Happy Birthday...A Little Tribute to Our Cameron Man!

July 3rd was Cameron's 3rd birthday! 3rd birthday!!!! I know everyone says this, but I can't believe how fast time has gone. As I mentioned in this post, Cole and I had absolutely no idea what was in store for us when this little life came into the world...it's amazing what an impact such a little life can have. To pay tribute, I thought I would share a little of Cameron's story.

WARNING...THIS IS A LOOONNNGGG POST WITH LOTS OF PICTURES!! :)

Cameron was definitely a special little miracle in our eyes. We didn't have major issues or problems like some people have when trying to get pregnant or during pregnancy, but it was still a process to get to the point where we were holding Cameron in our arms. I say this because, after we decided we were "ready" to have children, it took over a year for me to get pregnant. I went to the doctor after a year and we started to talk about tests, medicine, procedures and how to move forward. Thankfully, we never had to go there because, just after that visit, I finally got a positive pregnancy test! We were thrilled and felt very thankful that God allowed this to happen without any extra stuff. The first time we saw a little heartbeat on the ultrasound machine was one of the most amazing things I have ever experienced. We were told that everything looked great and we left over the moon. When we went back to the doctor for our 12 week visit, the doctor had a hard time finding a heartbeat with the doppler. We weren't too worried because I hadn't had any signs of trouble...no cramping, bleeding, or anything! They decided to do an ultrasound to make sure everything was ok. Unfortunately, we found out that the precious life that was once there, no longer had a heartbeat. We had lost the baby. We were devastated. I didn't know how to respond. Everything after that happened very quickly and I was in complete shock. I was immediately scheduled for a D&C procedure first thing the next morning because I was almost into my second trimester before I miscarried.

After the D&C, we had to wait at least one month before thinking about getting pregnant again. For a short time, neither of us even knew if we wanted to try to get pregnant again. It was such a painful experience to lose a precious life, especially after trying for so long, that we didn't want to put ourselves in that position again. Thankfully, God heals our pain and has a better plan for us than we know. Just two months after we lost our first sweet baby, I was pregnant again! Once again, neither of us knew how to feel. We were excited, but scared. Thankfully, other than pretty bad morning sickness for about 12 weeks, this pregnancy was uneventful until the end. We found out that we were having a sweet boy at 20 weeks and moved forward with plans for this little addition.

20 week ultrasound

Fast forward to week 39. I went in for my weekly checkup and the doctor decided to an ultrasound to check Cameron out because his movements had been less than previous weeks. The ultrasound turned into a two hour biophysical profile (basically a more thorough ultrasound) because the tech did not like what she was seeing in the ultrasound. Unfortunately, Cameron did not pass the biophysical profile, so they scheduled another biophysical profile for the next morning to make sure he was ok. I can honestly say that, despite my normal freak-out nature, I was not too worried. I figured they were just being overly cautious and that everything would be fine. So Cole and I went in for my appointment the next morning. After another looonnnnggg biophysical profile, it was determined that I needed to be sent the hospital to be induced as soon as possible. Cameron had not passed the second test either, so they wanted to get him out sooner rather than later. We asked if we could go home to get our bags, but they wouldn't even let us do that! Thankfully we had great friends who were willing to being us our things!

Holding Cameron for the first time

Long story short, Cameron did not tolerate labor very well. His heart rate kept dropping throughout and they were watching him very closely. Just after midnight, Cameron's heart rate dropped low enough and was slow enough to recover that they wanted to get him out now! The doctor came in with a bunch of nurses. They started pulling wires and telling me that they were taking me to the OR to get Cameron out. Again, I was unusually calm for my nature, but it was very chaotic. Shortly after being taken to the OR, I heard Cameron cry for the first time. I couldn't see him, but I was so relieved to hear him cry. Other than being a little blue for a bit, he was perfect...and we were in love!

Anyone who knows Cameron knows that he lives life at full speed. He goes all out and is at 100% almost all the time. It's one of the things I love the most about him, but it's also one of the things that challenging about him. It's certainly made for lots of bumps and bruises along the way!

First big fall

He did everything early. From sleeping to crawling to walking to talking, he did it all very quickly...and he hasn't stopped since...and he does it all at 100%! :)

He even sleeps hard!

Cameron has a passion for life and loves almost everything. He loves playing instruments and singing, he loves to play soccer and football, he loves to ride his bike, he loves to help me cook and bake, he loves to eat, he loves to play, he loves playing with his friends, he loves to dance, and he loves to be the life of the party! 

 

For Cameron's third birthday, we decided to wait for Jessi and Jack to have his actual birthday party. However, we did spend the day celebrating and being thankful for his little life! Cole was able to stay home in the morning to help us celebrate with birthday pancakes!

Since it rained here all day, we spent the day doing some Pintrest activities and other fun things.

Painting on the windows

Baking soda and vinegar

Painting

Tracing numbers

Once Cole got home from work, we walked to a local bike shop to let Cameron pick out a new bike and helmet for his birthday. We wanted to get him a special bike with no pedals so that he can learn how to balance and therefore, avoid training wheels later on. We let him pick out what he wanted, and this is what he chose...

New bike and helmet

Watching a video showing him how to ride his new bike

I love what he chose because it really represents Cameron and his love for all things colorful and loud!  

Reflecting over this time has helped me, once again, realize that God has a plan for our lives and that it is good. Even though there are days when Cameron drives me nuts with his energy, I could not have imagined him any better than he is. Our prayer for Cameron when we dedicated him at church was taken from these verses:

Philippians 1: 9-11
(9) And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, (10) so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, (11) filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

We can't wait to see how Cameron's life unfolds. He has so much passion and we are certain that God is going to use him in big ways! We are so thankful and blessed to have him as a part of our family!

Happy Birthday Cameron man!!

P.S. More about his actual birthday party to come!