Birth Story

     Before getting pregnant or even thinking about getting pregnant I loved reading birth stories. Closer to our due date I became even more obsessed with reading them. Birth is such a magical and unique experience. Each story you read is completely different and there is never any way to predict what is going to happen. As a totally Type A person the whole not knowing part of birth was scary and nerve wrecking. But, I think God made birth that way on purpose. He uses the in between time to teach us so much about ourselves and what to expect for the tiny being that is about to come into your life.

We were due April 29th and we were anxious to meet her, but that Friday came and went. We visited the Doctor Friday for our final appointment and made a plan for the following Monday. We were going to be induced earlyTuesday morning if she did not make an appearance before then. So I went back to work Friday 40 weeks pregnant, finished up the day and went home. My thoughts were a jumbled mess and to be honest the idea of having a "plan" really lowered my nerves. I spent Friday evening relaxing and cleaning up around the house. I wanted our house to be spic and span for when we came home with our new bundle. We had a relaxed Saturday and I went to Target, and surprised people when they asked our due date. Sunday we got up and went to church and then went walking around Costco. I had felt some pains, but didn't realize they were contractions.

Monday I decided to not go into work and instead I went to the hospital to complete pre-admittance paperwork and I went to Walmart to stock up on some essentials. I relaxed with the dogs and enjoyed day dreaming about what our girl was going to look like. Cam and I ate dinner with my parents, spaghetti and meatballs, before we headed to the hospital. We were to check in at 8 pm so we got there at 7:45. We ended up having two night nurses, one was being trained. I changed into the lovely gown and put on those fancy socks and we were ready and excited parents to be. The nurse took two tries to get my IV in my arm and I really thought that if just the IV was that painful we were going to be in for it... She dug around in my arm for what felt like forever y'all. After finally getting the IV in they also started the cervadil and we were told to rest and as it was about 9:30 pm we did just that. Cam made his bed on the little hospital couch. About two hours later 8 nurses stormed in and started messing with all of the monitors and asking me to move around.

They were not explaining to us what was happening yet, but we soon figured out that they were trying to find the baby's heart rate. I had been listening to it on the machine throughout the night and finally realized that the noise had indeed disappeared for a bit. The nurses had me move from side to side and they checked me and I was more effaced. The nurses decided to take the cervadil out and the on call doctor made the call to change the time to start pitocin to 2 am instead of 4 am. I was starting to have contractions, but they were not too strong yet and I actually slept through most of them. 2 am came around and we started the pitocin and I decided to ask for the stadol pain medicine. I didn't want to let the pain get out of control and be super exhausted. The stadol made me feel really drunk and out of it. The nurse had told me that the medicine would be like one too many tequila shots, and that it was.

Not too much longer after receiving the pain meds I was awoken again by a bunch of nurses rushing into the room. This time the amount of time going by with the panicked nurses around me lasted much longer. They were talking to each other and moving me around and back and forth like chopped liver. They had me move up to my hands and knees and they attached the oxygen mask to me. The nurses kept mentioning emergency c-section and get her to the OR and that they should call the Doctor. At this time I started to have a break down. We still hadn't found her hear rate and time was moving so fast and standing still all at the same time. They told Cam to get the blue outfit on for surgery and his hair net and he had to stay out of the nurses way. Thankfully I had some awesome nurses, they were able to calm me down and gave me great pep talks.

We finally were able to find her hear rate and I had to lay awkwardly on one side. My OBGYN was not on call that night, but the nurses were able to get a hold of the on call doctor and she had told them to wait it out and not to rush into the OR yet. They decided to quit pitocin and let me just go through labor on my own. It was at this time that I decided to ask for the epidural. While waiting for the epidural the Dr came in to introduce herself and break my water. They were hopeful that breaking my water would help me to dilate and things could get moving.

It was about 4 am and we had about 30 minutes of sleep collectively, but Cam remained by my side until the anesthesialogist came in. The anesthesiologist was a tall older man and he talked me through the whole ordeal. He had me sit on the edge of the bed and cam sat in a chair in front of me and the nurse stood beside me. He gave me the numbing shot and then the epidural was in, but his response was "uh oh thats in a blood vessel". So, he had to take that out and try again. He had a tray with all of his stuff and I could see the bloody bandages and things he had just removed from my back.

Once the epidural was in Cam and I settled back into the lovely hospital beds. With very little rest, as I was listening to the heart rate monitor I noticed it had changed again and in came all of the nurses. This time I couldn't move easily as the epidural was fully working. So the nurses now had to physically move me around from side to side and onto my hands and knees. This time they were all more than ready to head to the OR and they immediately called the Doctor back. They told Cam to get ready again and they began unhooking me from the machines and getting us ready to be moved.

