10 Weeks Old - Week of Oct. 22nd

This was the week of Cam's original due date. Jane's doctor said that he would have been due on Oct. 25th. So, Jane & Cam's Grandma Mary Ellen went to have him weighed on Thursday. On that day, Cameron weighed in at..... 8 lbs, .04 oz!!! Chris and Jane were so very excited!

Cameron's first 10 weeks have gone by quickly. Chris and Jane are learning all kinds of things as new parents. For example, it's extremely important to "protect" yourself when changing a boy's diaper or 'Old Faithful' will spray away.

Many of you know that since Cam was born, Jane has been pumping breastmilk for him. Cameron's doctor told Jane that she can nurse Cam a couple of times a day and for the rest of his feedings, a fortifier is added to his mom's milk containing extra vitamins. Much to Chris and Jane's surprise, they quickly ran out of freezer space. So then, Cam's parents went out and bought a deep freezer thinking they would 'never' fill it up. Well, as you can see, the freezer is quite full. The good news- Cameron is drinking about 3 oz every 3 hours, so he's been keeping up with the fresh supply and the freezer supply has already been tapped a few times.

Another notable event this week is that Cameron received his first personal greeting card in the mail. His new godparents, Chris & Jo sent Cam his first Halloween card! Thanks so much to them both. Soon enough, Cameron will be trick-or-treating and his parents will be picking out their favorite candy bars from his bag.


Happy Halloween to you all!! Love, Chris, Jane & Cameron

Dr Appt Again? - Week of Oct. 15th

Cameron had to get used to the idea of his mom working again. Although she 'actually' started back last Friday this was her first full week back to work. Luckily for Cameron, his new friend Maureen is taking care of him while Jane is working. Luckily for Jane, she is able to work from home so Cam is only a few steps away if she needs to see him.

Wednesday was a big day for Cameron. He went to see the doctor again. This doctor's appointment was his two month checkup. She said that everything is progressing well and he is looking very strong. He weighed in at a whole 7 pounds 7 ounces! Everyone was surprised at this, especially his parents. Cam also had to have three immunization shots. He wasn't very happy about these but did get two very cool hotwheels band-aids. He will not see the doctor again until mid-December. His grandma Mary Ellen was here today and was such a big help.

Cameron is holding his head up more and is starting to squirm around a lot more. He has had more tummy time this week and Maureen said he almost rolled over.

The weather was so nice this weekend Chris and Jane decided to take Cam for a little walk. Cameron really seemed to enjoy this and quickly fell asleep in his stroller. In fact, after they returned he continued to snooze in his comfy stroller for over an hour.

Sunday evening, Chris and Joanne came over for dinner and to see Cam. After a wonderful dinner Chris and Jane asked them if they would be Cameron's godparents. Chris and Joanne said they would be honored. Thanks Jo and Chris for being unbelievably supportive every step of the way, starting with the night Jane went into labor!

Back to Work Mom - Week of Oct 8th

Another week has come and gone. Another week for Cameron to keep growing bigger and stronger. It was a pretty quiet week for the little man.

The week started off with Cam's Grandma Mary Ellen coming to spend Monday with him. She is such a big help when she is here. She was able to feed Cameron a couple times.

Wednesday started off with some excellent news from Cam's doc. They got the results back from his heart monitor and he had no major alarms. The doctor said he didn't need to be on the monitor any more so we were able to take this off him and free him of this tether.

On Thursday, Cameron's nurse from Spectrum stopped by to check on his progress. She said everything looked great and he weighed in over 6.5 pounds! Excellent!!! At this rate he will not just catch but accelerate well past the growth charts.

Unfortunately, Jane had to return to work on Friday. She wasn't too excited about this but Cam's new friend Maureen showed up to help Jane watch over him while she was busy. Fortunately for Jane she is able to work at home so it's not too bad. In the afternoon, Aunt Joyce, Uncle Joe and Annie stopped by on their way out of town. They were going out to Baltimore where Megan and Joey were running a full marathon (26 miles). Dirk and Lisa also ran a half marathon where Dirk finished one of the top runners. Congrats to them all!

The weekend was uneventful. Chris and Cameron just sat and watched football all weekend. Cam has taken to hanging out during the day downstairs with his parents. He is now drinking about 2.5 ounces of milk every feeding.

Over Six Pounds - Week of Oct 1st

Chris and Jane are finally settling down into a routine....somewhat. Chris took the week off work so he could stay home and help Jane with Cameron. Even with the extra help the little guy was still a handful.

