Camden's Birth: As told by Garth

And the story came to pass of the birth of my first born in the wilderness, Camden Craig Wright. It all started (well not all of it, but the labor portion) on the morning of August 20th.  At 4:30am my lovely considerate and nearly 40 week pregnant wife woke me up to inform me that she thought she was having contractions, that they weren't going away laying in bed, so she was getting up to shower, blow dry, and straighten her hair. (All prerequisites for her going into labor.  Originally the goal was to teach me how to braid her hair so she would look cute for delivery, but 26 tests last semester prevented any time for that).
I really did try to go back to sleep, and I think I may have been successful for 20 minutes or so. However, I soon became very anxious, couldn't sleep, couldn't relax, and ultimately had nothing to do so I came out and informed Amy I was going to go for a run. "Really? A run? You're going for a run?" Yes. I was. Let me justify myself by saying I use my phone for music and gps when I run, so should anything happen (ex: her water break) while I was out I would immediately know and be able to return.  I did infact consider the thought that I would have to run back home which would not be as fast as hopping in a car and driving home, however I trusted my legs that if her water broke or she started having intense contractions, my adrenaline would probably carry me home at a record rate anyway.
But as I rounded the last corner on my short run for the morning I got a text saying that her contractions were stopping, not to hurry home, and that she was going back to bed. So after a run that did anything but take my mind off that fact that my wife could be in labor in a matter of minutes or hours, I decided I wasn't going to go into work druing the morning  and hopped right back into bed after my shower.  Ultimately something I'm glad I did, because sleep didn't come again until close to 24 hours later.
To be honest I can't really remember a whole lot of what happened throughout the day. I ended up going into work for about 3 hours from 1 to 4 pm. Then came home and Amy had started having contractions again.  (We can officially call them contractions now because that is definitely what they were, however at the time Amy was constantly second guessing herself that it was only back pain, that her stomach wasn't as tight as she thought it should be, or she wasn't in as much pain as she thought labor was going to be like). From 4:30 to 6:30pm we timed her contractions, watched home videos, and got hospital bags ready to go. (Which included a hair straightener, you know just in case; who wouldn't feel more comfortable knowing they had the ability to straighten their hair just in case they wanted to? Amy will not be happy I included this). Anyways, at 6:30pm her contractions had been between 3 and 5 minutes apart the entire time.  I was anxious to get to the hospital! In our birthing class the previous week the nurse told us that if contractions were ever between 2 and 5 minutes apart for at least an hour we should go to the hospital.
But rather than going we called the nurse on call for our doctor, although the doctor on call didn't actually end up being our doctor.  So Dr. Watson told us that because it was our first pregnancy we shouldn't rush to the hospital, especially because Amy wasn't in a ton of pain, and the longer we could stay home the better. It seemed immediately after I got off the phone Amy had some sort of heat flash, probably stimulated by the fact that she didn't actually think she was in labor and frustrated by the fact really wanted to get out of the house.  So we hopped in the trusty Alero, turned all 4 vents towards her on Max AC and hopped on the highway (The AC is coldest that way.) An hour later she had a root beer float and I had a cheeseburger meal from Dairy Queen and we were back at home to enjoy what we thought would probably be the second installment of the Bourne Trilogy.
Within 10 minutes Amy's contractions were a whole lot worse. (I forgot to mention she continued to have them about 4 minutes apart during our drive, and said they were worse. She attributed that to the fact she was sitting down though so evenutally she just wanted to be out of the car and walking around). No sooner had she mentioned they were worse then any appetite I had to eat was gone. Never thought I would throw away a perfectly good cheesburger.
Back to the car, with all the bags, the entire time Amy hoping no one sees us because she thinks it's a false alarm.  Mind you, every time she would say, "they are slowing down" or "they are going away", she would have another, and most of the time more painful than the last, contraction.  Same story as we're driving to the hospital. We're sitting at the last stop light before Madison Hospital when she utters those fateful words, "They are going away. We shouldn't have come." Yahtzee! Worst contraction yet. We're at the double doors parking in VIP until she gets checked out, and of course not carrying in all of our bags yet because we don't want to look like idiots packing for the Holiday Inn if we're not admitted and don't have a reservation.
So we get there, she gets hooked up.  Our nurse Marie was the bomb dot com. In honesty, we couldn't have done it without her.  She was amazing. So anyone else pregnant in Rexburg, have your baby at night, and request Marie.
