Kambria's Name Story

Kambria (CAM-bree-uh)

Meaning: Wales; Compatriots; Beautiful

Annise (ANN-eese)

Meaning: Pure, holy; God has favored me

A tribute to both of our mothers: Andrea (AN) + Denise (NISE)

I never thought I would have trouble naming a girl. My favorite girl name list is so long! And after two boys back-to-back, I was eager to dust off my list and find the perfect name for our new little girl. But the long list proved to be part of the problem. I had so many names I liked that it made it hard to narrow down the list. Add to that list the pressure of wanting to find the perfect name and not knowing if this will be our last baby (or last girl), and I had such a hard time deciding on a name. I wasn't the only one; Robbie did too. But let me back up a bit...

I keep a list of favorite baby names on my phone at all times. Whenever I hear a name I like, I jot it down for future reference. Much to Robbie's chagrin, every pregnancy, my taste in names seems to change. Ones I previously loved, I suddenly don't like. I'm sure this makes choosing a name with me frustrating, but I can't help it. I honestly think it's God's way of steering me to the right name for each individual kid.

Anyway, my taste is names during this pregnancy, were C/K and S-sounding names mainly for some reason. The one name I liked that didn't fit that bill was Alexa, but I wasn't sold on it; it never quite felt like the right name despite how much I liked it.

After the way everything worked out with Brodrick's name and how his name wasn't even on our radar until the end of my pregnancy, I honestly didn't stress the name decision this go around. In fact, I rather enjoyed looking around and asking others any new names they heard to try and come up with our name. I even searched through baby name books at the library to see if anything jumped out at me. The only name I considered from my search was Bria. I like Brie as a nickname, but wasn't a fan of Brianna and didn't want to use Brielle because it sounded too close to Lacey Belle. When I brought Bria up to Robbie, he wasn't crazy about it, so I wrote it off (unaware it would sort of come back around).

One thing we did decide early on, after finding out the baby was a girl, was the idea of her middle name. Keeping with our tradition of using the middle name as a name variation tribute to loved ones, we knew we wanted to name her after both of our moms. I played around with so many options and ways to combine both of their names (first or middle). Ultimately, I came up with two I liked the best and decided the first name would probably determine what middle name we chose (based on how it all flowed together). But the top two options were: Annise and Sunise/Sunisa. I thought Annise was a name I just made up, but upon researching it more, I found it is actually a name already. I was always a fan of the name Anneliese, and Annise to me had the same ring to it. I thought it was pretty and unique. Sunisa, I had actually heard of her prior because of the Olympic gymnast, Suni Lee (Sunisa is her full name). I thought this was a good option to combine my mom's middle name with Robbie's mom's first name, if Annise didn't fit. We were both leaning toward Annise, but waited to confirm it until after she was born. We did tell family that her middle name would be for our moms but kept the actual name itself a surprise until after she was born.

I vividly remember driving to my last doctor's appointment before Baby came at 36 weeks. On the way to the appointment, I was behind a Toyota Camry car. I remember thinking how pretty Camry sounded, but I didn't want to name my kid after a car, nor did I like how it was spelled. After getting home, I toyed around with the spelling - coming up with Kamry, then Kamrie, which then led me to think of Kambrie, and then that sparked my memory of a girl I used to know whose name was Kambria. It also reminded me of my earlier find of Bria and that I could use Brie as a nickname. In fact, another thing I liked about the name Kambria was all the potential nickname options (Kam/Kammie/Brie/Bria). One of my favorite things about Brodrick's name is how many nickname options he has that can tag off of it. So this was also a plus to me with the name Kambria.

The week Baby was born, I asked Robbie what he thought of the name, and he instantly took to it. It reminded him of a military abbreviation for something he used to come in contact with when he was in the Marines (CAMBRIE). I added the name to our list of options, but didn't really give it a second thought.

We went into the hospital with six name options (the most we ever have), and we had such a hard time narrowing it down, even after meeting Baby Girl. All our options going into birth were: Calista, Celeste, Kassidy, Cassia, Kambria, and Spencer even made a comeback in the hospital. I had liked the name Spencer for a girl but Robbie wasn't crazy about it so I had kind of written it off as a no earlier on and didn't think much of it during most of my pregnancy. While in the hospital, we watched a Psych marathon the whole time, and so I asked Robbie again about using Spencer (the main character's name on the show is Shawn Spencer), and we did consider it, but ultimately it didn't feel right. We also weeded out Cassia. That left us with four options.

