Happy First Birthday, Cameron!

I can distinctly remember the night before 8/16/11.  We went to St Joe East around 8pm to start Cytotec (to ripen my cervix since little man was refusing to come out).  We ordered pizza and my nerves started to get the best of me.  My blood pressure kept creeping up.  Here I am, in the medical field yet I had never been a patient (inpatient, that is).  I was nervous!  Maybe I knew too much, I don't know.  I had convinced myself that my L&D was going to be smooth sailing and this child was going to be born within a few short hours after my water was broken. 

Boy was I wrong!  ha!  8 hours, 9cm and 'failed to descend', a C-section and there we have it, a healthy baby boy was born on 8/16/11.  My emotions were crazy.  My love, the love that I am still uncertain as to when it filled my heart as I was completely in love with this tiny newborn the second he arrived, continued to grow more with each passing day.  I guess that's why they call it 'unconditional love'.  There is such a large amount that you can't describe.  There are simply no words that would ever justify the love and awe one feels for their child.  It's truly a gift from God!

While this year has been crazy for me with PA school, starting clinical rotations and us moving to Louisville, we have also experienced Cameron growing right along with each passing day.  It's hard to believe he is already one year old.  It feels like we were just in the hospital a few months ago. 

He is such a happy boy.  He is always laughing and smiling.  He loves to eat.  We still feed him some baby food but he loves just about all table food.  He transitioned well to whole milk, but still loves it warmed and in a bottle.  His school is giving it to him in a sippy during the day so we are slowly transitioning away from bottles.  I'm in no rush! ha!  Too many changes all at once stresses this Type A momma out!!!  Gave up breastfeeding at the year mark so bottles and pacy will have to wait a few more months!  ;)  He has hit all the great milestones and it was such a joy to watch him conquer those goals from rolling over @ 3mo, sitting up @6mo, crawling @10mo and he is assisted walking at this point.  It might be a few more months before our chunky man decides to walk on his own.  We are OK with that though....our backs might not be from constantly being bent over walking with him, but who's keeping score. ;)

We are doing a small "birthday celebration" with just us tonight and then the family and a few close friends are invited to his Mickey Mouse Clubhouse birthday on Saturday!  I will be sure to post pictures after his big day! 

As for today, here are a few pictures from this morning (more to come tonight) and the video I made!  I made it on Adobe Premiere Elements....on there the pictures look blurry, but the videos are perfect.  I have it on YouTube and Vimeo.  The YouTube pictures look fine, but the videos are blurry.  Go figure!  I'll never figure all this creative computer crap out!!  Argh!


Birthday Boy's morning: Waffles and Balloons!

Enjoy!

Video Link to Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/47658501
Video Link to YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJ-y1AKanhw&feature=g-upl

Video (iphone version): above

The actual version from Adobe Elements: above 

Hopefully ONE of those is not blurry! haha

BTW- Jason Windows Movie Maker did not like my QuickTime videos so it became a nightmare using Adobe b/c it's outdated, so Shannon says, but I didn't have time to convert all my videos.  Stupid computers!!!  haha

Nourishment No Longer From Mommy....

What a goal! Even before I became pregnant, I knew I wanted to breastfeed my child for the first year of their life.  Once I became pregnant, I truly knew it was something I wanted to do and prayed it would be easy for both mommy and baby.  Once our son arrived, the joy and ease of breastfeeding was a great gift from God.  I am thankful for the money-saving, mommy-son bonding, natural nourishment opportunity of breastfeeding!

While there were trying times, tired times, and times when it was inconvenient, I pushed through and made sure my son was given the nourishment of breast milk for as long as possible.  My goal was to hit the one year mark.  Well, here we are, 4 days shy of Cameron's first birthday and I have officially stopped pumping/feeding.  We have a few ounces left from frozen supply, but he has been on 1/2 BM, 1/2 WM for 10 days to get adjusted to the change.  He has done wonderfully with the change and it makes me happy to know he has transitioned so well.  It is also a great feeling of accomplishment to know he was solely a breastfed baby for the first year.  While I have nothing against formula, it was a goal I set out to make and I'm proud I stuck with it for so long. 

 Cam only ate off of me in the morning for the last 4-6 months or so and the rest were BM bottles, but the special bond of breastfeeding him is something I will never forget.  To pick him up from the crib early in the morning and watch his eyes widen with joy and mouth open as he became acquainted to the schedule. To have my baby fall asleep in my arms while feeding him.  To have him snuggled up against my chest, nourishing him.   Such a wonderful mother-child bond to share!

I can't believe my baby boy is growing up so quickly.  I still haven't stored all of my breast pump supplies away.  It's almost odd to think I am free of that.  While I could feel a little saddened that I will not be providing for my child in that way, I know I will (and have) provide in many other ways for him.  I am thankful to be done for the time being!   It's also weird to think Mother Nature will probably return.  I've enjoyed not dealing with that since Oct 2010! ha!  My body needs some rest and normalcy before child #2 is conceived......which hopefully will be in the next few months! :)  

I thank God for giving me the opportunity to provide for my child (and to save money! ha) by breastfeeding for so long.  It was a natural way to shed post pregnancy baby weight, to keep the weight off while not eating so healthy and slacking on exercise, and it opened my eyes to the God-given way to feed your baby.   I only wish it was more accepted in public.  I'm not saying one should expose themselves to others, but with a proper cover-up, I feel it should be accepted to BF in public places.  Why not!?  I see mothers feeding their children with bottles.....if she is not exposed, why does it matter!?  I see mothers smoking cigarettes with their children in tow, but I don't hear as many people complain or get offended about that.    Society! Argh! 

D-O-N-E!

WOW.  I haven't written in almost two months.  Time easily slips by when you have a mobile child and going to school.  Goodness!  

Today was my LAST day of my LAST clinical rotation ....so it was my LAST DAY of PA school!!!!  YAY!  I can not believe I have made it this far.  I can remember working at Galls (Sales) and thinking that I would like to go back to school, unfamiliar with what a mid level provider could offer.  That was 2008.   Here it is, 2012 and I have graduated with my Master's, had a baby and moved to Louisville.  I will be practicing medicine sooner than I realize.  :)

I am very proud of myself for coming this far,but the celebration is far from near.  I still have to take my National Certifying Exam (PANCE) that is a 6 hour exam that a PA must pass to rightfully earn the "C" after their title.  Without the PA-C, one can not practice medicine.  Yes, I graduated, but that does not mean I have a job.   I plan to take a well known review course in Chicago for 5 days at the end of August and then dedicate weeks to studying.  I hope to take my boards mid September. 

I am taking this week off though.  Cameron's FIRST BIRTHDAY is 8/16 and I need to spend a few days cleaning house, buying decorations, gifts, making food, etc.  We are having his party here at our house and I'm happy I will be able to devote this whole week to cleaning and planning. 

I'm not sure what field of medicine I plan to go into.  The good thing about a PA is that we are trained in all areas of medicine, which means I can "hop around" from Pediatrics to OB/GYN to Surgery to Family Medicine to Derm!   I do not see myself doing a lot of 'hopping', but I do plan to take a job that is offered if it seems a good fit, even if it isn't my top choice.  I have thoroughly enjoyed all my rotations therefore, I think....I hope I will be happy in just about any area I practice in!