Welcome Camden

“Daddy! Daddy!” came the yell from Gavin as DeeAnn labored upstairs. “Just a minute, Gavin” I said as I continued my conversation on the phone. Again Gavin yelled for my attention but it was something different in his voice. So while still on the phone I went to see what all the excitement was. There it was in all its glory. Floating in the toilet was a perfect capital G made out of poop. “It’s a G for Gavin” his little voice said with glee.

And so it is with kids. Time for reflection was a bit limited as DeeAnn struggled to get dressed through each contraction. Now for those who may or may not remember the last time we had a baby it was only because the freeway was wide open and a Durango can do 110 mph that we managed to have Ethan in a hospital. This was not a scene I wanted to repeat. I am shamed to say that we reinforced all California driving stereotypes as I raced past cars and ran red lights including one particular maneuver I like to call “The Squeeze” which involved creating a third lane between two others. This time we had a full 15 minutes from arrival to birth.

The staff was great as DeeAnn yelled and moaned and apologized. Our Dr. was unfortunately not available as he was out flying his plane that morning but we did have the on-call doctor who looked a bit shocked after it was all over. She stammered a bit as she held up the umbilical cord for all to see a solid knot. “This kind of thing usually kills a baby” she said. At which point a nurse smiled and said, “Look it’s a miracle baby” And so it is that we have a healthy baby given to us by God, which is always a miracle.

Somewhere in all of this I was standing in between DeeAnn and Camden with a hand on both. Camden was being given oxygen on the warming tray to offset his current color of royal purple. It was at that moment that I felt real hot and a bit dizzy. Figuring this was not the best time to faint I took a seat and waited a bit until I felt ok.

At 10:34am on February 8th 2007 we introduced ourselves to Camden Stanley Todd. Trying to name a child is a difficult task. You have to consider what it sounds like when yelling their name, or when it is read out loud during graduation, or when they introduce themselves on the phone. And especially when they have grow up and start to wonder more about their family history and how they are part of it.

Camden is a Celtic name which means winding valley and Stanley is my middle name as well as my fathers. The writer C.S. Lewis wrote a book titled, A Grief Observed. In it he describes a winding valley as a journey that with each turn a totally new landscape is revealed but not always. In fact sometimes there are glimpses of views you have seen before but the sequence does not repeat.

With this name we look forward to his fulfillment of a totally new personality melded into our family but yet at times familiar character and behavior we have known to love and cherish with our other boys.

And so we say, “welcome Camden, we have been waiting for you”

Rich, DeeAnn, Gavin, Ethan and Camden