Settling in

Well, we have been home for a few days now and are settling right in. Here are some updated pictures of Cameron. He is so sweet. Hope you enjoy!

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Cameron Matthew Russ

Cameron is finally here. He arrived today, at 9:20 am exactly 12 hours after my water broke. He is so, so sweet and I already can't get enough of him. Well, I must say it was a long 12 hours and the labor was the complete opposite of Drew's. Cameron has his agenda on how he was to arrive. First, the hospital was slammed so we had to wait a little while for a room and the epidural. The epidural injection set-up wasn't a pleasant experience. I got the "shock" feeling in my left side. They say not to jump because the needle is in you, but how do you refrain when you are feeling a shock through your body? My blood pressure then dropped way down from the epidural and they had to give me a shot of ephedrine (I think that was what I was told). It kicked it pretty quick and I started feeling better. My contractions went from 5 minutes apart to about 20 minutes so they had to start the petocin. Cameron didn't like petocin. :-( His heartbeat kept bottoming out and alarming everyone. So they kept it at a 4 on a scale of 1 to 20. It was a slow process, but by about 7:30am they determined I was ready to push. This is when the fun started! Cameron was in the LOP position, which means he was head down, but facing my left side. Dr. Helms worked hard at trying to get him to turn. A little after a hour of pushing and nothing happening with his position, he decided we had to get game plan. He was so great through all of this and I was so impressed! He said we would pull out the vacuum and get him at least OP (sunnyside up). They of course are supposed to be head down. If that didn't work, it was time to go to the OR. I freaked when I heard that word! So with a lot of prayers, screams, moans, and pushing I got Cameron out without the OR or a vacuum. I don't know how I did it. It was God that's all I can say. I was so concentrated on getting him out that I didn't notice the 7 nurses Dr. Helms summoned in to try to get Cameron out. He was so great and helped keep me calm and focused.

I can't believe he weighed only 8lbs 3 ounces and was 20 3/4 inches long. Everyone was so surprised considering the difficult time I had getting him out. He is just perfect and I can't quit looking at him. Drew is so excited to be a big brother. He was here as soon as he was born and came back, then Mom brought him back tonight after a 4 hour nap! It is so hard to stay in the hospital when you have one at home. I miss him terribly and can't wait until we are all home together Monday.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Waiting for sweet Cameron and having fun!

Lots of cramping and a few contractions here and there, but no baby yet! I had an appointment yesterday morning and saw Dr. Helms. I was still 2 cm and he wanted me to try to get to 3 cm before the inducement to lower the risk of a c-section. He suggested that we wait until Monday for the inducement or scheduling of it. That sounded good to me. Of course, he did the "rough" exam yesterday and pushed and pushed on my stomach yesterday to get Cameron further down. I know a lot of you girls know about that one. I thought I was going to vomit! As he was doing it, he said he was trying to get him here today. I thought he was coming yesterday as badly as it hurt. :-) Anyway, I go back Monday to see Dr. Moffett. I imagine if they aren't full, he'll send me over.....if not Dr. Helms said they would schedule it Monday for "the first of the week."

In the meantime, we are having a great week. I have the boys' room all ready. I have pictures, but everything is packed in the car. I will post later. I have had a good time spending time with Mom and celebrating her birthday. Also, Drew & I have been able to see my grandma just about everyday. Brad, Drew, & I are going over to Typhoon Lagoon tomorrow for a little R & R. I can't wait for that!

On another note, it is funny because it seems as if Drew really knows something is about to change. He will not let me out of his site! He usually just goes with whomever, whereever, whenever, but not this week. He has cried a few times even when Brad has him. Yesterday, in a store, he wanted to go with Ya-ya at first, but then I heard him crying and he wanted it my cart. So not like him. He will choose Ya-ya over Momma anyday! Then he started crying because Ya-ya went on another aisle. It was like he wanted us all together so that is what we did. He just seems so sensitive and cries very easily this week. I guess this is just a natural reaction. It seems so funny that a 2 year old can sense these things, but they do.

Happy Birthday!

Well, Leslie beat me to posting first about Mom's birthday. I guess I have an excuse. Her blog was entitled "April 15th is not just tax day...".......well that's exactly what I was doing. Finishing up some last minute taxes this evening. I'm really glad those people had so much faith that I wouldn't be in the hospital the night before tax day. :-)

Happy Birthday, Mom! Drew has been practicing up his Happy Birthday for you tomorrow. I'm sure the first thing his is going to want to know is where is the cake? You are the greatest Mom in the world and I don't know what I would do without you. I hope that you can relax and enjoy your day tomorrow. I'm looking forward to going out to dinner with just us girls. You have a big glass of sangria waiting with your name on it! Mmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!

We love you so much!

