First Photoshoot

When Camryn was 4 weeks, she had her first photoshoot with my sister in law MJ.  The pictures turned out so cute.  And I'm aware that there are two of each picture... I just couldn't choose between the colored and black&white ones :)

Camryn's First 2 Months

I can't believe how fast the last 2 months have gone by.  We are completely in love with Camryn and our lives pretty much revolve around her now haha  She is smiling lots now and getting quite the personality.  We like to tease that she's a bit high-maintenance because she really likes to be held, but for the most part she has been a really good baby.  For the first 7 weeks, she wasn't sleeping very well at night, but I think we've started to get her on a schedule now.  For the past week, she has gone to bed around midnight and slept for 8 hours straight.  It has been amazing.  The key is wrapping her up REALLY tight in a blanket at night.  She still looks a lot like her daddy, but she is changing all the time and getting chubbier everyday.  We love our baby girl.

I've taken millions of pictures.....

My mom giving her first bath

Camryn with my cousin Reese

With my Grandma Gubler

She likes to sleep on her daddy like this

Our little nerd :)

Funny faces

Smiling in her sleep

She was only a few days old and smiling so big!

Her serious face...

On September 11th

Watching her first Utes game

This picture is horrible, but so funny.  I decided to part her hair after her bath one night.  She looks like one of the Three Stooges!

We tried a curler to see if it would help curl her hair... it didn't work so well

Honestly, this is the look on Camryn's face 90% of the time haha

In her onesie from her doctor  "Special Delivery from Dr. Clark"

Happy Girl

I love her big eyes!

I love my sweet little baby!  Being a mom is the best!

Baby Camryn's Arrival

Camryn Merlene Hafen

Born August 16, 2011 at 10:46pm

7 lbs 6 oz, 18.5 in long

Now that Camryn is a month old, I figured I should probably blog about her birth.  I'm going to warn you right now that this blog will be long!  So if you want the short version of the story, here it is..............  I went into labor at 1:30am and then BAM, 21 hours later, Camryn was born!

And here is the detailed version :)  I had a doctor's appointment on Monday, August 15th and the doctor said that I was finally making a little progress... I was dilated to a one and had a very soft cervix.  He wanted to help things along, so he swept my membranes.  After my appointment, I went back to work and the rest of the day went like normal.  No contractions or anything.  Mitch and I walk about 2 miles before we went to bed at 11:00pm.  The next morning, August 16th, at 1:30am I woke up in pain. I quickly realized I was having a contraction.  I tried to go back to sleep, but they kept coming every few minutes.  So I decided to go watch TV and try counting the time in between them.  After about an hour, I realized that they were coming between 2 and 5 minutes apart..... which is when my book said to go to the hospital!  But I knew it couldn't be time because it had only been an hour.  Mitch woke up for work around 2:45am and called into work since we were pretty sure I was in labor.  We decided to go for another 2 mile walk around 3:30am.  We came back home and Mitch went back to sleep while I sat in the chair and tried to relax (which is impossible when you're having contractions every few minutes!)  I felt like I didn't know what to do!  I called my mom and even called the hospital, and everyone said that I could go in if I wanted since they were so close, but it's better to stick it out at home for a while.  Around 6:30 I decided to shower and get ready. 

The contractions were getting stronger, so we went to the hospital at 8:30am.  They hooked me up to the monitors and checked me.  I was dilated to a 3 and 95% effaced, having contractions that were right on top of each other.  They told me that they would monitor me for an hour and if I didn't make progress, they would have to send me home.  By some miracle, my doctor was making his rounds and just happened to walk by about 10 minutes later.  He told the nurses that he wanted to keep me no matter what!  So they came in and told me I was having a baby today!  I was immediately moved into a labor/delivery room where they hooked me up to my IV's.  I tested positive for Group B Strep while pregnant, so I had to get an IV of antibiotics for at least 4 hours before the baby came. I actually ended up getting it for about 13 hours before she came, and btw it makes a lovely burning, cold, pain feeling in your arm :)  Anyways, they said that they thought she was posterior so I got to spend some time in some lovely positions trying to get her to flip haha  And they didn't like the way that my contractions were timed (I'd have about 4 right in a row, and then there would be a 6 minute gap) so they started me on a low dose of pitosin to even them out.  My mom and sister came to keep us company around 9:30am, so we turned on Swamp People and settled in.

Around 12:15pm, my contractions were really starting to bother me, but I was planning on waiting until I was a 5 or 6 to get an epidural.  They checked me and I was still at a 3!!  The nurses and my family convinced me to just get my epidural so I could relax and it wouldn't slow my labor down since I had pictosin.  So I made the best decision of my life and got my epidural :)  After that, things were great!  I was the most comfortable I had felt in months!  I got to lay there and watch TV and eat my ice and relax.  I had about a half hour where I was shaking/shivering, but they brought me a warm blanket and it went away.  Around 3:00pm I was dilated to a 5.  At 6:30pm my doctor came and I was dilated to a 7.  He broke my water and said that they would check me in a few hours to see how much progress I was making.  At 7:30pm I had made it to an 8!  It was sometime around then that I must have been going through transition because I got sick, and I started shaking/shivering again.  Only this time, it wouldn't go away!  I was shaking pretty hard and it got pretty annoying.  It was also sometime around then that they checked my vitals and found that I had a fever.  The nurse immediately told us that there was a chance I had Chorio (Chorioamnionitis) which is an infection of the amniotic fluid, and that if the doctor decided to label it is Chorio, the NICU would have to be there when the baby was born.  She would for sure be in the NICU for 2 days while they tested her, and if it came back positive for Chorio, she would be in the NICU for 7 days.  Wow.  Talk about jumping right to the worst case scenario!  She called my doctor and he said that he wasn't going to label it as Chorio.  Thank goodness!  Instead they monitored the fever (which kept getting higher) and covered me in ice packs.  If I wasn't shivering enough before, now I really was.  And I wasn't allowed to have a warm blanket.  So those last few hours were miserable.  Around 9:15pm I was dilated to a 9++. 

