Test #2

Well it looks like the first testing post worked!  YAY!!  So now to test if pictures will post as well :)  We have tried to post another picture of Camdyn from the last ultrasound we went to back on August 28th.  

If this works we are in business and should be good to go.  You will be able to keep posted on things very easily straight from the blog, since we know that not a lot of family uses texting, etc.  

We have had an interesting past couple of days to say the least.  For a bit there we were getting to worry about Rory and some of her behavior.  She was almost starting to act like she had something wrong mentally.  We immediately took her to the vet and all of her vitals were perfect.  We decided with our vet to wait a few more days to see if things would change before we progressed with blood work and then x-rays, etc.  She slowly started coming back to normal and is about 92% back to what we would consider her normal (I think we all know she is a little crazy as is :) ).  So we will continue to monitor her and hope that it was just some random thing that happened and doesn't come back.  I think Rigby can safely attest that Rory is back to normal as he takes the general brunt of her active and playful self.  

Gabrielle is still definitely feeling a lot of discomfort in these last weeks.  We are now under 5 weeks left (4 weeks, 6 days to go, not that we are counting :) ).  She is definitely having contractions though they seem to be still "irregular" with their timing.  We thought we were getting close yesterday as there was definitely a period of about 3-4 hours where they were coming every 30 minutes but that has since seemed to have changed some back to irregular and the discomfort and pain she was feeling yesterday has also definitely calmed down a ton so far today.  We think the ability to try and rest and stay hydrated is helping and most of what she will be doing this weekend.  Our next appointment is on Wednesday and that is the start of us going every week until Camdyn is here, we will look at updating sometime soon after our appointment.

So that is about where we are for today.  We hope that everyone has a great weekend.  

Love always, 

Ben and Gabrielle

Test

In attempt to try and keep everyone updated for Camdyn's arrival on the blog, we are testing out a way where we will be able to email/text straight to the blog the status and updates from the hospital (well for Ben to :-) ).  

So here is our first test trial on this!  Let's hope it works!!

Love, 

Ben and Gabrielle

Time kind of got in the way

Oops! So we let things kind of slide under the radar the past several weeks and started to slack on updating on here. To be honest though, there really hasn't been too much that anybody has been missing. Things in the Rivera household are pretty calm and pretty much the same.

The nursery is now pretty much 99.9% complete. The only thing left to do is put the bumpers on the crib. Everything else is ready for Camdyn. Feels kind of nice to have that done so we can start to just wait for her. Speaking of Camdyn though, we had another ultrasound on August 28th and wanted to share some of the pictures from that session.

This was Camdyn almost the whole session. Where on Earth did she get hands so big???

The pregnancy has been progressing along. We have finally hit a point where the easy-going-ness of it has stopped. Gabrielle has been having pains for about an entire week now...and while "contractions" have been pretty random and far apart they have been hurting her. Most of the pain is attributed to Camdyn's head being down and in Gabrielle's pelvic area so she feels constant pressure there, something she has been told she is going to just have to deal with till Camdyn comes. This afternoon definitely hasn't been one of the better days(even after an amazing day at the spa for a pregnancy massage and pedicure thanks to her amazing husband!!) but we are doing what we can and just anticipating our daughter's arrival. We know it is only going to progressively get worse, so here we go! The great news is though that we are only a little over 5 weeks until the due date (we are 34 weeks, 2 days today). It is really hard to even believe.

Ben is working on trying to figure out a way to keep friends and family updated through the blog or even other means easily for the big day. We will figure something out (thanks Matt for your help so far!). But you can definitely guarantee we will have updates with lots of pictures :)

Well that is really all we have here. We will try and get some more blog posts in without as much time passing this next round.

We hope that this finds everyone well. We love you all!

Love always,

Ben and Gabrielle

PS We forgot to add a couple pictures of the bellly-my how things have changed :) This is from 34 weeks, 3 days.

30+ Weeks and an almost complete nursery!

Busy busy busy!! That has definitely been us since our last post. We have been in full mode on trying to finish up the nursery as much as we can so we can have one less thing to worry about. We have come a HUGE way with it. Here are some pictures from what we have completed in there. Mind you it is still not 100% complete but if you look back at some of the other pictures in our older posts it is just about there. We have lanterns that are going to be here Thursday and we will be hanging them above the crib. That will definitely help finish off that part of the room. As you will see in the pictures we did take down the crib bedding for now. There was a lot of dust and work going on on as things were completed so they will be washed again before they get put back on. So in the next days and weeks we should have more pictures to share.

- New Blinds, The Infamous Dots, Rocking Chair, and Bookcase

- Completed armoire and new "art"

- New Bookcase fully stocked!

- New closet door

- Changing table area (lamp most likely to move, and whole in the wall will have a speaker in it :) )

- Entry to living room. Cross that Gabrielle had as a very young little girl.

As of Thursday we were at 30 weeks...wow only about 10 more weeks left. We aren't totally sure if we think it is going to be a super fast time passing or if it will be slow since we are anxious for her arrival. We had our 4th birthing class (out of 5 total). It has been pretty interesting and we think we have at least learned some new things. It has been at least worthwhile.

This week is Gabrielle's birthday (Wednesday)- and is her big 30th! Ack!! We will be heading to the Jack Johnson concert on Thursday and that is something we are both looking very forward to. Hopefully Camdyn will appreciate his music like we do :)

Not much else to report here. We wanted to get the pictures up and shared with you all since we have been asked about them. We hope you are all doing well.

