Camryn's Birth Story

Camryn turned one year old today. Unbelievable. She was born at 1:08 in the morning on June 1st, so by this time last year I already had her in my arms. Labor started around 6:00pm on the 31st. I remember Jon and I taking bets as to whether or not we would have a May baby. (Everyone in his family has a May birthday, it's crazy!) I had braxton hicks for weeks leading up to the labor, so when I spent the day 'contracting' on the 31st I didn't think much of it. The day was spent in the pool with my mom and the kids. It was sunny and hot and I was getting tired of being pregnant! My mom left here about 5:00. Soon after she left I started paying more attention to the contractions as they seemed to be getting a little stronger than my normal braxton hicks. At 6:00 I called Mom to come back to our house. She was a little surprised since she had just left; "I really think I'm in labor" I told her. Funny how after three previous babies, I still wasn't so sure it was happening. Jon was home by now. We finished dinner and got the kids ready for bed. By 7:00 I was sure this was the real thing. Katie asked me to sing to her, like I do every night when I put her to bed. I had to stop during each contraction. At that point we told the kids that the baby would most likely be here by the time they woke up. Kate says "Mommy, can you bring the baby up to my room after you have her?" Sure Kate, no problem. (Kids. Life is so simple to them, I just love it!) I called my doula, Christine, around 8:00 to see what her plans were for the night. She got here around 9pm. We walked up and down the street for a while to help move things along and to distract me a little. We ran into my neighbor, who I don't know that well. She didn't know I was in labor and chatted us up for a while. That was quite annoying. (Christine is not only a friend and doula, she is also a midwife and a RN. I had toyed with the idea of delivering at home, but Jon was against it all along. I knew with Christine here if things did progress too fast to make it to the hospital that we would all be in good hands, literally). We headed to the hospital around 10:00, by this time I was about 7 centimeters. (Having Christine was wonderful, not only for the emotional support, but to know how things were progressing physically. She was awesome all around!) I was dreading the ride to the hospital fearing it would be the worst 20 minutes of my life. It wasn't so bad, except for slowing down labor a little. So we get to the hospital and get hooked up with a wonderful nurse who Christine used to work with when she was a labor/delivery nurse at CMC. It couldn't have been any more perfect. I labored in the tub until I couldn't stand it any longer. (I get to a point in my labors that I become sensory sensitive and when I've had enough of something, I've had enough!) I think I was about 9 centimeters when I got out of the tub. The doctor came in to check me and asked me to push a few times since I was almost complete. I tried one push. It was excruciating. He's lucky I didn't kick him in the face. I wasn't ready. He left and said he would check back in 30 minutes. Labor intensified. Transition! Christine caught my puke in a bucket ~ if that's not a true friend I don't know what is! Camryn was ready, she wanted out. I, on the other hand, wanted to stop. I remember telling Jon and Christine "I don't want to do this anymore. I want to be done. I can't do this anymore!" I believe I was whining and crying at this point (maybe that's where my kids get it from). Jon kept saying "Look at Christine! Just look at Christine!" I guess he was done at this point too. Christine kept saying "You are almost done. You can do this. You ARE doing this." The doctor came back in, I was standing leaning on the bed (keep in mind I was naked the ENTIRE time ... when you're having your fourth child, you really have no humility left in you!). The doctor made me get on the bed, he really didn't feel like 'catching' a baby I guess. I got in the bed, pushed through a few contractions and Camryn arrived, all 8 lbs of her. The doctor, his name escapes me at the moment, delivered her with no gloves, no scrubs ~ wearing a white shirt. Sorry doc, but really, it was my fourth child, how long did you think I was going to have to push??? That's the story of Camryn's birth. It was empowering. I won't say it was painless or 'easy' but I was glad I was able to have another drug free labor and delivery. Thank you to Christine who was more than awesome through out the whole thing, I really couldn't have done it with out you. How do I ever thank some one for helping bring my baby into this world in such a wonderful way?

Here I am in labor on the evening of May 31st, 2008. This was between contractions.


Camryn Grace ~ the hairy little monkey. Thank God all that back hair is gone!

The kids come to meet their new baby sister.

Sweet newborn snuggles.

Kisses from Daddy.

And now, it's a year later. Camryn is walking and talking. She still looks a lot like Kate and Will ~ as she did a birth. She has grown so much in 365 days, it's simply amazing. Happy Birthday, my sweet, sweet baby girl!

