby's heartbeat was in the 160's--but I didn't like the doctor. I hadn't met her before--she's the newest in the practice. She didn't make eye contact with me when she met me at the beginning, she spent 5 minutes trying to determine my due date...um...why?, and her answers generally showed a lack of experience and confidence. I won't be scheduling more appointments with her if I can help it. I'd had some cramping and spotting in the few days leading up to my appointment, and she didn't quite reassure me. After obliging me with scheduling an ultrasound (reason: "threatened pregnancy"...which I find slightly funny since the ultrasound was scheduled 4 weeks later...she couldn't come up with a different reason?), her exact non-reassuring words were, "Well, if anything bad does happen at this point, there's nothing we can do about it." Boo! To end on a positive note, I will indeed be having my ultrasound at 20 weeks, only 2 weeks away!! Hopefully Baby will cooperate and turn the right way so we can see about buying a blue or pink little something for Christmas! :)

"12 Weeks"

Here I am at, well, almost 13 weeks. Just looking nice and fat. :) The pants are regular non-maternity pants but with a waistband expansion belt that I think you can see pretty clearly through my stretchy shirt in the photo. Like I'm wearing a belt with a buckle. Non of my maternity pants fit right now, so it was either wear sweatpants/yoga pants all day every day (tempting), wear the belly belt thing, or buy new maternity pants. Just on Sunday I did buy some new maternity pants, so I may be wearing those a lot until my belly gets big enough to wear my old pants. It's a lot different the second time around!

Pumpkin Patch

12 weeks plus

Wow, we are way behind the times this pregnancy! I'm officially 12 weeks and 5 days, and we haven't taken my belly photo yet. I have a feeling this will be a continuing trend...

My 12 week appointment was this morning and everything went fine, all 30 seconds of it! I heard Baby's heartbeat for the first time, in the 150's. We didn't hear Harry's heartbeat at my 12 week appointment, and I had an ultrasound as a result. I didn't gain any weight in the past 4 weeks, but that evened out the 8 lbs I gained in the first 8 weeks!! I blame that on my inactivity during Wicked!

I was also lucky enough to be at the clinic on a day they received 400 H1N1 vaccines, so I stayed and got immunized. No waiting for me! :)

I'm feeling great. Happy to hear the heartbeat, because I really don't feel pregnant otherwise! I'm starting to show though!

Welcome to the new blog! We've officially made the public announcement!

Facebook statuses I can't post

Jillian...

"is nauseous!"

"is feeling the nauburn again."

"has sore boobs."

"is tired...again."

"is definitely suffering from baby brain." (This one refers to the day I got to Homemaker's Furniture, went to the bathroom, and looked down at my feet to discover a black shoe on one foot and a brown shoe on the other. They had different heel heights, so I had to limp around the store and pray that nobody noticed my lack of fashion sense.)

"wishes she had a doppler machine so she could hear the baby's heartbeat any time I wanted!"

"is ok with ice cream again."

Baby's first photo shoot

Here's Baby Camwell, version 2.0, at 9 weeks.

I had my 8-week appointment on October 2, and sure enough, they scheduled me for an ultrasound the following week to confirm my due date.

I was pretty much bang on my estimated due date of May 10. The doctor has May 8 as the "official" date. We had the first ultrasound for Harry when I was at least 3 weeks further along. What a difference. In his, you could see a definite baby shape. For this one, I had to ask which side was the head. (The left side of the photo, in case you're wondering yourself!) Oh, a mother's love! I love my little blob/peanut-shaped baby!

11 weeks...almost time for the unveiling of this blog! A few more people need to hear from me personally first though!

First trimester is in the pits

I find it very amusing that both my pregnancies have involved some time in an orchestra pit for musicals. With Harry, I was nine months pregnant (2 weeks from my due date!) and playing one full week with "Camelot". I had timed the dialogues, and when I wasn't playing, if there was more than five minutes, I'd waddle out of the pit and use one of the stars' dressing rooms (usually Lancelot's) backstage. I didn't have time or energy to run up the stairs and use the musicians' bathroom.

This pregnancy, I am spending a good chunk of my first trimester playing in the pit orchestra for "Wicked". I'm actually feeling great. Don't need to use the bathroom very often, breathing is ok, reeds...well, can't be perfect. I did have one moment last night where I felt shaky, a little faint, and a little queasy, but it was because it was so darn hot down there! I finished all my water and had to get up and get some more during a dialogue section. I'm having fun though!

I guess if I want to get pregnant again, the thing to do is accept a playing gig with a musical!