My top choice my whole pregnancy was Calista, because I really wanted to use Cali as a nickname. Robbie's favorite name was Celeste. We ultimately took Kassidy off the table because it means "clever one," and we both felt it might jinx us with a sneaky little one LOL.

Going into the hospital, I honestly thought the baby was either going to be Calista or Celeste because they were our two favorites. However, Robbie told me as much as he loved Celeste, that he felt like he would be selfishly choosing it, and it didn't seem like it truly fit Baby. I was shocked. Ultimately, we narrowed it down to Calista or Kambria. It was such a hard decision to make between the two! We kept going back and forth on it.

Not being able to decide, we called the kids at home with my mom and asked which name they liked better. To my surprise, they both said Calista. We asked my mom, and she said Kambria. We called Robbie's mom and asked her, and she also said Kambria. Asking the kids actually made us lean more towards Kambria for some reason. 

Robbie looked up both names. I had wanted to use Cali as a nickname because our other kids all had unintentional California-themed names. Lacey Belle's initials are LA, and I used to call her my LA baby. Weston, like the West Coast. And even Brodrick, we say sounds like a surfer dude, which gives us all the California vibes. I knew this was a dumb reason to choose a name, but I always liked Cali as a nickname. Robbie found that Calista also had a connection to a town in Australia, which I have an obsession with. Not to mention, our pup Stralia (named after Australia) passed away earlier this year while I was pregnant with Baby Girl. This gave us another reason to want to lean that way, and yet, we were leaning the other way.

As much as I still loved and wanted to use Calista, I told Robbie I felt the same way about it that he did about Celeste - that I would just be picking it selfishly because I wanted to use it, but that for some reason it just didn't 100% feel like the right name. We had both almost called the Baby Kambria, separately when randomly talking to her, and for some reason, it just seemed to stick. We felt guilty for asking the kids and then not taking their advice. We called them again and determined they wouldn't be crushed if we didn't go with their choice. 

Robbie looked up the name Kambria, and we uncovered a California connection...there is a coastal town in California called Cambria. Once we saw that, we decided to just go with it. It was still hard signing the hospital record papers; we went back and forth, unsure if we were 100% picking the right name. I asked Robbie what if we changed our minds, and he said if it was that important and it just didn't fit her, or we regretted it, we could always go through the legal process to change it down the line. So we signed the papers, and it was official, our baby girl was Kambria Annise.

Not going to lie, I did purposefully wait almost a week after she was born until we did the official social media announcement because I was partially afraid we might change our minds on her name after going home😅 But we didn't, and Kambria just fit her perfectly.

Kambria's Birth Story

On Tuesday, June 11th, 2024, I was one day shy of being 37 weeks pregnant (36w6d to be exact), and I started having some slightly more painful contractions at night. I had a few before bed but assumed it was just from our evening walk because they went back to regular Braxtok Hicks before bed. I was up a couple of times from some slightly more painful ones, but was able to sleep mostly, so I didn't time them. At 6:30am on June 12th, I had two contractions about 6 minutes apart that each lasted 1 minute in length...so I started timing them for frequency. By 9:20am, they were mostly back to just regular Braxton Hicks. Every now and then, I'd get a more painful one, but they weren't that bad and weren't consistent, so I went about my day.

My mom offered to drive down, and I was tempted to say no, but I also remember how, when I got sent home from the hospital with Broddy, I told her not to come down because it could still be a while and then I ended up having him the next day and very quickly. Ultimately, I decided I felt more comfortable if she drove down just to be here with the older kids in case the same thing happened this go around. She drove down to NC, and wouldn't you know things slowed down. I still did my daily walks and yoga exercises, and prayed Baby would come while she was still in town.

On June 15th, I was up off and on starting at 6am, timing contractions again. Still nothing consistent or too painful, though, but I could tell things were ramping up some. After my evening walk around dinner time, my contractions were closer together, but hadn't gotten worse pain-wise. So at 10:40pm, I headed to bed for the night. 

