As you know, this post has been a very long time coming! There are many reasons for this delay. My days are now filled with changing diapers, nursing, singing lullabies, holding my beautiful baby boy and getting used to motherhood. Very rarely do I find the time to sit down and actually have both of my hands free to type on the computer. Another reason for my delay in posting is that I have been working on writing down my labor story. It is a story that will go down in history as one of the most painful labor experiences in the world (at least that’s how I like to see it!), but after spending hours typing out every detail, I realized that most of you aren’t really interested in when my water broke (9:00am Friday August 8th) and the fact that I experienced the dreaded “back labor” for my entire labor, or how many hours I had to push for (a total of five hours!) and when our sweet little Camden actually arrived (7:49 pm Saturday August 9th). The simple things that you probably do care to read about, like the fact that he is a beautiful, healthy baby boy, that he weighed 9 pounds even and was 21 inches long, and that he is the love of our lives, could have been posted months ago.
Needless to say, I’ve given up on sharing my entire labor story with you all (ask me if you want details, otherwise I’ll spare you the long story) and have decided to continue posting smaller, more manageable posts to keep you all up to date with our busy, but wonderful, lives.
I do want to say one thing though...and that is that I couldn’t have survived labor and delivery without Scott’s endless love and support throughout the painful process.
He never left my side, and although it was difficult for him to see me in such a pitiful state, he never waivered. He was right by my side, helping me through each and every contraction, giving me encouragement and helping me be strong. I’m a very lucky young woman to have such an amazing husband! I also don’t think either of us could have survived without the presence of my sister, Caren.
She served as an unofficial doula for me, wiping my forehead with washcloths, helping me through contractions and making suggestions to try and ease the pain. She was a rock, and really helped me and Scott in more ways than she will ever know.
I'm hoping that eventually the memories of the unbearable pain and the long recovery process will fade (people swear to me that you forget about these things - but I haven't yet!),
but the one thing I know will never leave my memory is the incredible feeling of relief, joy and love that swept over me the moment Camden finally arrived and was placed on my chest. It's a feeling that is hard to describe with words, a feeling that I think only a mother can feel for her newborn child, a feeling that although I have not forgotten the pain of childbirth, somehow makes every last second of it worth it. This child is truly a gift, a miracle that we will always treasure.
Camden is already 9 ½ weeks old and has changed SO MUCH in the short time he’s been alive! He is cooing and making so many noises, smiling, interacting with us and is just so much fun to be around.
He really is a good baby. He cries when he’s hungry (if he wakes up from a nap hungry, you’d better watch out…he makes his wishes known to the whole world!), or if he has a dirty diaper, or sometimes when he’s just so tired, but can’t calm down enough to fall asleep. But we have learned that this is just how he communicates with us! We’re learning the difference between his hungry cry and his gassy cry and do our best to meet his needs before he gets too worked up. It seems as though his favorite time of day is about 5:00 in the morning! He usually wakes up to feed around that time and just doesn’t really want to go back to sleep. Instead he sits up in bed, leaning against our knees, and coos and smiles the biggest smiles! Despite our complete and utter exhaustion, Scott and I can’t help but laugh and enjoy this special time with our son. Here's a picture of him at about 4:30am...
Our life has changed greatly in the last couple months, but we couldn't be happier with all that God has blessed us with! Keep checking the blog for updates (I promise to be more consistent from now on!).
I went on to play in college and after graduating played for a summer in North Carolina and have played indoor soccer in the winters and coached every fall...until I got pregnant. For the first time in my life, I went 9+ months without real competition, and I had no idea how difficult that would be for me! There's something about having a ball at my feet that is so natural. 
When I am on a field, I feel a sense of peace and contentment that I don't find many other places. (Don't worry, God and family and friends all bring me greater peace and contentment and joy...but just work with me here.) Soccer has been a physical and an emotional outlet for me for so many years and it has been so tough to sit on the sidelines and watch over the last year or so. 
After going through such a difficult labor with Camden, I honestly went through a time when I couldn't even imagine myself running again, let alone kicking, sliding, pushing, jumping, falling and everything else that happens in soccer. Nobody warned me of the intense pain and recovery that I would have to go through following delivery. Of course you're as prepared as you can possibly be for birth (you KNOW that's going to be painful), but I had no idea how difficult the next couple months would be on my body. Just this last week, the girls varsity soccer team that I helped coach the last two years asked if I could scrimmage with them because they needed more numbers. Although Camden is now 11 weeks old (!!!) I had not really participated in any real physical activity other than lots of long walks, so I was very nervous to accept this invitation. But, my desire to be competitive and active overrode my fears of the physical pain I might feel, and I PLAYED SOCCER AGAIN! It felt so wonderful to be out there, running and kicking and shooting and having so much fun once again. I finally feel like a "real" person again! Of course I was so sore that I couldn't walk without feeling the burn in my quads for about three days, but it was so wonderful to be active. Now I'm looking at playing indoor this winter and am excited for the Alumni Basketball game at Gordon in a couple weeks! It's nice to know that having a baby doesn't keep you on the couch recovering for the rest of your life! But even if it did, and I never played soccer again, Camden would be completely worth it. He's the love of our life now and overrules all of our old passions. It's funny how your priorities change when you have a child... 
