Cameron's second day in the hospital was spent just hanging out with the grandparents and Tanner. We were hoping to get to go home on that day, but were unable to because the doctor that was going to do his circumcision was not there that day. Clinton and I got to eat our "fancy" meal that the hospital provides to new. I had chicken cordon bleu and Clinton had a steak. It was actually pretty good. Cameron had his hearing test and he failed on the left side. They had to come back the next day to administer the test again. Tanner got a doctor kit at her big sister party and she enjoyed using it on everyone that day.
Cameron having his hearing test done
Tanner decided that this pacifier was hers, not Cameron's
She enjoyed checking my blood "plessure"
Cameron's second hearing test. This time, he passed.
The night that Cameron was born, Cassie brought Tanner and Maddie to meet him. We had planned a "big sister" party for Tanner in the hospital, complete with a cake from Haley and Jason and presents from my parents and Clinton's parents. About the time that they arrived, Haley, Jason, and the girls got there as well. Amy came shortly after with a huge bag of clothes for Cameron. Thank you, Amy!! At one time, we had 16 people in our tiny hospital room. It was super crazy, but a lot of fun. I'm glad Tanner got some excitement that day. She had spent the whole day with Maddie playing and crafting. I can't thank Cassie more for watching her for me. They even brought me the cutest present ever. It was a bouquet of "flowers" that were made out of their hand prints cut out of construction paper. Each one had a thought from one of the girls written on it about the baby. They said things like, "It's wonderful", and "I will rock the baby", and "I think it's a girl!". It was a great time, and I am so thankful to my family and friends for making it so special for us.
Here she comes!
Meeting Cameron for the first time
Sofia and Scarlett were very interested in the baby
Cameron Ward McDougal was born on 5/25/2011 at 1:56pm. He was 6lbs 15oz, and 20 inches long. It was kind of funny when he was born because the doctor held him up but he had his hand over Cameron's parts so we couldn't tell what he was. I could only see his face because the doctor wasn't holding him up high enough. The doctor said "what is it Daddy?" and Clinton just stood there and didn't say anything because he couldn't see what it was. I was looking at Clinton to see his response and that is when I saw his expression change. He got a shocked look on his face and that is when I knew it was a boy. They then put him on me and I got to see for myself =). My first thoughts about him were that he looked so tiny, had dark hair and a perfectly round head, and that touching his cheeks felt like touching air. I also noticed that his right foot was stuck against his shin, and I knew immediately that it was the same foot that had been pushing on the upper right corner of my stomach for the last two months. He was every bit as perfect as I imagined, and I couldn't believe he was here.
Clinton walked out to the waiting room in his blue shirt and let everyone know that our baby BOY was here!
The night of May 24th, Clinton and I stayed up late trying to pick a boy's name. Around 10:00pm I told him that I was really, but I thought it was just the baby being low or being very pregnant and just being uncomfortable. I moved from the desk chair to the floor and sat on the floor in the office while Clinton read names out of the baby name book. I kept telling him how uncomfortable I was, and that I was having a little bit of mild cramping. I just thought it was part of being nine months pregnant. It didn't cross my mind at that time that I could be going into labor. We finally decided to go to bed around 1:00am. We still had not chosen a boy's name yet, though, but we were tired and we had planned to do a lot of fun things with Tanner the next day since it was her last day as the only child. When we laid down in bed I started thinking that the pains were getting a little worse. I tried to sleep, but my mind wouldn't really let me because I was starting to wonder if I was going into labor. They quickly started to be more consistent and I really started thinking they might be contractions. I was thinking, "I can't be in labor. I am supposed to be induced the day after tomorrow and I haven't washed the cover to the swing yet or had my last day with Tanner and she didn't get to wear her Big Sister PJs tonight. I can't be in labor!". I woke Clinton up around 2:30am and asked him to time them. They were anywhere from 7-9 minutes apart and they weren't that strong. They were lasting around a minute each at that point. Around 4:00am they were starting to get stronger and they were 4-6 minutes apart. That is when I asked Clinton to call his parents and I called mine. I was scheduled to be induced that Thursday, so they weren't expecting to come until the following day but they all got packed and ready and hit the road to San Antonio. It was already a week early, and I went into labor a day earlier than that. I did my hair and makeup in between contractions (I was determined to have better pictures