Little Cam Cam’s birth was special in a different way than her older sister’s. When Cambri Elliott came into this world, only her Dad and I were there (well and an entire hospital staff). While I wouldn’t trade sharing the moment with family the first time around for anything, being able to just admire your newborn for a couple of hours is really nice too. On Thursday, June 25th Dr. O said that I couldn’t go to work anymore. He had suggested that I slow down a couple of weeks earlier and when I obviously didn’t listen, he put me on mandatory medical leave. So my loving mother picked Isabelle up from daycare that night and volunteered to keep her until baby arrived. Any pregnant woman who has a two year old can attest to what a blessing this was. So I just laid in bed and watched a ton of Discovery Health. Which completely freaked me out but that’s a whole different story. I did learn there were a ton of different scenarios where you could be pregnant and not know it but on with my own narrative. My due date was still a couple of weeks out so I told Chase not to worry about coming home. It really didn’t make sense to me to have the two of us just hanging out and doing nothing. Over the weekend, I kept praying and wishing that something would happen but I didn’t even have Braxton Hicks contractions. Nothing. On Monday morning, I had a doctor appointment and when I walked out to get in my car I saw that my brother-in-law had broken the cardinal rule for living in my house. I felt my body tense up the entire way to the doctor’s office. By the time they took my blood pressure, it was so high that they sent me immediately to the hospital and Dr. O said I should count on staying there until baby was born. I couldn’t even go home for my toothbrush. Of course I got the hospital room with the broken TV but that actually gave me time to reflect on what I was
about to go through. My mom brought me magazines and books on lunch and I just laid there. But then they came into give me an ultrasound to determine the baby’s size and they found an abnormality with the reproduction system of my baby. Hearing this was too much for me to handle and it made me very sad. I decided that I would only tell Chase until we knew more (but then I accidentally told my mom and he ended up telling his but they were the two right people to tell). When Chase called and found out that I was in the hospital, he insisted on coming home right away. I tried to talk him out of it because it was already past 7pm but he could not be deterred. Then right around 8, the nurse came in and said my blood pressure had dropped enough that I could go home if I wanted. I completely lost at this point because I just wanted to have this baby and I couldn’t believe I had to leave the hospital before I had her in my arms. I started bawling and I could barely see to pack my stuff up. They tried to wheel me out to my car in a wheelchair and I had a diva moment. I insisted that I would walk myself out ALONE. I was crying down the hallway when I passed a lady that I work with whose niece just had her baby 4 weeks early. Of course I would never wish for a premature baby but that just added to my mental distress. I was still grouchy at my brother-in-law, though I had calmed down enough for my blood pressure to drop, I still didn’t want to go to my house. So I went to my parents and I could barely see to drive myself there because I was crying. Chase pulled up to my parent’s house at around 1am. I had calmed down a little and was starting to see the doctors reasoning for sending me home. I was much more comfortable in my own surroundings (part of the reason why I can definitely see the appeal for a home birth). We sat and talked for a little while and then decided to go to bed around 3am. I used the restroom upstairs and as I was walking downstairs, I felt something run down my leg. I usually practice a very sanitary restroom routine so I thought something was up. But of course I couldn’t even see my knees at this point in my pregnancy so I couldn’t be sure of anything. I told Chase that it would crazy if my water had just broken and we both laughed. As we crawled into bed, I still felt liquid running down my legs. I laid there for a little and then woke Chasey up. We called the hospital and they told me to come back so they could check me. I immediately got very excited and jumped out of bed. Then I realized I hadn’t had a shower in almost 24 hours and if I really had the baby I wouldn’t be able to take one right away. So I insisted on jumping into the shower. And because anyone rarely uses the bathroom downstairs at my moms, I kept sending Chase up and down the stairs for shampoo and conditioner and a brush and my toothbrush and so on. The constant up and down woke my dad up who came out to see what was going on. When he went back into his room to tell my mom, she jumped up and came to find me. I told her that Chase was going to take me to hospital but it would probably be awhile so I would call her. This held her off for a little while. We got to the hospital around 4am and she was there by 6. As we drove to the hospital, I kept waiting for contractions to start because I heard that when you water breaks, it amplifies the pain. I kept feeling little pains and but nothing that lasted longer than a little “ow.” Everytime I said ow Chase would give me a
panicked look like he was afraid he was going to have to deliver the baby himself in the car. I still wasn’t feeling very much pain by the time I got checked into the hospital but everyone agreed that I was in labor. When the doctor came into check me, he said that if I didn’t get my epidural within the next few minutes it would be too late. Earlier in my pregnancy, I thought of skipping the epidural cost and doing it naturally but to hear the doctor say that in the moment caused my blood pressure to spike. So the nurse ran off to find the anesthesiologist to help me out. In retrospect, it went so quickly that I could have pushed through it (and later I was kicking myself because this would have been the perfect baby to have at home). Before I knew it, it was almost 8 and my mom had to leave for work. Dr. O had been milling around and he told me that he had a surgery patient upstairs waiting for him but this baby would probably be born before he could complete the procedure. Hearing