Love always,
Ben and Gabrielle

Thank you!

We can not even begin to thank everyone enough for all of the great presents we received this past weekend at Camdyn's baby shower. We also want to thank everyone who was able to make it to the shower. It was really great getting to spend some time with so many family and friends. We know that Camdyn is loved already so much more than she knows! Thank you as well to Gabrielle's parents for hosting a truly lovely event. We are extremely grateful for all the work that went into everything and making it honestly a perfect day!

We wanted to post some pictures from the shower that we have received. Ben is going to work on trying to get the video we took up and running so we can get a link posted on here for everyone to see. We have posted some pictures at the end of this entry for your enjoyment :)

Tomorrow we will be at 29 weeks. We had a Dr's appointment today and everything is looking good. Belly is measuring right on track and her heartbeat is still sounding fantastic, we love getting to hear that every appointment. We have one more appointment in 3 weeks and then we will be going every 2 weeks, for two appointments and then every week till she is born. Our doctor is really happy with our progress and everything is coming along very nicely.

We have been working hard on trying to finish the nursery up and were even able to get most of the gifts from the shower unpacked. We are trying to get all the last items ordered and bought as we can. There are many days where we think, wow 11 weeks is so far away still, but then when we start working on getting things done in her room 11 weeks doesn't seem like enough time!!! Ben should have the armoire finished this weekend. The changing table should be here next week and will have to be put together. Once those two things are here and up then more laundry can be done with all of her blankets, sheets, burp cloths, etc and then put away...and then we can also start to really decorate her room. We will definitely put up the pictures as we get them taken!!

We meant to report in our last entry but forgot but we have decided on an official middle name. So without further delay, we are so pleased to announce that our little girl will be Camdyn Elyse Rivera.

Well everyone, this was a lot longer than probably what most of you were expecting. Again, we thank you each and all for everything you have done for us! We are truly grateful and feel beyond blessed.

Enjoy the pictures and we will update more soon!

Love always,

Ben and Gabrielle

Every centerpiece was a gorgeous outfit for Camdyn.

Awesome Diaper Cake with a cute monkey on top :)

The Rivera Family

Grainger and Rivera Family

Grainger Family

Camdyn's gifts!

And yes more!

After opening up gifts and putting stuff away, Camdyn's closet now looks like this:

Third Trimester- we have arrived!!!

Today at 26.667 weeks we have officially hit the 3rd trimester (though most people just round up to 27 weeks)!!! However, our due date is 3 months from today!! It is crazy to think! We have been so busy trying to get things taken care of while we can and as I am sure most people know it just never seems like enough time.

The latest project in the nursery that Ben finished was starting all over in the closet. He did another great job. We still need to go and buy more shelving and rods but the one we started with was enough to hold us over with her ever so growing wardrobe. Attached you can see what Ben has done and the start of her clothes collection (there was still more clothing that wasn't hung).

This Sunday we will be starting our first child birth class. This one will be 5 weeks long and then we have a couple other classes after this one is completed. Should be interesting :)

In a little over a week we will be having our baby shower. It is weird to think that we are already approaching that as well. It sounds like it is going to be an absolute wonderful time and we are looking forward to spending time with our family and friends. Camdyn is already such a loved girl! We will post pictures after on here to share with those of you who couldn't make it!

We wanted to wish our friends Ian and Alix Congrats on their new addition, Nolan Alexander, who arrived on July 20th, at 6 lbs 15 oz, 20 inches. He is absolutely adorable and we can't wait to take a trip up to Jacksonville and meet him! Congrats again to you guys!!

For now that is about all. I know that some time has passed since our last entry but we will try and keep things up to date. Posted below you will find our new belly shots for the start of 3rd tri.

We hope you are all doing well!

Love and miss you all,

Ben and Gabrielle

24 weeks tomorrow and dots are done!

Tomorrow we will be at 24 weeks!! Holy crap :) Camdyn is now the size of a papaya, weighing about 1.5 lbs and about 8.5 inches in length. She is on average gaining about 6 oz a week!! Her face is just about fully formed and she is complete with eyelashes, eyebrows, and hair. Our big milestone this week is we will be at viability.

Camdyn has been increasingly moving around. She doesn't have any exact patterns that I have been able to notice, but is definitely much more active when I am just sitting around relaxing (or even at work). It is pretty unreal to feel. She is definitely getting stronger in there and every now and then you can see it on the outside but that is still a little bit away from being more noticeable to others.

Ben has completed the big dot project in the nursery. He did such an amazing job. It looks so great and it is going to to really complete the room when it is done. So without further delay, 255+ dots later here is the final product:

The rest of the bedding has come in as well but we will have to post pictures of that later. It needs to get set up still. We will still need to finish up the armoire and then closet. We are also on the prowl for a changing table. Once that is in place we will put up her letters with her name. We are planning on getting some lanterns (like ones we had at the wedding) to put above her crib and be her "mobile." Then just some last touches, still have some ways to go though.

And here are some more pictures. These were taken this evening so just a day shy of 24 weeks. Enough to get the point though :)

Well that is about all here with Camdyn. We hope that everyone had a great 4th of July weekend. I know that we certainly had a great weekend and enjoyed Ben's family visiting. Tons of food and good times, can't go wrong there!!! :)

Love always,
Ben and Gabrielle