12 at 12.

12 Facts About Cameron on His 12th Day of Life: 

#1: When he gets hungry, I cannot even contain my laughter.  He is so frantic to find food that he gets a little out of control and starts making open-mouthed grunting noses and he totally looks like a cross between a baby pig, a blind wise old owl, and a turtle.  It's the most endearing thing I've ever seen.  Brooklyn almost died of laughter the first time he started sucking on my arm.

 #2: The chances that he will pee on you while you change his diaper is about 50/50.

#3: Not a fan of bath time.

#4: He smacks his lips every time when he finishes eating.  

Cutest. thing. ever.

#5: By his 12th day birthday, he has experienced: a picnic at the park (where we were attacked by the world's most aggressive swarm of bees and ended up sprinting back to the car where we ate our lunch.  Cameron was covered though - don't worry), a day at the library, the Bridges of Madison County fair, 3 hours of church, a visit to the Science Center, and being abandoned by his parents for a much needed date night.

#6: He grew out of his premie outfits, but now drowns in his newborn clothes.

#7: He sleeps ALL DAY (and all night).  He slept from midnight to 8am on day #11.

#8: He doesn't get more than 3 minutes without being kissed, hugged, smothered, held, fed, rocked, wrapped, caressed, or cuddled by his sisters.  They think he is the coolest thing since dinosaurs and they love to show him off to their friends. 

   

#9: He smiles a lot.  I pretend that it's not because of gas.

#10: He is at his cutest in the middle of the night when he (usually) wakes up to eat.  His eyes get enormous and he just stares at me while he nurses.  I just stare back.

  I am so far beyond smitten.

#11: His every need is catered to by Brooklyn.  She is the official Baby Whisperer.  She demands that he be fed the second he opens his eyes, she makes sure his pacifier stays in, and she will not stand for a dirty diaper.  

#12: He is the most mesmerizing and enchanting little boy and we could not adore him more.

I'm Addicted...

... and I just can't get enough. 

A Baby Story

6:00 am: I awake to my alarm and immediately call the hospital to confirm my 6:30 scheduled induction.  The lady on the phone tells me that I am not on the schedule.  I sit in silence for a second and then threaten to sue her and anyone who has ever worked at that hospital if I do not have a baby in my arms by the end of the day.  After a few minutes, we realize I called the wrong hospital.

6:45 am: I literally skip into the hospital.  Alone.  (Luke was a mile high over Pennsylvania coming home from a $1,000 test that he scheduled last November.  Unfortunate?  A little.)

 6:50 am: Nurse #1 tries to start an I.V. She blows a vein.
6:52 am: Nurse #1 tries to start an I.V. for the second time.  She blows another vein.
6:55 am: Nurse #1 calls Nurse #2 in to try to start an I.V.  She also blows a vein.
6:57 am: Nurse #2 asks Nurse #3 to start an I.V. She is successful and I am spared from slapping Nurse #1 and #2.
7:38 am: Doc breaks my water.  Ow.
8:04 am: I start having regular though not painful contractions and do nothing but hang out in my room all alone.  I decide that I would pay any amount of money for a hot Cinnabon.

9:52 am: Luke finally walks in.  He never looked so handsome.  (Saying a lot since he spent the night in a metal airport chair, got about 2 hours of sleep, and hadn't taken a shower.) I start crying.

 

 (The really amazing pictures -the stripped hoodie ones- were taken by my amazing friend. Thanks, Danna!)

10:16 am: Epidural man comes.  He and Luke chatter like monkeys in a foreign language and by the time he is done, I can't decide which man I like better.

10:24 am: Epidural man leaves and says, "I'll come back to see how you're doing in a few minutes."  Nurse #1 (a super sweet heavyset woman in her mid 40's) responds under her breath, "You can come back and see how I'm doing anytime..."  I feel awkward.  And blissfully numb.

10:45 am: Nothing happens.

11:23 am: We decide that we need to decide on a name.  We sit in silence for about 20 minutes.
11:43 am: We turn on the flat screen and agree that whatever boy's name we hear first is what we will name our little man.  The first name is "Adam."  (My 6 year high-school boyfriend.)  We decide that was a stupid game.

12:05 pm: Nothing happens.
12:24 pm: Luke eats lunch.  I promise him a lifetime of marital bliss if he will smuggle me a slice of pizza.  He unwisely does not oblige.