Things kept moving along. In the wee hours of June 16th, I was up from 1-3am, timing contractions as they got closer together a more intense pain-wise. At 3am, I decided to head to the hospital to get checked out. While in triage, the nurse said I was still only about 1cm dilated, but she had a difficult time checking, saying my cervix was way back, and it still seemed very thick. I wasn't sure if I believed her because at my 36w pregnancy appointment, my doctor had told me I was already 1-2cm dilated. But they said they'd monitor the baby, I could walk around, and they'd re-check me. I was sure I'd progress more in that time.

At 6:15am, they checked me again. The nurse said she couldn't even verify if I was at 2cm yet. I felt defeated and like I was going to get sent home. They put me back on the monitors for Baby and went to call the doctor on call before I could be released. At about 6:40am, the doctor said Baby didn't seem to like the contractions, and her heart rate dipped sometimes when I had one. Baby didn't have as good acceleration with her heart rate as they wanted to see, so they wanted to be extra cautious and do an ultrasound to make sure her breathing and everything is good before they would release me. If they saw anything on ultrasound they didn't like, or if Baby seemed done with it, they would keep me.

We had to wait for the shift change at 7am before someone came up for the ultrasound, and that turned out to be the best thing that could have happened for us. They finished the ultrasound at 8am, and we waited for the results. At this point, we were exhausted, and my contractions were getting worse in terms of pain. I didn't want to walk anymore, and I told Robbie that if they sent us home, I wasn't comfortable leaving. I would stay close by and come right back. There is a certain pain threshold I hit in labor when I know it's the real thing, and this was it.

At 8:10am, we got the ultrasound results, and all looked good, but we were waiting for the doctor on call to come see us. My contractions didn't seem to be getting any closer together, but they weren't getting any less painful either. At 8:45am, we were still waiting for them to find the on-call doctor. They didn't believe she was at the hospital currently and needed her to see me and clear me for release. I now had a new nurse as well (due to the shift change), and I told her all my fears of how quickly things happened with Broddy and I didn't want it to go that way again. She was amazing and said they'd recheck before any release, too, just to see if there had been any more progression.

At 9am, they rechecked me and said I was at 3-4cm dilated. Progress! We all believed there were some discrepancies in my earlier checks with the other nurse, especially seeing how my doctor said I was already dilated a week prior. They also said they still weren't 100% happy with how Baby's heart rate looked. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't as good as they wanted it to be. They moved me to a Labor & Delivery room, started doing all my bloodwork, got an IV started, and ordered me to eat/drink to see if those things helped the baby at all. They were hoping I'd progress and dilate more on my own, because since I was early at 37 weeks, they couldn't give me anything to induce labor or make it progress more. Unless Baby got distressed, then they'd have to intervene, but none of us wanted it to come to that. They told me there was still a chance I could get sent home later, but they were going to prep me in hopes that this was the real deal.

At 10:30am, my nurse checked me again and said I was at a solid 4cm dilated. They still needed me to be at 5cm to be considered active labor and to be able to officially admit me and get my epidural. But she was sure we'd get there on our own. My nurse said she'd check me again soon so we could catch it early, and I could get my epidural that I desperately wanted.

By 10:50am, my contractions were a lot closer together and more painful. I was only able to eat half an English muffin and couldn't stomach anything else. My nurse was amazing and really pleaded my case to the doctor, who agreed to go ahead and let me get my epidural. At 11:45am, my epidural was officially in. The epidural itself felt a little off to me. I had to switch sides to help numb everything. One side was stronger than the other. A different experience than with my first two kids.

At 1:10pm, things were progressing even more. My epidural was in full effect, they gave me a little pitocin to help the contractions, and I was at 6cm dilated. The doctor said she'd go ahead and break my water, and I was all for it, knowing that would progress things even further. Since getting the epidural, I had been trying to rest and was exhausted, having been up for 12 hours at this point. Baby's heart rate was doing well after the epidural, and me lying on my side too. So I was very happy to hear that it was helping both of us!

At 1:25pm, I started feeling some pressure. They checked me and I was at 9cm dilated. It was just about push time! Baby girl was born at 1:50pm, on Sunday, June 16th, 2024. It also happened to be Father's Day. I told Robbie, "Happy Father's Day, this year I got you a baby" LOL. The baby came out screaming right away and had some lungs. We did skin-to-skin right away and nursed. She was absolutely precious. I could tell right away she looked smaller than Broddy did! I had been hoping for a small baby, and she was my smallest to date! She also tied Broddy for arriving the same exact number of days early, at 17 days early. I also didn't tear, which was another blessing. 