But Amy gets hooked up, baby's heartbeat is good, and mountains are flashing across the screen slowly every couple of minutes. Translation: contractions. Most of them Amy wasn't even feeling.  So Marie leaves and says she'll be right back. Ha anytime a doctor or nurse says that you might as well take a 20 minute power nap. Good news is, by the time she gets back Amy has had some big contractions and Marie is optimistic. She asks Amy what she would like to dilated and Amy responds with at least 4 cm so she can be admitted and know that she is actually in labor. (I might add that Amy calmed down a lot once Marie informed her that she was indeed having real contractions). After checking her Marie says, "Amy you are amazing!" I felt like one of Pavlov's dog's, salivating with anticipation at what was next.  "You're a 6!" As in you are 6cm dilated, as in halfway through active labor.  What a rockstar! Amy was seriously the Gene Simmons of labor! (But only would he was actually a rockstar, not when he totally sucked on the Apprentice.)
With that I was out to park the car and bring up our bags, hair straightener and all. Amy had explained to Marie that our goal was to do everything natural without an epidural, pitosin, or anything. Judging by the fact she was already 6cm dilated and was hardly feeling it, we were very optimistic. Because she wasn't hooked up to any IV's or anything, she got the luxury (if any part of labor can be termed as such) of getting in the Jacuzzi. After an hour in the tub she decided to get out  (more or less because she had to be checked on the monitors anyway). So she was hooked up to the monitors for a few minutes, then decided to get up and walk around.  Walking for her helped her deal with the contractions the best. So we roamed the halls, and I did my best to describe our dream house from what we had come up with during one of our very first FHE's together.  We had to walk by a few people in the waiting area of the hall way who all looked at us very awkwardly like "What is she doing out here if she is in labor?" And I think I did a pretty good job at smiling and at least looking Christlike while thinking, "She is superwoman! Imagine having your cervex 6cm apart and a babies head constantly shoving downward and being able to walk around like this!".
But the point is, her contractions were getting worse, and Amy was starting to shake in between each one.  We went back to the room and Marie checked her again. Disappointingly, she was only at 7cm and it had been a few hours since we checked in. Marie did tell us that the shaking was a sign of transition labor however and that she should start dilating faster from here on out.  We tried numerous things, really got focused on breathing together (Hee Hee Hoooooo).
Not long afterwards we decided to go back to the Jacuzzi because Amy's contractions were alleviated a bit in the water, especially in this transition adrenaline shaking labor state. Although it was only about 45 minutes, that stretch in the Jacuzzi was definitely the longest, hardest part of the labor I believe. It was during that time the first signs of doubt came. Amy had reached what seemed to be most she could take, and said that if she was still only 7cm the next time they checked, she needed to get something to help. She was doing wonderfully with the pain, but exhaustion was quickly setting in and I could see every bit of it in her face.  It was heart wrenching knowing there wasn't anything I could do about it!
Eventually Marie came in to check on Camden's heart rate and we explained what we had decided to do if she hadn't progressed. Back to the room we went. Marie first checked Amy and the great news was she was dilated to 9 cm! This brought renewed energy and motivation for Amy which was much needed. Marie helped Amy with some different positions, especially because she seemed to do better standing up to bear the contractions. She stayed standing up but put all of her weight across an exercise ball on the bed which allowed her to completely relax after each contraction and Marie did counter weight on her back while I helped her breathe when the contractions actually came.
After a few minutes Dr. Prince came in and broke Amy's water (which at 9cm still hadn't happened).  It seemed almost instantly (with the help of Dr. Prince) she dilated to a 10 and was time to start pushing!  At this point it was about 2:15am. Marie was very encouraging and pushing seemed to provide a lot of relief for Amy during the contractions. She was aboslutely amazing at delivering the baby from here on out.  It was incredible for me to witness and such a testimony building experience at the miracle of life, the existence of our Father in Heaven, and the perfect way he has provided to bring his spirit children into the world.
It was very clear that our baby boy had a lot of hair early on. The moment I first saw his face is a moment I will cherish forever, although he wasn't exactly full of color at the time. It was beautiful to see the emotion flood through Amy as she held Camden for the first time. To be honest cutting the cord wasn't really a tremendous thing, maybe that's just me. The thing I loved most was just getting to hold him, help him with his first bath, change his first diaper, and of course speak to him in Twi while mom was taking her first shower!
I'll be honest, most of what happened as soon as Camden was here is kind of a blur. I was suddenly exhausted, and I wasn't even the one who had had the baby! All I had done was stand there, breathe a ton, making funny faces whenever Amy was pushing as I was also holding my breath and pushing, and try to encourage her to keep going! (Although I'm not really sure how much help I was throughout the whole process).
All I can say is Amy was aboslutely incredible throughout the entire experience. She overcame everything not only throughout the birth but throughout her entire pregnancy. She is an amazing woman, and one whom I am so blessed to call my wife and now mother of our first son.  She will undoubtedly continue to amaze me everyday and I'm grateful that Camden will be molded and shaped by the most caring person I have ever met.

