I need to get this down on paper beforeI blink and Carson is crawling and walking!
After having C-Sections with Weston andGrant, I was hoping for a regular delivery for Carson. I moved to adoctor/hospital about an hour away that was willing to let me try fora VBA2C. However, at 41 weeks we finally decided to schedule a repeatC-Section since Carson wasn't making any plans to come out.
Much to my dismay, they could notschedule the CS until 1pm (hey, a pregnant girl needs some food!) soI spent the morning at work and then DH and I headed to the hospital.When we got to the city the hospital is located in, I remember havinga contraction and laughing since they'd been few and far between thewhole pregnancy.
While we checked in, I didn't pay toomuch attention but I thought perhaps I had another contraction. Bythe time we made it into the room to prep for surgery, I was havingconsistent contractions. I was about an hour out from my surgery, andI could not believe that I was possibly in labor after all this time.I asked the nurse if it was possible to see if I was dilated at all,which at first they thought was insane until they realized my initialhopes were for a VBAC. They had my doctor come in, and I was stillclosed tight. He recommended we stay on path for the CS. As soon ashe left the room, I burst into tears. I couldn't imagine after allthis work to try to get a VBAC, I'd finally have good contractionsbut too close of a deadline for the CS.
Luckily for me, the nurse was on myside and asked if I wanted to try to postpone the CS and see whathappened. After some coordination with my doctor and the doctor oncall that day, we agreed to give it a few hours and see if I couldmake some progress. If I did not make any progress or if thecontractions went away, I would just do the CS later that afternoon.
So, DH and I got to actually do the?I'm in labor? thing. We walked lap after lap around Labor andDelivery, having to stop frequently for the contractions that werecoming hard and fast. When they would put me on the monitor, thecontractions were coming every 2 minutes.
At 3pm, I was hooked up to the monitor again. While I was hooked up, we all noticed the baby was having someserious heartrate drops during my contractions. They checked mycervix again, and I was barely 1 cm. At that point, we realized thatthe progress was way too slow and I'd never make it to 10 if hecontinued to have the decels. So, they prepped me for the C-Section. I wanted a VBAC, but at least the trial of labor made me feel likeI'd given it a shot, and clearly the baby didn't like it so I wantedto do what was best for him.
Fast forward, on the table, onceagain. Although, a new hospital for each kiddo so at least a changeof scenery. I can't say I enjoyed their fake ?sky? above me inthe OR. The doctors do their thing. I had a decent amount of scartissue to go through. I was holding DH's hand and thinking about howbig Carson was going to be. DS#1 was 7 10 at 39 weeks, and DS#2 was 85 at 39 weeks. I was now 41.5 weeks so I was expecting a 9 lb baby. When they finally got him out, one of the nurses said ?What alittle peanut!? I thought they had the wrong child. They took himinto another room and didn't even hold him up for me to see before hewas whisked away.
The doctor then told me he had acomplete knot in the umbilical cord, and that I was very lucky we didnot get any further into labor. I was terrified. DH sat thereholding my hand until I told him to go follow the baby. I laid on thetable waiting while hot tears streamed down my face. I think it was about 5 minutes before anyone came back to let me know what was goingon. Finally, DH came back and I asked if he was ok. He said thatCarson was a little gray when he came out but was looking fine now.Whew. Finally, they brought him out for me to see...what a longawaited moment. It was sweet but too short, as they took him off to be checked while they finished putting me back together.
As soon as I was wheeled to recovery,they gave him to me and he nursed like a champ. I cried and was sothankful to have a healthy baby, regardless of how he decided toenter the world.
Me? If we have any more kids (not outof the question) ? I'm done with the VBAC route. Carson scared thecrap out of me ? if he would have come down it could have closed the umbilical cord completely and resulted in his death. I can't handle that thought. I waited 2.5 extra weeks for him to come out andI am so thankful that everything worked out...but the thoughts about what could have happened will give me nightmares for any future pregnancies.
My little peanut is now 2 months old,and has gained 5.5 lbs since his birth. He's definitely making up forany lost ground. I love him to pieces and his big brothers just can't get enough of their ?little cutie Carson?.
Good luck to all of you.
Re: VBA2C's turned RCS - Birth Story
I'm so happy that your little guy is safe and in your arms. Congratulations! It sounded like you definitely had the birth you needed to, which is all we can ever ask.
And LOL @ your first statement - so true!
Thanks ladies. And sorry for the formatting, it appears that my cut/paste decided it did not like the spaces between some words and I'm too lazy to fix all of them.
Congrats!! A true knot is scary, so glad your little guy is healthy! Thank you for sharing your story.
Enjoy your new baby