Well, everything didn’t quite go as planned, and while I’m still grieving a bit for that, all I have to do is look at Cameron and know that he’s here and he’s healthy and that’s all that really matters at this point. Although we were on team green…its easier to just refer to him as him throughout my story
I lost a chunk of my mucus plug on Saturday afternoon. I didn’t want to get my hopes up things were starting, so I kept on with my day. Before bed, I told Kenny, just in case. I finally dragged Kenny to bed around 1am, no signs of labour – he was convinced he was going to have to do some crazy driving to get me there on time before he was born…I have explained time and time again that its not like the movies! I’d probably be at home for a good 6-12 hours before even going to the hospital…he was having none of it lol.
Sunday morning 5am I woke up with contractions! They were a bit different than the practice ones, I just knew it had to be the real deal. They were all in my back. The first few were 7-8 min apart, and they started coming more regular. Here is my actual tracking (once I started writing them down):
Time Length
5:46am 1:01
5:54am 0:59
6:11am 1:20
6:16am 1:07
6:25am 1:28
6:29am 0.48
6:33am 1:25
6:36am 0.48
6:40am 1:16
At that point, I hoped we’d get to meet Cameron on his due date! So I hopped in the shower. I figured they’d slow down or maybe space out a bit, giving me the time I figured I’d have as a first time mom – my to do list included the dishes, finish packing my bag, etc. They kept pretty consistent in terms of timing, I wasn’t writing them down, just watching the clock. The intensity was beginning to ramp up. I went downstairs and made toast and planned to have some yogurt, and called my mom to tell her things were starting. This was about 7:30. I could barely talk on the phone. I ate half a piece of toast, and put the yogurt back in the fridge. Kenny was in the shower and I banged on the door and told him we needed to go NOW. The only way I could get through them was on my hands and knees rocking. We left the house around 8:00…Kenny was so unprepared it took forever and I was starting to freak out on him. The pain was intense and unrelenting. Being in the car for the 10 minute ride was brutal. There were about 4 contractions there, and sitting in the seat restrained by a seat belt on a super bumpy road…pure torture! DH also got to run one red light...we were trying to get me into the parking lot and out of the car before the next contraction.
We got to the hospital, since it was just after 8am on a Sunday morning we got close short-term parking. Kenny grabbed all our stuff and we headed in. We passed his step cousin who was due the day before me, being sent home (for the 4th time…) and she was complaining they wouldn’t admit her. I couldn’t respond or speak and leaned against the wall through the contraction and finally grabbed Kenny and started walking at the end of it, hoping to make it to the maternity ward before the next one – clearly she was not in labour and I’m glad she wasn’t admitted. I had preregistered so that was quick and I was in triage to be tested for admittance within 2 more minutes. They hooked me up and you could see the consistent and steady contractions. Its now about 8:30 and they did an internal check and I was 4cm. Kenny was instructed to move out of short-term parking I immediately asked for an epi…I didn’t finish the Hypnobabies course, and given that I could barely cope so far and was only at a 4, I was getting one (start of the plan going out the window). I was moved to a birthing room, and waited about another half an hour for the epidural – since it was a Sunday, the anaesthesiologist was servicing the entire hospital. The relief happened within minutes. I could talk, I joked with Kenny and the nurse. I could still feel all the pressure of the contractions, I could feel the build and ebb…but not the pain. I was doing pretty good.
Around 10:30, they decided to do another internal. I was at 10cm!!!! That was super quick, the epi didn’t slow it down at all! They broke my water since it still wasn’t broken. There was unfortunately meconium in it, so two paediatrician nurses were now in my room as well. They also warned us, that if he didn’t come out making noise to not be concerned, and that was actually better since hopefully he won’t inhale it. Given things happened so quickly, they didn’t want me pushing quite yet. He was still so high; I had told her I was pretty sure he was facing my front the day before, but she said that he had definitely moved and was facing my spine. The pressure was pretty intense during each contraction, and I would have loved to start pushing, but had to ride through them for a while longer.
We waited until 12:09, and then they had me pushing. We also had a nurse that specialized in first time moms – walking us through what was happening, what to expect, etc. We had a great discussion on tearing and what she was doing to help me minimize tearing, and to have effective pushes. She also checked me, and confirmed he had moved down a tiny bit, and agreed he was facing my spine. They helped me find my rhythm for pushing. I had a bit of trouble finding the correct muscles at first, but after that, they said I was doing awesome, using the right muscles, strong pushes etc.
