The First Week of Camden's Life

So hard to believe that at this time one week ago I was gazing at my gift from God with amazement. This first week has been a bit busier than we expected, but full of such joy and amazement. On Thursday, we arrived at the hospital at 5:00 am and I was placed in a labor and delivery room. At DCH hospital where I delivered, they have you start in a labor and delivery room, and then an hour after delivery they move you to a room where you spend the rest of your time. Shane of course brought me to the hospital and mom didn't come until a little after 9:00 am so she could let the dogs out so they wouldn't be caged up for too long. By 6:45 am I had had an enema (first time ever) and had the Pitocin started. Dr. DiPiazza came in and checked me and then went ahead and broke my water. She told me she didn't expect me to deliver until 8:00 or 9:00 pm. I informed her we would do our best to prove her wrong!!! : ) Gradually, the nurse would turn up the medication and by 8:30 am I was feeling the contractions pretty good. The nurse kept telling me that they were going to have a lot of births that day, so if I got even close to thinking I needed the epidural to let her know, if not I could be waiting a long time. The majority of my contractions were in my back, which was so, so uncomfortable. So by 9:00 am I went ahead and asked for an epidural. By 9:30 am, still no epidural and my nurse informed me that a woman beat me to the punch, but I was next in line and it should not be too much longer. By 10:00-10:15 am, two CRNA's came in the room and I received the epidural, which was uncomfortable but bearable. (I did find out later that it was a student that put in the epidural, but she did a good job, so I won't complain.)

Me during labor - with my emesis basin

At 11:00 am, I was measuring 3cm and 80% effaced. I had already thrown up once and was very nauseated from the medication in the epidural. I asked for Phenergan, but just asked for 1/2 the ordered dosage so as not to be too out of it. Once the epidural kicked in, I didn't feel the contractions at all, and even dozed on and off for awhile. By 1:00 pm, I was starting to feel the contractions again and they turned up the medication, which again made me nauseated and I vomited yet again. I was still measuring 3 cm and 80% effaced and was a zero station, so he was at least moving on down. Dr. D had a c-section she was assisting with at lunch time and I was told she would come and check me after that. Well about 1:45 pm she came in and did indeed check me and I was 6 or 7 cm dilated and completely effaced and she said he was really low. At that time she went ahead and inserted an intrauterine catheter in order to better measure Camden's heart rate. She said I would be having him soon!!! At 2:22 pm, they turned the Pitocin off because my body had taken over and was doing what it needed to without the help of the Pitocin. By this time, I was really feeling the contractions in my left lower abdomen. I would definitely breathe through the pain. I knew there would be pain, but oh my, it was very, very uncomfortable. So again, they increased the epidural medication in hopes of helping the pain, but all it did was cause the nausea and vomiting yet again. By 3:30 pm, I was pushing for the nurse. I pushed for just a bit and then the nurse went ahead and called Dr. D, thinking it would not be too long. So Dr. D arrived, a little short of breath due to hurrying over, and we pushed, and pushed, and pushed. She put a mirror at the foot of my bed so that I could see Camden and so that I could really focus on pushing him out since it seemed he was stuck in one place. His heart rate continued to do great throughout all the pushing and they turned down the epidural so I could really feel the contractions, which gosh knows I felt every bit of it!! A little before 5:00 pm Dr. D said that we could use the vacuum to help extract him since I had been pushing for about an hour and a half and did not seem to be progressing as well as I should have been. We discussed the risk and benefits of using the vacuum and I told her to go ahead since by this time I was pretty worn down. So she had the vacuum, but it would not seem to obtain suction like it should have, so she asked the nurse for another one, and within two or three pushes and the help of the vacuum, Camden Cade Hood was born at 5:05 pm. His head was out and his cord was wrapped around his neck twice so she told me to go ahead and push him out the rest of the way. Amazingly, Camden never once had a problem with his heart rate dropping during delivery, which usually occurs with the cord being wrapped around the neck.

Camden right after delivery

Dr. D asked Shane if he wanted to cut the cord, which Shane declined, so she cut it and then put Camden on my chest. I was in such awe and amazement to see my precious gift from God. He was perfect in every way. I could not believe that my dream had finally come true.

My first time to hold my baby

So I pushed a bit more to help deliver the placenta, which from my past labor and delivery experience in nursing school, was always such a cool thing. I had already told Shane that I wanted him to look at the placenta and see how awesome it was being really smooth on one side and so vascular on the other, and how it is what supplied Camden what he needed throughout his life in my uterus. Well, when I saw mine, it was not so nice looking at all. It had holes in it and just looked bad. Dr. D told me that the cord was thin, and that definitely it was good that he delivered that day because otherwise we could have had issues. What a blessing!!! If you recall, I was never too keen on induction, but had prayed and prayed about it and felt like it was the way to go. I have never been more pleased with that decision!!! Thank the Lord!!! While I was delivering the placenta, the nurse measured Camden and weighed him and he was 6 pounds 3 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long. He has his daddy's feet and long legs - imagine that!!

