Ever Wondered What It's Like to Birth an 11-Pound Baby?

I never really had since the average baby weighs between 7 and 8 pounds.  Apparently my births aren't typical, the first two weighing in at 6 lbs 11 oz and 9 lbs 10 oz, but even birthing my nearly 10 pound baby wasn't too bad.  I got the shock of a lifetime, however, as I delivered my third child.  Since I have been asked by several people to share my birth story with them, I thought I would write it out so more people can read it if interested.

Here is the birth story of Camden, my 11 pound third child...

After having Kellen in 2010, Matt and I both thought we were done having kids. We had a girl and a boy, the perfect American 4-family, and I was satisfied and happy.  That was until I started having dreams about this little blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy named Camden.  Starting sometime in 2013, he entered my dreams often, and I just couldn't shake the feeling that I had one more child to bring into the world.  Every time I denied that feeling, I'd have another dream about him.  Eventually, a couple of family members who have passed away entered my dreams as well, each time talking about babies with me.  I consider myself a religious person, and though I often keep my religious beliefs and experiences to myself, this experience really started to blow my mind, and I absolutely believe that it was a prompting from a higher power that there was another little child waiting for me.  After many dreams, I knew I had to talk to Matt about another baby. I knew it wasn't going to be easy to agree to bring another child into the world.  Not only was he not wild about the idea, but I very much dislike being pregnant, and the thought of going through another pregnancy made me want to cry and throw-up and scream all at the same time.

After lots of discussion and going back and forth a few times, we decided it was time, and after a couple of months we had a new little peanut on the way (I had actually decided to go back on the pill if I ended up not being pregnant, but, of course, I was...).

Fast forward to 20 weeks and the big ultrasound to find out what we were having, and I was quite nervous. What if it was a girl?  I was supposed to be having a boy according to my dreams!  What would I do?  Would we have to try for #4, and hope he was a boy?  I was so worried (even though I was 90% positive I was carrying a boy).  All through the ultrasound the tech could not get a good gender shot as the umbilical cord was wrapped between the baby's legs, but right at the very end, he decided to shift in such a way that we were able to see his little boy parts, and VOILA! A BOY!  I KNEW IT!  That little boy who appeared so often in my dreams had become a reality.

The pregnancy was not an easy one. I kept having problems here and there with different things, and I kept growing larger and larger and LARGER.  I started to express my worries about baby's size to my doctor, but there wasn't much we could tell about his size until right toward the end.

At the last few appointments we talked about baby boy's size - I was getting quite concerned about the exit strategy, especially since my last baby was nearly 10 pounds.  I thought I could probably handle a 10 pound baby, but much more than that, well  I just didn't want to think about it.

The day before I delivered we discussed doing an ultrasound to measure baby, but since they can be off by as much as a pound or two, I was really hesitant to do that and have an unwarranted C-Section.  I really, really didn't want to have a C-Section, so I decided to take my chances.  I told the doctor I'd try it on my own, and if baby boy got stuck or was in distress, we could do a C-Section then, but I wanted to give it my best effort.  We decided to induce the next day, 1 day before my due date.

15weeks

31 weeks

35ish weeks

Delivery Day!

I was supposed to check in very early the next morning, and of course I couldn't sleep that night. I got up about 3 a.m. to soak in a bath for a while.  While I was relaxing, I heard my phone start ringing (always a scary thing in the middle of the night!). Matt answered and it ended up being the hospital calling to ask if I would come in later in the day because they filled up with women in labor over night!

OK, a word here about putting off the induction of a hugely pregnant, grumpy woman: I wasn't happy. I knew it wasn't the hospital's fault, but I was miserable and ready to go. I couldn't WAIT to get that baby out of my body and into my arms.  Ugh!  Luckily, my induction was only put off by a couple of hours, and by noon I was in a room, in a gown, hooked up and ready to go.  Yes!  I was so miserable and uncomfortable that I didn't dread labor one iota.  I just wanted that baby out by whatever means possible!!

