New Photos

Because I've been truly delinquent in getting new photos to everyone, here's a big batch all at once:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AbuG7Jw0ctGLtI

Cameron had his first "big boy bath" this evening, which is evidenced towards the end of the photos. It's hard to believe he's three weeks old. On one hand, it still feels like he hasn't been with us for that long, but on the other, I can't remember what it was like without him. Last Tuesday, at his two week check-up, he'd grown 1/2 an inch and weighed in at 9lbs 4.6ozs. Growing like a weed. Mom has taken to calling him "Peanut" at every given opportunity. She thinks I'm making fun of her, but she's OK with that...

Headshots

Also wanted to post a few headshots. Hopefully more photos tomorrow.

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AbuG7Jw0ctGLrQ

Cameron's Bris

Well, Cameron survived his bris yesterday. A bris is a jewish religious ceremony performed eight days after a male child is born, in which the child is circumcised. Sounds like lots of fun, huh?

All in all, it was actually pretty painless (I know, easy for me to say huh?). The mohel who performed the bris, Cantor Sam Pessaroff, was excellent - and quite a character. He was 100 mph from word one. He was very informative and had a great sense of humor to help allay the fears of mom and dad. We were both pretty nervous, the whole thing happened pretty quick. The one thing that threw me off, was about five minutes into the ceremony, the mohel turned around to me very quickly with the knife pointed at me. The first thought that came into my head was, "wait a minute, you're about 28 years too late..." The reason for turning the knife on me - tradition states that the father perform this ritual on his son - and handed me the knife. I couldn't get rid of that thing faster, except the mohel wouldn't let me give it back to him for about five minutes. I could then give the knife back and give him the authority to perform the ritual.

Cameron was outstanding. He didn't cry much more than if you were changing his diaper. That might have had a little to do with the fact that the mohel's finger was dipped in Manischewitz wine and planted firmly in Cam's mouth. And actually, as the mohel explained, there is very little pain for the child. Eight days after a child is born is an ideal point in time because the nerve endings aren't developed enough yet for any significant pain, but their blood clotting is still high enough to efficiently deal well with the proecedure. Cameron was in good hands and is recovering nicely.

Here are some photos from the day, and again, all photos are from a very stomach friendly point of view: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AbuG7Jw0ctGLpY

Back Home

Well, we finally made it home on Friday. Cam passed all of his checkout appointments. He'd lost a little of his birth weight (that's normal for the first few days) and left the hospital at 7lbs 14oz (remember that number). Mom got checked out and passed her examinations with flying colors, so we were good to go.

We survived night one at home, with only a few minor meltdowns during the night, but only because baby was hungry - very hungry - and definitely let mom and dad know. And, like mom and dad, Cam tends to be an overachiever. He's been feeding ahead of the scheduled amount for his age, and produces more wet and soiled diapers than his average peer (lucky us). The diaper changing hasn't been too bad, and mom is becoming a diaper champ. (Dad does OK, but mom is much better - insert your own joke about mom being used to putting up with dad's poop...)

And now, for what everyone's been clamoring for, more pics:

Photos from the days at the hospital:
share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AbuG7Jw0ctGLlo

Photos Coming Home from Hospital:
share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AbuG7Jw0ctGLng

Still working on cleaning up the video, that should be posted soon. Oh, about the weight he went home at, on Saturday, Cam had his first post-hospital doc's appointment, and weighed in at 8lbs 2 oz - he gained 4oz overnight. Like I've said all along, he feeds like a champ...

Hospital Stay

Everyone at Elliot Hospital was wonderful and made this whole experience very easy so far. Cameron has been sleeping through the night and allowing both mom and dad to catch some shut-eye. (I've been warned not to get used to that though.)

We've decided that we're going to post pictures on Shutterfly so that people can see pics more than one at a time. So over the next few days, I'll post a couple of different Shutterfly albums for your perusal.

To see a few more photos from Cameron's birth, like the one above that I'm sure mom's gonna love, click here: share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AbuG7Jw0ctGLjw

Thank you to everyone who has left a message or has text-messaged Alli and I over the past few days. As we get more comfortable living with an infant, we'll try to get in touch with everyone.

Look soon for more pics (and possibly video of the birth) posted here.

We Have Baby!

Cameron William Stevens was born yesterday evening at 5:20pm via C-Section. Both mom and baby are doing very well. Cameron slept through most of the night and is feeding like a champ. Mom did very well throughout the surgery and dad didn't even come close to passing out (and even cut the cord...).

We'll be in the hospital until Friday at least, so check back after that and we'll get pics and video up (we do have video of the birth, from a very stomach-friendly perspective - right where dad was sitting).

Vitals:

8lbs 6oz

21 inches long

Bald as a cue ball

Still Waiting

After 10+ hours in the Labor & Delivery Department at Elliot Hospital, no baby, yet. Alli was administered a drug today to help her start her labor, and the baby's heartbeat and Alli's contractions were monitored for about 8 hours. Baby and momma doing well at this hour, and we're due back at the hospital at 7am tomorrow, but if her contractions continue to get stronger tonight, we'll be back earlier than that. Hopefully, we'll have pics (and baby to bring home) soon!

T-Minus One Day (Maybe)

Alli and I got a phone call this afternoon that we're to be at Elliot Hospital in Manchester at 7am tomorrow morning. They'll give Alli some medicine tomorrow to see if that will provoke labor. If nothing happens tomorrow, they're going to bring us back on Tuesday morning and induce her. Chances are, we'll have baby by the next time I write here.

Backstory

Alli and I have decided to put together this blog to document the first days of Cameron William Stevens to share with our family and friends. There are lots of stories that will be shared in this space, so you'll see a few added here and there, along with a lot of pictures, and I will attempt to upload video.

As soon as Alli and I found out she was pregnant, it seems like the first question everyone asked "boy or girl?" shortly followed by "what names are you thinking about?". I was convinced from day one that it was a boy, without any significant evidence backing that up, just a gut feeling. So, at least for me, that question was the easy one. The name however, was a little bit of a sticking point.

Once we found out it was a boy, between Alli and myself, I think we considered and immediately dismissed every name suggested for a male child, for a myriad of reasons. Either we knew and/or couldn't stand someone by that name, dismissed a name because it sounded too girly, too plain, or just plain didn't like it. Alli kept suggesting the names of saints (good Jewish girl she is...) we just didn't agree on anything.

When two people have this difficult a time finding a name for their first born child, when they did finally make a decision, there would be a great story behind it. Unfortunately, I suggested Cameron, she suggested William as a middle name and we agreed on it. I didn't like William as a first name any of the 30 or so times she suggested it, but as a middle name I do like it.

There was another reason I liked William as the middle name. My cousin Dakotah has been calling him "Will" for about four months now. And I really do like the fact she does it, it's kind of like a family tradition. My middle name is Michael and my grandfather (and Dakotha's) called me "Mikey" until I was 13 years old.

Well, check back soon for more stories (and hopefully some pictures and video soon, but that would mean he's got to come out).