Captured recently by the beauty and awe of my daughter, I suddenly find myself in April with a 6 week old! Unbelievable. The weeks have absolutely flown by me. Here is my best attempt to chronicle this time through words and pictures, though they could never do it justice. After great anticipation and excitement, February 25, 2011 marked the entrance of Camry Alys into the world. God answered all of our prayers for labor and delivery. Jon and I had such a great experience working as a team through labor. He was the best coach ever—never tiring even as hard as I tried to wear him out. I was pretty demanding.
We went to the hospital the night of the 24th to begin induction. We thought we would get a good night's sleep before they started the serious drug (Pitocin) in the morning, but that wasn’t the case. Labor began around 2 in the morning and progressed quickly enough I never needed the Pitocin. I promptly woke up Jon at 3 when I didn’t think I could manage contractions on my own, and he got to work with putting counter pressure on my lower back (I had back labor), applying cold wash cloths to my forehead while applying heating pads to my lower back, feeding me ice chips inbetween every contraction, and applying Vaseline to my lips nearly as often. I had packed him some good nutritious snacks (like Skittles, and a Twix), and he didn’t even have time to eat them. The poor guy barely made it to the bathroom before I was calling him back to my side for something. Like I said I was pretty demanding (rightfully so in my opinion), but he never complained, and he cared for me meticulously for the next 11 hours. After about 2 hours of pushing, Camry Alys was born at 1:31 pm. She was 7 lbs. 10 oz., 21” long, and stunning! The most memorable moment for me was when Jon announced “It’s a girl,” then he looked me in the eyes and said, “We have a baby girl!” I will always remember the sound of his voice, the look in his eyes, and the feeling I got learning for the first time that I have a daughter.