Camden's Birth

This is a very long post. Feel free to just skip around. 

 

Camden’s Birth

 

It has been quite an adventurous week so far, one that I will always cherish. Right now this week is probably the highlight of my life—I don’t feel like I’ve ever had a better week.

Lets start with Monday.

So Monday I’m feeling a little anxious, slightly discouraged, and a little bit tired of being pregnant. I keep getting texts that ask if I’m ever going to have my child and each one makes me a little more sad about it! So Monday I decided we should go grocery shopping just in case, even though I really didn’t want to go to Idaho falls.

Then we went and walked 3 miles as per our routine and came home to FHE. We watched a talk by Elder Holland given a long, long time ago. It was actually a Christmas address but Garth had seen it at work and wanted me to watch it so we did together. I won’t explain it in too much detail but he talked a lot about suffering and blessings. He made the comment that Gethsemane cannot be separated from Bethlehem. You cannot forget the biggest blessing and most tender night came promised with much suffering and a tragedy. This clicked with me. I instantly felt bad for being upset that my pregnancy was so long. I was feeling like “I did this whole pregnancy with no air conditioning, I have PUPPPs, I threw up all the time, can I not catch a break here??” That night I felt guilty for that line of thinking. So in my nighttime prayers I decided to just express my gratitude. Gratitude for the ability to carry Camden, for all the pregnancy had taught me, and for the fact I was being trusted to take care of one of Heavenly Father’s children. When I finished the prayer my exact thought was “now I am going to have him” which made me laugh because I was like, if that’s all I needed to do I would have done that weeks ago!!

So fast forward.

