Cameron Lee Smith

I am still trying to catch up from the summer on this neglected blog of mine, but I should probably write about our sweet little Cameron Lee that joined our family a few weeks ago. 

 

He was born on August 14, the day before my due date, at 10:31pm. 

8lbs 1oz (our biggest baby!)

20in long

I had this baby au natural. No epidural, no pain meds, nada. Yes, it was by choice due to complications with previous epidurals post partum.  

So because I know my dad, grandpa, and brother in laws occasionally read my blog...I'll keep the details G rated :)

I was having contractions for weeks and was by this time, really ready to have this baby!  I went to my doctor's appointment that morning and had him strip my membranes. I could tell that my body was totally ready and well on it's way to labor so i didn't mind having him jump start things a little bit. 

Things really didn't start happening though until about 6pm that evening. I could tell that my contractions were starting to pick up and become consistent. I decided that I didn't want to make dinner that night an so we all hopped in the car and headed to Zupas. 

The car ride was a bit painful and I was having to semi-breathe through contractions so we opted to just pick up the food and bring it home. I could tell though that we were going to have a baby that night!

By around 8pm, I needed to lay down during the contractions. At about 9pm, I hopped in our tub. It really is a true Aqua-dural! Somewhere around 9:45 ish, I was hot in the water so I got out of the tub. Once I got out of the tub and dressed, my body started shaking during contractions, I felt nauseated, and I knew it was time to head to the hospital.  My contractions by this point were only lasting around 60 seconds and were 2-3 minutes apart...so by the "book" it was too early to go in but I knew my body and knew we had better boogie to the hospital. 

The 7 minute ride to the hospital, was probably the worst and longest car ride of my life! Contractions picked up big time and I was now moaning through camel back contractions. We got to the hospital, walked past a super full waiting room, and went into admittance. I don't think I opened my eyes the whole time I was in the office and I was just trying to relax my shaking body through moaning and deep breathing (I'm sure I was quite a sight!) while she asked us question after question. The lady then told us that they didn't have any room in triage and to take a seat in the waiting area. This is when I piped up and said something to extent of, "There is no way I am going to labor like this out there in front of all those people! If I have to wait can you find another place for me?!" They lady said to hold on and went and got a nurse from L&D. The nurse took one look at me, asked me what number baby this was (I just held up 4 fingers), and she got a wheel chair and wheeled me back to Labor and delivery. 

Everything from here on out is kind of a blur. I know they were asking Justin all sorts of questions, and I hadn't opened my eyes the whole time... I was just trying to keep my body relaxed! They got me to the room and I crawled up on the bed....I didnt even change in a hospital gown. I delivered in my regular clothes! They checked me and I was at a 9 and fully effaced. I heard one nurse ask the other if she was prepared to deliver this baby and honestly I didn't even care if my doctor made it there or not at this point! 

When we got to the hospital is when I started experiencing some MAJOR back pain. I asked the nurse if it was normal to have that much back pain and she said, "Well, it is if the baby is sunny side up." Sure enough...he was. It was at this point that I said I wanted an epidural, or anything to help me manage the intense back pain! My labor nurse looked at me and said, "Hun, this is the hardest part. You are almost there. You can do this! I believed her and I think chanted "I can do this. I can do this" while trying to get through the contractions. She was AMAZING. Her name was Erin and she was phenomenal in applying hard pressure to my lower back with each contraction. 

My doctor was there in less than 10 minutes of getting into the room, broke my water, and I started pushing a few minutes later. You definitely know when you need to push! I thought it was incredible how your body truly numbs itself down there while you are pushing. I definitely still felt intense contractions pushing that baby down, but as far as the "ring of fire" I don't think I felt it.  Justin said I had a death grip on his arm though while pushing!

 After two pushes, our little boy came out to meet the world! I think this might have been the first time I opened my eyes for the whole 30 minutes that we were at the hospital! The doctor held the baby up and said, "Ok dad, what is it?!" And Justin said "It's a BOY!! Everyone else was right!" He was then placed in my arms.   I think I was half laughing half crying, still trying to wrap my brain around what I had just accomplished and I told Justin "This is so amazing!!! But I don't think I ever want to do this again!!" Haha! Writing this a few weeks later, I think I would actually do it again. Recovery was SO easy. No tearing, no numb legs, no tweaked back, it was amazing. My back was a little sore though from all the back labor but nothing compared to what it has been for me in the past with the epidural. 

My motives of delivering this baby natural were not to be "super woman" but I must say that going through natural childbirth is empowering. I definitely felt a sense of accomplishment knowing that I endured something so hard!

Of course he had jaundice, just like our other kids,  and had to be under the bili blanket for about a week, but he is fine now  and is slowly losing his yellow coloring.

The kids have all adjusted really well to a new baby and a sleep deprived mommy. I really haven't had any issues with the kids acting out or anything. Mason has become a lot more busy and into things but at least he is happy doing it. 

Ethan was NOT thrilled about our name choice. Apparently, he knows a Cameron at school and he isn't a nice kid. We told him that he can now see that there are nice Cameron's in the world too. I think Ethan's over the name thing by now :)

Cam is now 3 weeks old and is such a good little guy. We've had a lot of trouble with nursing and after week 2 of it not getting any better and me being ripped to shreds, I gave in and went to a lactation consultant. After nursing 3 other babies, I knew something wasn't quite right. Turns out Cam is tongue tied which is why I am in SO much pain. We are getting his frenulum snipped tomorrow which will hopefully fix my our nursing woes. 

Every day he keeps getting cuter and cuter and definitely favors Ethan as of now. He has two dimples which are going to probably get him out of trouble in the future...I pretty much melt at the

 sight of them :) He does pretty good sleeping. He eats every three hours but goes right back to sleep at night. I can't complain. 

We love him and are so grateful that he is a part of our family!!! I cant believe we have 3 boys!!