Cameron's Birth Story  

I began having some very mild contractions last (Monday, June 14th) night at about 10:00. I didn’t think too much of it because they were the same as the ones I’d been having for the past month. Just barely strong enough to notice I’m having one. They were coming about 6 minutes apart. I was already 7 days past my due date and had already thought I was in labor several times, so I didn't want to get my hopes up. I went to bed around 11:00 and figured they’d be gone by the morning just as the others had disappeared. I woke up throughout the night to use the bathroom and noticed they were still coming.

I woke up in the morning at about 7:30 and they were still coming, but they were very mild still. They began to get a little bit stronger and were usually about 4 to 5 minutes apart. I thought about getting in to see the Chiropractor since she said if I went into labor during the day to come in and get adjusted. I decided to wait and see if this was really it. By noon I decided to call Anne (midwife) just to let her know that this may be it. I had an appointment with her scheduled for 3:00 that afternoon. She said it was probably early labor since they were getting stronger and closer together. She still wanted me to come in for my appointment if nothing changed by the time I was supposed to come in. I thought they were getting stronger, but they were still not very strong. They were not hard to handle. Anne did not want me to come to the appointment alone since she is about 35 minutes away. I called to see if Bryce could be home in time to come with me. He said that if I were going to have the baby tonight then it would be best if he could finish his job. He said he might be done in time, but didn’t want me to count on it. So, I called his mom and she agreed to come with me if Bryce wasn’t home when I needed to leave.

At 2:30 it was time for me to leave and there was a part of me that said, “Don’t go, call Anne and tell her to come,” but I really didn’t think that I was close to having a baby. Since I didn’t think it would happen in the next hour and a half, and I would have time to make it back home, I went. Bryce wasn’t home, so I went and picked up Carol (my mil). I dropped off Wyatt with Amber (my sil) and brought his overnight bag just in case I was closer than I thought. We got to the herb store where Anne does her prenatals. Carol waited outside the room and I went in for my usual prenatal appointment.

Anne decided to check my dilation to see if all of these contractions were doing anything. She was very surprised to find that I was 5 cm dilated and 70-80 % effaced. She couldn’t believe it for how calm I was. She asked, “ So, do I need to follow you home?” I told her it didn’t feel like I was that close, but I didn’t know. She didn’t want to come too soon because she was afraid it would cause my labor to stall. We decided that she would send Coley, her assistant, to my house, and that I needed to take Carol home with me. Carol and I left and arrived back at my house around 4:30. I laid down on my right side since Anne had said that I was more effaced on the left side.

Bill came and picked up Carol a little before 5:00. I then decided to get things set up. I put the plastic on the floor and bed and put the old sheets over it. Then I put the pool next to our bed. Coley arrived while I was working on this and helped out. I decided the pool needed a little more air and pumped it with a foot pump. My contractions were coming stronger now about every 2 minutes and it was causing some pressure in my back. It was hard to use the pump while a contraction was coming. I laid down and put on my deepening tape (I had prepared with the Hypnobabies childbirth hypnosis program) and put my light switch to the off position. It seemed to help to direct anesthesia by imagining using a paintbrush to pain the green anesthesia on my back pressure.

After about twenty minutes the back pressure became too strong to handle with my light switch off, I needed to be able to move. I put my switch in the center position and got up. Coley had a hot rice sack that I used to push on my back during the contractions. I sat on my birth ball and leaned against the bed, I got on all fours on the bed and had Bryce hold the hot rice sack on my back during a contraction. I changed into my sports bra and pink flowered pajama pants. At about 6:15 it was getting to be more intense on my back, but really not very uncomfortable anywhere else. I could feel the strength of the contraction in the front, but if was not painful.

I told Bryce to start filling the pool. As soon as it was deep enough, I got in. When I got in the pool I put on the Birth Guide cd. The warmth of the water felt good and it was nice to not feel so heavy. I leaned over the side of the pool and breathed very deeply during contractions. It helped to breath in and out very deep and sort of quickly. Anne and Pam (midwife and her friend/midwife) arrived at 6:30. Anne came to see how we were doing and introduced Pam. We were doing fine and Pam went and sat in our living room until after the birth. I got out of the pool a few times. It also seemed to feel good to bounce up and down slightly while outside of the pool. All of this time I kept my switch in the center position.

