.... The Camerons ....: Little Miss Q

Quinn Avery Cameron

09/05/2011

5lbs 14oz 19 inches

On Tuesday September 3rd I had my doctors appointment, I was 37 1/2 weeks pregnant. I had made up my mind to try for a V-Back... I was excited and terrified. The thought of recovering from a c-section again, with a two year old scared me to death, but so did the thought of actually pushing a baby out of me. I had started to dilate and efface on my own, which was nice because there are a few things that have to happen for a successful v-back, and progressing on your own is one of them. I decided to have my membranes stripped to "help get things started" my doctor said "this will either help get things going, or do nothing" they also said "contractions and cramping is normal and to expect it" This baby girl wasn't due until September 20th so I thought it would help get things started and I would still have a few weeks.... well the contractions started that night, they kept waking me up, but I thought it was normal, I was suppose "to expect them" The next day, Wednesday I started having them every 5-10 minutes. I did two haircuts in the morning and was just exhausted. I told Landon that I had been having contractions and he said "to relax and take it easy" I also told one of my friends and she said "you are going to have this baby in the next day or two".....

I hadn't even packed a hospital bag, gone grocery shopping, did the laundry or colored my hair.

So I packed a bag and put some foils in, and tried to do a quick clean of the house. By time Landon got home the contractions were still coming and were starting to get painful. We tried to go to bed... There was no way I was sleeping, the contractions were coming hard and strong. I was up pacing the floor, bending, stretching, breathing. It was about 2 o'clock in the morning and finally I woke up Landon (I didn't want to wake him up because he was on call and he hadn't gotten much sleep in the past week and I didn't want to go into the hospital if this wasn't the real thing) But when I had to do some serious breathing and focus to get through a contraction every few minutes we called the hospital and they said to come in.

Our Friend Leah saved the day, and came and stayed at our house with Colter. We got to the hospital and got checked in into a room at about 3 o'clock and when the nurse checked me she said "yep I think you are having this baby" I was still in denial, I wasn't really having this baby, was I... like today???
Dilated to a 2+ 70% effaced.
Landon got paged into the ER, it was nice he just had to run downstairs. But that meant neither one of us were getting any rest. I love how they tell you "okay get some rest and we will be back in about an hour to check you again"
Dr. Thompson came in at 7 o'clock. I was dilated to a 4 and he broke my water. slow and steady progress. I was starting to get nervous, and still couldn't believe I was really doing this.
Finally at 8 o'clock I got an epidural. I told them right when we got there that I was having one (another requirement for a v-back is monitoring and an epidural, in case of an emergency c-section they wouldn't have to intubate you) At 8:30 I wasn't numb at all and at that point thought I was going to die. "failed epidural" they changed the tubing and I finally got some relief. Landon would pop in and out in between rounding and seeing patience and being in the ER. We called our families to tell them today was THE DAY.
10 o'clock dilated to a 7 and fully effaced (I only dilated to a 7 with colter so it was a big deal and telling moment to get passed a 7) the nurse also said "wow she is really low, you wont have to push for long" Landon finished rounds and was able to spend the rest of the time by my side (he is my rock)
11:45 Dr. Thompson came in (we loved him, he was so great) and said I was at a 10 and ready to go... I started laughing, the delivering team said they have never had someone start laughing when they told them to start pushing.
I pushed through a few contractions, about 10 minutes.... what an amazing experience.
12:14 Baby Girl was here. She was the tiniest little thing you could barely see her through the doctors hands as he held her up. She was absolutely beautiful and perfect in every way!! We instantly fell in love and she filled the room with the sweetest spirit. I loved being able to hold her on my chest right when she came out (such a different experience then a c-section) I am filled with love, gratitude and appreciation for the miracle of life.