The story of Camden's arrival

So I finally have a few free moments (aka, Camden is asleep in his swing) to finally update my blog with all the details of his arrival.

I am sure you are all dying to know...epidural or no epidural? Well here is the story from the beginning, with all the details...

Last Saturday Wesley and I decided that we are going to take a few walks to see if my contractions would change at all. They had been pretty consistent since the day before but nothing enough to send me into labor. When we were on our walks my contractions were really strong and intense, but as soon as our walk was over, they were mild. So that evening I paced the house for a few hours and felt the contractions getting stronger and closer together. I was feeling good progress. I decided it was time to rest up because if this was the beginning of labor I need to get as much rest as possible. We went up stairs, I climbed in to bed and Wes was in our room studying for his exam on Monday. The moment I laid down, my contractions became much stronger, and all of a sudden my back began throbbing! I was afraid I was experiencing back labor...eeek! I called my mom (who used to teach natural childbirth classes, and gave birth to 4 of her own) and she said all my symptoms sounded like the first stage of labor and encouraged me to rest. Well that was not happening because of the back pain. I called our doctors "on call" service and explained my situation and they encouraged me to head on over to the hospital. So Wesley and I packed up the car and drove on over. They immediately hooked me up to the monitors and said my contractions were looking good and his heart rate looks great, but I was only dilated to a 3. They said for me to walk for another hour around the hospital and see if I make any progress. At this point all of our families had made it to the hospital because they were to excited to stay away! We started on our trek around the hospital. My back pain intensified with every contraction. My mom had me stop and do a few pelvic rocks, and all of a sudden the pain went away completely!! I was relieved, but then I became discouraged because my contractions slowed way down. We made our way back to the triage room and I had made no progress :( They decided it would be best to keep me on the monitors for a while longer to see what happens. At one point they became concerned because Camden's heart rate dropped significantly during a contraction. Wesley had just left the room to go get some food with his dad in the waiting room, and I was in there with just our moms. Our nurse rushed in with a panic in her voice and said ok his heart rate dropped so she rolled me on both my sides, put an oxygen mask on my face and another nurse rushed in a put in an IV. My mom ran out to get Wes who came back in with shock on his face. All of a sudden the tears just flowed and I couldn't believe the situation we were in. His heart rate did go back up, and they said it was probably dropped because he rolled onto his cord. That was when they said I had to stay over night to be monitored and I wouldn't go home until Sunday. Well that night we did not sleep well, I was scared and uncomfortable, and Wesley slept next to me in the tiny recliner in this little triage room. In the morning a doctor came and checked on me. She said his heart rate had done really well through the night, but she wanted me to be on the monitors for 12 hours before I could be released. That meant that at about 3 that afternoon we would be able to go home. So we spent the day just talking and dreaming of the day when my labor would finally start and we would be able to meet our boy.

Around 2 that afternoon the nurse came in. I was sure she was going to start unhooking all the stuff from the monitors. But instead she had other news. She told us that Camden's heart rate was taking little dips at the end of every contraction I was having. She called the doctor and after seeing the dips one after another they decided that I couldn't go home. So the nurse said to me, "You are having this baby today!" Such a flood of emotions came over me. They said I would have to be induced, and they were starting that in a few minutes. Being induced was not something I had wanted to do, but I knew that if it was in the best interest of Camden, I would do it. So the induction began. It was not to bad at first. I was having stronger contractions but I could survive them. Then the doctor decided to break my water after having the pitocin for about 2 hours. So my water was broken around 4:30 ish. That was the weirdest sensation ever! I actually got the giggles when they did it, and everyone in the room was cracking up. I couldn't stop laughing at how gross of a sensation it was. After the water was broken it did not take long for the contractions to really intensify. I began having contractions one right after another and eventually they started overlapping. It would not even finish and another one would begin. Now the pain was getting intense, and I knew I had made good progress. My pain scale would say I was dilated to nearly a 9, however when the nurse came in, she said I had only made it to a 5. I couldn't believe it! I was not getting any break in between contractions, how the heck would I make it 5 more cm? That is when I decided I needed a little help. They brought in Stadol which is basically a narcotic they put in to your IV to "take the edge off". Let me tell you, that was the worst sensation I have ever felt! I felt like I was on drugs, and the room was spinning. Sure it took the edge off the pain, but I was like delirious, and saying crazy things. I am sure I was entertaining to the entire room, but I was not enjoying it. They said it would only last for about an hour and my pain would intensify. At this point, I gave in and ordered the epidural. I was still only at a 5 and my contractions literally were not stopping (thank you pitocin) I was in such a fog I barely remember getting the epidural. However I am so glad I did, it put everyone at ease to see me in a lot less pain, and within 30 minutes I went from a 5 to an 8 dilated. Things were finally progressing! After she checked me at an 8, another 30 minutes went by and I said I felt like pushing. Brenda ran to get the nurse and she didn't think it could possibly be time. But she checked me and then said, ok here is what we are gonna do. She got me all set up to start pushing and she said the next contraction I could push. This part came very easy to me, which shocked the nurse because after a few pushes she told me to stop so she could call the doctor. I didn't think I could stop because the pushing sensation was so strong. The doctor came in within about 5 or so minutes and I gave a few solid pushes. I was able to watch in a mirror as his head began to crown. Such an incredible experience. Finally, when he was almost out, the doctor told me that on the next push that she would tell me when to stop and if I didn't stop pushing when she told me, Camden would come flying out across the room. So I did what she said and his head came out and he instantly made a cry face and let out a little screech. I didn't even have to push to get the rest of him out, he basically slide out.



They placed him on my chest and I was so in love. He was crying and letting out the best baby noises you can imagine. He was a little bit purple so they took him away from my chest check all his stats. He got an 8-9 on his apgar test because he had a little issue with his breathing right away, but it cleared up very quickly. He never left our side, and is such a healthy boy. As soon as they placed him on the scale I expected him to weigh around 6 lbs...I could not believe he was 7 lbs 12 oz! Huge baby boy.




There are so many more details after he was born that I will update later. For now, you know the story of how he entered into the world. We have been blessed beyond belief with a healthy baby who was born 3 weeks early. We could not be more thankful for how the Lord has taken care of us and given us so much peace and comfort as we begin the journey of parenthood. We don't always know what we are doing, but we know that with our faith in Christ, he will give us the confidence we need to raise this sweet child he has given to us.