At 7:00 the contractions were much stronger and still mostly in my back. I remember thinking that I was starting to get shaky, and that sometimes that happens when in transition, but I didn’t think I could be that close. I didn’t want to start thinking that I was almost done if I wasn’t, so I quickly dismissed that thought. Anne was a little concerned that I hadn’t urinated in a little while, so I got out of the pool to try and go. I couldn’t relax enough on the toilet to let any out. I decided to get in the shower and see if that would help me relax enough to urinate. It felt great in the shower to have the water run down my back and my belly. I was in the shower for about 15 minutes when I realized that things felt different. There was less pressure in my back and the contractions seemed to be shorter in duration. I felt inside myself to see if I could feel anything. About two inches inside I could feel the bag of water. It felt like a really slippery, wet balloon. I started to think that if I could feel it down that far, then I must be fully dilated, but still didn’t want to get my hopes up of being almost done if I wasn’t.

I realized later that I was also starting to hold my breath a little and grunt. I wouldn’t really say that I was pushing though. I told Bryce to get Anne, and I told her what was happening. She said I should probably get out of the shower. At 7:17 I was starting to feel some rectal pressure from the baby’s head. I got out of the shower at 7:21. I was still feeling some pressure, but not really a strong urge to push. I told Anne that it would probably feel better if my water was broken. She said that if I squatted down during the next contraction then it would probably break on it’s own. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do that because I was most comfortable at that point standing straight up. I said that if I knew for sure it would break when I squatted then I would do it. Well, the next contraction came at 7:26 and I immediately squatted down by the side of the pool and felt for the bag. It was bulging outside of me. I touched it and it broke.

The next contraction came at 7:28 and the urge to push was very strong. I jumped back in the pool and knelt down and leaned onto the side. It was stinging as the baby descended and that was the first time I really thought that it hurt. It took a few contractions for me to really focus on pushing hard. I remember swaying from side to side during a contraction. I first felt the baby’s head about two inches in. It was so awesome to feel the baby’s head with my hand as it descended. It felt all wrinkly and soft. They asked if the baby had any hair and I couldn’t tell. With the next few contractions the head was about a half inch inside. It was really neat to be able to feel how my pushing was doing. I also remember pushing on the top of my belly as I pushed one time. All of a sudden I felt hair, and in a cheery voice said, “I feel the hair!” Then I went back to business. I didn’t feel the “ring of fire” that everyone talks about. When I felt the baby crowning I told Anne the baby was right there. She said to just breathe so I wouldn’t tear and to feel my perineum to give support if necessary. I panted during one contraction but couldn’t stop myself from pushing after that. I felt my perineum and it seemed fine (for what I could tell) and it didn’t really hurt.

With the next contraction the head was born at 7:38. Anne felt for the cord and it was around the neck. She told me to sit back on my bottom so she could see. It wasn’t tight but she was unable to get it over the head. She told me to push; we needed to get the baby out. I pushed hard and the baby was born at 7:39, June 15th 2004. The baby floated in the water for a few seconds and then I lifted the baby to the surface. The baby took just a few minutes to become alert and let out a cry. I just held the baby and Bryce was right behind me on the outside of the pool. I knew at the moment I saw the baby that it was a boy. I checked and I was right. Anne wanted me to try and push to see if the placenta was ready to come out. I didn’t feel like I had any stomach muscles to do that, so I got out of the pool, still holding my baby. I sat down right next to the pool and the cord had stopped pulsing so I cut it at 7:48. I then pushed the placenta out onto the floor at 7:49. I tried to breastfeed him, but he was crying and not too interested.

I got into my bed with the baby and he finally nursed at 8:00. Later, Anne, Pam and Coley checked to see if I tore. I had a minor labial tear on the right side. Anne said that it would heal on it’s own, but then I would have a small flap of skin there. She said that stitches don’t seem to hold very well either. We decided to glue it. It held very well, and was starting to heal the next day. Coley did the newborn exam and he weighed 8 lbs, 11 ounces and was 22 inches long. His head was 14 ½ inches (1/4 inch smaller than my first son). Bryce and I had both decided separately that we wanted to name him Cameron William. We are both very happy with how this birth went and will do it at home again next time.

Andrea and Cameron minutes after his birth

The new member of our family