**WARNING: This is a rather lengthy recount of my labor and delivery, however I want to document what I remember for future memories.**
Miss Cameron Leigh Arkins arrived Monday October 17th at 11:29 pm. She was 8 pounds even and 20.75 inches long.11:00 am: Bryan and I arrived at Winnie Palmer for our induction appointment. We checked in and waited in the lobby for about 15 minutes before they called us up to Labor and Delivery on the 2nd floor. Once upstairs we were told to wait in a small (approximately 8’ x 10’) waiting room with uncomfortable plastic chairs. After 20 minutes, we were joined by another couple. Around 12:20 pm after waiting an hour, I went to the check in desk and asked what our status was. They called the charge nurse who said it would be another hour and gave me permission to have a ‘small something’ to eat. Mind you, I hadn’t eaten since dinner the night before – about 16 hours prior.
12:30 pm: We got a pager and went downstairs to the cafeteria so Bryan could eat lunch and I could get an apple. Woohoo, such a satisfying lunch! Haha. We hung out for a while and headed back upstairs around 1:00 pm. When we got up there, there was a third patient waiting to be admitted as well. About 10 minutes later, she was taken back. I was super disappointed because I had been waiting 2+ hours and they couldn’t have been there more than 15 minutes. About 10 minutes later, the couple who arrived shortly after us were taken back; another stab of disappointment. I went to the front desk again and was promised they would be ready for me in 10 minutes. FINALLY, they came and got us!
1:45 pm: Once in our room, I was given my hospital gown and we immediately got started. My nurse Kristina asked me a bunch of medical questions and then proceeded to place my IV. She spent a lot of time finding a good spot (not in my hand and not in by elbow crease). She set up my blood pressure monitor, contraction monitor and Cameron’s heart rate monitor. There were wires everywhere!
2:25 pm: Labor officially begins. Kristina started the IV fluid and pitocin drip. She also called Dr. Jones to come check my progress. We asked Kristina her thoughts on how long the labor process would take. She said the hardest part was getting to 4 cm’s, but once there, they estimate about an hour per cm – 6 hours. Then of course there’s the pushing…
All setup in Labor in Delivery!
My view from the hospital bed.
3:05 pm: Dr. Jones arrived to check my progress and said I was 1 cm and 70% effaced. She then proceeded to break my water. Now there was really no turning back!
5:00 pm: Between 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm the contractions started getting progressively more painful. I got to the point where I would close my eyes and concentrate on breathing through them. I decided at 4:30 pm to ask for the epidural at 5:00 pm. After requesting it from the nurse, the anesthesiologist was there within minutes setting up for the procedure. The whole process was a breeze and not painful at all, thank goodness. I barely even felt the numbing shot they start with. By 5:20 pm, the epidural was in place and I was relaxing nicely. It was crazy because I could still move my legs the whole time; they were just heavy and tingly – and best of all, no pain!
6:20 pm: Kristina came in and placed my catheter since obviously I wasn’t leaving the bed anytime soon. She also checked my progress and I was 2-3 cm and 80 % effaced. So in 3 hours I gained ~1.5 cm and was 10% more effaced. It was progress, but not quick progress. Once she was done, I asked for my ‘dinner’ – a cherry Popsicle!
Popsicle Dinner!
7:45 pm: At some point in the last hour (don’t remember what time) I started feeling slightly nauseous. They gave me a shot of Zofran in my IV to help which made me feel a little better. At this time, Dr. Jones came back to check my progress again. I was now 3-4 cm and still 80% effaced. So in 1 hour I gained about 1 cm. I was ALMOST to the 4 cm point where we could begin our estimated 6 hour countdown!
8:40 pm: All of a sudden I got an intense wave of nausea and called the nurse again. Three seconds labor, I vomited all over myself. It was a lovely BRIGHT red color from my ‘dinner.’ The nurse comes in right after this and Bryan says “too late.” At this point, I also got a new nurse since Kristina was in a delivery and her shift was ending at 11:00 pm. My new nurse was Pam. The only good thing about vomiting was I immediately felt better! Apparently the popsicle did not agree with my stomach. Now that I made a mess everywhere, we had to change my gown and all my bedding. This proved to be a little difficult since I couldn’t exactly get up because of the epidural. Pam brought me some baby wash and baby lotion so I could get rid of the smell as well as a toothbrush and toothpaste to wash my mouth out.
11:00 pm: We were pretty much left alone for 2.5 hours where we just relaxed and watched Monday night football. We were getting super tired – it was hard knowing we still had a ways to go. I told Bryan I started feeling a slight amount of pressure with the contractions so I thought Cameron was progressing which was good. My IV started dinging so we called Nurse Pam in to check it.
11:10 pm: Pam arrived to fix the IV and I told her about the slight pressure I was starting to feel. She said she planned to check me anyhow. When she went to check my progress she said “WOW, a little bit of pressure?? She’s right there, are you ready to have a baby??” Bryan and I were SO SURPRISED. I had no idea I was that close. Pam said Cameron was seriously “RIGHT THERE” and she could tell she had hair. Crazy! That means I went from 3.5 cm to 10 cm in 3 hours and 35 minutes - almost unheard of for first time moms. Pam called the Dr. and notified the other nurses to prep for delivery. She had me do some practice pushes with her. Both Pam and Bryan held my legs and the nurse talked me through the first contraction where I pushed 3 times for a count of 10 each. Pam said I was doing great and making progress. The next contraction came and we did the same thing – 3 more pushes. Pam then said we were ready for the Dr. and for the next 5-10 minutes we had a ton of people setting up the room and preparing for Cameron’s birth. Everyone was looking at Cameron’s progress because I believe with every contraction she was coming a little bit more on her own. I could definitely feel all the pressure.
Officially at 10 cm - ready to push!
Dr. Jones arrived and I got ready to start pushing again. The first contraction came and we did the same pushing pattern. On the second push I felt a lot of pressure and knew her head was out. On the third push I felt the rest of her come out and Cameron was born at 11:29 pm! I couldn’t believe how quick she came! It was 9 pushes through contractions that brought her here. I seriously could not have pushed for more than 10 minutes total? The charge nurse had volunteered to take pictures for us so we got some great shots of her right after she came out.
They immediately put her on my stomach to clean her off and I held her skin to skin while Dr. Jones delivered my placenta and fixed my small tear. I honestly had no idea what she was doing because I was too busy staring at Cameron with Bryan. Bryan was amazing through the whole process, it was great to have him by my side.
Just born! Welcome Cameron!
First Family Picture
Exactly 8 pounds
Proud New Daddy
After I was done, Bryan went with Cameron to the other side of the room to be weighed and measured. I remember being quite surprised that she was 8 pounds – I was somehow convinced she was going to be a little 7-7.5 pound peanut. Wrong! The nurses proceeded to clean Cameron off as much as possible. Once they were done, I got to hold my precious girl again and start breastfeeding her.
2:00 am: We spent about two hours recovering before we were cleared to move to our permanent room. I stood up the first time with no issues, went to the bathroom and changed into a new hospital gown. When we were ready, I was loaded into a wheelchair with Cameron in my arms and brought up to the 7th floor. Cameron was taken to the nursery for a good bath and I believe more vital checks. Once in the room, my nurse brought me a sandwich, chips, fruit and cookies. I’d had only an apple in 30 hours so I was starving! After my meal, Cameron was brought into our room for the night.
Sleeping Peacefully
And so our journey with a newborn begins!
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