August in Review

Mom decided that I am now old enough to take over my own blog. She says I have more free time than her. I'm not sure why she thinks that - I'm busy sleeping, eating, filling my diaper, and observing the world.

Anyway, I had quite the exciting August. As you may have read in the previous postings, I was born almost 2 weeks ago already. Since coming home, I've been adjusting to my new environment. I have a big black dog, Jesse, who likes to bark really loud while I'm sleeping. Good thing I'm a pretty sound sleeper so it doesn't bother me much. I know he's just letting mom & dad know somebody is coming to the door as he likes to make sure I'm safe. When I cry, which isn't often - only when I'm hungry, cold, getting my diaper changed or being bathed - Jesse will come check on me to make sure I'm ok. He sometimes joins me while I'm being fed. He likes to sniff me, but he hasn't tried to lick me. It's been fun getting to know my dog and I can't wait until I'm big enough to play with him.

Apparently I'm pretty popular - I got to meet a lot of people while I was still in the hospital. And, I've also had a lot of visitors since I came home. Grandma Linda has been here for most of the time I've been home helping out mom & dad and spending time with me. It's been great having her around. I've also had visits from Uncle Scott & Aunt Mollie, our family friend Sue, our neighbors John & Rosemary, mom's coworker Laura, the Buries - "Auntie" Jill, "Uncle" Kurt, Ben (who says he will teach me how to play), and Abby, and of course, Grandma & Grandpa Kruepke. It's been fun getting so much attention and meeting everybody. I even stayed awake for the Buries & Grandma & Grandpa today.

I experienced my first shopping trip yesterday. Mom & dad took me to Babies R Us. I heard mom say she should buy stock in the store for as much as they shop there. While we were at the store, I was sleeping peacefully when another kid on the other side of the store screamed. I decided to scream back before going right back to sleep. Mom said it was pretty darn cute. I just wanted that kid to know he interrupted my sleep.

I've also been on a few walks around the neighborhood. Mom can't walk that far yet since she is still healing, but I'm hoping sometime in the next week she will take me further as I like to look around and see all the sites. That is if I'm not sleeping.

Well I think that's my August in a nutshell. Oh yeah, my "namesake", Mike Cameron, has been playing well for the Brewers. Mom & dad have watched a few games on TV with me and he had some key hits or great catches in all of the ones I've seen. I'd like to think it's because I'm his lucky charm.

When I have some extra time, I will be posting a photo album online so I will include the link in a future blog. But for now, I need to get back to my eating, sleeping, filling a diaper, and observing the world...

Our Little Wiggly Worm - One Week Old

Here is a pic of our little wiggly worm (aka Squirmy Worm). Notice how he manages to roll onto his side while sleeping with his hands tucked under his cheeks. Or as Grandpa Brian asserts, he is simply praying. He is constantly moving around while sleeping, while awake, while changing, while feeding. Hence his nicknames.

His first week has gone by so quickly. Here are some firsts during his first week of life:

- Visit to the doctor: Friday

- Bath since delivery: Saturday

- Spraying his diaper changer (both Greg & Grandma Linda have been victims): Sunday

- Pulling of mom's hair where it actually hurt: Today

- Sleeping through the night: ok, so not quite yet (wishful thinking), but he did give us 3 1/2 hours of continuous sleep last night and then another chunk of nearly 3 hours. Can't complain for a newborn!

He also has quite the grasp and likes to hold his head up and when he's not tired, he's pretty good at it already. Cameron lets you know when he doesn't like something as he will push it away. He loves being swaddled and eating and hates having skin exposed (so bathtime and changing time become Cameron screaming time). He's pretty mellow when not wet or hungry so hopefully he stays that way :-)

Not too bad for the first week of life...

Welcome Cameron James Kruepke

Cameron James Kruepke arrived August 19th at 7:52 PM. He was 19 inches and 6 lbs 12 oz!!!!

My water broke a little before midnight so we ended up at the hospital around 1 am on the 19th. After walking the floor a few times, contractions became more regular around 2 am. As they would occur every 5-10 minutes, I didn't get much sleep. Greg, on the other hand, took advantage of caught some zzzzs.

After several hours of more frequent and more severe contractions, I finally gave in and asked for an epidural around noon. Shortly thereafter, I was given pitocin to help progress the labor as I was not very dilated. I don't know why I didn't ask for the epidural earlier - it was grand compared to the pain of the last few contractions I felt before being doped up. I especially appreciated the meds when I could feel a little pain from the contractions through the anesthesia later in the afternoon. I could only imagine what they would have felt like without the epidural. Though I will say it is very weird to not be able to use your legs and then when you touch them, they feel like puffy marshmallows.

Labor was fairly smooth except for one rough patch. Cameron became distressed shortly after the pitocin was administered and his heart rate dropped significantly. My blood pressure also dipped pretty low so all of a sudden there was a room full of nurses trying to reposition me as they believed the cord might be wrapped around Cameron. It's a good thing I was out of it from the meds and dozing in and out (sleep was only possible once I had the epidural - another reason I'm glad I got it so I could recoup some before delivery) as I did not realize the severity of what was going on at the time. Poor Greg, who was fully cognizant, had to watch all of this happen. Fortunately, after several attempts at repositioning me, Cameron's heart rate stabilized. It did drop again a little bit later but after that round of repositioning, he was steady the rest of the time.

I started pushing around 6pm and around 7:30pm, I could tell his head was getting close to crowning, if not already. Greg, the trooper that he was, was a great coach. He was supportive, yet clear in direction, and I could tell from his facial expressions and tone of voice when good things were happening so that motivated me even more. Also around this time, Mike Cameron of the Brewers was driving in a run. No, that's not where Cameron got his name, but it makes for a good story.

Once Cameron was born, the doctor put him on my belly and gave me the honors of identifying whether he was a boy or a girl since we had opted not to find out prior to his birth. Because a friend told me a story recently about a proud grandma who mistook the umbilical cord for little man parts, I checked twice before saying we had a boy. That was probably the most emotional part of the day and definitely made the previous 19 hours, heck the previous 9 months, worth every second.

Mom, Dad, Cameron & Jess ("big brother" aka the dog) are now all home and a bit tired, but doing well. More to come after mom & dad settle in & get some sleep!