 At 10:00pm she asked me to do a few practice pushes.  Now I have to tell you, I was really scared of the actual delivery process.  I wasn't sure if I would be able to push the right way since I couldn't feel from my waste down.  Plus, my mom had to push for hours with her first baby, so I was scared of being the same way.  Anyways, I did about 3 or 4 practice pushes and thought that she was going to tell me it would be a while longer (since the baby dropping so slowly all day).  But instead, she looked at Mitch and asked, "Do you want to see the head?"  We were both shocked haha  So they prepped the room for delivery and after a few more pushes the nurse said to call the doctor.  Thank goodness, he was already in the hall, ready to go!  She was still posterior, but he said that she would probably just turn with one of my contractions.  For some reason, the monitor that was supposed to keep track of my contractions wasn't able to pick them up half of the day, so they decided to just have me tell them when I was having one.  I couldn't feel any pain, but my epidural was perfect enough that I could feel the pressure with every contraction.  I also want to mention that I did not enjoy pushing.  It's so hard to push for so long and hold your breath!  I felt like I was going to pass out the whole time.  Anyways, I started pushing at 10:33 pm.  We took a few breaks to let me catch my breath when I felt faint, but they told me that I was pushing really well for it being my first baby.  It went much better and faster than I thought, and Camryn was born at 10:46pm.

It felt like an out of body experience when they put her on my stomach and were cleaning her up.  It is all a blur to me and I couldn't believe she was here!  The doctor explained that since I'd had the fever, we would have to stay in the hospital for 48 hours while they did several tests on Camryn's bloodwork to make sure everything was okay.  Meanwhile, my dad, Mitch's parents, and his sister Micci were all in the hall, so they came in to meet her after everything was cleaned up.  It was fun to have everyone there to visit for a little while.  Over the next two days she had LOTS of family and friends come to visit her.  She is one very lucky and loved little girl!

PS- All of her tests and bloodwork came back healthy :)

Skin-to-skin time

He's a daddy!

First family photo... don't mind how gross I look!

Aunt Micci and Grandma Becky

Grandma Nancy

Grandpa Brent

Aunt Ashlee

After her first bath at the hospital... she's kind of a crybaby :)

One day old

She loves her dad :)

My brother's wife Aleisha and the kids

My niece Mariah

My nephew Payton

My sister in law MJ

My cousin Kimberlee

My niece Brooklyn

Ready to go home from the hospital :)

Getting cleaned up...

Very angry about being cleaned up...

Notice what Mitch's dad says at the end of the video..... you can tell what's important in their family ;)

Dear Baby Camryn....

I know that technically there's still 9 days until your due date, but I just thought I'd let you know that it's okay if you want to come a little early.  I know that it must be SUPER fun to be all squished up inside of my belly, but your mother is getting tired of you squishing her, kicking her ribs, pushing on her bladder, and all the other lovely things you do.  As much as I love being huge, swollen and hot all day, I think it's time for you to come :)  Here's the deal, I can handle being pregnant for 9 more days... maybe even 10 or 12, but if you decide to stay in my tummy until the doctor will induce me (16 days) I am gonna be pretty miserable.  Please be a good little girl and GET OUT OF ME!

Love your Mommy






Sooo... incase you couldn't tell from the above letter written to my baby, I'm a little done with being pregnant :)  I haven't really written much during the last 8 months about being pregnant.  Let's just say that pregnancy isn't as fun as I always thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, there's been lots of great parts and its an amazing miracle... it's just a miracle that comes with lots of uncomfortable parts.  I was pretty miserable from week 6 to 16 with being sick.  But after that, it was great for a few months.  I loved getting to see her in ultrasounds and feel her movements.  It's much funner when the baby has room to move inside you :)  Anyways, I simply wasn't prepared for the lovely last two months.  I guess that I never knew that you get heartburn, can't breathe, can't go longer than an hour or two in the night without going to the bathroom, and you can't sleep because you're so uncomfortable!  Oh and I've gained some LOVELY cankles and fat feet :)  I was feeling really miserable for the last few weeks... but over the last few days I've been feeling a little better because I know that it can't last longer than 16 more days :)  Plus, the baby has dropped some, so now I don't have as bad of heartburn, I can breathe easier, and amazingly I've been sleeping better!  I've been going to the doctor weekly now, but unfortunately I haven't dilated or thinned yet.  I'm thinking that means Camryn won't be coming until much closer to her due date, or after. I guess I should appreciate having a little time to rest before she comes.  I finally think that I pretty much have everything ready at the house to bring the baby home.... I just have to do what I've been dreading doing since the day I found out I was pregnant.... I have to go through labor!  Scary!  Wish me luck everyone!