This birth was, in a lot of ways, a redemption from my last one. So many little details that unfolded in unexpected ways but turned out to be so many blessings. Being kept to monitor Baby's heart rate helped me progress without being sent home. The nurse shift change brought me a nurse who really advocated for me and my birth plan. I got all of my wishes this go around with birthing, and Robbie got to be there to see it too. My mom got to be here beforehand and stayed a week after to help me with all the kiddos and adjusting. So many blessings. Looking back on it, I can definitely see God's handiwork through it all. And I'm so thankful!

Baby Humble #4 is Here!

Baby Humble #4 graced us with her presence with a much-needed birth redemption after the last hectic one. So many little blessings along the way, showing God's goodness and protection as she entered the world. Stay tuned for the monthly letters and Baby Girl's detailed birth story to come! For now, here is the official social media announcement I made when our little girl arrived:

Introducing our littlest love: Kambria Annise Humble, born Sunday 6/16/2024 at 1:50pm, weighing 6lbs 15oz and 20 inches long♡ 

After having about 31 total hours of contractions (mostly not consistent pain-wise) and getting lucky they kept us at the hospital in the early stages...Baby decided to join us 17 days early on Father's Day! 

She is absolutely precious and already fits into our family perfectly! She is our tiniest baby and ties Broddy for arriving the earliest. Despite arriving screaming, she now rarely makes a peep, the older kids are all obsessed with her, and I can't believe we're officially a party of six🩷 

Baby Humble #4: 3rd Trimester

The 3rd trimester was a doozy blur. So busy prepping everything for the baby. Trying to narrow down nap options (with little to no progress). Doing all I could to help my body prepare for labor (daily teas and exercises). Getting that exhaustion phase again and having everyone tell me over and over, it looked like the baby had dropped. Here are all the details of how it all went down!

28 weeks - Baby is the size of Rapunzel's paint palette. Officially in the 3rd trimester! It has been a busy, whirlwind last few months, and why I've been slacking on my bumpdates. We've fought colds and a stomach bug (which I made it through without getting). My last doctor's appointment was at 23 weeks, and all looked good. Baby tried to hide from the doppler pressure and even kicked the doctor twice. My next appointment is this week, and I will be doing my glucose test. My appetite is smaller again. I still want pasta and pizza often. I'm drinking mostly apple juice and water. I've also started craving carbonated drinks more this past week. We celebrated Easter with a road trip to Virginia to visit my family. Our last trip before the baby arrives. Our schedules are crazy with baseball/teeball for the next couple of months. We've been doing lots of yard work and house projects to try and start getting everything prepped before baby comes. I'm beginning all my 3rd trimester and birth prep routines now, too. I'm feeling the baby move a lot more often and regularly. Everyone in the family has felt the baby move now. I'm also wearing my belly band pretty often now to help with back pain. I'm having regular Braxton Hicks contractions already as well. This is a normal occurrence for me during pregnancy. With my 2nd, I had them regularly from 30 weeks on, and with my 3rd, they started right around this same time. They aren't painful, which is a good sign. I'm starting to feel a bit of pressure with how much I still need to do and get ready in time. All of my kids have come early, so I'm determined to get stuff done early just in case. I've been working on my baby sewing projects and have completed an outfit, headband, and bow so far. I still have a few more projects to go, but I am planning on focusing my free time on getting them done in the next few weeks! My goal is to try and have everything ready by early June (one month before my due date), we'll see if that actually happens or not. Still no name picked out, but keeping my eyes and ears open to any suggestions.

