Cameron's Birth: Details

I love hearing other people's birth stories, so here's Cameron's.
Short version: I had a long labor and super fast delivery of a 10.5 pound baby and everyone is doing great.
Long version: My babies have all been very prompt in coming, so I expected nothing less from this pregnancy as well. I didn't disappoint. We went to dinner with friends on Friday night and I could tell something was happening and after we got home I started contracting 5 minutes apart - which I did all night long and into the morning, but they never progressed. Around 10am they stopped with any regularity. I was very frustrated. After an afternoon nap I made cookies and took the kids for a walk to our park and got the contractions going again, this time 4 minutes apart, but it was the same thing where they just wouldn't get any closer together or stronger. I didn't know what to think, this isn't how my other labors have gone and I was a little annoyed. I wanted to get this show on the road and get that baby out!

Before I go on, I need to provide some background info. When I had my other babies I really wanted to do a natural birth, but haven't ever managed to do it. I can't relax and have a hard time not focusing on the contractions and then my labor gets stuck and I wind up getting an epidural, which helps me relax and then I have a baby shortly after. My friend Erin told me about a book she'd read called "Hypnobirthing" which is a terrible name for was in essentially birth specific relaxation and visualization techniques. So I got the book and CD and have been practicing every day for the last 2 months. The book pointed out a lot of options for labor and delivery I hadn't considered before, but which sounded good, so I talked to my doctor about it and she was very supportive, so I continued with that birth plan. I also watched Robin on Sister Wives (a total guilty pleasure) have her baby, and she used very similar techniques to what I wanted to do, and watching her convinced me even more that I could do it.

Back to my labor. My friend LeeAnn had driven up from Kansas City to help me and all of us had gone to bed thinking sometime in the middle of the night we'd be going to the hospital. But no. Derek couldn't even stay in our room with me because I was so antsy, so he slept on the couch most of the night. At 1a.m. my friend Jen texted me to see what was happening and I ended up calling her and chatting for a full hour in the middle of the night. It was honestly exactly what I needed and I managed to fall asleep after that.

Around 4:30 things finally started to pick up and around 8 Derek and I decided to get showered and eat breakfast, then go to the hospital. So he went down to tell LeeAnn the plan and I went into the bathroom. While I was in there I had a contraction and at the peak of it my water broke. This had never happened before. It was a spectacular event I will never forget. It sounded like a gun went off and then everything went "woosh" out from under me. It was crazy! And I knew we needed to go. Our leisurely morning became very rushed after that.

At 8:37 we were in the car leaving my neighborhood for the hospital 5 minutes away. We got to the ER, since it was a Sunday, and they wheeled me up to labor and delivery. I got there at 9:00 and was at 8cm. I was thrilled! When I told the sweet nurse, Lindsay, my "birth plan" for what was essentially a hands off labor, she got a big smile on her face and told me she had just finished her midwifery training and she was very encouraging for the things I wanted to do. For example, I didn't want an I.V. put in, I wanted limited fetal monitoring, we didn't break down the bed for delivery (nothing says classy like delivering a baby with your rear hanging off the bed), I didn't have them put the goo in his eyes, no pitocin after delivery, I wanted him handed to me after birth and to wait to cut the cord, and a few other things.

I had three contractions and on the third one Lindsay asked me if I was OK. I shook my head, No, because I wasn't exactly sure what was happening to me. On the 4th contraction, with no doctor to be seen, Cameron was coming whether I wanted him to or not. I guess I yelled, "You Guys!", but what I was thinking was "Help me!" and asked Lindsay if she was ready to catch (she was) and Cameron was born. I had to do one big push to get his shoulders out, and that really really hurt - I won't lie - but otherwise it was good. They handed him to me and he was purple as could be, which freaked me out, but they waved the oxygen under his nose and he pinked right up.

Now we had to wait for the doctor to get there. My doctor wasn't on call, so I got stuck with a jack ass I'd never met before and hope to never see again. He arrived 31 minutes after Cameron was born, and the whole time I had to continue to contract because the nurses aren't supposed to deliver the placenta. Instead of getting the high I'd heard about from natural labors, I went into a mild shock. Then he waltzed in there and started ordering everyone around. His first complaints - that I didn't have an IV and he wanted the bed broken down. Then he was much rougher on me than he should have been... I could go on, but I won't. My birth was a positive experience but my dealings with him afterwards were quite negative. I complained very loudly to my doctor the next day.

All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better delivery. I was blessed to have the nurse I did, who let me have my crazy delivery and was prepared with the training to do it. I was even more blessed that the doctor didn't arrive in time for it. And the best part of all is Cameron. I hate pregnancy but it's hard to say it isn't worth it. He's a sweet baby and we're so happy he's finally here.