We were going to be meeting our baby girl ASAP via emergency c-section. I did not have time to even give Cam a kiss or say call our family as the nurses were running us through the hall and through the doors into the OR. It kind of reminded me of Grey's Anatomy. It was about 6:30 am which meant shift change, so we not only had our lovely night nurses, but also the day nurses. I had to be in the room without Cam for what felt like forever while they prepped me. I was freezing and couldn't stop shaking so they strapped my arms down and covered me in plastic and put a heater inside the plastic to blow hot air all over. I remember looking out of the corner of my eyes to see Cam there sitting on a stool. They were able to increase my meds and not knock me all the way out for the surgery. I was thankful for that, although I still was not able to see much of anything with the plastic all over me. I remember listening to the nurse and doctor and feeling pressure as they pulled her out. Cambree Reece arrived at 7:08 am on Tuesday, May 3rd, 2016.

I remember hearing her first little cries before they whisked her away. Cam was able to see her and stand by her and they brought her to me to see for a quick second before she had to head over to NICU. Cam was able to go to the NICU with her while I was stitched up and moved to the recovery room.

Our sweet girl was 6 pounds 11 ounces and 19 1/4 inches long. She had a full head of dark hair and grey/blue eyes. Time was a blur for the next few hours as I wrapped my head around everything that had happened. Cam was awesome throughout the entire night and day. He was able to come in and update me on all things Cambree. She had to go to the NICU because the doctors were not liking her oxygen levels and she had some fluid. She had to be hooked up to a CPAP machine for the entire day.

Cam was able to introduce our family to her one by one as she laid in her little NICU crib hooked up to all of the tubes and machines. He was one proud dad and is the sole reason I remained calm and at peace throughout the day. The hardest thing was not being able to see or touch my sweet baby. I had to be moved from recovery to our postpartum room and still was unable to walk or move much. We had to wait until 6 pm that evening before I was able to be wheeled back to the NICU to meet my baby.

We ended up staying in the hospital for the full week and we were discharged Friday evening at 6 pm. Our sweet girl wasn't able to room in with us until Wednesday night. We were blessed with amazing nurses and they helped to make our situation the best it could be. Her birth story as nothing that I had expected or hoped for, but it is our story and the most important thing is that it ended with a beautiful and healthy baby girl. God is so good. His plans are always greater than our own and our sweet girl just needed some extra love and care that he was able to provide through the sweetest NICU nurses. 

40 Weeks

week 40:

Baby: Cambree is the size of a watermelon and could range from 6 to 7 ish pounds. She is still moving pretty good and it is fun to see my stomach do crazy things. She gets the hiccups almost daily, sometimes even twice a day. She is comfortable up in my ribs and is enjoying her time in my stomach.

Weight: I weighed 126 1/2 pounds at the doctor this week. Which puts me up officially 126 pounds this pregnancy. That may seem like a lot or a little to you, but to me it is quite the amount of weight. My body is sore and tired from carrying around the extra weight and I am anxious to feel more like myself.

Symptoms: Acid reflux came back this week again. I tried to walk her out and do all of the things possible to start labor, minus drinking castor oil and I think she moved even higher in my ribs. My ankles and feet are swollen and I feel like my face is a little swollen, but I haven't really been told that by anyone else. I have had some hip pain and random leg aches, which I imagine is due to the extra weight. Overall, I am thankful to say that I have felt pretty great.

Sleep: Night time is increasingly not a time I look forward to. I have found it harder and harder to get comfortable and usually by the time I am comfortable I have to get up to pee. Speaking of, getting up is hard. I have to swing my legs down off the bed and kind of fall off the bed. The dogs have been getting up with me each time and they make me think like something is going to happen, but so far she's as happy as a clam in my womb. One night this week I woke up drenched in sweat, meanwhile Cam was bundled up. I thought you weren't supposed to have the hot flashes and night sweats until after you deliver?

Cravings: Food is basically just food right now, I can eat little portions and get full pretty quickly. I do have to eat often or I feel tired and weird. I am still liking my fruit cups and have grown fond of the sweets and increasingly chocolate, which is weird because I have never been a huge chocolate fan.

Doctor: We went to the doctor for our 40 week check up. I was a little more effaced than last week, but there was no change in dilation. The doctor was comfortable with setting up an induction date and told me to have a great weekend. It is crazy to think this is our last weekend with out a baby! I would like to say Cam and I spent all day together soaking up our time, but he fished all day with the boys and then hung out with them at the house. Anyways, our induction date is scheduled for Tuesday May 3rd. We will check into the hospital Monday at 8pm and get started on the antibiotics since I am group b positive. We will then start cervidil and try to get some rest before starting pitocin bright and early in the morning. We could have a baby girl by lunch time!

Random: I think the weirdest aspect of this whole journey has been the unknown. There is no timeline for a baby and I think God did that on purpose. He wants us to rely on Him fully throughout this season. I do have to say that I did not think we would make it 40 weeks, but it pretty amazing that my body can hold a baby this long. The human body is pretty amazing.