that kind of freaked me out. Right after he said that, he checked me and said I could start pushing. I was in my first set of three pushes, when everyone stopped counting. I looked at Chase and said, “Do they want me to keep going?” And he said, “Babe, you just had a baby.” And I looked down and there was little Cambri being lifted up. I couldn’t believe how easy it was. With Isabelle I pushed for over an hour. But little Cam Cam came into the world at 8:46 am with little effort on my part. Dr. O left shortly after for surgery (8 weeks later when I had my tubes tied, he was late for my surgery because he was delivering someone else’s baby so what goes around comes around and I was just grateful to have such a good doctor). The nurse left and Chase and I just spent the next hour totally alone with our new baby. When we called his mom to tell her baby had come (she had been planning on coming up that day or the next one) she didn’t believe us. When Chase held the phone up so she could hear the little baby noises, she hung up on him because she just dropped the phone to get into her car. Because of baby’s abnormality, they wanted Cambri to stay in the hospital for a full three days and it was much easier to keep me admitted with her for feeding and sleeping purposes. Over the next few days, it was crazy with visitors. The nurse told me that if hadn’t been a violation of my privacy, they would have printed out a sign that said “Burke Baby room 176” because every person who walked in was looking for us. My dad said he had barely opened his mouth to speak before the nurse said, “I bet you’re looking for room 176” and he came on day 1! Chase and I counted over 50 people who loved us enough to stop what they were doing and come visit us, some having to drive 5+ hours to do so. I think this is a testament to how much love Cambri can count on through her life. Right from the beginning, she was surrounded with a massive amount of people who were willing to help protect her from what can be an ugly world. But I don’t have any fear that Cambri will find this world ugly. In fact, she is only 12 weeks and I can already see a sweet, old soul that will make a difference in a great amount of lives. Hopefully her friendliness and compassion will give her a servant’s heart and she can use the tools given to her to accomplish something great. I know this account seems more detailed than the one I gave of Izzy and probably some of that has to do with time that has passed too quickly and small details that have been long forgotten. But I also have to say that I appreciated this experience much more at a mature 25 than at an inexperienced 22. Already being a mother helped calm my fears so that I could just relax and enjoy bringing this new life into the world. It is the one time in my life where I will directly assist God in a miracle. Awesome, huh?
Little Cam Cam’s birth was special in a different way than her older sister’s. When Cambri Elliott came into this world, only her Dad and I were there (well and an entire hospital staff). While I wouldn’t trade sharing the moment with family the first time around for anything, being able to just admire your newborn for a couple of hours is really nice too. On Thursday, June 25th Dr. O said that I couldn’t go to work anymore. He had suggested that I slow down a couple of weeks earlier and when I obviously didn’t listen, he put me on mandatory medical leave. So my loving mother picked Isabelle up from daycare that night and volunteered to keep her until baby arrived. Any pregnant woman who has a two year old can attest to what a blessing this was. So I just laid in bed and watched a ton of Discovery Health. Which completely freaked me out but that’s a whole different story. I did learn there were a ton of different scenarios where you could be pregnant and not know it but on with my own narrative. My due date was still a couple of weeks out so I told Chase not to worry about coming home. It really didn’t make sense to me to have the two of us just hanging out and doing nothing. Over the weekend, I kept praying and wishing that something would happen but I didn’t even have Braxton Hicks contractions. Nothing. On Monday morning, I had a doctor appointment and when I walked out to get in my car I saw that my brother-in-law had broken the cardinal rule for living in my house. I felt my body tense up the entire way to the doctor’s office. By the time they took my blood pressure, it was so high that they sent me immediately to the hospital and Dr. O said I should count on staying there until baby was born. I couldn’t even go home for my toothbrush. Of course I got the hospital room with the broken TV but that actually gave me time to reflect on what I was 
about to go through. My mom brought me magazines and books on lunch and I just laid there. But then they came into give me an ultrasound to determine the baby’s size and they found an abnormality with the reproduction system of my baby. Hearing this was too much for me to handle and it made me very sad. I decided that I would only tell Chase until we knew more (but then I accidentally told my mom and he ended up telling his but they were the two right people to tell). When Chase called and found out that I was in the hospital, he insisted on coming home right away. I tried to talk him out of it because it was already past 7pm but he could not be deterred. Then right around 8, the nurse came in and said my blood pressure had dropped enough that I could go home if I wanted. I completely lost at this point because I just wanted to have this baby and I couldn’t believe I had to leave the hospital before I had her in my arms. I started bawling and I could barely see to pack my stuff up. They tried to wheel me out to my car in a wheelchair and I had a diva moment. I insisted that I would walk myself out ALONE. I was crying down the hallway when I passed a lady that I work with whose niece just had her baby 4 weeks early. Of course I would never wish for a premature baby but that just added to my mental distress. I was still grouchy at my brother-in-law, though I had calmed down enough for my blood pressure to drop, I still didn’t want to go to my house. So I went to my parents and I could barely see to drive myself there because I was crying. Chase pulled up to my parent’s house at around 1am. I had calmed