12:46 pm: We take a nap.
12:52 pm: We wake up from our nap.

1:03 pm: We call my mom to come in since things are finally "progressing."  She comes and marvels at the wonder of modern medicine.  (She's got 6 kids.  Never had an epidural.  Her experience in childbirth was slightly different than mine.)   

2:50 pm: We call the doctor.  I tell her I'm feeling a lot of pressure.  She tells me that's good.  Luke offers to tie her gown closed for her, which would have been weird if he wasn't a doc in training.  I tell her I'm really feeling a lot of pressure.  She again tells me that's good.  I tell her I'm REALLY, REALLY feeling a lot of pressure.  She tells me to push.  I push 1 time.  (I told her I was feeling the pressure...!)

 3:05 pm: The most beautiful baby boy I have ever seen makes his way into the world.  He was as blue as a smurf and the teeniest, tiniest (5 lb. 15 oz.) most darling newborn I had ever laid eyes on.  He was absolutely enchanting.

5:42 pm: Thing 1 and Thing 2 come to the hospital to meet Thing 3, and are absolutely smitten.  Brooklyn vows to never stop holding him and Aubrey holds his head for about 20 seconds and then spots a butterfly outside the window and for the next several minutes her baby brother is entirely forgotten. 

6:37 pm: My incredible friend (and nurse) Chelsea stops by and brings me a plate of cookies which I devour in 3 seconds flat.

7:14: I wonder to myself if there has ever been an easier or less painful delivery ever. 

8:39 pm: I decide this child needs a name.  We try out Cameron John to see if it fits.  

8:40 pm: It fits.

9:23 pm: Luke and I thank our Father in Heaven for the most incredible blessing and fall peacefully asleep knowing that we've never been more scared, thrilled, or perfectly happy.

All You Ever Wanted to Know About Ashley Webb's Third Pregnancy

Since I have approximately 1 day, 10 hours, 27 minutes, and 43 seconds (not that I'm counting or anything...) until I am induced into labor, I fell like maybe I should attempt to document this pregnancy before it comes to a (hopefully) brief end. 

So, here are some random and completely embarrassing and totally disjointed thoughts on pregnancy.   

(By the way, you should know that I'm scared of maternity pictures.  I guess I've just seen one-too-many stretch mark covered, pasty white enormous bare bellies "artistically" wrapped in flowing white cloth.  I pictured my maternity pictures looking like this:)

or this...

or this...

and I wasn't about to have it.  

But then, my friend, Christia Palizzi offered to take some of me and since she is wildly talented and completely awesome, I put aside my belly insecurities, and trusted her.  

And she didn't disappoint.  

(Peps in West Des Moines - look her up!!)

 Now onto the random pregnancy tidbits...

*My record for the number of times I woke up to pee in a single night is 4.  

*Went from an A to a C.  All I'm sayin'.  Figure it out.

 *My daughters think they're pregnant too.  Brooklyn has a loose-fitting shirt that she refers to as her "mommy shirt."  It actually would make a darling maternity blouse.  

I overheard Aubrey say from the other room a few nights ago, "Oooh - this baby is kicking me so hard!" 

 

*My belly button is protruding.  Didn't happen with #1 or #2 and was not in the least bit prepared for it to happen with #3.  It still leaves me a little unsettled.

*Clothes that I used to be able to comfortably go camping in now fit me snuggly. 

 

*This child thinks my bladder is a drum.  And he's quite musically inclined.

*My feet have swollen to cartoon proportions and could easily be used as flotation devices in the case of emergency.  (These are the feet of the 400 lb. lady who lives next door to me.  These are NOT my feet. 
OK; yes they are.)

*I threw up 6 times.  

(7 if you count me throwing up in a Ziploc bag in the back of our car 30 minutes into our 25 hour car trip home.  I'm not sure if this was pregnancy induced or not, so count it if you'd like.)

TMI?  Yep.

*My marvelous friend Chelsea threw me the sweetest and most delicious baby shower ever.  We had so much fun talking that we forgot to take a picture until almost everyone had left.   

But don't worry - we didn't forget to recreate the awkward belly rub picture.  

Thank. goodness.

* Even though this pregnancy has had it's moments (see entire post), it's been great.  I can't believe I have less than one day of being pregnant left.  After 9 months of painful waiting, it's shocking how quickly this day has snuck up on me.  

*One final tidbit: this child is already loved more than he will ever know.  

We can't wait to meet him.