Campbell's Birth Story - Katie Cassman

Campbell Beau Cassman arrived on July 13th at 2:01pm and we are so in love! I always enjoy reading birth experience and never want to forget how our little dude made his entrance.

At my 36 week appointment my doctor mentioned I could be induced at 39 weeks to ensure we would have childcare secured for Caroline. Without hesitation, we said yes to this plan! Obviously these babies tell us when they want to make their appearance, but it was nice knowing there was an end date in sight. Campbell was on board with our plan and held out for the induction date of July 13, exactly 6 days before his due date.

My assigned time to arrive at the hospital for the induction was 5am. I was told to call the hospital at 4am to make sure they had a room available for me. I called the night before to gauge how busy things were looking on their end and they said they weren’t too busy, but that could always change and I’d still have to call back at 4am.

The night before Kevin and I dropped Caroline off with my in-laws and had one last hurrah dinner. We capped off the night with our favorite ice cream from Homer’s – chocolate chip cookie dough (of course) and went to bed knowing we would meet our little guy the next day. Surprisingly, neither of us had any trouble falling asleep that night. Must be a 2nd time parent thing when you know what’s about to happen to your nights!

I woke up at 3:45am to take a shower and the hospital confirmed I was able to come in for my 5am start time. When we arrived at the hospital and I was taken to my delivery room for a COVID test. Kevin was sent back to the car and wasn’t able to join me until my test result came back negative. I was dreading the COVID test and found it to be quick and painless.

I tested positive for group B strep which is a type of bacteria that is naturally found in the digestive and lower reproductive tracts of both men and women. About 1 in 4 women “carry” group B strep, so it’s quite common and it’s something I didn’t have with Caroline. To prevent the bacteria from being passed along to your baby an antibiotic is given that needs 4 hours to take effect. Unfortunately, I am allergic to something in that medication and had to be given an alternative one that needs 8 hours to run its course. While I was awaiting my COVID results the nurse started the antibiotic.

An hour and half later, my COVID test came back negative and Kevin was able to join me. From that point on, I was no longer required to wear a mask, but Kevin had to wear one during the duration of labor.

The on-call doctor came to chat about our game plan. I told her being given pitocin worked really well from me with my first delivery and I requested an early epidural. We had our plan in place and at 10:00 AM I started to receive a drip of pitoicin. Fairly quickly contractions started, but they were light and manageable. My assigned nurse knew I wanted an epidural ASAP, but suggested we hold off at least 30-45 minutes. She reminded me that sometimes an early epidural can prolong labor. I made her promise she’d come back in a half hour to discuss ordering the epidural. Approximately 10 minutes later she came back to tell me her favorite anesthesiologist was available to do the epidural right now if I was interested. Without hesitation I replied, yes to this offer! The epidural was administered quickly and once it kicked-in I was very relaxed.

We let the antibiotic and pitcoin do their thing. Occasionally, I could feel slight contractions, but it wasn’t painful. The nurses checked on the baby’s heart rate every 30 minutes. In the meantime, Kevin and I watched the news and I scrolled net-a-porter for a new bathing suit, specifically the Hunza G – I kept seeing bloggers rave about it.

At 1:25pm the nurses we’re having trouble tracking the baby’s heartbeat which can happen with those monitors they strap to your belly. If they can’t track the heart beat it can signal that the baby has made its way down the birth canal or it can mean your baby is in distress. After a few position changes, they called in the doctor who determined the baby was in fact ready to come out.

Immediately a team of people came into the room and it was go time. Kevin look at the clock and said “It’s 1:45pm do you think you can push this baby out by 2pm?” I laughed and said, “Challenge accepted.”

When the team told me I was having a contraction, I started pushing, but never felt any pain. Much to our surprise, Campbell Beau Cassman was born at 2:01pm.

Shortly after he was born the nurses whisked Campbell away for his vitals. Kevin was with him and as the doctor delivered my placenta I asked her if people still eat their placenta post-birth? We laughed about that and reminisced that it was a popular trend 5 years ago and she said she hasn’t seen it done much lately.

While it felt like a long day due to the early start, the birth itself happened rather quickly. Our hospital stay was peaceful and I was in no rush to go home. I know for some, they want to leave the hospital ASAP due to Covid. Beyond wearing a mask upon entry and having to take a Covid test, I felt my delivery experience was relatively normal. The hospital environment felt safe and I appreciated the help of the nurses those first 48 hours.

I’ve had two great labor and delivery experiences to healthy babies at two different hospitals. I’m extremely grateful and thankful for that. I especially like to share my labor story as I was terrified of labor my first time around and can now speak to having two positive experiences. I think every birth has its own story and no birthing plan can prep you for what will happen. In the end, all we truly want is for mama and newborn baby to be healthy and maybe a few zzz’s.