Birth Stories

My VBAC story- LO's 15m apart. :)

As most VBACer's do, I was unsure of my desire to have a vaginal delivery. I was afraid of reliving a long and disappointing labor simply to end in another C-section. The closer I got to term, the more I thought about it. Finally, with the guidance of my supremely awesome doctor, we decided to allow my body to naturally go into labor and attempt VBAC until 38 weeks. After 38 weeks, my doctor and I decided to go ahead and schedule a c-section.

Ruby had been measuring big since my anatomy scan at 19 weeks. My son was a big boy, and I anticipated another large baby. My doctor put me on the GD diet at 32 weeks in an attempt to control my weight gain and ensure a healthy baby. While it did slow my weight gain considerably, my little lady was still not so little. An ultrasound at 36w5d told us she was estimated to be approximately 7lbs 15oz. My cervix was 3cm dilated and "soft." To further encourage labor, my doctor stripped my membranes that day as well, and wished me luck. 

I had Braxton Hicks contractions a lot that night. A warm bath and about a gallon of water sent them packing, and the next day I went about my routine as normal. The next night, I had no contractions, BH or otherwise. I was sad and vowed that the next day (when I was officially term) I would make efforts to naturally induce labor.

I woke up on the morning of May 11th feeling fabulous. I had slept well the night before. I was certain that "today was not the day." I went to work and instead of really working, I spent my entire four hour shift doing laps around the store. I bought a spicy chicken sandwich and ate it while my husband massaged pressure points in my feet and ankles. That night, still nothing. I busted out my breast pump and attempted a little nipple stimulation as a last ditch effort. That lasted about five minutes before I felt silly and called it a night. 

I went to bed certain that we would not be meeting our little lady that night. 

I woke up at 430am the following day with intense lower abdomen pain. I didn't know what it was, having been induced with my son. I expected contractions to feel different. When I finally realized what this pain could be, I started timing them. It only took about 20 minutes for me to realize that this was it! The contractions were coming about 3 minutes apart at that point.

I woke up my husband, who called his mom so she could come over and watch my son. Prior to this, I had not packed a hospital bag- I guess it just didn't seem real enough. I hurriedly packed my bag between contractions. They hurt, but I was able to breath and talk through them. My MIL arrived about ten minutes later and already I could not talk through my contractions.

The hospital is only about 10 minutes away, so off we went! When we arrived, my cervix was checked again: 4cm dilated, 90% effaced. They allowed me to labor in triage for a while when suddenly the baby's heart rate dropped. Seems like a thousand nurses were in there at once, they had my flipped on my side with an oxygen mask in less than ten seconds. It was really scary, I think more for my husband than me, but scary nonetheless. They checked my cervix again, almost 6cm, fully effaced.

It was then that they admitted me. At this point, it was about 7am, it had been about  2.5 hours since I first felt contractions. I was in so much pain I thought I would never make it to my L&D room, but as lots of people have told me, the pain was much easier to deal with when I was able to get up and walk around. Once in my new bed, the contractions grew more intense and I was unable to really think, or move, or breathe. I had asked for an epidural, but the anesthesiologist was in a c-section and I had to wait. The nurses gave me a different kind of pain medicine in my IV, which helped just enough to make the pain livable. After that, an anesthesiologist from another floor was kind enough to come and insert the epidural. 

Just a few minutes after I had my epidural in, my doctor came in and checked my cervix again. 8 cm! He broke my water and that pushed my cervix to 9cm. It was about 745 at this point. He said he would be back in 15 minutes to check again and hopefully we would start to push! After 15 minutes, he did come back, but unfortunately my cervix still had a lip. Since I was VBAC, he didn't want there to be anything getting in baby's way so he left again.

He ended up having to come back twice more before I was ready to push. With my son, I ended up pushing for a little over 3 hours before I was sent for a section. This was by far the scariest part for me, I was so terrified of "failing" again. I must have asked the nurse a million times for pushing tips. She was so reassuring and kind, telling me that I was doing great, that I was a perfect candidate for VBAC, that I was a "tough cookie" and that I could do it. 

At 850am, I started to push. I pushed with every ounce of energy I had, knowing that if I didn't, I would end up in the OR. I pushed for 27 minutes, and at 917am, my 9lb 37 weeker was born. Even after she came out, I couldn't believe I had done it. It really was a magical moment.

Unfortunately, my magical moment was tainted slightly because my placenta was stuck to my uterine wall. It took longer for my doctor to massage it all out than it did to get the baby out. He told me afterward that he thought my dates might have been off, given the state of my placenta and the size of my baby. 

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Life with the kiddos has been a rough adjustment for everyone. My son is finally warming up to his sister, he tries to pet her all the time.

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And like his mom and dad, he is fascinated by how small she is- even her little piggies! 

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Ruby Catherine

9lbs, 19 inches

May 12, 2011

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