Tayls of Life, Love, & Babies: Camille Penelope's Birth Story

Camille Penelope Taylor was born at 40 weeks 5 days on Tuesday, March 29, 2016 at 9:52pm. She was 7lbs 1oz and 19 3/4 inches long. She was our smallest baby by weight and the longest cooked.

I had a doctor appointment the day before at 40 weeks 4 days to have a non-stress test, ultrasound, and check up. The NST went pretty well, though the baby's heart rate wasn't quite variable enough. I had two strong contractions that topped out the monitor, but that has been typical for me. The ultrasound checked the fluid which was still good, 13. They checked the blood flow in the cord and baby's movements/breathing which looked great. The doctor checked me and said I was maybe 1-2cm but still not effaced....the doctor was convinced I was not ready for labor at all. He attempted to strip my membranes again but he didn't even think that went well. He scheduled me for a "long induction" on Friday since I wasnt ready for labor. I left pretty discouraged as I really didn't want to be induced. Earlier that morning I had started having some contractions that hurt in my lower back as well as some "show". But since the doctor was convinced I wasn't ready I figured it was just an uncomfortable joke Mother Nature was playing.

Throughout the night and the next day I continued to have somewhat painful "Braxton hicks" contractions in my low back. By early afternoon they continued sporadically and were getting more painful. I figured it was just me being uncomfortable since I've never actually went into labor before. I called my OB and they said to go into Labor and Deliver triage based on my symptoms and gestational age. I didn't really believe them, but call called Nick around 3:00 telling him we might go into L&D sometime tonight just to get checked. I picked Gabs up from kindergarten and Oliver up from preschool. I told Nick to take Gabby to dance that night and we had his mom come over when she got home at 7:30pm. Nick told me to start timing the contractions and they seemed to be between 6-9 minutes apart. We left for the hospital right away when Nick got home. He was timing the contractions on the way to the hospital and they were then about 4-6 minutes apart. They really increased in pain and frequency. I was pretty sure they weren't going to send us home at this point. We park in the parking garage at the hospital and Nick asks if he should bring the suitcase in right now and I said "no, I don't want to have to drag it back out if they send us home". I take three steps out of the car and my water breaks everywhere. I panic because I know things are going to fly now. Nick grabs the bag and I waddle into the stairwell of the parking garage where there are wheelchairs. Nick pushes me in the wheelchair as fast as he can while dragging the suitcase.

We get to Labor and Delivery and luckily they seem pretty empty. The receptionist put me in a triage room and they found babies heart beat and started an IV right away. I told them I wanted an epidural so they were squeezing in the IV bag of fluid required before starting one. I think I was 3cm when I arrived at triage but contractions were right on top of each other. They quickly transferred me to a delivery room. They called the anesthesiologist when the fluid bag was about half in because things were progressing. She was an older lady and very nice. She placed the epidural and my right leg went kind of numb.....other than that, nothing was really effected. They checked me again and I was about 9cm and just about ready. The doctor wasn't there yet, so they were stalling until he came in. The doctor was very nice and very calm (when I certainly wasn't). It seemed pain relief wasn't going to happen and started to push. Those were the most painful minutes of my life which seemed to last forever. That was definitely pain that I haven't felt before. She finally was born and they held her upside down which seemed like forever cleaning out her mouth and nose...all I could see were her big feet sticking up and all I wanted was to see her! Finally they put her on my chest and she was so CUTE! She cried and sucked on her hands a lot. She just kept rooting around so she ended up nursing most of the time in the delivery room. She was very healthy and got to have skin to skin time with me. I asked the nurse how long I pushed for and she said "9 minutes". Dang those were a terrible 9 minutes! She is so worth it though, and I'm so glad I didn't have to be induced!! We ended up choosing Camille as her name. We were thinking she would end up a "Vivienne" for a long time because that was the only name we could agree on, but a few days before she was born Nick said he liked Camille and I agreed. She is definitely a Camille! Camille was 7lbs 1oz and 19 3/4 inches long. We arrived at the hospital at 8:08pm and she was born at 9:52pm. We didn't come up with Camille's middle name until the next day when the birth records lady came in......we looked at each other and decided to go with Camille Penelope and I think it's perfect!

As frustrating as it as for Camille to be overdue, we got to have a great weekend as a family. I was able to get Gabrielle ready and take her to her dance pictures on Saturday and even sneak out to lunch at Arby's with just her. The four of us went over to the Okemos mall and Gabrielle got new earrings, Oliver got sunglasses and they got to play at the play place. We all went out to dinner at Old Chicago and then came home and dyed Easter eggs. The next day we were able to have Easter; kids hunted eggs, got their Easter baskets, and we had a great dinner and enjoyed beautiful weather outside that day.

Camille slept well the first night at the hospital right after being born. The second night though, she was cluster feeding every hour and would not allow me to set her in her little bassinet at all that night. Somehow I held her all night only getting yelled at once by the nurse for having her in bed with me when I was asleep. At home she typically has been waking every 2-3 hours to eat at night, but the hardest part is getting her back to sleep. She doesn't like to be swaddled, but it's the only way to get her to sleep in her pack 'n play. She fights going back to sleep after feeding, but we're also working on her taking a pacifier which helps sometimes. My recovery has been pretty easy, I've felt well and really tried to take it easy. Nick has been great with the two oldest kids and staying on top of groceries, meals, and laundry. The WORST part is my milk coming in. It is terribly painful; it happened on Saturday/Sunday. Sunday evening of course I developed mastitis. I caught it early I think, and the on call OB called in antibiotics for me to pick up in the morning. My supply dipped a bit, but I think is regulating well now. I'm not sure how long I'll nurse Camille, for now she's a fully breastfed baby!

Camille is a very sweet baby with very dark hair, dark blue eyes and big feet! She loves being held and our biggest struggle is her sleeping flat in her pack 'n play or being put down - she loves being held! She is a great eater and doesn't mind the noise from her brother and sister at all. Both sets of grandparents along with brother and sister came to visit at the hospital. We were excited to bring her home and she is the perfect end to our family!