Saturday, May 16, 2009

Camille's Birth Story

I want to remember as many details as possible about the births of my children so I have answers if they one day have questions....as I did for my mother after I found out I was pregnant.  Because the trustworthiness of my mommy brain is somewhat lacking, I need to do this post soon.  There will be TMI for many of you, so if you want the basic version, just read the parts in orange.  However, most of my readers are moms, many of whom love the details.

Patrick and I took a Bradley birthing class before Adeline's birth, and we planned to have another natural, unmedicated birth.  We chose to go with a midwife practice this time rather than delivering at the AF base.  At my 38 week appointment, I was 4 cm dilated and Camille's head was "engaged" in my pelvis.  We thought she was coming soon....almost two weeks later, I still was not having any contractions.  I started having occasional, painless contractions on Thursday evening, May 7, continuing into the morning.   Adeline and I  headed out for a vigorous walk on Friday to try to encourage things.  Later that day, I started having a more regular contraction pattern, but still not anything serious.  The one catch was that I needed to have two doses of IV antibiotics 4 hours before delivery or our baby would need to be hospitalized for observation (I was GBS-positive).  Therefore, we decided to go earlier than we otherwise might have to the midwife practice.  I got my first dose of antibiotics, and we all agreed to meet back 4 hours later.  Patrick and I got dinner and then walked...and walked...and walked.  He was a great birthing coach, and after several contractions, we were able to remember how he was best able to encourage and help me through this process.  My mom arrived at the birth center after Patrick's mom arrived at our house to watch Adeline.  She was there for Adeline's birth, and we invited her to be there for this one as well.

At 9:45 pm, one of the midwives checked to see how things had progressed.  She said my water was bulging, and I was maybe another cm dilated.  However, she spent a long time trying to figure out what she was feeling.  She thought she felt a hand, but wasn't sure.  She couldn't tell what position the head was in, etc.  We decided to do some more walking to try to keep progressing my labor.  My water broke part of the way, and we decided to allow the midwife to break it the rest of the way to help to get things moving.  Now I started having "the REAL" contractions.  I was having very strong contractions for several hours, that later changed to involuntary pushing type of contractions (the worst type).  When the midwife checked me again, she said the baby had a face presentation (as in the head tilted back with the face coming down first, instead of head flexed forward with occiput coming first).  This is not a safe way for the baby or me to deliver, so they made the decision to zip me off to the hospital (a wheelchair ride through the basement halls).  Unfortunately, my body didn't know there was another option, so I was having VERY painful convulsive contractions at this point in an attempt to deliver.  (note...I had about 5 of the involuntary pushing contractions with Adeline before beginning the 3 hours of pushing it took to get her head out....and I would do the three hours again in a heartbeat to avoid those 5).  When we got to the hospital, they were unable to give me a spinal without blood work, so I had to wait to get those results.  After about 1 1/2 hours of horrible labor (my entire body was in tremors), I was finally able to get a spinal and have relief from my pain.  Very soon after, Camille was born via C-Section.  I was sure I was having a boy, so it was quite a surprise to find out I have another daughter.  Her face was swollen and bruised after being smashed in my pelvis for so long....to the point where Patrick thought maybe her mandible was deformed.  However, within hours her appearance drastically improved.

She is beautiful.  Camille Lynn was 8 lb, 14 oz and 19 inches long at birth.  This was the birth that God designed for her, and we are so thankful for the blessing of being her parents.  My recovery from the C-Section has been MUCH better than I expected or than I have heard is the experience of most women.  I was able to walk to the bathroom myself the first day and took a shower the second day.  I was able to sleep on my side in a flat bed the first night (which I've heard is usually very painful).  I haven't needed any pain medicine stronger than Ibuprofen.  I have been trying not to push myself, and Patrick and our mothers have been extremely helpful this week.  Thank you for all of your prayers and well wishes.  We are doing well and feeling truly blessed.

13 comments:

Just Mom said...

I love these little miracle stories. Details, and all. :-D

I had JS by C-section. Recovery went pretty quickly for me. Funny thing about the pain meds in the hospital: I thought the nurse told me to press the button to dispense meds every two-three hours. Apparently, she meant only if I was in pain. LOL. I kept pressing the darn button on the clock. LOL.

Mari said...

Poor Camille - that was a rough start for her little face! What a blessing that everything turned out well and that you are healing nicely!

Momma Roar said...

I too enjoy hearing the details. My second and third were both c-sections and I'd do it again.

I hope you all continue to do well!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing the story of sweet Camille! Can't wait to meet her! I'll come visit soon! :)
Lauren

krista said...

It truly is amazing how unique each birth story is! Having gone through labor recently, I enjoyed reading all the "juicy" details. So glad you have your moms there to help lighten the load at home.

I forget if you said Patrick gets any significant time off. In any case, I hope you all are enjoying that new little girl and she settles into a routine for you quickly. I'll be thinking of you when I'm up during the wee hours...

John and Amanda said...

Lynn, It was so nice hearing your story. I was very curious after reading she was born by C-section. I'm so sorry you had to go through such a rough time (again) with the labor. I'm glad that everything turned out perfectly in the end, although most certainly not the way you had expected. God definately knew this was the right plan for you and Camille for reasons we don't know. I'm so proud of you! You're such a trooper! Congrats on the beautiful little girl! I can't wait to watch her grow up on teh blog and hope to see her in person one of these days!

Oh, and I'm sure Patrick did'nt tell you b/c it was such a random thing for me to say after you had just given birth, but I posted on his FB that I thought of you that very night b/c I was at Chili's eatina a molten lava cake! :)

Short Stop said...

I'm so glad she's here - healthy and yes, JUST as God planned.

I had always heard about how hard it was to recover from a c-section before I had Jack. And, I never had a hard time afterwards. I loved being forced to rest, and it kept me from doing too much after each birth!

Congratulations, my dear friend. SO happy for you and I'm sharing in your joy and celebrating sweet Camille's birth. (BTW, I'll be there this summer for a week! GIRLS DAY/NIGHT!!!)

joana ahn said...

lynn, i'm glad the birth is behind you. giving birth is a serious thing and in this day and age i'm go grateful for c-sections. mine was one too, and would have been one of those complicated births should we not have had that option. so glad for modern medicine. i recovered quick too and the pain was not so bad. i'm going to opt for c sections in the future. call me chicken. :P

Kristen said...

thanks for sharing your story, friend.

my recoveries from my c sections (landon and mauryn) were much easier than my vaginal delivery with morgan. i am glad that you are recovering well at home and getting plenty of rest!

Angela said...

Camille is just full of surprises!

Jenni S. said...

I'm so thankful that your C-section recovery went so well and that you and Camille made it through safely! I've had 3 of them now and each one got a little easier. Can't wait to hear even more of the story!

Janelle said...

Never, for one instant, let yourself believe that you failed her because you had a C-delivery. I have known way too many people that view C-births as second best. It is birth. You gave birth to Camille the safest way possible. God designed it just for you and her.

All of mine were C-births. One was mandantory and the other 2 by choice. I had some "friends" say horrible things to me before my second birth. I was heartbroken to be so devalued.

Bottom line is you gave birth to a beautiful baby! That is what matters!

Sorry to ramble. I just feel really passionate about C-deliveries and encouraging mommies feel tender about it instead of regret.

Hugs to you!

Alana said...

Each birth story is such a miracle.

I also felt the recovery from a C-section was not bad at all. Nothing compared the gift we receive as a result!

Hope all is going well with you since!