Happy Birthday, Camden!

Hard to believe that I am now the mother of a TEN-year-old. But I am, as of this past Sunday. It's not just that I don't feel like I'm old enough to have a ten-year-old, but it also just doesn't seem like it was really ten years ago that he was born.

I don't have Camden's birth story posted on blogger since there probably wasn't any such thing at the time. I didn't even have an email account until after he was born... So, I'll give a quick run-down of the day he entered this world.

Pregnant with my baby boy. I was around 8 months pregnant here - see how big that belly was?! (And I am standing straight, too.)

Camden was actually born on his birthday, but he almost arrived much sooner. We knew we were expecting a large baby, and the doctor kept telling me he would induce labor early... first it was a month, then moved to three weeks early, then two, then one... I actually went in for the induction the night before the due date. Sunday was my Papaw's funeral a couple hours away, and we drove straight from that to the hospital.

The prepping for the induction sent me into labor in the middle of the night, so I never went through the actual induction. I went into labor so quickly that I couldn't get medication, and that turned out to be horrible because I had back labor from Camden being backwards (and those of you that have experienced that know how painful it really is!!). They did try to give me some morphine, but it never kicked in before I was rushed out for an emergency c-section because the baby was too large to deliver naturally. I was pushing for over two and a half hours (not in labor for that long - PUSHING for that long) - with a room full of people watching. I went in thinking I wanted my husband and my mom in with me and NOBODY else, but once you're in that situation, you don't really care one iota! So Alan (my husband at the time) and my mom were there...along with my mother-in-law and my best friend, Patsy. (I think this was great birth control for her!) They finally realized this baby's head was just not fitting through, and without much of a warning, I was wheeled out to surgery. That was pretty scary because we had never discussed the possibility of a c-section (though you would think we would have, knowing the baby was on the large size...nobody expected this large, though!).

I don't remember much at all from the surgery other than holding onto the nurse in front of me as the spinal was done. (Not a big fan of needles, especially large ones in my spine.) And then there was all the throwing up during the delivery. The ENTIRE time. Me throwing up. (We now know I have a reaction to narcotics...such as morphine that was given earlier and is also in the spinal...) I remember the doctor asking to try to stop for a moment while he made the incision. And then when he tried to pull Camden's head out, it was so big he had to push him back in and cut another inch to fit him through. The scar even showed this (until I got my new one from baby number two). I don't remember much else, though. I know they showed Camden to me for just a split second, but that was it. Everything was such a blur and moving so quickly - a drawback to having an emergency c-section. Then I didn't get to see Camden for such a long time because it took extra long for the numbness from the spinal to wear off with me.

Camden came out weighing the surprising weight of...10 lbs 15.2 oz (less than 1 oz away from being 11 lbs) and was 21.5 inches long. He was born Monday, June 28th at 12:13pm. Best day of my life.

There were two other babies in the hospital at the same time as him - both of them were under 5lbs! No worry about a mix-up there!

For the next couple days, I continued to throw up constantly (actually, by then I was dry-heaving, which is not a lot of fun when you just had your stomach cut open). I remember how terrible I felt and how painful it was. But I also remember that every single thing was worth it because I had the MOST perfect baby ever. Camden was absolutely beautiful. We all said he was born with a tan because he had such dark skin. And though he was large, he was not fat at all - just looked like your typical three-month-old! And everything between us came naturally. He went straight to nursing with no problems, even though we didn't see each other for a couple hours after he was born. He did spit up a bunch, even in his sleep, so I kept him in his bassinet right by my side when we slept - I trusted myself more than having him in the nursery. I don't remember anything being difficult about having him, except for the physical pain I was going through. Everything else was smooth sailing, it seemed.

Camden in the Christening gown my mother made (we had to leave it unbuttoned in the arms and back because he was so big!)

Camden's hospital photo

One year old!

Ten years later...it's not always smooth sailing, but I am so grateful for the decade that I have been given with Camden. He is such a joy to me, and I love him more than life itself. The two of us have been through an incredible amount together, more than he understands at this point. But I think it has made us so extremely close. Do you know that he will still hug and kiss me in public?? Ever since he got on the bus that first day of Kindergarten, I have been expecting him to tell me to stop because he doesn't want to be embarrassed. But he never has (yet).

We haven't had Camden's big birthday celebration yet. We'll be having one when we visit family in KY in a couple weeks - a joint celebration for his and Aiden's birthdays. (If you'll be in the area, please join us!!) And we'll have a party with some of his friends when he is back home (he's currently visiting his dad in KY). The downside of having a summer birthday is being able to have everyone around to celebrate with you - we already attempted one party here, but so many people were out of town that we are waiting longer. Camden did get his gift from us, though - a basketball goal for the driveway. We had it in the garage covered up (still in the box) and made him go and find it himself. It should have been easy as it was the new thing that suddenly appeared and was under a blue tarp, but he still was a little confused until he got some help. ;) Then we spent the night before his birthday playing Wii video games and eating big homemade banana splits (cakes will come soon).

Looking for his gift...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY BABY BOY. I love you!