Sunday, February 20, 2011

My VBAC birth story

I was due October 28th with little girl B. My doctors were not in a hurry to rush things along, they were so patient with me and my overbaked little bundle. I lost my mucus plug Sunday and Monday. Monday I had a doctor's appointment, and I was pretty sure she was going to send me straight to the hospital. I was only 2 cm dilated at the appointment, so I went home.


Tuesday November 4th was a regular day. I felt absolutely wonderful because I got a great night's sleep the night before. Thank goodness, because I would not have been able to do all the hard work my body was getting ready for. Justin came home from work a little early that day. He trimmed a tree in our backyard, and I got dinner cooking. We ate dinner (little did I know this was the last thing I would eat until Thursday morning!!!) and then we ran errands. We got a car wash, got gas, went to Walmart for diapers. I even got to indulge and get a pedicure at the nail place in Walmart!! It was a spur of the moment thing.

When we got home, we were just hanging out. It was getting so late- way past Eli's bedtime. Then I felt the contraction. I told Justin to take his sub plans back to work because we were leaving for Phoenix. He was gone about a half an hour. My contractions were coming about 10 minutes apart, 45-55 seconds long. We got everyone in the car and started our trek to the hospital about an hour and 45 minutes away. Justin was driving so carefully- if I had been in any harder labor I would not have wanted him to drive that way.

I called my doula to tell her to meet us at the hospital. She was surprised because she thought we would meet at my mom's and I would labor there until the last possible moment. I was too scared!! When we got to the emergency room, it was about midnight. My dear mom came and picked Eli up and give me a quick hug of encouragement. They wheeled me through the hospital back to OB triage. Jen (our doula) met us there and immediately she knew this was the real thing. She started working on breathing right away. I had to sign some dumb paperwork and my hands weren't even working, so I felt really stupid. I also told the nurse I was going to wear my own clothes and not the stupid gown, so I was definitely making my requests known and my presence felt. I don't know how long I was in triage, but it felt like an eternity. I just wanted to get back to my own room where it could be private. The nurse in triage checked me, and I was only dilated to 4cm. I kept saying how I wish I hadn't eaten so much dinner, and then I threw it all up.

When I finally was assigned a room, the real work began. Jen got a heating pad for my back, and did hip squeezes which really helped relieve my back pain. I also walked the halls for a few minutes until I felt like I wouldn't make it back to my room. I got in the hot shower, and that worked well for a while. My doula also had scented oils she rubbed my feet with, and had a little candle burning to help make the mood in the room one of peace.

The back pain was mostly from the baby being posterior. My chiropractor had helped me turn the baby, but she just wanted to lie pretty much sideways in there. To try and turn her, I did lunges, which is known to help rotate baby so that they can come out facing down and not up. From Eli and Abbey's births, I know that I must carry my babies posterior.

I dilated to a 6 by 8am. I was doing pretty good and handling each contraction as it came, but the back pain would not let up. Between contractions, I had a little break, but there was no break to the back pain. So at 9am I opted to have an epidural. First I had to have an IV, which took them 4 tries to get in. The anesthesiologist took 2 tries to get my epidural right. Urgh!! But I felt sooooo much better... I could finally relax.

At lunchtime, I was only dilated to a 7. Dr. Thompson came and checked on me and we decided together to break my water. We thought that would engage the head and work my cervix a little more. I kept visualizing my cervix opening and the baby coming out. At 5pm, Dr. Johnstone came and asked me if I had had enough, if I just wanted a c section or if I wanted to start a small drip of pitocin (a labor strengthening drug) to see if things could progress. I opted for pitocin because I wanted to give myself another chance at a vaginal delivery. So they started at a 2 with the pitocin, and only got up to 14 because I was finally fully dilated and effaced and baby at a +2 station at 10 pm. They called Dr. Johnstone back because I was ready to push!!!!

My doula had suggested laboring down, which means giving the baby a chance to come down even further and the uterus work without me having to do anything. Well, I wasn't given that option by the doctors or the nurses. Dr. Johnstone said she would give me 2 hours to push, and if nothing happened, they would do a c section. They backed off on the epidural so I could feel more pressure and heat. At first, I had no idea how to push, but I got the hang of it. It was really hard pushing and not being able to breathe very much between pushes.

Justin, Jen, the nurse (who herself had had a VBAC), and Dr. johnstone were doing a great job of coaching me and encouraging me. They could see Abbey's hair and said it was long enough to braid! The nurse even told me to feel her head down there. That was so encouraging for me. But after 2 hours of pushing, I wasn't getting very far and the baby's head was not coming down with each contraction and push. I kept telling the doctor to give me just a little longer, that I could do it. Contractions were coming so hard that I could feel the urge before the monitors even knew. I wanted to push 4 times through each contraction instead of the 3 they were making me do. I was starting to take charge of myself!! It felt so good!!!

Dr. Johnstone stepped out of the room to call and check on another laboring mama at another hospital. While she was gone I gave the hardest pushes I could. Justin was yelling at me to "Get that baby out!" When the pushing counting was over, and everyone was silent, there was this moment in time when everything changed. All of us heard a loud snap, and Abbey's head moved forward and almost out. That snap was my tailbone breaking!! It was in the way for her head to come through.

The most amazing moments followed that snap. The room turned into chaos! The nurse yelled for the doctor and more nurses. The doctor frantically got her delivery scrubs on and delivery tools were made ready. Someone rolled a huge mirror so I could see the birth take place. The doctor noted how she could see the baby turning in the birth canal. So even with a posterior baby, they can change position as they are born! With only around 3 more pushes, Abbey's head came out. The rest was so easy, I think her body just came sliding out with ease and with the doctor slightly pulling.

It felt INCREDIBLE to push my baby out. They placed her right on my chest the moment she was born. I could not believe that this huge thing made it through there. I DID it, when not a lot of doctors believed I could. Justin was just absolutely beaming with pride and he couldn't stop saying how great I did and how much he loved me. He even got to cut the cord! Jen kept saying how no one could take that experience away from me.

After 24 hours of labor, with 2.5 of those being pushing stage, I pushed my daughter into this world. I have no idea how my body had the strength to do it. All I know is that I asked the Lord to give me the gift of a vaginal birth with a healthy baby and mama and HE did it.

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