She's Here!!

We are so happy to announce that Camilla LuJean Pierson was born on Monday July 18th at 9:35 AM. She weighed in at 6lbs. 6oz. and 19 in. long. (So technical weight for Camilla was 6lb. 6.5 oz and for Carson it was 6lb. 6.7oz. and both 19 inches long, isn't that crazy!) Also they were both born on a Monday, Carson exactly one week early and Camilla exactly 2 weeks early. (While I told everyone my due date was July 28th my actual due date was Aug. 1st but I refused to believe I would go into the month of August still pregnant :) She is just the most beautiful, perfect girl and we are so in love with her. We named her Camilla, after Camilla Kimball, who I fell in love with when I read Spencer W. Kimball's biography in college and LuJean after Aaron's mother. We have yet to agree on a nickname for her. So far she has been nothing but sweet, easy going baby. A great eater and a great sleeper.

If you want to hear the whole birth story please feel free to continue reading. :)

It started early Sunday morning. I woke up to some cramping and got up and realized that I had lost my mucous plug and had my bloody show. I thought for sure that I was going to go into labor right away but nothing happened. I went ahead and packed the hospital bag and put my family on alert anyhow and waited for any signs of contractions to start. Here I am Sunday morning:

I told Aaron that I wanted to just keep our day the same as always so I wouldn't just be sitting at home waiting to go into labor. So we went to church and then came home for naps. Sunday night was my birthday dinner in Arlington with my brother that I share a birthday with, Chris, and so we headed down for dinner. After dinner I went on a walk and jumped on the trampoline, trying to get something going but nothing happened. Here we are eating cake and ice cream. I was so happy because I knew it was the last time I would eat cake and ice cream and have it make me really sick after!

(Everyone in the room knew just what I was wishing for)

Early Monday morning a contraction woke me up. So I started timing them and then after a little bit I woke Aaron up and told him that I thought I was going into labor. So we started timing the contractions. They weren't very painful but were coming pretty consistently. I wanted to call my doctor and go in because I was worried they were going to stop. So I went ahead and called my doctor at about 4:30 AM and he told me to go in since I was a 3 at my last appointment and my labor with Carson was so fast. So we get everything together and call someone to come to our house for Carson. During this time I am having no contractions. Everything has stopped. I am devastated. We decide to head to the hospital anyway. We drive to the hospital, check in and everything and still nothing is happening. I just know they are going to turn me away but I am dying to have this baby. So I am going through the check in with the nurse and she's asking me questions and then when she gets all done, I say, "I promise I did have some contractions." She tells me that I am having contractions every 7 minutes. I am shocked I tell her I don't feel them. She goes ahead and checks me and....I am 6-7! Hallelujah, I know they won't send away that far along. So I get emitted. They call my doctor and he says that he is going to come in and break my water as soon as he can.

I tell them that I want an epidural but I don't need one at the time because I am not in pain but that when I get into active labor I will want one. So they went ahead and put it in but didn't give me the drugs and told me to let them know when I was ready for it. So we just waited for my doctor and he arrived at 9 AM to break my water. He told the nurse he needed to know when I had about 20 mins. left to get back to deliver the baby. He tells me that I will probably have the baby before noon. I said there was no way it would take that long since I was already a 9. So he leaves and about 2 mins later I have a strong, hard contraction. Another one was soon to follow and I said okay I am ready for the epidural. But, of course, the anesthesiologist is giving an epidural to someone else. And then I tell my nurse I can feel pressure. She checks me and sure enough I am at a 10+ and she is about to come out. They call the doctor, who didn't even have time to make it back to his office and he turned around and made it there in ten minutes. He walked in at the same time as the anesthesiologist. So while they are getting me ready to push, he gives me the drugs. And then I pushed through one full contraction and then she came out on the next one. It was the dreamiest, most perfect labor and delivery ever. I seriously could not believe how fabulous it was. The cord was wrapped around her neck 2 times but didn't effect her breathing. I thought she looked just like Carson and couldn't believe how much I instantly loved her. I was so happy to have her here!

Soon after the delivery I realized how much I missed my baby boy. My parents went to go and get him and brought him up to the delivery room. Now getting an epidural 3 mins before your baby is born is great and all but it means you are numb for hours after your deliver. (well worth it) So when Carson came I couldn't move my legs but he didn't seem to mind. He instantly wanted up in my lap and wanted to give Camilla hugs and kisses. He just kept saying baby, baby. Now I can't say for sure but I think he realized this was the baby that he had been talking to in my belly. I had low expectations on how Carson would respond but he was fabulous, didn't act jealous at all.

Aaron and I both feel like the hospital was wonderful. The nurses were outstanding and I loved everyone that I worked with and the food, oh my gosh, it was so delicious. They also fed Aaron and on our last night we had steak and lobster and the chocolate cake, oh I still think about it. Just very different from my experience with Carson. I could go on and on about it and I do think about the whole delivery all the time, I just think its magical.

I can't believe my sweet girl is already a week old. I want to write more about her and coming home so I will update again soon, she already looks so different to me, they change too fast! I love this newborn stage and just feel so blessed to have added Camilla to our family.