A year ago today...

The Birth Story

Pregnancy was an interesting experience. Twenty-two weeks of morning sickness- I was nauseous all day and all night. I only threw up at night, which was a blessing because I had this reoccurring nightmare that I would throw up all over my desk in front of my 1oth graders. Weeks past and I began to automatically delete my Babycenter emails because they kept telling me I should be feeling much better and having way more energy. Summer finally came, the nausea died down, and the diagnosed anemia was under control. We decorated the nursery, registered for baby stuff, and I laid out at the pool with Angela as much as possible. At 32 weeks, I had to put myself on what I called the "no fun" diet. My heartburn and acid reflux were so severe, I could not eat dairy, sugar, tomatoes, fruit, etc. The problem was that Camden would not drop and was just getting bigger and making less room for my stomach to digest anything. This probably saved me from a lot of extra weight gain, but at the time, I would have done ANYTHING for a brownie fudge sundae. Camden also spent a lot of time kicking and punching my ribs, and I distinctly remember two kicking spells that hurt worse than any labor pain I had. He did not drop until my 38th week. Like I've said before, Camden has always had to take his sweet time with everything, just like his mama. The last trimester went by quickly though, and I began counting the days until Little Man would arrive.

Three weeks before my due date of Nov. 5, I went to my scheduled check-up with Dr. Collins. He randomly informed me that he would be gone the week of my due date to go duck hunting, of all things. (We all know how I feel about hunting, and this is just one more reason to for me to be completely against it.) He could either induce me before he left, or we could wait it out and possibly have another doctor deliver Camden. I did NOT want to get induced, but I also wanted him to deliver Camden. I told him I trusted his judgment would see how the next couple of weeks went. Everything was going well, so he scheduled me in at the hospital. The first date available on the calendar? October 31st. Everyone asks if I intended for Camden to be a Halloween baby when they find out his birth day. I didn't, but I don't mind it either.

Anyway, I was to go in at 12:01 am on Oct 31st. On Oct 30th, I spent the day relaxing. I went to the administration building to make sure my leave-of-absence stuff was ready to go. Betsy and I went out to lunch and then we got pedicures. (If I was going to be in labor, I might as well have pretty toes.) I went for a check-up to get the final "Go Ahead" from my doctor. I asked him how big Camden would be, and this was his response... "Oh he can't be bigger than seven pounds." My family came up that evening, and I think I tried to sleep a few hours before midnight, but I'm not quite sure if I ever did. At midnight we went to the hospital and checked in.

(notice there are no labor pics of me... picture taking was banned prior to Camden's appearance. I really think it's weird for people to come in the room and just kind of stare and take pictures of you while you're in labor... it's like you are on exhibit at a zoo or something.)

I really do believe labor was the easiest thing about my pregnancy... and it's not that I've just forgotten how bad it was... I would have told you the same thing the day after I had Camden. Everything went SO smoothly except for a few glitches. When they strapped the monitors on my belly, Camden got mad and started kicking and punching them off. The nurse would come and tighten them (which did not feel good) then Camden would start to rebel and try to knock them off again (which did not feel good either). He calmed down after a couple of hours, but early labor and Camden's tantrums made it a rough start. They started the inducing slowly, and I started to feel heavy contractions around 9am. I wanted to be alone in the room with the lights off because for some reason this helped me not concentrate on the pain. Even Aaron left for quite awhile, so I had several hours of peace and quiet. I got my epidural around 1pm. I'm a huge advocate for epidurals, by the way. I was dilating VERY slowly, so my labor was pretty long, and I remember being SOOO thirsty. They don't let you drink anything, and those ice chips only made it worse. Several uneventful hours later, I was beginning to think I would never get to a 10! Then things started happening, and I guess little man decided he was ready to enter the world because after only about 30 minutes of pushing, Camden arrived at 6:12pm.

Getting weighed

Blinded by the bright lights!

My first thoughts? This is not a seven pound baby! The first glimpse I saw of him were his hands, and they looked huge! Then I saw his hair, and I could not believe how much he had! The doctor described him as "muscular" and he weighed in at 8 lb 8oz and 22 inches long. He didn't really cry at all even when they weighed and measured him, when I held him for the first time, or when family came in to see him a little later. He was very alert and spent the evening just staring at me and Aaron... and we just stared back at him. He was so sweet. There were a lot of people waiting to see Little Man. Both sets of new grandparents, his Auntie Amie, and even Betsy and a Penguin Sam (it's Halloween, remember) came up to spend time in the waiting room. TONS of people came the next couple of days to meet little Camden such as my fellow teachers, Bville friends, and even Rusty and Chandra, who drove all the way up from Stillwater one evening. He was a popular little guy!

Our first family picture

Two days later, we took Camden home from the hospital.

Getting dressed to leave the hospital

We showed him the house, his nursery, and introduced him to a very curious Gracie. Camden and I were both pretty tired, so we snuggled up together and took our first nap at home. Later I discovered that Aaron had taken this picture of us...


It seems like yesterday we were curled up together in his rocking chair! I look at these pictures now and can't believe he was ever that small! Every day, I can't imagine loving him more, but every day I love him more... if that makes sense. Once Aaron and I tried to count how many kisses we gave those soft cheeks in one day, and we lost count after like 30 kisses. We are enjoying every minute with him. Even when my patience will sometimes run low... like when I spend 20 minutes making a solid food meal I think he'll just love, but then he won't even let me get a bite get through those pursed lips... or when I say "No" and he just smiles and continues to splash water ALL over my kitchen floor, I know that within minutes of testing my patience he will give me the biggest sloppiest kiss on my nose, and my cup will overflow once again.