Now its not abnormal for me to wake up at night pregnant, but I started to wake up a lot around 3ish Monday night. Each time I assumed it was for a bathroom trip but each time I didn’t really have to go, and my belly was pretty hard. I began to realize I was waking up about every 20 minutes and by 4:30am I had what felt like bad menstrual cramps. I knew I wasn’t going to sleep anymore due to a little excitement and a little bit of discomfort so I got up to head for the shower. While in the shower I realized I was having pretty consistent contractions. So I just watched the clock while I blow-dried my hair and for the next 4 hours I had contractions pretty much all exactly 7 minutes apart. Around 8:30 they started to get further and further apart until they pretty much stopped—which I found very depressing. So I took a short nap and decided to go out to lunch with a friend to take my mind off of it all. While at lunch I was having contractions but I didn’t tell her because I didn’t want to get my hopes up again. Garth came home from work and we went to walmart and D.I. just to walk around and take my mind off of everything. At the grocery store they started to be a little more strong and consistent and by 4:30pm they were about 4 minutes apart. Garth and I watched family home videos for a while and by 6:30 (Garth was using a website to keep track) they were on average a little bit above 3 minutes apart. I still wasn’t feeling like I was in a lot of pain though so I asked Garth if we could keep waiting it out. He wanted to call a doctor just in case and the doctor also agreed that for a first time mom the beginning part of labor could be hours and I would be fine waiting at home. I just walked around, cleaned the house, packed up the bag thoroughly and kept myself busy. Then I was determined that they were slowing and I wasn’t in real labor and was getting really discouraged and hot in our un-air-conditioned home. SO we went for a drive, about 40 minutes away and got root beer floats. Driving wasn’t the most pleasant thing because my contractions were mostly in my back and sitting made them more intense. I drank the rootbeer and told Garth I think it’s about time to go, we need to get home and get our stuff.

We got home and I couldn’t decide. I wasn’t in excruciating pain so I felt like it couldn’t be active labor yet. I paced around and finally just decided better to be safe than sorry. I tried to tell Garth to eat his burger first because it could be a long night but he assured me he couldn’t and threw it away. So we loaded up and headed to the doc. On the way there I got really nervous and I told Garth “I’m not in enough pain we could still only be dilated to 1 cm! We may be getting sent home”. So we go in, and I get in the gown and I’m just pacing, pacing, pacing the room. I turned to Garth and said I’m not in enough pain we’re getting sent home this is stupid we shouldn’t be here. 

 Me pacing the room saying we are going home, Garth said you're cute and I made this face. 

The nurse came and hooked me up and she immediately said, “Whoa that was a big one” and I stared at her blankly. I wasn’t feeling every contraction haha. But then I said, “So I am having contractions, I’m not crazy?” and she said, “If you’ve been having them consistently like that then I think you’re here to stay”. So she checked me and said, “you are amazing” and I just stared at her like I’m a 4 at least?? And she said, “you are 6 cm dilated” Oh my goodness that was music to my ears!! She asked about pain medication and I said I wanted to try to do it naturally and she looked me right in the eyes and said, “Amy you are sitting here laughing at 6 cm. You can do this.” I was so grateful she took the time to say that to me. So at that moment I decided to get it into gear and get ready to push through. I had an awesome nurse so that helped. So we officially checked in at 8:30pm which meant my contractions had been about 3-4 minutes apart for 4 hours before we went to the hospital. It made me laugh.

Me When we realized I was 6cm and being admitted

 So then I got into the Jacuzzi and garth and I just talked and laughed about how crazy it is that we would have our baby soon. Then I got out and wanted to walk around so we walked around the hospital. For an FHE when we were first married Garth and I had made a list of the things we wanted in our dream home. He brought that list and he described our dream house to me as we walked around to distract me. He’s such an awesome man. Then we needed to check on Camden so I got in bed and they hooked up the monitors (they try to do it for about 10-20 minutes every hour which I found great so no problems there). Didn’t enjoy being in bed but it was okay. My doctor walked in in shorts and flips flops and talked to us about where I was at and how things were going. We asked him how his recent race went and we joked around a little about how he had predicted Camden’s birthday correctly. He kept glancing at the machine so finally I said “what?” and he said, “are you even feeling these contractions?” Silly question.