down a little and was starting to see the doctors reasoning for sending me home. I was much more comfortable in my own surroundings (part of the reason why I can definitely see the appeal for a home birth). We sat and talked for a little while and then decided to go to bed around 3am. I used the restroom upstairs and as I was walking downstairs, I felt something run down my leg. I usually practice a very sanitary restroom routine so I thought something was up. But of course I couldn’t even see my knees at this point in my pregnancy so I couldn’t be sure of anything. I told Chase that it would crazy if my water had just broken and we both laughed. As we crawled into bed, I still felt liquid running down my legs. I laid there for a little and then woke Chasey up. We called the hospital and they told me to come back so they could check me. I immediately got very excited and jumped out of bed. Then I realized I hadn’t had a shower in almost 24 hours and if I really had the baby I wouldn’t be able to take one right away. So I insisted on jumping into the shower. And because anyone rarely uses the bathroom downstairs at my moms, I kept sending Chase up and down the stairs for shampoo and conditioner and a brush and my toothbrush and so on. The constant up and down woke my dad up who came out to see what was going on. When he went back into his room to tell my mom, she jumped up and came to find me. I told her that Chase was going to take me to hospital but it would probably be awhile so I would call her. This held her off for a little while. We got to the hospital around 4am and she was there by 6. As we drove to the hospital, I kept waiting for contractions to start because I heard that when you water breaks, it amplifies the pain. I kept feeling little pains and but nothing that lasted longer than a little “ow.” Everytime I said ow Chase would give me a 
panicked look like he was afraid he was going to have to deliver the baby himself in the car. I still wasn’t feeling very much pain by the time I got checked into the hospital but everyone agreed that I was in labor. When the doctor came into check me, he said that if I didn’t get my epidural within the next few minutes it would be too late. Earlier in my pregnancy, I thought of skipping the epidural cost and doing it naturally but to hear the doctor say that in the moment caused my blood pressure to spike. So the nurse ran off to find the anesthesiologist to help me out. In retrospect, it went so quickly that I could have pushed through it (and later I was kicking myself because this would have been the perfect baby to have at home). Before I knew it, it was almost 8 and my mom had to leave for work. Dr. O had been milling around and he told me that he had a surgery patient upstairs waiting for him but this baby would probably be born before he could complete the procedure. Hearing that kind of freaked me out. Right after he said that, he checked me and said I could start pushing. I was in my first set of three pushes, when everyone stopped counting. I looked at Chase and said, “Do they want me to keep going?” And he said, “Babe, you just had a baby.” And I looked down and there was little Cambri being lifted up. I couldn’t believe how easy it was. With Isabelle I pushed for over an hour. But little Cam Cam came into the world at 8:46 am with little effort on my part. Dr. O left shortly after for surgery (8 weeks later when I had my tubes tied, he was late for my surgery because he was delivering someone else’s baby so what goes around comes around and I was just grateful to have such a good doctor). The nurse left and Chase and I just spent the next hour totally alone with our new baby. When we called his mom to tell her baby had come (she had been planning on coming up that day or the next one) she didn’t believe us. When Chase held the phone up so she could hear the little baby noises, she hung up on him because she just dropped the phone to get into her car. Because of baby’s abnormality, they wanted Cambri to stay in the hospital for a full three days and it was much easier to keep me admitted with her for feeding and sleeping purposes. Over the next few days, it was crazy with visitors. The nurse told me that if hadn’t been a violation of my privacy, they would have printed out a sign that said “Burke Baby room 176” because every person who walked in was looking for us. My dad said he had barely opened his mouth to speak before the nurse said, “I bet you’re looking for room 176” and he came on day 1! Chase and I counted over 50 people who loved us enough to stop what they were doing and come visit us, some having to drive 5+ hours to do so. I think this is a testament to how much love Cambri can count on through her life. Right from the beginning, she was surrounded with a massive amount of people who were willing to help protect her from what can be an ugly world. But I don’t have any fear that Cambri will find this world ugly. In fact, she is only 12 weeks and I can already see a sweet, old soul that will make a difference in a great amount of lives. Hopefully her friendliness and compassion will give her a servant’s heart and she can use the tools given to her to accomplish something great. I know this account seems more detailed than the one I gave of Izzy and probably some of that has to do with time that has passed too quickly and small details that have been long forgotten. But I also have to say that I appreciated this experience much more at a mature 25 than at an inexperienced 22. Already being a mother helped calm my fears so that I could just relax and enjoy bringing this new life into the world. It is the one time in my life where I will directly assist God in a miracle. Awesome, huh?
1 comment:
Katie I just finished reading this blog entry of yours. I know, a little late and past the fact, but I just wanted to let you know that I though you wrote it just beautifully. It brought me to tears and also took me back to a very special time in my own life.
The days and years go by so quickly we seldom stop to take it all in. Don't forget how you felt when you wrote this and always remember how important it is to stop and savor the moment. Life is too short and as you know, your children are too precious not treasure every moment you have with them. Love, Kim
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