Eighteen Years Ago....

So as hard as it may be to admit, I actually do have aNOTHER child who has reached that adult age of 18 years old!

For almost all his life, Cameron has had the unfortunate experience of being continually mixed up with his older brother. I feel bad that people confuse them, because Cameron is so much his own person, and always has been.

In fact, when he entered school, I spoke to his teacher about it. I said, "Remember Brandon? Well forget everything you know about Brandon, because this is Cameron, and Cameron is a totally different person." And I will also admit, that as a mom, for a while I had my own problems letting go of that vision. I had Brandon in mind and wanted Cameron to do everything he did and be the same boy. And it wasn't going to happen.

And the day I let that go was a true turning point for me, and for Cameron (although he may not realize it). Because that was when I was able to forge my own relationship with Cameron that was not based on anything but Cameron. We have gotten along so much better ever since then.

So when Cameron was born, once again in the same hospital as all the others, we had a couple of unique experiences. The first was actually a couple of months previous, when I had kidney stones while pregnant with him. The acute pain of kidney stones sent me to the hospital, but at the time, we didn't know the reason. I remember pointing with one finger to the source of the pain; the doctors wanted to reassure me that the pain I felt was not baby-related, and that he was fine. But I was completely sure that he was ok, because I knew that my pains were not where the baby was.

It was, however, a good thing that I'd been through labor once before, because they put me in the maternity wing, where, down the hall, I could hear a woman yelling. Had I not already been through childbirth, this could have potentially been pretty scary!!

When it did come time for Cameron to be born, we did not enter through the emergency entrance, nor did Todd push me up to maternity in a wheelchair. We walked in (pausing during contractions!!), and when we approached the counter, and the nurse asked, Todd said,

"She thinks she's in labor." This was in an offhand manner, almost skeptical sounding.

At that point, I PUNCHED him in the arm, and told him they weren't going to take us seriously.

Which, they didn't!

They put us in a labor room, where we were left alone for a good twenty minutes. I had no idea how far into labor I was, but with my last experience going quickly, I did want to find out. When I gave up on someone coming back to check on me, and was just sending Todd out to find a nurse, one came in. Still in no particular hurry, she gave me a gown and it took a little more time before she finally checked me. I'm sure the nurse was a bit dismayed to find out that I was in active labor (in addition to the other women already in the wing), and was going to need immediate attention!

Cameron came into the world with no real worries or problems, and has been a blessing to us ever since.

In addition to being the only springtime birthday we have, Cameron also has the distinction of being the most injured child of the family; for years it seemed as though he'd taken upon him all the injuries of the other children, since none had had so much as a broken bone. Here are some of his injury highlights (these are each a story in their own), but DISCLAIMER: this is not for the weak of stomach!! In roughly chronological order:

- At 7 months old, Cameron had surgery to have tubes put in his ears. He had a continuous ear infection from his first baby check, that never totally cleared up. Seeing my baby boy behind bars (Hello? Have you SEEN those hospital cribs??) & waiting for that surgery was really emotional for me. The tubes did help, and he was healthier after that.

- At age 15 months, he fell and his top four front teeth (well, the ONLY top teeth at the time!) were pushed up and backwards into his gums. Our dentist said just to watch them for discoloration after they came back down again, but he kept them all until the normal age to lose them. This instantly weaned him from pacifier and bottles.

- At age 5, he jumped/fell off the bouncer-horse and broke his arm. We went 3 days and a bowling trip before we found out it was broken.

- Cameron has extremely sensitive skin after a particularly bad sunburn at about age 7 or so. He developed some large blisters (walnut-in-shell size & shape!), couldn't wear a shirt for about 5 days, and has major freckles ever since then. Sunscreen is always an absolute requirement for him now.

- Playing at his cousin's house, he once impaled his hand on a rusty nail that was protruding from a short-handled shovel. Emergency doctor trip and stitches required for that one!

- Showing off a new trampoline trick (which involved toy light sabers in both hands -- it was a VERY cool trick!)), he flipped forward too far and hit his mouth on the metal frame of the tramp. This resulted in four broken teeth, and 41 stitches to re-attach his lower lip (inside) to his jaw. We spent a Sunday afternoon with our dentist, who has an extremely thick file on Cameron now, and I played dental assistant, while Todd (the blood-squeamish one) was sent to a pharmacy for some major painkillers. Cameron's teeth had be to re-built after that -- thank goodness for modern dental techniques.

I am so glad that Cameron IS his own person. As a senior now, he is just a couple of weeks away from graduation. His plan right now is to get a job (in addition to his once-a-week newspaper routes) and save up some money to go on a mission. He is smart, and focused (when he wants to be!), and my biggest wish for him is that he might live up to all of his potential, because -- as I keep telling him --- he is AMAZING.