Of course I was feeling them, so I said yes, but that they just weren’t too intense yet. Eventually the nurse checked me again and in the 2ish hours I had been there I had only progressed 1 cm. (which later she said it was actually almost 2cm). But I was discouraged because they were getting very intense. I started to lose my edge a little and my body began to shake uncontrollably between each contraction. The nurse told me I was in transition and that the shaking was due to adrenaline. We went back to the Jacuzzi so that I could get my body to relax between contractions. I sat in there for a long time and Garth just kept telling me how awesome I was doing and doing our “hee hee hoo” breaths through each contractions. I could tell my shaking was making him nervous and I began to complain that I was exhausted and didn’t know if I was going to make it. Garth just kept telling me that YES I was going to make it that I could do this. The nurse came in to check me and I told them both that if after a couple more hours had passed and I hadn’t progressed at all and was still a 7 I may need help because I would be too exhausted to continue on to pushing if it was all that slow. So she checked me and to my joy I was a 9! The check was quite painful because at this point my contractions were coming right on top of each other and I was in extreme pain, plus she was pulling open my cervix more. The doctor came and said, “Wow his head is really low can you feel all the pressure” and I said, “I guess? I don’t know my butt has felt like it is going to burst pretty much this whole time so maybe” so they broke my water and it wasn’t a big gush just some warmth. They had to be careful they said though because his head was so close and low. So then I was informed that soon I would feel the desire to push. I kept looking at Garth and saying “I don’t know if I can do this” and wanting to cry but just giving each contraction the best “hee hee hoo” breaths I had. Finally I started to sometimes feel an uncontrollable urge to push. PUSHING IS AN AMAZING FEELING WHEN YOUR BODY CAN REALLY FEEL IT! Your body sort of bears down naturally and you just lean into it. It took me a little bit to get the sensation right because my nurse kept saying “Push Amy PUSH!” and I was like, “I am pushing!!” but I wasn’t effectively yet I guess. I started to love the contractions that my body wanted to push during and soon they all were that way. Pushing takes away the pain of contractions and you get to focus on something so you’re motivated and find some energy. The nurse started to tell me that he had a lot of hair and Garth was getting excited so I started to find extra motivation to push hard even though it hurt. The nurse told me they could see about the size of a grape of his head and I said, “Don’t tell me that, I already feel stretched to my limit I don’t want to think about how much more I have to stretch down there!” I started to kind of laugh and say I still don’t feel like I am having a baby, but each contraction was hard and took concentration pushing. The nurse thought that it would take me much longer than it did to get him to crown but before I knew it the bed was changed the doctor and two other nurses were in and everyone was telling me to push push push. I would hold my breath while I pushed because it was the easiest way to focus on the things my body was naturally telling me to do. Then I would take a quick breath and push again. Sometimes I would try to maintain the push during the breath. I tried to give at least three strong pushes a contraction, and right when I felt like I was pooped I would push really hard again before relaxing.  I remember getting a little annoyed at when the doctor came in and was talking and joking with my nurse because I was like uh hello guys I’m over here and my body wants me to push so, someone pay attention!! J Then before long I was in the pain of my life, never experienced it—couldn’t imagine it, terrible awful pain and I lifted up my body and looked at Garth and said “I can’t I can’t!” and they said “AMY PUSH” and out came Camden’s beautiful head. I still had a strong desire to push so I kept going and everyone stopped me and told me to look first. So I looked at him (a moment and sight I will never, ever forget) and before I knew it I gave one more big push and he was up against my chest. 

What happens next is quite overwhelming. He’s on my chest, one nurse is washing him off, the other is checking him for things, meanwhile I’m still having small desires to push while birthing my placenta, Garth is taking pictures, and I’m just staring at my baby boy thinking I did not just do that, I did not just do that! Garth then cuts the cord and then they take Camden and the doctor stitches me (I was surprised to not need an episiotomy and the doctor said I tore but very minimally). I was watching Camden impatiently from afar and I told my doctor that he would make a terribly slow seamstress. He laughed and said he just needed lessons from some little old lady. I watched Garth follow Camden around and learn all the things, I got the score of his APGAR test (NINE!) and I began to relax.

