My natural VBAC birth story

jenbabe3 · August 2011

Some of you may have seen my post that I was contracting very regularly Sunday night. I was also vomiting very regularly, which I assumed was due to labor starting. I didn't sleep at all that night due to the contractions.

Went to my weekly OB appt at 9am Monday. She checked me and I was only a 2, which I had been at my appt on Wed as well. I told her about the contractions and she said it could be early labor, or I could be contracting due to dehydration. My urine tested positive for protein but she said she thought it was because of the dehydration, so I stayed there for 2 hours and got fluids via IV. After two bags, I gave another urine sample - negative for protein. She also checked me again and I was still a 2, but when she pulled her hand out, her glove was covered in blood. I was praying that the cervical check would get something going.

I went to my mom's house to rest while she watched P, and my contractions continued. 5-7 min apart. Didn't sleep again that night, and Tues morning I woke up and they were 3.5-4 min apart. I called my doula and told her to meet me at my mom's house (where we planned to have me labor for a while before going to the hospital, due to the fact that it's 1/2 mile from the hosp plus the fact that she would be the one watching P so we'd have to go there anyway). She met DH and I there, and my contractions slow to 5 min apart for a while. After about 2 hours, they were intense enough that I felt it was time to go to L&D. This was at 11:30am.

We got there and they measured me - I was sooo scared they'd say "You're a 2!" again, and send me home. But I was a 6, PRAISE JESUS! They put me in my room and got me hooked up to the antibiotics for GBS. Almost immediately upon getting to my room, the lady next door to us started screaming hysterically. I looked at DH and the doula like "Eff that!" The doula said, "That's the noise of a woman who planned on getting an epidural and it didn't work, or she couldn't. Those aren't the sounds of someone who planned on going natural." It still freaked me out, but she only screamed for 40 or so seconds, and then we heard the baby cry.

I was blessed with one of the ONLY pro natural birth nurses in L&D. She was a godsend. The contractions were crazy intense, and I found that I dealt with them best by either crouching in front of DH (using his knees to balance), or sitting on the bed with my knees indian-style, rocking side to side while holding a damp wash cloth (for some reason the cool wash cloth was super calming to hold). I got in a zone and just stayed rocking and breathing deep, even between contractions. If I kept doing the same thing continuously, i found it was easier to "welcome" the next contraction and be prepared for it.

At 1:30 pm, I was an 8. Transition started, and I was practically climbing the walls. I had been calm prior to this, but that part was freaking unreal.

At about 2:45-3, my doc broke my water and gave me 2 units (I think it's units, anyway?) of pitocin, just to get my contractions a tiny bit closer together to make it easier to push.

I pushed through 5 or 6 contractions, 2 or 3 pushes per contraction, and she was out. The relief was something I can't describe. They put her on my chest while my doc stitched me up (I got a 2nd degree tear), and I didn't even care about anything that was going on down there, I was so in love. Being able to hold her right away was so amazing, in comparison to having to wait so long after my c/s with P, plus not even being able to remember anything until I woke up in recovery.

Things went so, so smoothly. My doc was leaving to go OOT the next day, so baby's timing was impeccable. DH, the doula, my doc and nurse were so amazing and supportive, I couldn't have been happier. And Audrey is perfect!

Here are some pics.