Liam Richard Judd

I am now 5 months along or in Preggo talk.. 21 weeks. Over halfway done!! I am a little late in telling everyone. I have been asked how I kept my pregnancy a secret for so long. Honestly it wasn't that I was keeping a secret, I just didn't want to make it that big of a deal. If someone asked, I told them. It was that simple. Plus I was extremely concerned about having a miscarriage. The last thing I wanted was to tell everyone that I was pregnant, only to have a miscarriage and have to tell everyone when they asked about the baby, that I wasn't having one anymore. My mother, sister-in-law, and cousins have all struggled with miscarriages. I have been aware of this possibility and it has been a real fear in my life. I assumed that I would be the same as my family, so I expected to have one and didn't really let myself get truly excited until I had my first ultrasound at 18 weeks. Now that everyone knows, here is a little 'catch up' on my pregnancy experience so far.

I have had a pretty easy pregnancy so far. I felt GREAT my first trimester. It was a literal BREEZE. I didn't tell anyone but my mom & Conner that I was pregnant until I was in the last week of my first trimester. Everything was the same except a sudden HATE of anything with meat in it and I was just a little more tired than usual. This meant more naps, which in my world is a WONDERFUL thing. The second trimester however, has been riddled with nausea, unbearable migraines, misaligned hips, extreme back spasms, sciatic nerve pain, blurred vision, more exhaustion and fatigue, and an inability to sleep for more than 3 hours at a time. I thought that the sleep thing was what happened AFTER the baby was born.. I guess I will be used to sleep deprivation by then. Those things aren't the worst in the world though. I will survive. Apparently according to EVERY other woman in the world this is supposed to be when I am feeling the best. Oh goodie.  -______-

Baby Liam is a wild one. He kicks me ALL day long and ALL night long. If I am laying down he is kicking me. Conner was a wild child, so we are going to blame him on this one, but I am honestly afraid that this child will come out bouncing off the walls. With Conner's destructive toddler stories and my insane amount of energy I think that this kid is going to give us a run for our money. Conner is convinced that Liam is going to be a huge baby, but I think he will just be average. Every Dr.'s appointment he has measured exactly normal. That one we will blame on me. I was always pretty average height and weight wise. Conner however was a tank as a kid. So we will just have to wait and see. As long as he fits in the outfit I bought him to come home from the hospital in I will be happy. If you saw this outfit, you would completely understand. It is the definition of 'manly adorable'.

I honestly have had a really great pregnancy overall. It has reassured me in the fact that this is what my Father in Heaven wants me to be doing. Bubba and I have always wanted kids. We have been married for over two years and everyone started the "So when do you guys want to have kids?" conversations a year ago at least... Which really bothered me for some reason. To Conner & I this decision was not just ours, but we included God very much in it. After all it is His child that we will be caring for and teaching. We wanted to make sure that we were prepared spiritually, emotionally, and financially. If I had decided to have a kid when I had wanted one, I would have had one two years ago. It would have been a blessing, just one that felt more like a trial at the time. We have been constantly praying about when it was right to start our family. This summer we both just knew. We went to the temple and prayed to confirm that the answer that we had received was truly what God wanted in our lives. I can not explain how good it feels to have the Lord's blessing and approval on such a special endeavor. We have been prepared to fully enjoy this entire process and have felt nothing but peace and comfort. (the freak out moments are probably not too far away but for now we have felt strangely calm about this whole being responsible for a human being thing.) I am so grateful that my husband and I have a relationship with Christ and our Heavenly Father. It has only strengthened our marriage and helped us see this life with an eternal perspective. I definitely am counting my blessings and enjoying every second of my transition into becoming a mother. It has always been a dream of mine and Conner has been DYING to be a dad so we are nothing but over the moon about this whole experience.

I will be writing more about my feelings about becoming a Mother, and about Conner becoming a Father. I am so excited for the future and can it just be May already?!

XOXO, Cami