Kamden Edwards’s Story

We found out Kamden was breech at 35 weeks. I made an appointment with a chiropractor and had him turned with the Webster maneuver. I was quite relieved he was now in position for a vaginal birth. At that point Braxton Hicks contractions start and continue for the rest of the pregnancy. On September 12 I had an internal (3cm and 80% effaced). I was having a lot of contractions that day but still nothing regular. I went to bed at 10pm and woke up at 12:10 am with strong contractions that were every 3 minutes lasting 30 seconds so I called Kevin home from work. The contractions continued to get stronger but stayed about 3 minutes apart. We arrived at the hospital at 2am. I was 4cm and 90% effaced. The nurses started intermittent fetal monitoring and placed a hep-lock so I could have a bit of freedom. At this point I’m very exhausted so I rested in bed until 6am sleeping in between contractions. They space out to 5 minutes apart and a minute long. At this point I’m really liking the idea of an epidural. Laying in the bed, while restful for me really made the contractions quite painful. I ask the nurses advice on getting the epidural and she suggests I walk the halls a bit to see if that gets things going again. Kevin and I walk the halls for about 5 minutes then the contractions get much more intense and closer together. We head back to the room and I alternate sitting on the toilet and the birthing ball for relief. April, the midwife, checks in on me around 7am and I’m 6cm and 100% with a bulging bag of waters. She has me squat during contractions to try to get the bag to break on its own but it doesn’t work so she asks if I’d like her to break it or if I want to wait. Already exhausted, I just want to move forward and be done with labor so I have her break it then return to the birthing ball. I start having the urge to push at 7:45 so April returns from her office. I try pushing in the bed for about 10 minutes but it doesn’t feel right. April senses it and suggests I go to the toilet. I sit and push for about 3 or 4 contractions and he crowns. I breathe through the “ring of fire” and April catches him. He has the cord around his neck and shoulder so she untangles him and hands him to me. He has a beautifully round head full of brown hair. Once the cord is done pulsing April has Kevin cut it. I can’t believe I did it again. No drugs, fast, easy birth. Just a few hours later and I feel ready to go home. I’m also amazed at April’s abilities. Nuchal cord, over the toilet, that’s talent. I couldn’t have been happier with Kamden’s birth. He’s healthy and beautiful and it was truly a wonderful experience.