Camden's birth story

Here is the timeline of events:

Friday 8/14 /2009
4.00 pm - Contractions started, not very strong and irregular
5.30 pm - Left for the airport to pickup Niels his parents, by the time we get there contractions are stronger and approx. 10 minutes apart
6.30 pm - Dutch elders welcomed and packed in the car to head up north. Frank and Anja were pleased Camden waited till they arrived to make her appearance.
10.30 pm - After a quiet evening of lasagna, chatting, and contractions 6-7 minutes apart everyone went to bed.....except me. I stayed up relaxing and breathing through progressively worsening back labor.

Saturday 8/15/2009
3.30 am - Going nuts! Contractions STILL 6-7 minutes apart just deep in my back and excruciatingly painful. Using the birth ball, walking around, and taking a shower.
4:30 am - Niels awake and helping me cope.
5.30 am - Contractions 2-4 minutes apart and 1 minute in duration. Get to say the official words to Niels, "I think it's time"
6.30 am - We take the show to the road! Stop by the neighbors house where Niels' parents are staying and say we were heading to the hospital
6.45 am - Call Andrea and Mom from the road. Back labor is insane.
7:00 am - Laboring in an exam room waiting for a doctor to check me out so we can admitted into a Labor and Delivery suite
8:30 am - Had a complete pancake of a resident check me out... he messed with the wrong pregnant woman though and left the exam room visibly shaken, I think I had him near tears.
I am Completely Demoralized now though. The long night of Back labor turned out to be very non-productive and fruitless. Only .5 cm more dilated than I was on Tuesday (now 2.5 cm) and no more effaced (50-60%). Resident gave me the option of going home (not an option, there are no drugs there) or walking around for an hour to see if I can get myself into "real labor" (JACKASS)!
9:30 am - Completed the worst hour of my life. Niels and I walked around and around and around the hospital while I had the most agonizing contractions every 2-3 minutes that felt like they were tearing me in half. Must have looked like a crazy woman in my hospital gown in the gardens out front of the hospital screaming every couple minutes!
10:00 am - G0t checked again and I had thankfully reached 3 cm and was fully effaced! Enough to be admitted to a delivery suite (#4). Now bring on the DRUGS!
10:30 am - Auntie Dre Arrives at hospital, she left granny at a basket making class in Wallingford and walked over.
10:45 am - Uncle Matt arrives
11:00 am - Anesthesiologist shows up to the Labor and Delivery suite and becomes my savior as the bearer of an epidural - I had previously been terrified of one these and had hoped to avoid one but at this point I wasn't afraid of anything besides another back contraction. Peace at last. 12:30 pm - Gannon's stop by with the twins to wish us luck!
1:00 pm - Got checked. 5cm dilated. All right! Movement, finally!
1:15 pm - Niels’ Parents (Oma and Opa) arrive at the hospital
2:00 pm - Mom (Granny) arrives with Dick's burgers and shakes for everyone but me WAAAAAHHHHHHH. Oh my god I am going to hurt someone that Dicks Deluxe smells soooo good!
2:30 pm - Brother (Uncle Morgan) arrives but can only stay for 30 minutes because he has a photo shoot. We promise we will keep him updated.
3:30 pm - Not feeling well at all (which is supposedly a sign of progress), threw up and in the process broke my water. She also pooped at the same time, meconium in the bag of waters. Means we have to have the pediatricians in the room and cannot deliver her onto my belly or have a delayed cord clamping.
3:45 pm - Jessica arrives
4:00 pm - Got checked again. 8cm+ dilated! Wooohoo, really getting closer! We start taking bets on what time we think the kid is going to come out. My guess is 6:23, most people are in the 7 o’clock hour, Jessica was the mean one with a 9pm guess.
4:45 pm - Checked again, 10cm and complete and ready to go! Time for some practice pushes to get me prepared and to see how easily she is going to descend. My first couple pushes were totally bunk but by the end I got the feeling. Amazing how much energy each push takes!
5:00 pm - Doctor has me labor down (contract) to see if we can get her lower (she is at +2 and they want her at +3 or +4) to make pushing easier and shorter on me
5:15 pm - Auntie Aimee and Uncle Tom stop in before heading to the theater to celebrate their 10 year anniversary!
5:30 pm - Get to push for real with the resident OB and the nurse. 3 pushes per contraction. I am already exhausted and each push takes so much out of me. I really lose a lot of punch on the third of each series and essentially pass out between each contraction. Niels thinks its funny because I keep asking if they can see the head yet and apparently we were a WAYS away from that, not even a glimpse! By the end of 45 minutes of pushing they apparently had seen about 1-2 cm of her little head. This is slightly discouraging with how drained I am.
6:15 pm – The doctor tells me to hold off pushing so all the OBs and Pediatricians and Nurses can get ready. I scream and complain for the next 5 minutes that cannot hold off, I NEED to push!.
6:20 pm – finally everyone (4 OBS, 3 Peds, 2 nurses, Daddy, Granny, Auntie Dre, and Oma) are assembled and ready to go and I was ready to push to get this baby out. Doctor says I should be able to get this baby out in 5-10 contacts – oh geez, that is 15 – 30 more pushes!!! Not sure I am going to make it!
6:21 pm – waiting for my next contraction to arrive, I see that it is 6:21 (2 minutes away from my guess for her birth time) I give myself a little pep talk to make every push count because I don’t want this to last all night or worse take too long and have her go into distress. I feel my contraction building and tell everyone I am gonna push.
6:22 pm - I have Niels on one leg, my mom and Niels’ mom by my side, and Andrea running the video camera right behind the doctor… I put absolutely everything I can into this push, I hear people yelling, “Head, Head, Head, Head… BABY!!!” and woosh she slithers out with that one big massive push. No one seemed to be expecting her that quickly including me and the doctor who luckily caught her! She started squawking and sputtering immediately and Daddy cut the cord.

Exhausted and elated these are my favorite memories that are now forever imprinted in my mind and will undoubtedly remain some of the best memories of my life:

1. Niels placing Camden in my arms and looking into her big blue eyes and kissing her soft cheeks for the first time as Niels hugs us tightly
2. Niels kissing me over and over again telling me how good I did and how proud of me he his
3. Seeing Niels from across the room holding his baby girl for the first time, a look of complete awe, amazement, and adoration
4. Sharing the immense joy and elation of her arrival with my mom, my sister, and Niels' mom
5. The emotion pouring from Niels as he takes Camden out to meet Opa and when he called his brother
6. Watching Niels work with the nurse to perfect the master swaddle and give little Camden her first bath. The care and gentleness was innate and so much fun to watch!
7. The surprise from everyone in the room when she popped out so quickly after the one push
8. The fact I guessed her birth time within 1 minute. Though some say I had an unfair advantage since I was the one pushing!
9. Hearing her squawk loudly after her arrival as the pediatricians check her out – and the ensuing nicknaming of her as Squawky
10. Seeing her feet from all the way across the room and remarking how HUGE they are!