Camila’s Birth Story

The day my daughter, Camila was born was one of the best days of my life. There are some things that I can remember as if it was yesterday, and others are just a blur. It was crazy, amazing and beautiful. I share this in hopes to emphasize the fact that there is no “right way” for giving birth. C-section, vaginal, epidural, induced. No matter how you look at it, they are all hard in their own way and at the end of the day they all give you a beautiful child.

THE Birth Plan

The first thing anyone will tell you, or at least us, was that the birth plan is just like a wish list. Sure, you hope and pray that it all goes according to plan. But most of the time, it doesn’t. Having an open mind is the best thing you can do. Because stressing out about having it your way, specially while you are in labor is not going to help the situation.

Okay, so our plan. I wanted to have a natural, drug-free vaginal delivery. If I would have been brave enough, I would have loved to have an in-home delivery. But I am not. So we had a midwife at a birth center. The things that I was set on: No epidural, no pitocin, and only my husband (Noe) and my mom in the room.

E.D.D. – Monday

My estimated due date was on a Monday. I was so tired, huge, and swollen. I was so ready to have this baby! None of my shoes fit, not even flip flops or sandals. Up to this point I was still working. My boss was sweet enough to let me wear jeans, and sandals to work on a daily basis (at a law firm, that is super nice!) But that morning, when my alarm went off, I was so over it. Over work. Over being swollen. Over being pregnant. I had been experiencing contractions here and there for about a week. So I texted my boss to let him know that I would go in to work that day only finish up somethings and get everything ready for my maternity leave.

Wednesday

This morning I woke up with a terrible migraine. Like, a horrible one. So I took my blood pressure and it was super high. I called my mom and she told me of a few things that I could try eating and drinking to try and get it down. Knowing that it might not be too good of a sign, I called my midwife and left her a message. The migraine and blood pressure eventually went down and I didn’t think much of it as I didn’t hear back from my midwife.

Thursday

I had my weekly appointment that day to check on how things were coming along. Everything looked good. However, when they took my blood pressure it was super high again. I told her how the previous day it had been high as well. Apparently she never got my message. She ended up sending us (Noe and me) to the birth center. She said it’d be to do some monitoring and then I’d be able to go home.

We got to the birth center and was told we would be there to stay. H o l y s m o k e s ! I was not expecting that! We called my parents and had them bring my hospital bag and all the essentials, like my phone charger. Ha! That night my blood pressure was still a bit on the high side, thankfully no preeclampsia. The midwife told me to get lots of rest because they were most likely going to induce me the next day. My thought was “WHAT?!”. I don’t know if you guys noticed, but pitocin was NOT on my birth plan. I tried to stay calm and remind myself to have an open mind. Things were not exactly as planned, but at least the baby and I were healthy.

Friday

Needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep that night. I woke up at about 5 a.m. to contractions. They were mild but I was excited. My midwife was hoping that I would go into labor on my own, so they gave me a few hours to see how we did. (Because of my high blood pressure they didn’t want to wait too long and risk me actually getting preeclampsia). They ended up administering pitocin. I was okay with the situation. It wasn’t ideal. I was scared. I was googling like a crazy lady “how long is labor with pitocin” and “risks of pitocin”, “are contractions stronger with pitocin?”. Seriously! lol But for the most part, I was relaxed. Everything was explained to me before they did anything, and as they were doing things.

By this time Noe, my parents and little brother were still in the room with me. Then, out of nowhere my contractions started getting stronger and stronger. I felt huge preassure and I literally felt and heard something pop, and BAM just like that I was officially in labor around 6:15 p.m. Guys, it was so painful. I am sure all you mamas know this. You think you know how much pain you will be in, but you don’t. Nothing can prepare you for this. (Not that I even tried, we didn’t even take any actual birthing classes. Unless Youtube counts 😉 ) My dad and little brother left the room. I breathed and let myself lose with each contraction. I was pretty amazed with myself for not kicking, screaming or ripping Noe’s head off.
At one point I asked my midwife for an Advil…an ADVIL! Yes, I know. I was so against the epidural and the next best thing in my mind was an Advil. She was so sweet and just said it wouldn’t help. (Noe told me later that she actually laughed when I asked her about it and told him that I was definitely in labor). They took me into the jacuzzi tub and it felt so good. (The midwife then took my bra off, of course I was wearing the typical old bra and even tho I was in so much pain I made sure to apologize for wearing such an old and ugly bra lol) I was in there for like 5 minutes and then felt like I needed to push. I could just feel it. It is so crazy, how a woman’s body just knows what to do and how you immediately get so in tune with your body to deliver this baby.

Finally, I went to the bed and pushed. Each contractions was stronger than the last. I was hot. I was sweaty. But I focused my energy on the goal and pushing. At one point I saw my mom nearly pass out. (She was there as backup in case Noe fainted lol) Noe on the other hand, was a total rockstar. Stood by my side thru it all. I pushed for 45 minutes and Cami was born at 9:14 p.m. on a Friday night. So, I ended up getting induced with petocin, but hey at least I didn’t give in to an epidural.

The pain I’ll remember forever. But it was all worth it. There is no feeling like the feeling a mother experiences when they put your baby on your chest for the first time. This little human that is so much a part of you, like nobody else in this world. There really is nothing I would have changed about Camila’s birth. It was amazing and beautiful.