Easter at Ya-ya & Papa's House

Today we had Easter at Mom & Dad's. Dad's job now has him traveling and he has to be in Georgia tomorrow so the Easter Bunny came a little early. We decided to have a brunch. I got up earlier than Brad & Drew (the sleepy heads) and headed over to Mom's to help cook. It was so yummy. I made Shrimp & Grits and banana/pineapple smoothies. Mom made a spiral ham and french toast. Leslie made 2 yummy quiche's. Pffff!! I'm feeling full again just writing about it, but it was sure good. Afterwards, Mom & I hid the eggs. We hid them fairly easy because we thought Raleigh would be the only one that really knew what he was doing. But, Drew ran out of the door with his basket like a race horse. He knew exactly what he was supposed to do and had a mission in mind. We didn't count the eggs, but I think Raleigh & Drew had about the same number of eggs. Hudson picked up a few too. It was so much fun watching the boys.

After they enjoyed a few jelly beans from their eggs, Ya-ya brought out her Easter baskets. Mom always out does herself especially when it comes to presentation. She can make anything look beautiful. Brad caught a picture of them before she brought them out.

Anyway, it was a great day. When you are saying your prayers, say a quick prayer for my grandma. She came home from the hospital this evening. She doesn't really seem to be handling the chemo very well.

Happy Easter!

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Spring Break!!!!

So, it looks like Cameron isn't coming as planned next week. It was very busy in there yesterday. 2 of the doctors were on vacation. Bottom line is that Dr. Moffett is on vacation and evidently didn't communicate his plan for me with the other doctors. Basically when I asked, "well what day?" I was looked at like I was crazy. Her philosophy on when she will do an inducement is totally different as she explained and she was sticking to it. It really doesn't matter, but I must say I was a bit frustrated (to say the least) at the different answers I seem to be getting out of one set of doctors. Who knows he could come this week anyway. I'm up to 2 cm, having some contractions, and she could feel his little head yesterday. Can't wait to meet my sweet Cameron!

Anyway, I am on SPRING BREAK!!!! Yippee!! I am going to take advantage of the week off.....relax......get some things done around the house....go back to the doctor on Wednesday.....maybe get some sun......and most importantly spend some one on one time with my Drew. Sounds like a great week to me!

Baby Bump Update

I just wanted to post an update about Cameron's delivery. On Thursday, I was still 1 cm and around 50% effaced. Dr. Moffett said he would like for me to thin out a bit more before he induces so I wouldn't have a long labor. However, when he felt my stomach I believe he said something like, "Man, he has some loins on him". Then, he did my ultrasound and we heard some more funny remarks. I was the last patient of the day and had to wait a long time for the ultrasound room so he really took his time. After actually seeing how big he was, he decided he was going to do "whatever it took" to get him here at 38 weeks. My boy has some cheeks on him! I asked Dr. Moffett if I was seeing that right and he said, "Yes, looks like he is definitely going to be a full figured little boy." :-) He said he was already plumping up and taking puffs with his lungs. It was neat because we watched him take puffs on the ultrasound. I don't remember seeing that with Drew. Anyway, we are supposed to look at dates Thursday when I go. Mom's birthday is that week (Wednesday) so we are hoping for April 15th. Yes, I know it is tax day too. Who would have ever thought I would possibly have a baby on tax day? That would have been a big NO NO a few years ago! I am so excited about Cameron's arrival, but am going to enjoy every moment of these next 2 weeks. I love being pregnant and will definitely miss my belly.

Funny story about my big belly....we took our 3rd graders to Silver Springs on Friday. I decided to get on the Jeep Ride. BAD IDEA! It was very bumpy. I ended up bracing myself (most of the time) on my elbows. My kids were more interested in my bouncing belly than the animals and surroundings. Then on the glass bottom boat, some of my kids were debating whether or not if I fell in the water if I would sink or swim. 9 year olds!! :-) They are funny. Friday was probably my last day with them. This week I have various trainings all week and will be out of the classroom. I have a few that are having separation anxiety and I'm sure I will have some of it too. I already miss those little buggers. I will be looking forward to joining them again the last week of school.

I also enjoyed a good day off with Mom. Mom, Drew, & I went to Orlando shopping a bit today. We usually always go shopping for our birthdays so we went early for Mom's since more than likely we will be in the hospital then. I got a few last minute things I needed for Cameron and Drew's Easter stuff. Mom bought Cameron the sweetest "coming home" outfit. I can't wait to see him in it. Oh did I mentioned that we had the best cheesecake ever today? We had a piece of the Chocolate Coconut Creme Cheesecake. We both agreed it was the best one ever. Drew enjoyed the whipped cream. He will not eat chocolate other than tootsie rolls. I wish I could say he got that from his Momma!