30 weeks - Baby is the size of Rapunzel's frying pan. Only 10 weeks to go! At 29 weeks, I had a long doctor's appointment and did my glucose test. Passed the test, and Baby's heart sounded great! She still tries to move away from the doppler, and it takes a little bit to find her heartbeat most times. My doctor's appointments are now starting to be every 2 weeks, which is really making everything feel real that she'll be here before we know it. At 30 weeks, we took our maternity pictures, and I cannot wait to see how they turned out! I'm so excited about them. I'm wearing my belly band pretty much all the time now, anytime I'm walking/standing/sitting for long periods, and it has definitely been helping my back pain. I felt some baby kicks in my ribs a couple of days in a row, so I thought she might be head down...but haven't felt them that high since, so now I'm not sure. She is moving a lot these days, which is so fun to experience (as long as she isn't keeping me up at night or pressing on my bladder constantly). I am drinking my tea and doing yoga again regularly! So I'm hoping my birth prep exercises will also help alleviate some of my aches/pains and get baby in the head down position (if she isn't already). I'm in a major get-things-done mode but also feeling more tired between pregnancy and baseball schedules. So it's a balance of trying to get it all done, which is kicking into full gear for this month. We did get a new car in preparation for the baby's arrival! Our official big (soon-to-be a 4-kid) family SUV/my cool mom SUV. We're all loving the extra space, and I can't wait to bring baby girl home in it soon!

32 weeks - Baby is the size of the rose in Beauty & the Beast. I had another doctor's appointment at 31 weeks, and all looks good. Baby's heart rate was 160s, and she was moving a lot (trying to get away from the doppler). I got to hear it for a long time while Dr waited to make sure it went down some, and it did to 155. I gained 1lb since my last appointment 2 weeks ago, which makes a total of 26 lbs gained so far this pregnancy. This is right on track with all my other pregnancies for the estimated total of what I'll gain going forward. So I'm happy with that! I'm starting to feel more uncomfortable, so I started yoga and labor prep exercises regularly again. I have already noticed a difference in my aches/pains and am already feeling better in general. I'm having more low pressure especially during my Braxton Hicks contractions and always feel like I have to pee right away during them. I'm also having some acid reflux, mainly at night. I'm slowly checking off things on my to-do list by finishing another sewing project: baby's special swaddle blanket. At 32 weeks, I did my epidural consultation and a 3D/4D ultrasound. Baby is getting so big with a squishy nose and cheeks😍 Her heart rate was 157. She is head down and was very low! Baby had her feet and cord in her face, chewed on her toes, and had hiccups during the ultrasound. We also reconfirmed it is still a girl (after not being able to do so during the anatomy scan). She is measuring right on track for her age, and the estimated weight is 4lbs 5oz. I'm hoping for a smaller baby.

34 weeks - Baby is the size of Belle's favorite book. It's starting to feel real that Baby is going to be here soon! I've been feeling more motivated again, so this week and next, I'm on a mission to get things done on my to-do list. I finished sewing boppy covers and got all the baby girl clothes washed. Now I just need to put them away. I had another doctor's appointment this week, and the baby's heart rate was 150s. Everything is going normally, like all my other pregnancies. After discussing when each of my other kids came, the doctor said our goal is to try and make it to 37 weeks this time. My next appointment is in 2 weeks, then they'll go every week until the baby's arrival. A couple of people told me that it looks like my belly has already dropped, and I definitely feel like it has, too. I'm having more pelvic discomfort and pressure this past week (more than I ever remember from any other pregnancy). I'm still loving my pasta, but have also been eating lots of fruits and wanting Mexican food and pizza more often, too. I've gone through 3 baby name books from the library looking for inspiration, but haven't come across much that has stood out. We did start talking more in-depth about baby names, but we still aren't any closer to deciding for sure yet. For some reason, this go around, I'm having a hard time narrowing down options.

36 weeks - Baby is the size of Rapunzel's lantern. I can't believe I'm already writing a 36-week update! This was the last bumpdate I ever did with my last baby, which is crazy to think about! We're getting so close to meeting our new baby girl, and we all can't wait. A couple of ladies from my church threw me a baby shower, and we were so blessed with many amazing gifts. The last couple of weeks, I've been focused on getting the remaining items on my to-do list done, and I've almost completed everything. I've finished sewing the baby's car seat cover and taggy blanket. And I've finished embroidering shirts for the older kids to meet Baby in. I got all the remaining baby laundry done and all the equipment set up/ready for use. I cleaned out the car and installed Baby's car seat. I've also set up all my postpartum stations and items in the house. I finally just got Baby's coming home outfit! And now all I have left to do is pack my hospital bag (which I plan to do tonight). I just had my latest doctor's appointment and 36-week collections. Baby's heart rate was 140s/150s. Dr confirmed that Baby is head down and low with head in my pelvis. I'm also already 1-2cm dilated. Being dilated this early doesn't really mean much. It could still be a while before Baby comes, but it's the first time I've ever been dilated prior to going into labor. With that and how low Baby is, I'm kinda afraid everything will move fast once it does start. My appetite is smaller again, and I've been wanting lots of fruit and ice cream lately. I'm feeling good for the most part, but have been feeling a lot more tired the last few days. I honestly do feel like Baby will be early and come this month, but it's all up to her. I'm anxious to see when she decides to arrive and try to figure out what name suits her once she's here!