Eventually I was told that it was time for my shower and “first bathroom trip” before they moved me. I didn’t want to move at all really, but I got up and we headed to the bathroom. Luckily the nurse came with me because I told her I was feeling whoozy and before I knew it I fell into her. I stayed coherent but my hearing began to leave and fog over so I told her I can’t hear anything and she was spraying me down in the shower telling me to just breathe. They brought in a wheelchair and kept putting ammonia under my nose (that stuff is STRONG) as they loaded me to take me to the room. All I remember about the wheelchair ride was the constant whiff of ammonia and then eventually I totally blacked out because I woke up to them putting me in my bed. I just drank some water and began to feel better. I didn’t sleep at all that night because of the adrenaline pulsing through me. I couldn’t believe I had done it! Garth was the best coach anyone could ever ask for.  That night I just sat in bed and stared at Camden and my husband sleeping. I’ve been blessed with the best boys.

Labor was such an awesome experience. I am so grateful I did it naturally. Was it hard? Very very. Did I get really freaked out during transition? YES. But I did it. The way our body takes over when its time to push and the pain you’re able to endure is amazing. Pushing hurts, but also feels good at the same time and you just kind of ride each wave and feel just how strong of a person your really are. It is actual a really strong desire of mine now for every woman to get to feel what the desire to push is like. I’ve thought about the experience multiple times a day since then and it was just the most awesome experience ever. I often think the thoughts, “That was so FUN” and I know it wasn’t really fun in the moment, but it was absolutely fun in the sense that I have never felt so empowered and so blessed in my life. My son is beautiful and I’m so grateful for the experience.

I’ll write about the days in the hospital later. [: 

Small Update

We have been enjoying our little break here in Rexburg.
Garth enjoys his job and gets to make his own hours, and his detailing business has been doing really well. They've had a lot of cars this break--which makes him happy of course.
I, being graduated, and full term have been trying to distract myself. Pregnancy goes so fast while you're in school. I've been doing photography and photo editing tutorials. I'm currently teaching myself how to crochet. I've sewn a little here and there and I've read a couple of books already. Garth and I go walk between 2-3.5 miles every night and thats my favorite part of the day because we get to talk AND there's air conditioning. [:

My mom has been in town twice now. She came for graduation and helped me finish all the things I needed before the baby arrived, and then she came back with my older sister because they went and visited our family in Boise and then just came down here for a couple days. It was fun seeing Paris. She's growing so fast! Close to saying "mom" and says "heyyyy!" a lot but has no idea she's saying anything, she just imitates Anna. She's such a happy baby it was fun to get to play with her and see her crawling around now!

So here's an update on pregnancy:

   About 2 or 3 weeks ago I started getting itchy. I thought it was just because my skin was irritated from stretching but then I got swollen little bumps everywhere. Turns out I have PUPPP which is a pregnancy related rash that affects about 1 in every 200 pregnant women. Lucky us. Its most common in first time mothers carrying boys. There's no "prevention" if you're going to get it, you get it. The unfortunate thing is there is also no cure except birth, and nothing you can do to prevent spreading. I have been fortunate that it hasn't spread much but the itching is pretttttty intense sometimes. So that kind of fueled my impatience because the sooner I get this baby out... the less my rash can spread.
We went in for my 38 week appt and mentally I had told myself I needed to make it to 39 weeks before I let myself get impatient. However, my doctor felt otherwise lol. My doctor started to explain that with my PUPPP, the throwing up and still need for medicine, and other things that it would probably be better for me to have my baby sooner than later. He then suggested that he could strip my membranes that day. I was shocked and totally unprepared for this so I asked a bunch of questions about the baby's health and size and I felt fine with going ahead with it.
SO I was 1cm dilated 80% effaced and he stripped my membranes (which was painful) and said "If it works it usually takes affect within the next 48 hours" Garth and I looked at each other like "WHAT? We are going to have our baby that soon??" We knew it doesn't always work but its kind of crazy to think about being parents so we were a little excited.
I had some cramping and my belly was really tight for the rest of the day. We came home made sure the bag was all packed and headed to idaho falls to have a normal day and try not to think about it. We walked the mall, we ran some errands, and we went to Olive Garden on a date (thank you Auntie Di for the giftcard!). Around 2:30pm at Olive Garden all the excitement of the morning was starting to ware off and we both just wanted to crash. We decided to go home and take a nap. That night we walked two miles and stayed up late watching "White Collar". It would have been the perfect day to go into labor right? Wrong. Haha we definitely tried NOT to have our hopes up, but how could we not?
Since then I've had many "signs" of progression and I get annoyed at how attentive I am to my body because labor could still be so far away!
I'm 39 weeks now and yesterday I was 100% effaced cervix is fully lowered and in "perfect labor position" baby's head is engaged but still just 1 cm dilated. He did strip my membranes again which was completely painless this time, but we had no hopes this time for it working. I made my doctor guess and he guesses next Tuesday or Wednesday. I guess that I'm going to go a few days past my due date--but we shall see.
The waiting game continues and oh how I hate it. I get so many texts or comments about how I am STILL pregnant?! And everyone keeps telling Camden he better hurry up. But I like to think that HE is ready. We are both just patiently waiting on my body to get with the program [:
Probably him more patiently than me..
Lucky for me I have a patient husband who puts up with my constant complaining of "I don't want to do this anymore and I don't even have a choice!!" --we all have our weak moments [:

Here's to hoping for a smooth healthy delivery! Wish us luck.

Pregnancy through the Husband's Eyes

My dearest wife has asked me to write my perspective of her pregnancy.  I guess I will start by saying that she has definitely had a harder pregnancy than most women do. And I'm not just saying that because she is my wife, and I fully acknowledge that I don't know all of the intricate details of every other woman's pregnancy and their pains, sicknesses, and emotions. But what I can say is that even 9 months later, at 37 weeks pregnant, full-term, were it not for medication Amy would still be waking up sick and throwing up every half hour like clock work.  If you think I'm exaggerating I'm not. I give 2 examples.

One, at approximately 25 weeks I forgot to stop at the pharmacy and refill the prescription for her anti-nausea medicine.  So I after getting home from work at 7am I promptly called the pharmacy only to find that it wasn't yet open. Well I showed up at 9am when the pharmacy opened to get the prescription filled as quickly as possible.  The only problem was between 7:30am when Amy woke up and 9:15am when I got home with the goods; Amy had thrown up three times.  Awesome.

Two, approximately 22 weeks. We casually wake up on a Saturday morning, which at the time was one of two days a week that I didn't have to wake up at 3:45am to go to work.  At this time, we were first trying the experiment of "what if we don't take the pills? Will she still throw up? Will she only throw up once? etc." Well the first words out of Amy's mouth that morning were, "Garth can you go get me a bowl?" Puke time. Half awake I meandered to the kitchen only to hear, "You don't have time to walk!" followed promptly by the bathroom door slamming and the sounds of baby induced vomiting protruding from the bathroom. Awesome.
The good news is there is medication that has helped along the way.  The bad news is, sometimes she forgets and then she has a rough go of things. It only took 2 1/2 weeks of constant throwing up, losing 4 pounds in a day and half, and a trip to the doctor for an IV before we found she needed the medicine in the first place. I'll admit I was at first overjoyed that she had morning sickness, something she didn't have with our first pregnancy which ended in miscarriage. I thought it was a good sign of a healthy pregnancy, although that quickly dissipated into feeling bad for her during the period of time leading up to our IV trip to the doctor, playing "guess what I'm thinking" waiting for her to be hydrated, and eventually getting a prescription to save the day!
I can also say that Amy is a freaking scholastical warrior. Not only was she constantly sick during the winter semester, especially during that 2 week period of no medicine, but she was enrolled in 18 credits.  She was blessed with understanding professors, but the work load was certainly never cut down.  I don't know how she did it.  18 credits in the winter and 17 credits in the spring.  She read over 50 books, and not just novels that are in some way interesting or fun to read.  We're talking ANTHOLOGIES; thousands of pages of British literature that could put me to sleep faster than the afternoon session of general conference. She ground through it all. Even the late nights with the crazy schedule of going to sleep at 8 or 9pm and waking up at 1am because she just didn't have energy for that night. And now she is graduated! Dunzo with the college scene and right on time before baby boy is here.
She also put up with me a lot.  I did what I could to help, although I know it wasn't as much as I could or should have.  She definitely has deserved a lot more through the pregnancy, but somehow has been extremely patient with me. I'm not sure how I got so lucky, but I've certainly the most blessed guy I know.
