The journey of Kamryn Rae

Most of you already know Kamryn Rae arrived at 2:18PM on Sunday October 15th. However, many of you don't know the details of our weekend. It was an amazing journey that I would like to share with you all from my perspective. As you read from the last update our hopes for a natural birth were looking bleak and we were both pretty bummed on Friday night heading into Saturday. Christine tried the castor oil (umm.. ewww) and we held our breath waiting to see if if our longshot would yield any results.
Then the contractions that had been present on and off for almost 2 weeks were beginning to get stronger and closer together. At about 7PM on Saturday night we were beginning to think this might actually happen. We wanted to stay at home as long as we could so we hung out at home trying to stay occupied with anything that would keep our mind off of worrying about whether they would keep going. At about 2AM Sunday morning we decided it was time to go. Aunt Terry and Uncle Richie came over to stay with Maddie and we left for the hospital. We were hopeful but still apprehensive...was she fooling us again?
We got to the hospital and I was already starting to see the determination come out in Christine. She had been dealing with regular contractions 2 minutes apart for over 7 hours and the admitting nurse politely offered a wheelchair for the trip up to the room. "No way.", was the reply. The nurse was a little surprised, I was not. Christine was getting ready for battle. We were secured in our room at around 3 Am hooked up to monitors to watch the baby's heart beat and measure the strength of the contractions. We went over our birth plan ( which did not include spinal anesthesia ) and settled in to play some more waiting game. Leslie ( Christine's mom ) joined us shortly after 4 Am and the team was in place.
We stayed in the room staring at the monitor until the sun came up. Not much had changed, the contractions were still strong and regular. It was time to kick things up a bit. Christine and I began walking laps around the maternity ward floor in order to make the contractions come on stronger. Every 1 and half minutes Christine would stop and bend over and breath through the contraction while I rubbed her back. We did the walking on and off for about 2 hours. Christine was still a pillar of strength. In fact her story began to spread around to the nurses, midwives and doctors on the floor. She was attempting a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) which was pretty much unheard of at Princeton Medical Center in recent years. It seems the doctors had their way in pushing for a repeat c-section in most cases. So, natually, she had some doubters and supporters in the staff. Luckily, our midwife, Peggy was just as determined as we were to see this through to a positive result.
The contractions continued and we switched methods of bringing them on. Some laying in bed so the nurses could monitor Christine's health and some time was spent squatting on a birthing ball and leaning over the foot of the bed, again with more back rubbing by me. It was around this time that Peggy suggested we try a little Pitocen to keep the progress going because she was afraid the labor might piddle out and we didn't want to lose all of our effort thus far. Christine and I were a little reluctant because they tried Pitocen with Madison and it was soon after that when she was rushed in for her emergency c-section. Peggy assured us it was the right time and the right thing to do and that we would only get a small dosage. She was absolutely sure this was going to be a natural birth. So we agreed and the Pitocen was issued.
Sure enough it worked and worked well an hour and a half after the Pitocen was started Christine was almost fully dilated and it was time to finish the task. Christine was exhausted, she was up all night and laboring most of the day and now it was going to get really tough. The nurses' station was a buzz with the news of the fiery woman in room 433 against the odds and on the doorstep of hard labor. Christine would not be denied.
The next 2 hours were a controlled fury. Christine was simply amazing, breathing calmly between pushes and bearing down with all she had left when the contractions peaked. The result as you know was the beautiful Kamryn Rae. 7lbs 14ozs and 20.5 inches long. I have a new found love, respect and admiration for Christine. She made everyone so very proud. Her friends, her family, even the staff at PMS. She is a champion for women everywhere that are wondering if natural childbirth can be done. I'm certain her story will touch more lives than we know.