37 weeks - Feeling exhausted and over it. Doing multiple birth prep yoga + yoga ball exercises daily, and taking long family walks daily. Contractions started, and it was officially go time!

Letters to Lacey Belle, Weston & Brodrick: As We Prepare to Welcome Baby #4

Dearest Lacey Belle, Weston & Brodrick,

As we prepare to welcome Baby #4, little sister, I wanted to take a minute to write out some thoughts, prayers, hopes, and dreams I have for you all as our family grows. 

The more kiddos we add to our family, the harder it is to address these letters to all of you. I am so excited to see you all with your little sister. You are all so excited to meet her already!

Lacey Belle - my oldest, my first girl. You are so excited to finally get your sister and I feel so blessed to be able to give you one. While the bonds you have with your brothers are wonderful to see, there is nothing like the bond of sisters. My sisters are my best friends and I hope the same for you. I'll count on you to help show her the ropes and be a good example of what a strong, determined, independent, sweet, loving, responsible lady she can be. I have no doubts you'll love her and be the best big sister and helper, because you already are those things with your brothers.

Weston - my second, my oldest boy. I have loved watching you thrive as a big brother and know it will continue with your little sister. You are calm and quiet, the perfect balance to your other siblings. I'll look to you to show grace, compassion, strength, and steadiness through the ups and downs of life with another newborn. I know you'll show her the way and help her blend into our family.

Brodrick - my third, my wild child. You're going to be giving up your title as the baby of the family. I don't think you quite know what that means yet, but you'll figure it out. Please have patience with me while we find our new rhythms. I'm excited to give you a playmate closer in age to you. It is my hope that you'll love your new sister and be protective of her. That you won't be too jealous and instead just love her. I know it may take some time but I know we'll get there. You'll always be my baby and I'll always love you so so much! Nothing will ever change that. I'm time I'll look to you to show baby the ropes and to show her how to be brave, adventurous, and full of life and laughter.

You three are my world! I would do anything for you and cannot wait to see you welcome baby sister into our world. All our hearts are about to grow even bigger to fit another in. Thank you for rolling with everything that is thrown your way and embracing it fully. Here's to being a family of six and a sibling group of four🩷💙🩵💜

Love, Mommy

Baby Humble #4: 2nd Trimester

I started taking my regular bumpdates at 15 weeks, once the bump was popping again. I didn't do nearly as many this time as I did the last few pregnancies, but I still did my best to track what I could. I started feeling better in my 2nd trimester. No more nausea, and the energy is returning!

13-14 weeks - At 13 weeks, I had my 1st ultrasound with my doctor. The baby was squirming and looked great. Measured right on track at 13 weeks (was 13w1d during ultrasound). In a pasta phase, any kind of pasta.

15 weeks - Baby is the size of Alice in Wonderland's teacup. We will confirm the gender of this sweet one this week. We do have our blood test results on gender, but having known multiple people personally who were told wrong blood test results, I'm nervous to only rely on that. We are going in this week for an early ultrasound to confirm gender. I'm hoping for a cooperative baby so we can start planning and name brainstorming. I'm so excited to be going and finding out all together as a family again. After a couple of weeks early on with morning sickness and general sickness (the worst out of any of my pregnancies), I've been feeling good again for a while now. I am trying to take advantage of that by getting back into my yoga, writing, and DIY projects regularly again. Smell aversions are very real, and my sense of smell is sensitive. I haven't been able to drink OJ at all this pregnancy, which I normally drink every morning. I'm currently in a big pasta phase. All I want is pasta. I feel like I've had a feeling about what the gender is this pregnancy, but I've been wrong about every one of my kids, so I just try not to think about it, so anxious to know for sure!

