Campbell . . . What's a dog say?

Beautiful Day!

Today we spent time with some good friends, Adrienne and Rob and their daughter Emily, and went to Glencairn Gardens to celebrate its' 50th anniversary. The weather was perfect and it was a beautiful day.

Last May we had lunch with the same friends and took a picture of the girls. Isn't it amazing how much they've changed in 1 year?!

Another Day at the Pool

My daddy and I got to visit the pool twice this week . . . it was so much fun!

This is my morning look . . . nice huh?  

Lastly, I need to give a shoutout to my bunko bffs . . . it was nice seeing you on Thursday . . . roll on!

Mommy's little helper

This is what I get for leaving my newly-mobile munchkin in the living room with a basket of freshly folded laundry:

Eventful Weekend!

What a busy weekend . . . it started on Thursday night when daddy and I went swimming.  This time we swam for 30 minutes.  I must have swam 100 laps!  I was alternating between the crawl stroke and back stroke.  My favorite though is jumping in from side of the pool while daddy catches me.  I do think though he sometimes lets me go under the water when I jump in.  That's okay though . . . I don't mind.

Sunday was a fun day . . . I went to some place that is in North Carolina, but still in South Carolina.  I don't know the name of it, but I do know it was lots of fun!  I went with my cousins Macy and Ethan.

I think this is my first amusement park ride . . . check me out on my little pony!

After coming home for a quick nap, I decided to help mommy unload the magic box that cleans dishes.  It's so much fun helping mommy!

Lastly, I do want to say good-bye to one of my friends who I never got to meet . . . Kayleigh was laid to rest today.  Girl, I'll miss you!

Factor V Leiden

Over Spring Break, Robbie and I met with Dr. Allbert, the maternal fetal medicine specialist that we saw when I got sick during my pregnancy. We wanted to discuss the risks of me getting pregnant again. There are a lot details we learned that I wanted to share. It's a lot of information so you may want to "skim".

First, he said that women with pre-eclampsia at my gestation (started at 26 weeks) have a 60-80% chance of re-occurance which at first freaked me out. However, he said that usually those cases happen later in the next pregnancy. It turns out that I have a strong genetic pre-disposition to pre-e because my maternal grandmother had several auto-immune disorders (lupus, scleroderma, and rheumatic fever as a child) and lost 4 pregnancies after my mother due to toxemia (pre-e). Also, my father has rheumatoid arthritis. Since pre-e is basically the body's immune system attacking the placenta, my family history of auto-immune diseases pre-disposes me so I'm on the higher end of likelihood of reoccurance but again he stressed that if it happens again, it should happen later in the pregnancy.

We talked about stress. Apparently stress can really impact the body's reaction to pregnancy. Robbie and I had already talked about me working part time next year and he was encouraging of that as long as it reduces my stress level.

He also suggested we get pregnant within 3 years of Campbell. Apparently it's kind of like having a vaccine. Since my body has already been exposed to being pregnant with Robbie's baby, I am less likely to reject it while I have the "antibodies".

I also learned after some bloodwork that I have something called Factor V Leiden. FVL is a blood clotting disorder that makes it more likely for me to have blood clots, especially when I'm pregnant. According to Dr. Allbert, the connection between FVL and pre-e is "controversial" so we can't say for sure that it caused it. But it does mean that if/when we get pregnant again, I'll have to give myself daily shots of heparin or something similar. Fun. So, now we're doing research on FVL and trying to educate ourselves on it. Hopefully the heparin will help delay the onset of pre-eclampsia or even prevent it.

So, all in all, despite the FVL news, I'm very happy. He was very encouraging and told us that he knew we were going to do well and he loves appointments like ours. So, I feel more empowered and prepared. It also helps to know that we have all of your support and love.

Campbell's Angels

Two lives who touched so many and were taken so soon...

God bless Jackson (January-May 2007) and Kayleigh (June 2008-May 2009).