Now onto the actual pregnancy aspect. The first 12 weeks were probably the longest of my life. After having a miscarriage, and having her experience similar symptoms through the first trimester of this pregnancy to say that I was worried and stressed is an understatement.  It's all I could think about a lot of the time, and I'm pretty sure she knew it because it was undoubtedly on her mind too.  But somehow we made it through to that first ultrasound appointment when we experienced something that we didn't get to with our first pregnancy: hearing our baby’s heartbeat. It was a strangely emotional time when it suddenly hit me that there was a living, developing child. For some reason I still felt like it could all come crashing down at any moment. I'm glad to say I was disappointed in that regard and we made it to the gender ultrasound appointment.
Now that was a nervous time. Up to this point I basically refused, much to Amy's dismay, to discuss any baby names. I wanted to know the gender of our child before entering that stage. I can never remember being more excited! Now I would have been ecstatic with a baby boy or a baby girl, and always will be, but when we heard the doctor say, "He's showing off" I was flooded with excitement.  My mind suddenly went to playing catch, going to ball games, polishing cars, speaking twi, and sending him off on a mission.  It was a lot to take in at once, but it was something I couldn't stop thinking about.
Flash forward to the first time I felt him kick and it was another instant emotional connection. I thought it was always so funny that early on I could come home and start talking to him and he would respond with kicks! Amy didn't like it as much, especially as he got bigger and it started to hurt her more, but coincidence or not, I loved every single time he did it, and still do, even if Amy thinks its ridiculous when I can get him to respond to me.
At the present Amy generally gets annoyed with me when I constantly want to be touching her belly. I'll admit I'm freakishly just drawn to wanting to be as close to him as possible, which annoys her because it's still her belly.  At 37 weeks Amy is now waking up on average 3 or 4 times a night to use the facilities, which wakes me up nearly every time, but with a new job, not having to wake up at 3:45 am, and summer break with no homework, it's not something that bothers me at all.  I've enjoyed the times I've had to take care of her, to "make dinner" (usually my specialist spaghetti and meatballs), and to do my best to keep the house clean when she has so much going on. (Although I never remember to dust which drives her insane).
Looking back over the past 9 months I can say it has certainly been a great experience. Sometimes I would find a box of cereal in the fridge, or the milk left out all night due to "pregnancy brain" (or so I'm told). There have been many Sunday's of sitting alone in church because Amy has been too sick to move. There have been times of going for drives in the car just for AC, because even our swamp cooler hasn't been able to cool her down. There have been requests for foot massages and back massages, even though she falsely thinks I don't like giving them or haven't given them enough (probably true). There have been countless trips to the store for cravings of runts (only the chewy kind), lemonheads (not lemon friends), air heads (no cherry flavor), laughy taffy (the big ones are gross), snickers, milky ways, gobstoppers, and m&m's (peanut butter). There have been more pb&j sandwiches than I can even count and me having to always remind Amy to take her prenatal vitamins, calcium supplement, and iron supplements. There has been the absurd mexican food craving for Costa Vida, crunchy tacos from Taco Bell, or bean burritos from Taco Time. There has been the super nose abilities to magnify any scent ever, especially my breath if I've been in lab and come home "with breath smelling like metal" (whatever that means).
But in the end, there has been a perfect wife, and a perfect companion who has experienced it all so we can begin our perfect family. Not perfect in the ways of the world, but perfect in our struggles, perfect in learning together, perfect in patience, perfect in silly arguments (which she always wins), perfect in decorating our baby's room, and a perfect best friend who will be the perfect mother to our baby boy Camden, just as soon as he's ready to join us.

Garth Wright