Cameron, *I* am your father...
It's been a long 27 hours, but I'm happy to report that Cameron Michael Ford is alive and well at Renaissance Womens' Center.
STATS:
Born: September 2, 2008, 6:26 am
Weight: 6 lbs., 10 oz.
Length: 19 7/8 in.
Eye Color: Hazel
Hair Color: Sandy Blond/Brown
Coincidences:
- Dad started working at USDA on September 2, 2007
- Today marked Dad's permanency as a federal employee
- Today marked Dad's first pay-raise
- 6:26 am = 06/02/06, Dad and Mom's Wedding Day
Okay. Now, to the story:
SEPTEMBER 1, 2008
5:00 PM
Gail checked in to the birth center. After getting fitted with wrist bands and getting comfortable in a rather lovely suite, we all settled in and expected to wait.
Think again.
Cameron Michael played the biggest trick of all. After explaining the effects of the drug they were going to use on Gail to induce her, the nurse discovered Gail was already dilated to a "3" and 50% effaced, which meant that the drug would be useless.
During this time, Gail has been given a little sedative to help ease the pain of early contractions. Meanwhile, Daddy had a chance to play around with the room's marker board.
SEPTEMBER 1, 2008
9:00 - 9:30 PM
The lights dim, and Gail is trying to rest, when all of a sudden, she feels two internal "pops." I hear her grunt rather oddly. Gail asks me to come investigate.
Her water had broken.
Cameron Michael was definitely on the way.
Gail was given some anesthesia to help cope with the painful contractions:
Meanwhile, the grandparents present watched and waited...
SEPTEMBER 2, 2008
2:00 AM
We're all kicked out of the room to give Gail room to receive the epidural. She was such a trooper, and didn't complain a single bit (though she is deathly afraid of needles). When we were allowed to return in, Gail's mother stood vigilant watch over her daughter while Dad and Papa slept, earning the title "Super-Nana."
SEPTEMBER 2, 2008
4:00 AM
Dad awakens and comes back to find Mom on Potosin, getting ready to start the "real work."
SEPTEMBER 2, 2008
5:00 AM
Gail gets ready to start the pushing:
SEPTEMBER 2, 2008
6:00 - 6:30 AM
And push Gail does! In fact, at this point, Gail only needed seven pushes, three of which were with Cameron actively in the birthing canal, to get him free. She pushed like a real trooper, so if you really want to shower the hero of the hour with gifts and praise, Gail most certainly deserves it all. In fact, she was SO good, Cameron almost shot out like a cannon.
However, because the umbilical cord was wrapped around his head, I didn't get the honor of cutting it. The staff, though, said it was the longest cord they had ever seen, and Dr. Elcy John looked like she was performing the "kerchief trick" as she kept pulling out more and more cord!
And, thus, Cameron Michael Ford was ushered into the world...
...to his most beautiful mother, Gail...
...and even though he has breathing problems from the fluid trapped in his lungs thanks to a minimal number of pushes needed to escape his mother combined with the tube wrapped around his neck, he manages to score an 8 and a 10 on his APGAR tests.
However, he needed to be taken to the nursery, where he is still resting today. The staff there are taking excellent care of him as he adjusts to breathing normally-oxygenated air (my little "Darth Baby" under his helmet), and letting us see him whenever we want:
And, when he is ready to come home, his bassinet is ready and waiting beside our bed:
When he's big enough, he shall inherit the ever-evolving room that was once ... THE MAN-CAVE.
PRE-MAN-CAVE ERA
EARLY MAN-CAVE
MAN-CAVE 1.0
EARLY NURSERY
MODERN NURSERY
Now, I leave MAN-CAVE 2.0:
... in the corner of the Master Bedroom to return to my wife and child.
[Good night, and may God bless all of you the way He has blessed me.]
[EDITED: 9/3/08, 7:28 am] -- I almost forgot to mention that the afghan hanging over the back of Cameron's crib is, in fact, one of the last two afghans my late grandmother, Myrtle "Mama" Ford, ever crocheted. It was finished by the grandmother of my cousin Becky Jo, Jackie "Grandma" Boyd, who - by virtue of Becky and I being born on consecutive days - has also known me and cared for me since I was Cameron's age.