One Baby Pandemic

Have you ever seen a baby as cute and innocent-looking as me? It's all a cover for the secret mission I've been preparing for my whole life. (Insert evil laugh here.) All that talk from my mommy and daddy about germs has been to throw all the suspicion onto other people. Secretly I've been waiting to infect many of my mommy and daddy's friends with an evil stomach bug and this weekend my mission was completed. So far the number is 13 and it's sure to go up. Hahahahaaaa!

The plan was perfectly implemented. Mommy caught a stomach bug from a student (which has gone on to sweep through 90% of her class and numerous members of those students' families) and passed it on to me. Later I tricked my mommy into thinking I wasn't contagious anymore and went to a cookout at Chrissy and Michael's house. There I lured folks in with my adorable laugh and charming grin and they weren't able to resist me. Here I am sitting with Chrissy just waiting for new victims.

Lucky for Chrissy it was her birthday and my present was that I didn't infect her. Just wait until next time, Chrissy!

Seriously, folks, this is Campbell's mommy. Robbie and I had no idea of Campbell's sinister plan. If indeed she is the source of the illness, we are so sorry! We feel so bad that she or I may have gotten anyone sick. I promise we thought she was ok...

Today, and every day, is Mom's day

Happy Mother's Day . . . Mommy!

Every day since I was born,
My mother cared for me.
Now that’s a lot of caring,
As anyone can see.Please, Lord, protect my mother,
And keep her safe from harm,
For she is a cherished person,
With great wisdom, love and charm.Lord, it’s my mother’s day
So please, help her to see
Just how much she means to us,
Her loving family.

Martha, Mommy, we love you!

Early Intervention Update

We had Campbell's 1 year Early Intervention review. We were happy to see that she has come a long way and has mastered many of her goals. We are so happy with our Early Interventionist, Crystal, physical therapist, Kathy, and occupational therapist, Leslie. They have each had an amazing impact on Campbell's development and we are so lucky to have them be part of her life.

Campbell's fine motor skills have really come a long way and recently her gross motor skills have shown improvement. Her strongest area was in feeding herself (imagine that, she's good with food). Check out this video of her feeding herself with a fork.



One area that is of concern in her language, especially her receptive language. There are a lot of things that she should be doing that she is not such as pointing to objects when named, looking for people when they are named, and saying words with meaning. While Campbell is very vocal, after a lot of discussion, we realized that she is not as advanced as she appears. She is now on a waiting list for a speech evaluation. Hopefully we'll see the same great results that we've seen from her PT and OT.

Campbell's New Trick

My first reunion . . . yeah, peeps, you heard me, I went to my first reunion . . . Presbyterian NICU reunion that is. Each year, the Hemby NICU at Presbyterian hospital hosts a reunion for all of its' graduates . . . . like me.

After a few weeks in the NICU we had a set of triplets move in across from me. One of them is even named Cambell (yeah, I know they spelled it wrong but her parents obviously didn't want to be too obvious about copying my name). Here they are one year later . . . wow, it's amazing how quickly they've grown. Two of them can walk now . . . way to go guys! It was nice seeing you.

This is Doctor Rama . . . remember him? Here he is 15 months ago (click here). I really am impressed with him. He walked up to mommy and said, "Hey Mrs. Compton . . . how are you and Campbell doing?" He remember our names and he even remembered that I was born at 27 weeks . . . I feel so special!

Peeps . . . I'll see you all in a year! Maybe I'll one day get a NICU reunion boyfriend . . . you know, like mommy use to have a "summer campground" boyfriend or was that my Aunt Sa-Sa who always had those campground boyfriends?...hmmm...

On to my new trick . . . I CAN PULL UP NOW!!!!! Yes, that is right, I can pull up. It's amazing how different the world look from standing up.

Each morning I greet mommy and daddy standing up.

I can even play with the dogs when I pull up on the couch . . .

Well peeps, that's it . . . the princess needs her sleep! I have a busy week and weekend planned . . . I'm booked for two parties on Saturday . . . Ta-Ta for now!