Shortly after breaking my water, contractions really started to pick up, so I requested the epidural I was planning on all the way along.  I tried to go drug-free with Kellen, but Pitocin is a you-know-what, and knowing this was going to be a big baby, I didn't even want to try it without drugs.  There were several women ahead of me, further along in their labor than me, so I had to wait a bit for my epidural. By the time the nurse anesthetist got in there to get it started, my labor was in full swing and I was sweating and breathing hard, contractions coming less than a minute apart. I couldn't wait for some relief!  Well, relief took a while.  The first attempt at the epidural went into a vein, and the test doses put in sent my heart-rate sky high and I about passed out!  It was crazy weird, so it had to be re-done.  Attempt sticking a giant needle in my back part 2 - still didn't work out.  The test dose wouldn't even go in.

Let me digress for a moment - the anesthetist was older, very experienced, and she started to sweat right along with me at the thought of having to try a third time.  I trusted her, and I knew it wasn't her fault, but I really wanted to punch someone or something at that point.  I was in SO much pain, plus I had just had not one but TWO needles stuck into my spine, and if you've ever had it done,  you know it's not the most pleasant sensation.

Attempt #3 - SUCCESS!!!  YES!  No crazy heart-rate, no vein, no blockage of test dose going in - it worked!  HALLELUJAH! Relief was finally on the way after over an hour and three spine-needles.  Phew.

Once the epidural settled in, I got quite comfortable (except for my entire body starting to shake and shiver, which happened with each epidural and delivery).  By this point it was about 4 pm, and I was progressing fairly quickly.   Contractions really started to intensify, and the pressure was building.  A little before 5:30 I told Matt to find the doctor - I was feeling "pushy", and I knew it was time.  Here we go!

I'll avoid getting too much into detail, but I would like a word here about pressure during birth.  It  hurts, and it's uncomfortable, but I had never experienced this type of pressure with my other births. It was insane, and I didn't think I was going to be able to handle it, even with an epidural.  At this point I knew the baby was bigger than we thought, and I knew I had my work cut out for me.   Once baby boy was about halfway out, the doctor started commenting on how big he was.  I was thinking to myself, "Yeah, I could have told you that."  Lucky for me, I have never had to push very long with my babies, and after only 10 or 15 minutes, my healthy and quite large baby boy was born. Matt got to cut the umbilical cord, and baby boy was put on my chest for me to meet for the very first time.  He was sweet and beautiful and HUGE!  He had ROLLS already!  And boy could he scream!

We didn't weigh him right away, and the doctors and nurses started throwing guesses around as to how much he would weigh. It was quite amusing listening to the number flying around.  When they rolled the scale in and placed baby boy on it, we were all still blown away to see the numbers that showed up: 10 lbs 14 oz!  Two tiny ounces shy of 11 pounds!  I was in awe of my little chunky goober-smooch, and totally in love.  I know Matt was, too.  The look on his face was indescribable.

Needless to say, the experience was unforgettable (as any birth is, really).  But it's not every day you give birth to an 11 pound baby.  Every discomfort, every sleepless night, every cramp, every pain, every waddle, every tear shed in frustration at my discomfort, every contraction and labor pain was totally worth it.  Though I was miserable at the time, and it was probably the longest 9 months of my life, it was ALL worth it.  Would I do it again? No way.  I made sure of that the next morning.... but my little "big" Camden Byron was worth it all.

Finally in the hospital!

Taking his first breaths of  life!

Meeting my sweet baby boy. His little face is right next to mine.

Showing his weight!

Pouty face. :)

Starving already!

You were worth it little one, you were worth it.

Sweet baby boy.

Karlin, Lundynn, and Gma Diane meeting Camden.

Exhausted yet thrilled Mommy and Daddy.

Grandma Joycie meeting Camden.

Audrey and Kellen waiting to hold their baby brother!

Mesmerized!

Aunt Melyssa meeting Camden.

McDaniel cousins.

First official 5-family photo!

Angel baby.

Tiny little ears.  

Binky drunk.  

Sweet Daddy/Camden moment.

Brothers.

Audrey and Camden.

Love this!

All curled up in Daddy's arms.  Look at the size of those feet!

Sweet baby boy!