Weeks 38 & 39

week 38:

Baby: Cambree is about the size of a leek. The app estimates her to be around 6.8 pounds and over 19 inches long. She has a firm grasp and is basically a fully developed baby hanging out in my stomach. 

Weight: I am to my weekly appointments at the doctor and this week I weighed in at 126 pounds. 

Symptoms: Somehow contractions have completely stopped this week. I have had some pain in the lower areas, but it is mostly just her moving around. My acid reflux came back with a vengeance this week. I woke up Wednesday in the middle of the night throwing up and it was horrible! I ended up staying home from work and mostly slept all day. I officially have real cankles and swollen feet all day long and not just in the evenings. I also think my face is starting to show some swelling... or that is where some of my weight gain is going. 

Sleep: Sleeping is a guessing game. Some nights I am so tired and I sleep great other nights I feel so tired and am up every hour. I mostly have to pee every hour and sometimes I am wide awake after rolling out of bed. Speaking of... rolling out of bed is so hard. 

Cravings: No real cravings... although I am still a fan of sweets and fruit. 

Doctor: At the doctor I was a full 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced and super hopeful for some changes! Baby girl was perfectly fine at the doctor and her heart rate is steady at 141 bpm. I try to stay standing and walking and moving from the moment I get home until I fall into bed. I sit at work most of the day so when I am home I try to stay busy and get all those steps in. Bring on the contractions!

 week 39:

Baby: She is the size of a mini watermelon... which sounds insane, but when I look down I feel like she is actually the size of a large bowling ball. According to the app she might be around 7 pounds and 20 inches long. She is forming new skin and is starting to be able to control her body temperature. She is running out of room in my stomach. I can feel her all over the place pretty much all day long. She likes to hang out on the right side, but has been rolling and making big movements. She gets the hiccups often and only jabs or pokes sometimes. She is a big fan of sticking her butt straight out and making me feel like my stomach is going to explode. 

Weight: I was up another pound the week putting me up at 127 pounds.

Symptoms: These are pretty much the same as last week. I am still having acid reflux and she is still all up in my areas. My ankles are even more swollen. But, I am feeling pretty great all things considered and am super anxious to meet this baby girl. 

Sleep: I have decided that pregnancy is actually the start of the idea that you can no longer sleep peacefully. I pretty much wake up sore every morning, but the aches and pains go away once I move around. 

Cravings: Not feeling much of anything this week. 

Doctor: I was super hopeful for good news at the doctor this week and I was told there was almost no changes from the week before. I am barely a 2 and still only 50% effaced. Since the baby is still moving around fine and the heart rate sounds good the doctor decided to give me more time and not make a plan until this coming week (40 weeks). 

Random: We are so anxious for this waiting period to be over. It is so weird not knowing when your life is going to change forever, especially for a type A person. Every morning or when Cam hears me gets back into bed he asks if it is time. He is ready to meet his baby girl too and I just know my heart is going to melt. We have all the baby things and only a few more items to get off our registries. We have been blessed with so many great people in our lives and they have gifted us with all of the best things. I was starting to think about how weird it is going to be to not be pregnant anymore. But, I do have to say I am ready to feel "normal-ish" again. 

This is how 39 weeks really looks... 

showered with love

We were blessed to have been given three different showers. Each was perfect and sweet. Cambree is loved by so many people and the showers really showed how lucky and blessed we are to have the support that we have. God is so so good.

Our first baby shower was everything I could have dreamt up! My sister, mother, and her best friend worked really hard to make my Pinterest dreams come to life. The shower was beautiful and the company was unmatchable. The theme for the shower incorporated baby books and simple flowers. Kennedy did a great job decorating and Debbie and my mom were quite the hosts. We received so many great gifts and had a great time. One of my most treasured gifts is of course from Gram. She had a blanket quilted out of my old dresses and outfits from when I was a baby for Cambree.

Our second shower was thrown by the Church and the ladies of my mother-in-laws small group. Seriously the sweetest group of ladies. They had perfect black and white with a little bit of blush pink incorporated in the decor. Kathy spoke a beautiful prayer and blessing over Cambree and I and it was so special. We were gifted with so many great presents this shower as well.

The third shower was probably the most fun because it was full of all our friends. Cheryl and Ally and Amanda threw us a couples shower. It was technically a beer and diapers shower, but we called it a couples shower. It was basically just Cam and I getting to hang out with our most cherished friends and family on a Saturday night. It was low key and laid back and perfect. We were gifted so so so many diapers and wipes! Cam counted them all when we got home and he added up 1200 diapers! So awesome! We were blessed with the best and we can't wait to bring Cambree into this world to meet all of these amazing people.