Throughout my pregnancy, Cameron was measuring small, so I had a feeling that my due date might be slightly off. My OB suggested we schedule an induction date for one week past my due date as they didn't want me going farther than that. My swollen, pregnant self was thankful!
All week I was hoping I would go into labor naturally, but alas, I was admitted on my induction date at 7:30pm on a Monday night. We got all checked in and they started me on Cytotec, which had to be administered every four hours. The first night I actually slept great, albeit getting woken up when the nurses checked on me. By morning, I still hadn't made much progress which was a huge bummer. I was starting to feel slight contractions but nothing major. Around 10am Tuesday, our OB suggested they start me on Pitocin to get things going. Nate and I really thought Tuesday would be the day we had our baby but.... by Tuesday night around 7pm I still wasn't making much progress! The nurses said I was maybe 2 cm dilated. Womp womp! I was feeling pretty discouraged, but my OB said that was totally normal especially considering it was my first baby. So, he suggested I take a shower, eat some food and they would restart cytotec in a couple hours. That little break in the action was such a lifesaver! It was nice to freshen up a little and get a good meal before starting over.
We started cytotec again and by about 4am Wednesday I was really starting to feel contractions! Around 9am, my OB came in and broke my water and started me on Pitocin, and within about 20 minutes my contractions went from manageable to intense! I was bouncing on an exercise ball and walking around but nothing seemed to help much. My nurse said I was still about 2 cm dilated, which was super disheartening. She and Nate both thought I should get the epidural but I really wanted to be farther along before getting one! I lasted maybe another hour before finally asking for the epidural.
If I could go back and do it all over again, I would've gotten the epidural earlier! By the time the anesthesiologist got to my room, I could hardly speak or do anything. The contractions were hitting me so fast that I didn't have time to recover. The epidural was one of the easiest parts of labor - it didn't hurt a bit - and once it was in I felt soooo much better! I could finally relax a little. Funny enough, after the epidural I was 7cm dilated! I didn't know it at the time, but I was in so much pain so quickly because I was progressing at a rapid pace.
Within a couple hours it was time to push. After pushing for two hours (it honestly felt like two seconds for me, I was focused! Nate says it felt a lot longer for him!), Cameron Bosco Johnson was born!
Once they put your baby on your chest, life is never the same. I know that's so cheesy and cliché but it's the truth. I've never felt a love like I did when Cameron was born. It's a different kind of love than the one you have for your spouse or other family. It's like falling in love with someone all at once! Thank you dear Jesus for this precious gift!
Some funny/memorable moments from his birth:
-In typical fashion, I had CNBC on for my entire labor because I needed the distraction of what was going on in financial markets while I was wreathing in pain from contractions. I didn't even notice the fact that markets were not doing great until the next morning when....
-We learned Russia had invaded Ukraine the evening Cameron was born. The reality of what was happening abroad didn't really occur to me until I turned on the morning news the following day. I get emotional thinking about how much joy we were in and a world away there was so much pain and grief happening. At that moment, I'd never been so thankful we live in the United States of America.
-While I was pushing, the nurse asked Nate to countdown from 10 during each contraction. Nate was so nervous he could hardly count correctly, resulting in all of us bursting with laughter and having to start pushing from 10 all over again!
-The night Cameron was born there was a snow storm! Luckily all of our doctors and nurses made it to the hospital safely. My OB told me I should watch the forecast for snow or ice storms around the time of my due date because that's typically when the Labor and Delivery units fill up (something about a barometric pressure change that can induce labor!). Sure enough, there were multiple women who were admitted that gave birth the same night/morning!
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