Litchfield Beach

The beach. (In Maine when people say they are going to 'the beach' they are usually referring to the nearest lake. Here in NC, when they say 'the beach' they are referring to any number of beaches on the coast. In Maine they say we are going to 'the ocean' .... here if you say that people look at you funny and know you must be a Yankee. After 11 years in the south, we now refer to 'the ocean' as 'the beach'. The Yankee in us may be fading everyday, but Maine will always be 'home'). We headed to 'the beach' Thursday afternoon to spend the long weekend at a friends' beach condo that they weren't using. It was perfect! Litchfield Beach and Golf Resort was beautiful, the beach was uncrowded and full of tidal pools ~ perfect for the little ones to splash around in since the surf was a little rough. We had perfect weather the entire time. Other than a few minor hick-ups: Ben had a fever everyday, Will got stung by a jellyfish (a story he will tell you about every five minutes if you'll listen) and Jon got 'bit' by something in the shallow water; but otherwise it was truly an enjoyable vacation from the crazy busy month of May. The beach loving trait didn't skip any of the kids as the all loved playing in the sand and water. This was Camryn's first trip to the beach and she loved every minute of it. Jon and I were able to sit down and chat for a few minutes at a time. What a luxury that was!!

Ahh, The Beach!!

I love the beach! Here are some videos from our weekend at Litchfield Beach on Pawley's Island in South Carolina. What a great weekend. I wish we were still there ....

Bad Dog!

Jesse isn't a bad dog, she just does some bad things ... at least that's what I tell the kids. And she really isn't a bad dog. A little crazy maybe, but not 'bad'. She is super sweet and wonderful with the kids, she just prefers to stay inside when it's raining, or windy, or dark ~ or if there is a chance she will have to be out there alone for more than thirty seconds. She is scared to death of anything in the sky; airplanes, rain, low flying birds, footballs. And she will run from you if you carry anything small and black in your hands ~ like a camera. We have reason to believe she was 'shot at' by her previous neighbor. It's one of the reasons her family gave her to the Golden Retriever Rescue League. We also think she may have been left outside during thunderstorms with her electric fence collar on. Ouch! No wonder she tries to hide under us when it's storming. Considering her past life, she's actually a pretty good dog. Except when it comes to food. Check out the videos below. I haven't figured out if Camryn thinks "GET!" is Jesse's name or if she's just picked up yelling at her like I do, either way it's pretty darn funny.

More Videos

Today was the first day Camryn walked more than she crawled, so I guess it's official now. It will make for an easier summer with her walking. Having a crawler outside and around the pool is hard, but it does make me a little sad to say that there will be no more babies crawling around our house. It has all gone by way too fast! Here are a couple videos. I love the one of the kids playing. The best videos are when they don't know they are being 'taped'. Notice how Cam is trying to 'help' build the train track. The one of Camryn walking with the lunch box is from earlier today. Enjoy!

Mother's Day

My Mother's Day started off with a ten mile run in some of the nicest weather we have had to date. A perfect way to start any day. Jon and the kids made me cards, bought flowers and made a frame of their 'Favorite Things About Mommy'. It's very sweet. My favorite quote: "I want to live with Mommy for" .... Ben said 'ever', Kate said '39 years', and Will said 'the whole week'. I love it! Jon had a work appointment later in the day so my mom and I took the kids to Wing Haven Garden and Bird Sanctuary for the afternoon. What a cool place! It was a great way to spend Mother's Day afternoon ~ surrounded by my kids with my own Mom!

Baptism

All four kids were baptised at St. Matthew Catholic Church here in Charlotte on April 26. The ceremony was very nice, made nicer by the fact that the kids were very well behaved. We've been preparing them for this day for quite sometime, but you still never know how they are going to act when it comes down to the moment. Will threw a major fit before we left. Ma was able to calm him down and find out that he was just really scared and unsure about what was about to happen. He was fine once we got to the church, he cried just a little during his baptism, but over all was very cooperative. Jon's brother Chris and his wife, Kristine, did us the honor of becoming Ben and Will's Godparents. Our good friends Todd and Liza Burlingame did us the honor of becoming Godparents to Kate and Cam. Thank you all so much, it means more to us than we can possibly say. We love you! And Good Luck (only kidding ;)!

Cam in a pew, before getting started.

Ben with his candle.

Kate getting baptised by Father McSweeney.

Ben being baptised.

Here's Will!