18 weeks - Baby is the size of Meeko's biscuit. Baby is a girl! I had a doctor's appointment at 15 weeks, and all looked good. Baby's heart rate was 157. We did an early ultrasound at 15 weeks, and Baby was moving so much! Had a hard time verifying gender because Baby was squatting, legs tucked, and the cord was in between the legs most of the time. Finally verified that gender did match the blood test, and it's a girl. Baby measured at 15w4d was 15w2d during ultrasound, and the heartbeat was 155. Baby tried to sleep and didn't want to move after about 20ish minutes. Couldn't get good profile/head shots because Baby kept hiding face behind the placenta. So we went back the next day and got better photos and clearer gender confirmation. I'm not sure if I have an anterior or posterior placenta, but assuming it is an anterior one again because I haven't felt any movements yet. Will verify at my anatomy scan. We are all so excited to be tying things up again by adding another little girl to the family! My gender dream and gut guess were both right (surprisingly, this is my first pregnancy I was right on the gender). I have still been feeling pretty good. My appetite is back to my normal non-pregnant appetite (aka I'm not snacking all day long anymore). I'm still very much in a pasta phase! I'm still trying to get consistent with my yoga routines in between all my DIY projects. My newest DIY venture (hand embroidery) came out so cute with my gender reveal Little Sister sweater. I'm starting to prep fabric and other DIY projects for the baby. And of course brainstorming names...so far nothing has really jumped out at me, so I'm in the same open-minded boat as I was with Brodrick.

20 weeks - Baby is the size of Ariel's dinglehopper. Officially at the halfway mark! I can't believe we're already halfway through this pregnancy! It feels like it's been flying by, especially lately. This past week, I had a doctor's appointment, and all is going smoothly so far (very thankful for that). Baby's heart rate was 150s. I have also started feeling my first baby's movements and flutters (the earliest out of any of my pregnancies). Even though this is my 4th pregnancy, there have already been quite a few firsts this time around. This is the first time I was right about the gender. This week, we had our anatomy scan. Baby was very squirmy, but her heart and everything looked great! Heartrate was 149 (the lowest it's been at any scan/check). We weren't able to get a good shot of gender because she was sitting crisscross applesauce right under butt pretty much the entire time...but the tech did show me where she could tell it is still a girl. I'm so glad we had multiple ultrasounds and a blood test early on that all matched (girl) because this is my first baby, and I didn't get a clear gender confirmation during the anatomy scan, and I would have been hesitant to believe it had we not done everything earlier. I also found out I have a posterior placenta this time--another first for me. I was very surprised to hear this because in my other pregnancies, I had anterior placentas and had only just started feeling movements. It will be fun to see how much more I feel this go around, just based on that. Baby measured 1 day ahead in the 62nd or 64th percentile (can't remember which) at 12 ounces. I'm hoping for a small baby, so I was happy to hear she's not far ahead in size. I've been fighting off a cold for about a week now, but all in all, I'm doing well. Due to being sick, I've been taking it easy and taking more naps lately. I'm ready to start diving back into my DIY projects, though!

22 weeks - Baby is the size of Cinderella's glass slipper. Not much new to report. Feeling some more flutters and movements, but not too much yet. Still so excited to be adding another little girl to the mix. Still don't have a name. Still brainstorming baby project ideas and getting them going. Still wanting all the pasta, all the time. Still feeling good. Still feel like time is flying by. Just taking it all one day at a time and trying to soak up each moment and milestone.

Baby Humble #4: Gender Reveal

My doctor's office did the early genetic blood test that also tested for gender at my first appointment at 10 weeks. I had never had it done so early and was nervous to find out. We got our results, but waited for an ultrasound to confirm it was accurate. We did an early elective ultrasound to find out the gender altogether as a family at 15 weeks and were able to determine pretty quickly what the gender was. It matched the blood test, which gave us good confidence it was correct, so we went ahead and announced it. At my 19-week anatomy scan, I asked the tech to confirm the gender again for me, but the baby made it difficult, with the cord between the baby's legs the whole time. Tech did tell me how she could tell it was the same as our other tests based on pelvic shape, but this was the first time I didn't get a clear potty shot during the anatomy scan. So I was very thankful we had the two earlier confirmations because I wouldn't have trusted just the tech's word since I couldn't verify for myself. (Spoiler alert: it was all correct in the end). Here is our official gender reveal on social media:

Our littlest love is a GIRL🩷🎀🌹🧚‍♀️