So Walt and I waited and the contractions kept coming, two to three minutes apart. I knew we'd be making the trip to the hospital sometime that morning so I showered and washed my hair to make myself feel better. When my status hadn't changed by 2:00 am, except that the contractions were a little more intense, we decided to play it safe and proceed with our thirty minute drive to the hospital. We called the doctor again to tell her we were on the way. She thought we were being hasty but we didn't care. Walt said he didn't want to deliver the baby in our livingroom.
Several weeks ago I had jokingly asked my parents and sister, "when I go into labor, can I call you any time, even if it's two in the morning?" Their answer was yes of course. And so, as we gathered our things Walt made the necessary phone calls at precisely 2 am. Ginny arrived at the hospital at 2:30, just minutes after we did, where she snapped this shot of me still looking relatively awake.
They admitted me to the triage of the maternity ward, gave me the super-sexy gown pictured below and by 3:00 they checked my progress. I was only 1cm dialated. Because I was two days over due they decided to do an ultrasound to make sure the baby wasn't stressed.
The ultrasound took forever to complete and by the time Walt and I got back to triage it was 5:00am. As we sat and waited for the radiologist to arrive to analyze the sonograms I continued to have my two-to-three-minute-apart contractions. Around 6:00 we still hadn't seen the radiologist so Walt went down to the lobby to give Mom, Dad and Ginny an update. Mom decided to come up and sit with me for a while. By 6:45 we were all becoming rather impatient because the radiologist still hadn't shown up. I was going to throw a fit if after all this waiting they just sent us home. The nurse decided to check my progress again just for the heck of it. Lo and behold, I was 3cm dialated. It was just enough progress for them to admit me to Labor & Delivery. Yahoo!
Mom, Dad and Ginny all came up to the room to encourage me and distract me through my contractions. I got Ginny to start texting our friends and family around 8am to let them know it would soon be showtime. Between contractions I filled out the paperwork to donate the baby's cordblood. By the time I was offered an epidural I had endured at least eight hours of contractions almost every two minutes and I was exhausted. I couldn't help but say yes.
My water had to be broken by the doctor at 8:50 and she told me that we probably wouldn't start pushing until 1 or 2 o'clock because this was my first pregnancy. But at least I was dialated to 5cm so I was still making progress. An hour later I was at 6.5cm and at 10:50 I told the nurse that I had a funny feeling down below. When I said "I feel some pressure down there and the urge to bear down" she responded "it's OK honey, just do it, it happens all the time, we'll clean it up". I frowned and said "but there's a lot of pressure and I think I want to push". She still didn't get it and said "don't worry about it, don't be embarassed, it'll make you feel better, plenty of women poo on the table". So I practically screamed at her "I feel a head and I want to push now!" Assuming that I was over-reacting, she humored me and took a look. "I'll get the doctor", she said.
Mom and Dad went back down to the lobby to wait while Walt and Ginny stayed by my side. At 11:00 my doctor arrived, by 11:10 we were pushing and at 11:30am Cameryn Elyse entered the world. She was 7lbs, 5oz and 20.5 inches long.
Ginny was there to capture the moments just after Cameryn was delivered.
Mom and Dad returned to the room to get their first look at their new grandbaby. 
The great thing about events at Tina's house is that no matter the occasion they always have the atmosphere of a garden party. (so maybe it heped the boys feel less self-conscious about the fact that they were at a baby shower) My girlfriend Courtney also dared to join us nursery geeks for the festivities and I was really glad that she was able to make it.
The food was awesome, as it usually is at our work parties. And as a pregnant lady I must tell you, yes, it is all about the food.
Best of all, Lili drove in from Kentucky and made me flan! It's my favorite dish that she makes. It's so good, sometimes I daydream about it! Mmmm, flan...
I received a ton of adorable outfits and, more importantly, lots of useful gifts. 
The gift area ladies picked out this super-cute picture frame...
It's so great to have a super work-family surrounding me. They're the ones who have to put up with my gripes, hunger pangs and mood swings on a daily basis and yet, they still stick around to wish me well. I'm a lucky gal.
My friends at work got the cute green picture frame for us. It matches the room perfectly.
Thanks to all of our wonderful family and friends everything is ready for Cameryn's arrival 
The cake was actually 24 cupcakes with piles of frosting on top. We all enjoyed the cupcakes but they were really difficult to eat without making a mess.
Mom used the candles from my first baby shower in Florida and rubber duckies to make the center piece. It was quite creative and adorable to boot!
I was especially glad to see Aunt Mindy who came all the way from Virginia and Cousin Brenda who drove from Charlotte to be with me on my special day.
It was really nice to have all of my local family members there to wish me and Cameryn well. I even got some good suggestions for her yet-to-be-determined middle name and great baby advice.
Next up: the last baby shower thrown by my friends and co-workers this coming weekend.
Here's the dresser/changing table. The lamp won't be able to stay there (for obvious reasons) but it sure made for a pretty picture.
