Birth Stories

When my oldest son was born, everything happened so fast. I was only thirty-seven weeks gestation when he was born, and it was quite the experience. Outside of extra monitoring and progesterone shots, I had a pretty normal pregnancy, until my 35 week appointment. My ultrasound revealed a possibility of some type of blockage in baby's kidney, and the next thing I knew I was in labor and delivery.  Everything was fine but in the next two weeks, I was triaged two different times for high blood pressure. At 37 weeks, I was finally induced due to low amniotic fluid. After only an hour after my induction began, the baby's heart rate dropped and the next thing I knew I...

My husband and I were thrilled to start a family. My first pregnancy was incredibly smooth, with my OB literally saying that every appointment was perfect. Besides the normal morning sickness, there were no complications. I gave birth to a healthy 7 pound 12 ounce baby boy at 40 weeks. He was gorgeous! He even miraculously slept through the night a few times early on. Three years later when we wanted to try for another baby, I thought it would be just as easy. When I found out I was pregnant the next time, I didn't anticipate any complications. As soon as the pregnancy test was positive, I started thinking about baby names and going through baby things we had...

Unusual but not weird. This was my standard for determining whether a potential baby name made the cut (aka: the iPhone note created years before I met my husband).  If it was on the Social Security Administration top 1000 list in the last 10 years, it was out. If it was on the Social Security Administration top 1000 list in the 1920's, it was probably in. Before you question my methods, you must understand my madness. My maiden name was Ashley Anderson. As you can probably guess, I was born in the 80's. More than once, I was one of four Ashley's in my class. And heaven forbid, the teacher used the word 'actually' lest we all turn around at once. While...

         Birth - I could talk about it all day. How you went into labor, your birth story and your whole experience. There are always similarities and differences in these conversations. I have had two babies and two unplanned c-sections; however, I am not disappointed. After learning about natural and alternative birthing methods over the past ten years, I was so excited to experience it in 2014 with my first baby. My friend, who knew a lot more than I did, and I had regular discussions about labor. Coincidentally, she was also pregnant at the time. I had a doula, went to a birthing class, wrote a birth plan, researched everything from hep-locks to vernix and even made a...

 I hate being pregnant. "Wow."  "That's a pretty harsh statement, Camille." I know it and I mean it. I know it's a completely different opinion from someone who has documented their struggle to get/stay pregnant, but I stand by it. Pregnancy is a means to an end for me. Now, before you furiously type in the comments about how lucky I am to experience this true act of God, let me explain. I don't hate being pregnant for the superficial reasons. I am still currently dealing with all day sickness and extreme fatigue even in my second trimester. My skin is breaking out and I divert my eyes on the scale at my doctor's appointments. My husband does everything around the house and with...