Never forget...

Tomorrow marks the 1 year anniversary of the beginning of the loss of our first pregnancy. I didn't actually miscarry until March 3rd, but everything started going wrong on February 28th. I will never forget the feeling of finding out that I was expecting that baby and Mark's reaction when I told him. We were so excited and we loved that baby so much. We had the picture below done by http://namesinthesand.blogspot.com/ as a memorial to our precious baby. We have this framed in our home as a reminder of our little "Filbert". Filbert was the nickname Mark gave the baby since it was just a little peanut! :)


Losing that baby was definitely the hardest thing I have been through so far in my life, but has taught me so much about myself. Even though I spent so many nights crying, I survived. I definitely couldn't have gotten through it without the love and support of Mark, our family and our friends. We prayed that someday we would get pregnant again and that we would get our rainbow. Here is a quote that I posted last April after our loss, "Have faith in your dreams and someday your RAINBOW will come smiling through. No matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep believing, the dream that you wish will come true."

The grin of my rainbow smiling through:


It is crazy how life works out... I will never forget in June my mom telling me, "this is your month, I just know it." She wished upon a shooting star and even saw a rainbow in the sky. I just laughed her off. Little did I know, we would find out that our "rainbow"was on her way soon! As I sit here and type Camryn is moving around and I just think about how blessed we are. Having a miscarriage took all of the innocence out of pregnancy, but it also taught me to never take a single thing for granted. So many people breeze through pregnancies with no issues at all and don't think twice about how fortunate they are to have a healthy baby. That is definitely not the case in the Lowry household. We KNOW we have been BLESSED! We cannot wait to meet our little rainbow girl! I go back to the doctor on Wednesday and will update then. Sorry for the sad post, but it has been on my mind this weekend. It is just great to know that Camryn has Filbert and so many others watching over her! :)

Thanks for reading.

Love,
Mark & Missy

9 months!!!

Well...I am officially 9 months pregnant today! Woohoo to 36 weeks! Camryn is doing fantastic. Last night while Mark and I were in bed we were just watching my stomach move. It is so amazing. I cannot wait to meet her, but I know I am also going to miss being pregnant. It is just a miracle when you sit back and think about it! I went to the doctor Tuesday and she is measuring "normal" and sounded great! Dr. C said that she is low and asked if we had everything ready? :) I go back again on Wednesday. Last weekend we finished up buying all of the final items we needed and Mark washed all of her clothes on Monday since he had the day off! We are all set!
Here I am 9 months pregnant:

What is Camryn up to this week???
Your baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds (like a crenshaw melon) and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Your baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, will form the contents of her first bowel movement.

At the end of this week, your baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely she's in a head-down position. But if she isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an "external cephalic version," which is a fancy way of saying she'll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating her from the outside of your belly.

Well that's all for now! Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Love,
Mark & Missy

35 week check up!

Today I had my 35 week appointment and things are still looking great! My blood pressure was 122/72 which was great! I am starting to swell up, but am just glad it is not due to high blood pressure! I got the surprise day off today too, so that was nice. I was able to put away MORE of Camryn's clothes and clean the house a little. Not to mention, it was nice to have lunch with Mark and Beans! :) Camryn sounded good and is measuring great. I go back to the doctor next Tuesday! (It just seems crazy to me that it is time for me to go EVERY week!) :)

35 weeks....whoa belly!



What's up Camryn??? Your baby doesn't have much room to maneuver now that she's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds (pick up a honeydew melon). Because it's so snug in your womb, she isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times she kicks should remain about the same. Her kidneys are fully developed now, and her liver can process some waste products. Most of her basic physical development is now complete — she'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight.

Check back next week for another update! I hope everyone has a great week! :)

Love,
Mark & Missy

Baby Shower

Baby Shower #2 is now over and I am pretty sure we have more stuff than we know what to do with! :) It was an amazing shower and we got a lot of great gifts! A big thanks to my sister and family for throwing it for me! Also, a big thanks to everyone who attended! We are seriously so lucky to have such fantastic family and friends. We got lots of clothes, gift cards, bath stuff, a bouncy seat, monitor, books, diaper genie....you name it, we are all set! Below are some pictures! Enjoy! :)

Gifts, gifts and more gifts....
Hair clips, headbands and hats....OH MY! :)

My sister made all of the above for Camyrn! She is sooo talented! I can't wait to see our little girl sporting them!

Coach diaper bag....thanks Mom & Dad!


I am off to the doctor again tomorrow for my 35 week check up! I will post again tomorrow night with details of the appointment and a belly shot! Hope everyone is having a great week!

Love,
Mark & Missy

6 weeks to go...

Today marks 34 weeks! This week has gone pretty well. I am still fighting off a cold, but definitely doing much better! We had our second 4d ultrasound last Saturday and let me just say it was the most amazing thing ever! We got to see Camryn's little face and she even gave us an ornery little grin! It was PRICELESS! We picked up her chair last Saturday too, so her room is filing up! I am just waiting on the letters for her wall and some other art to come in and it will be all set! I have my second baby shower this weekend, which I am VERY excited about! Other than that, I am feeling good and definitely getting really excited that her arrival is so near!
Here are some pictures from the ultrasound! The quality isn't the greatest because I had to take a picture of the actual picture! Enjoy! :)

What is Camryn doing this week???
Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

I will try to post some pictures from my shower after the weekend! I hope everyone stays warm out there! I am praying this winter is almost over! Have a fantastic weekend! :)

Love,
Mark & Missy

33 weeks & an ice storm!

49 more days!!!! WHOA! Things are really starting to come along. This past Saturday we had our first baby shower and I think it is safe to say that Camryn is going to need a second closet! She got so many nice things! This week has been pretty crazy, but has really worked out nicely. Mark and I have both been off of work since Tuesday due to the ice storm and I have been sick with another cold...BLAH! These are getting old. It was nice to be stuck in the house so I could get some extra rest. I originally was supposed to go to the doctor on Tuesday, but they closed, so I rescheduled and went today! Camryn is measuring perfect and sounded great! We secured our pediatrician today too! One more thing checked off of the "to-do" list! I asked if he thought she was going to being big and he said as of now she seems average, but we will keep an eye on her! :) We have a busy weekend ahead of us. Saturday my family is coming down for a second 4d ultrasound and then we are picking up the chair for the nursery! I can't wait to see her again! Here are some pictures from this week:

Me at 33 weeks:
Camryn's bed....minus the mobile:
Full closet, behind door #1:
....and door #2
What is Camryn up to at 33 weeks???
This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. She's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and her skeleton is hardening. The bones in her skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for her to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as her brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

I also wanted to give a "shout out" to our friends Mandy and Jeremy, they just found out today they are expecting a healthy little boy in July! We cannot wait!!! I hope everyone has stayed warm and safe through this nasty weather! Enjoy the weekend!

Love,
Mark & Missy