Baby Camden's Birth Story

It has been over two years since I have blogged! In addition to that, I never wrote down either of my birth stories with the first two kids, and I have regretted it. So, with that in mind, here is Camden's birth story- mostly for my memory.

Camden's due date was June 27th, the same date as my sister-in-law. Around week 25 I started getting regular contractions whenever I exercised or was on my feet for a long time so my doctor told me not to exercise and to take it easy so I wouldn't go into labor early. These contractions made me think that I was going to have Camden earlier than his due date, but little did I know that what I had been feeling from week 25 to week 40 weren't contractions- they were braxton hicks (I had never felt contractions OR braxton hicks with my first two kids due to being induced and having an epidural). A few days before my due date I really started exercising to try to encourage the baby to come out, but it didn't help. My due date came and went and I now hoping that I wouldn't have to be induced. All I wanted was to experience labor the way that most women do, rather than having medicine start my labor process for me. On July 1st I started feeling REAL contractions for the first time and was so excited! They started at 11:00 pm so I decided to try to sleep as much as I could, thinking that this may be a long process. I was able to sleep from 11:30 p.m. - 12:30 a.m. I woke up at 12:30 and really wanted to wait it out as long as possible before going to the hospital because I definitely didn't want to be turned away at the hospital because I wasn't dilated enough. The contractions were about 6-9 minutes apart and lasted 45 secs - 1 min. 15 secs. I stayed at home until 2:30 and then decided it was time to go. My mom and Matt took me to the hospital. At the beginning of our car ride to the hospital, I specifically remember telling them that I was nervous that I would be turned away at the hospital. The car ride only lasted 15 minutes, and during that time the contractions started got REALLY close together. I wasn't timing it by that point, but my mom mentioned that they were only 1-2 minutes apart. When we were 5 minutes away from the hospital, my fears quickly changed and now I was telling Matt and my mom that I hope I have enough time for an epidural.

We got to the hospital at 2:46. Matt parked and as I started walking to the entrance, a forceful contraction came on and I yelled, "I can feel his head!". I could feel the pressure of his head and knew that I needed to get into the hospital ASAP. My mom ran ahead and got a wheelchair for me and rolled me into the triage. I got onto the bed and laid on my right side, gripping the armrests as tight as I could during each contraction. For the rest of my labor my position didn't move (mainly because I didn't have much time in between contractions to move and what little time I had I was too exhausted to move). While in triage, it felt like the nurse took forever, even though in all actuality it was probably like 10 minutes. She checked my vitals and started checking the baby's heartbeat. I then was in so much pain I asked her for an epidural and she said that she would have to check my cervix to see how far along I was before that step could be taken. In an impatient manner I then asked her to check me "because I really need it now". She started checking me and her face immediately changed from calm to alarmed/nervous and said, "I don't feel your cervix". I asked her what that meant and she responded by telling me that I was fully dilated and that this baby was coming right now. I thought, "DUH!! Now get me my epidural!" She then stepped into high gear from there- they wheeled me out and quickly brought me to my room- so quickly that my fast-walking husband couldn't keep up. There were no doctors there and only a midwife, so she delivered Camden.

As soon as I was in the room she told me that she was going to pop my water and that the baby was going to come out pretty quickly. I asked her for an epidural and she told me that there was no time. I don't remember her breaking my water but I do remember Matt saying, "Oh gross- I guess it's time for new shoes" because it went all over him. As soon as my water broke, the midwife and nurses were wanting me to push, and I did somewhat. My body hurt so bad whenever I pushed and in between contractions I just kept yelling, "I can't do this, I can't do this, please don't make me do this. All I want is an epidural. Please give me an epidural." At one point I finally YELLED what I had been thinking the entire time, "I JUST WANT MY VAGINA NUMB". The contractions were bad, but the pain I was feeling down there was TERRIBLE!!. The midwife again told me that I couldn't get an epidural and it then just clicked- I wasn't going to get any pain meds, so if I wanted this to be over, I better just buck up and push and get it over with! As soon as that mental lightbulb went on, Camden was born (either 2 or 3 pushes- I can't quite remember). He was born at 3:14 (the total amount of time at the hospital was 28 minutes).

Up until week 38 of my pregnancy, I was planning on doing it natural (it wasn't until I saw pictures of a friend who had a natural labor that I decided natural labor probably wasn't for me...haha). One of the reasons I wanted to do it naturally (without epidurals) is because I had heard of the euphoric feeling you feel immediately after giving labor and the immense love that you feel for your child- I wanted that! Boy oh boy was that NOT the case with me! I was exhausted, SUPER light-headed, and having intense contractions still. They laid Camden on my chest and I felt guilty because I didn't have the energy to embrace him. The nurses checked my blood pressure and then they immediately rechecked it because they thought it may be inaccurate due to being so low. As soon as they gave me a saline-drip and gave me medicine to offset the contraction pain, I felt so good and was so happy to have my little guy here. I remember that once I was physically feeling better, I kept apologizing to the nurses and the midwife for all of the complaining I did during my short labor.

I definitely love my Camden guy and I would totally redo this experience to have him here with us!!!