The afghan's title? "A Grandmother's Love." I couldn't think of a more appropriate backdrop to the crib.
STATS:
Born: September 2, 2008, 6:26 am
Weight: 6 lbs., 10 oz.
Length: 19 7/8 in.
Eye Color: Hazel
Hair Color: Sandy Blond/Brown
Coincidences:
- Dad started working at USDA on September 2, 2007
- Today marked Dad's permanency as a federal employee
- Today marked Dad's first pay-raise
- 6:26 am = 06/02/06, Dad and Mom's Wedding Day
Okay. Now, to the story:
SEPTEMBER 1, 2008
5:00 PM
Gail checked in to the birth center. After getting fitted with wrist bands and getting comfortable in a rather lovely suite, we all settled in and expected to wait.
Think again.
Cameron Michael played the biggest trick of all. After explaining the effects of the drug they were going to use on Gail to induce her, the nurse discovered Gail was already dilated to a "3" and 50% effaced, which meant that the drug would be useless.
During this time, Gail has been given a little sedative to help ease the pain of early contractions. Meanwhile, Daddy had a chance to play around with the room's marker board.
SEPTEMBER 1, 2008
9:00 - 9:30 PM
The lights dim, and Gail is trying to rest, when all of a sudden, she feels two internal "pops." I hear her grunt rather oddly. Gail asks me to come investigate.
Her water had broken.
Cameron Michael was definitely on the way.
Gail was given some anesthesia to help cope with the painful contractions:
Meanwhile, the grandparents present watched and waited...
SEPTEMBER 2, 2008
2:00 AM
We're all kicked out of the room to give Gail room to receive the epidural. She was such a trooper, and didn't complain a single bit (though she is deathly afraid of needles). When we were allowed to return in, Gail's mother stood vigilant watch over her daughter while Dad and Papa slept, earning the title "Super-Nana."
SEPTEMBER 2, 2008
4:00 AM
Dad awakens and comes back to find Mom on Potosin, getting ready to start the "real work."
SEPTEMBER 2, 2008
5:00 AM
Gail gets ready to start the pushing:
SEPTEMBER 2, 2008
6:00 - 6:30 AM
And push Gail does! In fact, at this point, Gail only needed seven pushes, three of which were with Cameron actively in the birthing canal, to get him free. She pushed like a real trooper, so if you really want to shower the hero of the hour with gifts and praise, Gail most certainly deserves it all. In fact, she was SO good, Cameron almost shot out like a cannon.
However, because the umbilical cord was wrapped around his head, I didn't get the honor of cutting it. The staff, though, said it was the longest cord they had ever seen, and Dr. Elcy John looked like she was performing the "kerchief trick" as she kept pulling out more and more cord!
And, thus, Cameron Michael Ford was ushered into the world...
...to his most beautiful mother, Gail...
...and even though he has breathing problems from the fluid trapped in his lungs thanks to a minimal number of pushes needed to escape his mother combined with the tube wrapped around his neck, he manages to score an 8 and a 10 on his APGAR tests.
However, he needed to be taken to the nursery, where he is still resting today. The staff there are taking excellent care of him as he adjusts to breathing normally-oxygenated air (my little "Darth Baby" under his helmet), and letting us see him whenever we want:
And, when he is ready to come home, his bassinet is ready and waiting beside our bed:
When he's big enough, he shall inherit the ever-evolving room that was once ... THE MAN-CAVE.
PRE-MAN-CAVE ERA
EARLY MAN-CAVE
MAN-CAVE 1.0
EARLY NURSERY
MODERN NURSERY
Now, I leave MAN-CAVE 2.0:
... in the corner of the Master Bedroom to return to my wife and child.
[Good night, and may God bless all of you the way He has blessed me.]
[EDITED: 9/3/08, 7:28 am] -- I almost forgot to mention that the afghan hanging over the back of Cameron's crib is, in fact, one of the last two afghans my late grandmother, Myrtle "Mama" Ford, ever crocheted. It was finished by the grandmother of my cousin Becky Jo, Jackie "Grandma" Boyd, who - by virtue of Becky and I being born on consecutive days - has also known me and cared for me since I was Cameron's age.
The afghan's title? "A Grandmother's Love." I couldn't think of a more appropriate backdrop to the crib.