After an hour and a half of pushing, he had barely moved at all. The contractions were strong, consistent, and I pushed with most of them (sometimes I just couldn’t…and those were the most painful ones, pushing was actually a relief). I had asked several times what I could do differently to get him to descend…I wanted to know why I wasn’t being effective. They called the doctor in. He checked me. He was incredulous with the nurses as he could clearly tell that he was facing the front…since he was so high before, they should have attempted to turn him rather than getting me to push. Since they knew I wanted to avoid a c-section, they decided to use the forceps to try and turn him since he clearly was not coming out in the position he was currently in. They turned off my epidural, and gave me something else (I can’t remember what it was now). It worked on my left side, I felt nothing from my chest to my knees. However, on my right side, I could feel EVERYTHING. They turned me onto my right side to try and get it to move that way, but it didn’t really work.
They inserted the forceps and tried 3 times to turn him. Each time, as they tried to turn him, his heart started racing like up in the 170s. Everytime they let go, he flipped back, and his heartrate plummeted down to like the 50’s/60’s. Clearly, he was not a fan of this. The doctor didn’t want to continue to attempt to turn him as it was clearly causing him distress. He said we had to go to c-section. He also said clearly within my hearing that this only reason I am having a c-section is due to the nurses’ mistake. I started bawling. The nurses and Kenny were trying to console me but I was having none of it.
They transferred me to a stretcher and took me to the OR. The anaesthesiologist came back to turn my epidural back on, and if it didn’t work on my right side, I was going to have to be knocked out for the surgery. We waited 10 minutes, and tested, and I could feel nothing but touch and pressure on both sides. Thank goodness I was allowed to stay awake. I don’t know what I would have felt if I couldn’t even be awake. Kenny sat by my head. We had two surgeons, the anaesthesiologist, 4-5 nurses, 2 paediatrician nurses…and maybe 2-3 other people that I don’t know what they were doing in there? It was like a party. They strapped down my legs – I was not prepared for that, and it freaked me out a bit. They had me lay my arms out on each side, but didn’t strap them down – I couldn’t have handled that so I was very thankful. The anaesthesiologist stayed with me, and talked me through everything, trying to take my mind of what was going on on the other side of the curtain – asking the names we had picked out, and some other random questions – I couldn’t tell you what they were if I had to! He also was the one that took all the pictures for us in the OR for which we were very thankful. He was definitely my favourite person of the medical staff.
At 2:52pm on August 12, 2012, Cameron Jacob made his way into the world. Since we were team green, we asked that the doctor announce to us the gender. As soon as he said “It’s a boy”, Kenny’s face was shocked. I wish I could have gotten a picture of it. He was so certain it was a girl so he was unprepared for boy lol. He was over joyed for a boy…he wanted one so bad, and I think he convinced himself it was a girl just so he would be mentally prepared and avoid gender disappointment. Cameron was out for all of 5 seconds before he started peeing everywhere and crying. He was wiped down, and weighed and measured – 8lbs 4.5oz, 21.25” long; he didn’t have any issues with inhaling the meconium. He has quite large hands and feet – the person measuring him said we have a boxer or a swimmer on our hands! They asked if we would like him circumcised since they would do it right then and there – we chose not to so they then wrapped him up and handed him to Kenny. Kenny brought him to me since they were still working on me. I couldn’t hold him yet though.
We were rolled into a private recovery room. A nurse monitored me, checked him again, and we just relaxed. I got to hold him and attempt breastfeeding – which he took to like a champ! I needed a little help though. My parents dropped into visit for 5 minutes. We were then taken to our room.
The remainder of the day was spent recovering. I was unable to do anything until about 5am the next morning due to the epidural and other meds, so Kenny did everything those first 12 hours – diaper changes, picking him up to give him to me to breastfeed, etc. He was absolutely amazing and such a huge support to me throughout the whole day. He did an amazing job as an advocate for me when I couldn’t. Cameron’s first bath was at about 11pm that night, given by a nurse, he was not a fan at first but once his hair was done, he loved it.
Although things did not go as planned, we are so happy he’s here, I can’t even imagine what life was like without him. He’s so perfect. We are so lucky.
And for your viewing pleasure:
8lbs 4.5oz!
So awake and alert which was great given all the meds I was on:
Proud daddy
My first close-up of him:
Our family:
Me and Cameron in recovery after a short but successful breastfeeding (I'm super swollen!):
The Perkovic family
First bath:
Favourite place to sleep:
Another favourite place to sleep:
And if you got to here....I commend you! Thanks for reading