this time) and got dressed. We woke Tanner up around 4:30am and got her in the car. She woke right up and was excited that the baby was coming. We dropped her off at Cassie's house to hang out with she and Maddie for the day. It was really sad to say goodbye to her that morning, knowing that the next time I saw her she wouldn't be the only one anymore. We headed to the hospital after that. It was still dark outside and we saw a family of deer near Cassie's house as we were leaving. They helped take my mind off of the contraction that I was having at the time, so I remember them well. We were about halfway to San Antonio when Clinton said "oh no!!". I knew before he said it that he had forgotten the blue and pink shirts that we had for him to wear to announce the sex of the baby. These shirts were very important to me, so we turned around and headed back to Pleasanton! We went an hour out of our way while I was in labor! Clinton was going to wear one of those shirts =). We finally arrived at the hospital a little after 6:30am and got checked in. There was another girl in labor checking in at the same time as us so we sat on the bench having contractions together while our husbands filled out paperwork. It was interesting. Once we were checked in we were put in a triage room so they could assess the strength of my contractions and see if I was dilating. I was at a 3.5 when I got there and my contractions were 3-5 minutes apart. They weren't registering very well on the monitor, and I would have one here and there that wouldn't get picked up at all. I told the admitting nurse that I wanted the epidural as soon as I could get it. I already knew what contractions felt like and wasn't really interested in feeling any more than I had to. Haley was the first to arrive at the hospital and she stayed in the triage room with us. Soon after, my parents got there and Clinton's parents weren't far behind them, followed by my Aunt Linda a little while later. After awhile, the nurse gave me an IV and told me that they would have to wait until I was put in a labor and delivery room to give me an epidural. This happened to be one of the hospital's busiest days in awhile and all of the rooms were full so we had to stay put for awhile. She came back after an hour or so and told me that I would have to have an entire bag of IV fluids before I could get an epidural, but that they had a labor and delivery room ready for us. I was hurting pretty bad, but it wasn't terrible at that point. When we got to the L&D room, they started my IV bag and Dr. Womak came to break my water. She told me that she would be delivering my baby since Dr. King didn't work on Wednesdays. She broke my water and told me that I didn't have much fluid. She also said that the baby was really low. I was 4cm at this point, which was around 8:30am I think. That is when the contractions hit hard! After my water was broken they were super strong and about 2-3 minutes apart lasting 1.5 to 2 minutes each so they were right on top of each other. I was very cold and shaking uncontrollably. I guess it was from the pain or the IV, I'm not sure. I was still waiting to see the anesthesiologist, who was busy with all of the other women that had come in the same time that I did. I finally saw him around 10:45am when he came to give me my epidural. I swear he was glowing and angels were singing when he walked in the door! Clinton didn't pass out this time, which was good, and I started feeling much better almost right away. I was still cold and continued shaking for awhile but it eventually went away. They checked me right after I got my epidural and I was already 8cm. I was glad that I got it when I did because they wouldn't have given it to me any later, and might not have given it to me if they had known that I was already 8cm. We didn't see the nurses for a long time after that, and finally my mom went to see if someone could check me since it had been an hour and a half or so since the last time and I was already 8 then. They did, and I was 9 and a half centimeters. They gave me pitocin because I was stuck there for awhile. Around 1:00pm they told me I was ready to push so everyone left and went to the waiting room except for Clinton. There were no doctors available to deliver the baby, though, so we had to wait. They kept saying that the baby was low and would be here as soon as I started pushing so we really needed to wait for a doctor. Dr. Womak was busy so they paged two other doctors, Dr. Thompson and Dr. Thies. Dr. Thies came first, which was good because I wasn't too fond of Dr. Thompson. Dr. Thies got ready and I started pushing. I pushed three times and.....
In the triage room
In the L and D room after they broke my water...not much fun
This is Clinton checking to see if I can feel my toes =)
This is a pain chart that everyone thought was funny. It had different happy faces on it that you are supposed to point to in order to indicate your pain level and the descriptions for each one were hilarious.
I can't remember who I am talking on the phone to in this picture but I thought it was funny! I was so cold that I couldn't take my arms out of the covers to hold the phone.