Camden weighing in at 6 lbs 3 ounces

My mom holding Camden shortly after birth

So, now for the sewing - which I might add she worked on for over an hour. Dr. D went ahead and turned back on the epidural after I delivered so that it would help me through the sewing extravaganza. I had torn quiet a bit. Dr. D told me that I was so swollen down there that when she arrived to deliver, the intrauterine catheter had already tore me some and with the pushing I tore a bit more. Then, with the usage of the vacuum and not being able to stop between his head delivering and then his body, I tore quiet a bit more. She considered it second degree, but the tissue between the vagina and rectum had tore (not the muscle) so she did lots of sewing. She told me that it was very well planned, and lucky for me she is great at stitching up that area!! (Like I ever doubted that!!!) After she was finished sewing me up and I could get in a "normal" position, Camden was brought to me so we could try breastfeeding - which I must say went well. He latched on well and I was so pleased!! After we finished that, we were taken to our room where we would spend the rest of our stay. At this time Camden was taken to the nursery so they could do all the needed tests and things to him. They told us that he would be receiving his first bath and that Shane was more than welcome to be in there if he wanted. So they called us around 8:00 pm and Shane went and took pictures of his first bath.

Camden during his first bath

When Shane got back to the room, he expected for my food that I had ordered to be there for me, but somehow the kitchen closed without me ever receiving my food, and to say the least I was starving since it had been 24 hours since I had last eaten. So Shane went and got us Schlotzky's for supper, which was GREAT!!! Bless his heart, he even knew my love of cookies and tried to get cookies for me, but they didn't have any. It is definitely the thought that counts!! We had decided that Camden could stay in the nursery at night and for them to bring him to us when it was time to eat. That worked very well for the two nights we were in the hospital so that I could get a little more rest. It took until after midnight for me to even feel my legs and of course, I had not urinated since they in and out cathed me after delivery. So the nurse palpated my abdomen and could not even feel my uterus for my bladder being so distended. With the nurses help I went to the restroom and could not urinate at all. So she decided to insert a catheter, which was very uncomfortable, and I emptied 800cc of urine!!! My goodness - no wonder I was so uncomfortable. It took until mid morning for my legs to really feel back to normal. I was so uncomfortable and could not get out of bed without Shane's help and really just felt so helpless - such a horrible feeling. They did bring Camden in during the night, which he fed well again - thank goodness! I got so tickled, when Shane woke up in the morning, he asked me if they had even ever brought Camden in - he slept through EVERYTHING!!!! On Friday, Mom arrived that morning, and Shane went ahead and went home to get a shower before his family arrived. Camden was in the room a good part of the day and of course slept a lot. The nursery nurse came and got him sometime around 3:30 pm for him to be circumcised. By 4:30 pm, Shane had arrived back at the hospital and had Granny and Granddad Hood from Georgia with him. Then, within 10 minutes or so, my great friend from church, Sarah and her 8 week old daughter, Noah Catherine came to visit. It was so great to see her because we had discussed so much of our pregnancy together!! Within 20 minutes or so, Shane's mother, father and Connor arrived with a precious elephant snack basket in tow. Poor things, they were there to see Camden and he was not even in the room due to the circumcision. But luckily, within 30 minutes or so, they brought him back to the room, and fortunately he seemed very content. Dr. Ray, who is Dr. D's associate, did his circumcision, and I was informed that she does an excellent job with circumcisions!!! YEA!!!! We definitely want Camden to have a pretty penis!!! ; ) I felt kind of bad because I really wanted to hold him and comfort him and did not give Shane's family a chance to hold him. But Shane said not to worry, they had Saturday to hold him. On Saturday, Camden had lots of visitors!!! He is so loved! Several church friends visited, as well as some of my co-workers. Shane's Aunt Manya, Uncle Ronald, Uncle Ira, and Maw Maw all came from Birmingham that afternoon and visited, as well as his parents and Grandparents from Georgia.

Shane's Mom (Nana) with Camden

Shane's Dad (Pappa Ron) with Camden

Granny Hood, Manya, Mom and Camden

Manya, Ronald, Ira with Camden

Maw Maw (Shane's grandmother) with Camden

I am glad that for a short time, Camden will be near Shane's family. We were released from the hospital a little after 5:00 pm with orders to return to the hospital on Monday to see the lactation nurse and have a weight check. His discharge weight was 5 pounds 15 ounces. The car trip home was uneventful and he hardly made a peep. When we got home, Zach, the min-pin, was very curious and sniffed Camden out quiet well.