The week started off normal enough. Jane tried a little 'tummy-time' with Cameron on Monday. His parents put him on his tummy surfboard mat (thanks Grandma) so he can learn to lift his head and strengthen his muscles.

Tuesday was a little more exciting. A visiting nurse from Spectrum stopped in to check on Cameron. She weighed him and he was up to 5 lbs 13 oz. She said he was right on schedule and everything looked great (besides a little rash on his bottom.....sorry Cam).

On Wednesday, Cam's parents took him to see the doctor for his "two week checkup". They weighed Cameron in here and according to their scale (which is definitely the gold standard) he was over SIX POUNDS!!!! His parents were never so proud of their little boy. The doc looked him over and said everything else looked good.

Thursday was a quiet day, Cam and his family just hung out at home (and caught up on some Heroes).

Friday was the busiest day of the week. The day started off early when a technician stopped by to download the information off Cameron's heart monitor. We should get the results from this next week but don't really think there are any issues here. After this Chris ran off to Spectrum hospital to straighten out the billing for Cameron's stay. While Chris was away, Jane had a special visit from her close cousin Kate and her daughter Ellie as well as Kate's mom, Aunt Betsy. Kate visited with Jane and Cam while Aunt Betsy and Ellie drove off to gather some groceries for Chris and Jane (thank you again). This was a very special visit because Kate lives in Vermont. Kate, her husband Seth and daughter will be leaving for a trip to Vietnam next week. They will not return until Christmas. Kate was so happy to be able to meet Cameron before she left.

Later Friday evening, Joanne drove over after work to see Cameron for the first time since he came home. Aunt Joanne visited Cam so many times in the hospital (we appreciate all your support). Chris, Jane and Jo had dinner together and hung out with Cam.

Saturday brought more visitors. Grandma Mary Ellen and Grandpa Bill came over for dinner. Grandma fed Cam his dinner before the rest of the family sat down to dinner themselves. Jane brought Cameron down to the dinner table so he could hang out with everyone too.

Sunday was a tough day because Cameron had to watch the Lions lose. However, he had more visitors today since the neighbor girls could not wait to see him. Cam stared at his four future playmates and their mom Patti. After they left, Chris and Jane gave Cameron a little bath. He was not too excited about this at first but quickly settled down and enjoyed the warm water.

Chris goes back to work again tomorrow so it is time for us to run off to bed. Good night everyone.

Missing Our Nurses - Sept 30th

Chris and Jane were soooo excited to get Cameron home. They thought they would have soooo much more time now that they were not driving up to the hospital every day to visit him. However, they found the opposite to be true. For being such a little guy Cameron already keeps his parents hopping. Our cat, Stella, is curious but appears to guard our newest addition to the family.

This first week, Jane's mom drove over from Muskegon to help Jane and Chris while Cameron settled in. At first his parents thought they wouldn't really need a lot of assistance from Mary Ellen but it quickly became apparent that Chris and Jane definitely needed the help. Grandma was extremely helpful with everything and they really appreciate everything that she has done for the whole family. (We can't believe we didn't take any pictures on our camera with Grandma- next time, promise!)

The week went very quickly. Cameron continued with his regimented feeding schedule every three hours. He is usually awake and ready to eat come feeding time. He is taking down most all his meals like a champ.

On Wednesday, Cameron got to venture outside for the first time since coming home. He made a trip to the doctors office. Everything was great there. He weighed in at a whopping 5 pounds 9 ounces (WOW!!). The doctor looked him over and was very happy with his progress so far. Cameron, however, was not happy to with the exam and let his thoughts be known by peeing all over the doctor and the table. Chris and Jane quickly packed up Cam and rushed out the door before he could get into any more trouble.

At last, on Saturday Grandma had to go home. After all the wonderful meals she cooked and all the help with Cameron, Chris and Jane had become very spoiled and would miss her very much. She has since told them that she will be in once a week to hang out with her grandson.

On Sunday, the Ringler family stopped in for a visit. 'Big Sis' Lauren, Andrea and Steve all were excited to see Cameron and hold him for the first time. (Pictures shown here)

Last, but not least, we have to say how much we miss our nurses from Neo. Not just because they handled his 2:00 & 5:00 am feedings, but more so for the friendships we formed in the short time we were there. Cam's quick progress is largely due to the awesome care that he received while at the hospital. We hope we can stay in touch with all of our new friends. We especially want to thank Tammy, Lora, Deb, Amy, Ann, Jan, Delores and Chad.