Camden upon arrival to his home.

Connor holding Camden

Sunday, Shane's family left before noon and we attempted to establish some sort of routine. Camden was proving to definitely take after his dad and be a heavy sleeper. He was not waking every 3 hours or so to feed, it was more like every 4 or 5 hours which started to worry me. He was appearing a bit yellow or jaundiced and I was concerned. In the middle of the night, I attempted to wake him to eat and could not wake him, even with a wet wash cloth. I woke up my Mom for moral support, and we decided I should call the nursery nurses for some advice. I informed them of my concern and I was told to try to get him to eat at least an ounce of formula, which with my mother's help we were able to do. Monday morning seemed to be better as far as his listlessness, and at 10:00 am we arrived at DCH Hospital to see Mona, the lactation nurse for our scheduled appointment. She weighed him and he had only lost 1 ounce from his discharge weight, so was 5 pounds 14 ounces. She noticed his lovely yellow tint and sent us to the lab for a bili check. We drove home and within 15 minutes of being home the phone rang, and it was the pediatricians office asking us to come in and be prepared to be admitted, that Camden's bilirubin level was too elevated at 18.2. So we packed him back up and went to see the pediatrician. While there, she had me go ahead and feed him formula, since breast milk tends to make it harder for him to break down the bilirubin. I had really mixed emotions about that because I did not want to mess up his routine of breastfeeding by making him nipple confused. She evaluated him and wrote orders for us to be admitted to the hospital and for Camden to be placed under the bili lights. She said that for the next 24 hours he would have to eat formula while under the lights as well as have all his diaper changes under the lights. They would redraw a bilirubin level at 6:00 pm as well as draw some other lab work and we would go from there. So Mom and I drove over to DCH hospital where Camden was admitted. He was stripped down to nothing but a 'bikini', which is basically a mask that was tied on each side and had some cool daddy cloth sunglasses.

Camden under the bili lights

His little butt crack - so cute

He was placed under the lights, where he remained for 30 hours. At his next bilirubin level check, he was down to 14.2 and then Tuesday morning it was 12.0. He was to still remain under the lights until his next bili check which was scheduled for 6:00 pm. Now let me stop here and say that he was such a trooper. Those warm lights had him feeling like he was catching some rays on a beach (at least that is what I like to think). It was definitely harder on us than on him since you only have 10 inches from him to the bili lights and that is the amount of room you have to feed him or change his diaper!! And needless to say, sleep was no where in his repertoire for both nights. By the time I would feed him formula, clean his poopy diapers, than pump for 30 minutes or so, it was pretty much time to turn around and do it all again. So his bili level on Tuesday evening was somewhere around 7 and he was allowed to come out of the light and I could breast feed, but had to alternate with formula every other time. I was so grateful to finally get to hold my sweet baby boy, since it had been 30 hours since I was able to do so. Now by this time, I had started displaying cold like symptoms with a cough and scratchy throat - not surprising due to the lack of rest - but I wouldn't trade that for anything. So once again, Camden had his days and nights mixed up and after his midnight feeding, could not seem to get settled before it was time for his next feeding. FINALLY at 3:40 am I got him to sleep and had him comfy cozy in this little bassinet and don't you know the dang PCA (nursing assistant) came in to check his temp rectally and so by the time she undressed him, he was crying and ticked. So needless to say, another night without sleep. Amazingly enough, Shane was able to sleep (in a not so comfy recliner) through all the fun both of those nights!! He was a trooper since he had to get up at 5:00 am in order to get home and take a shower before his student teaching. So again, at 6:00 am they did yet another heel stick for his bili level and it was great, 8.0, only up a little - which is expected. His weight that morning was 6 pounds 1 ounce. We were told we could go on home and to just follow up for his 2 week check up. WOO HOO !!!! We were home by 11:30 am on Wednesday morning - so good to be back at home.

Today has been a run of the mill day except for me, which my cold seems to be worsening. I just keep hoping and praying that I don't pass it onto Camden. Last night (Wednesday) he did not sleep well at all, and I have decided that tonight I am going to bundle him up a bit more and see if he will sleep better. Now that we are home, perhaps I can take a bit better care of my self with the needed sitz baths and rest in order to help the healing process. So, that is pretty much an overview of the past week. My apologies for the length of this entry, but so much to tell. I have never been more proud to be a mother and look forward to sharing what life has to throw at us as parents of such a precious gift.

Shane and me with Camden