Lhalliburton's VBAC birth story of Maxwell LONG version!

Lhalliburton · July 2014

He's over a week old and I'm finally getting around to it. Taking care of a toddler and a cluster feeding newborn is more time consuming than I was prepared for! Caution: it's a long story and I'm detail oriented.

I had contractions starting Saturday, 7/12, (my due date) around 5 pm. They got closer together and more intense throughout the night, but fizzled out by 10 am Sunday. I had 1 or 2 contractions all day Sunday, so I didn't get my hopes up and prepared myself for a long wait.

On Monday, 7/14, I got a pedicure in the morning, and went in for a prenatal massage at 1:30. I had some contractions on the way there, but I could ignore them, so I didn't time them. My masseuse was aware that I was overdue and hoping to naturally induce, so she used a crap ton of clary sage oil on me.(Spoiler: Use clary sage with caution.) I thought I felt a small gush near the end of my massage, but had been having bloody show for a few days, so I tried to ignore it. After my massage, I got up to get dressed, and felt another gush. I went to the bathroom, and my pants/underwear was soaked. The fluid didn't have an odor or a color, and I was pretty sure that my water broke. Luckily, I had put a towel in my car that morning just in case.

On my drive home around 2:30, I called my Doula to let her know the updates. We debated on whether or not to call my husband, since he was in a meeting that day, and after having 3 contractions in the 7 minutes I talked to her, she agreed I should call him and go in to get checked at triage to make sure I was leaking amniotic fluid and see if there was any progression since I was 1.5 cm at my appointment the week before. We were planning to labor at home with our Doulas until closer to transition, so we weren't too concerned about getting checked at the hospital and then leaving.

I tried 5 times to reach DH on his cell, but he didn't answer. At this point, I was questioning why on earth I didn't have my husband's work number because I had to call the front office for his company and get transferred to his desk.

He left work as I was arriving home and I started to get scared. I had to pull my car over a few times on the 15 min drive home from the massage place because I felt unsafe driving through a contraction. They were 5 minutes apart at this point. I packed the remaining items in our hospital bags in case we had to stay once I was checked, and moved them to the front door. Fortunately, DD had gone to my sister's on my due date, so I didn't have to worry about getting her anywhere. When DH got home, I was bouncing on my birthing ball and listening to hypnobabies. Contractions were 3 minutes apart and I was shaking and felt nauseous. I texted my Doula this while DH was changing, and she called me right away and told me she was getting in her car, and we needed to get to the hospital ASAP because these were signs of transition. The 20 minute drive to the hospital was torture, and I was so concerned I was going to have the baby was in the car.

DH dropped me off at the ER and went to park the car. I had to lean against the wall when I first walked in to deal with a contraction, and the security guard practically ran to get a wheelchair to me. We were taken up to L&D triage, and my Doula was already there. They were going to check me in triage, but after I stood up and they saw that there was a puddle in my wheelchair, they admitted me and took me to my delivery room. This was about 4:30 p.m. I labored mostly kneeling over the raised head of the hospital bed during the full hour they took to check my progression. Contractions were 1 minute apart at this point. I would literally just catch my breath from one contraction, and the next would begin.

They checked me for the first time at 5:30, and I was 2-3 cm, 70% effaced, and -2 station. This surprised all of us. My Doula thought the nausea and shaking was due to how quickly and intensely everything started off. By 6:30, I was dealing poorly with my contractions, but dilated to a 4 (I was super excited because I never dilated past a 3 with DD). They were still a minute apart, and getting more intense. I was moaning deeply through them and the only way I could deal was by standing and bending over the bed, or standing and clinging to DH. I began to fatigue quickly, and my lower half was shaking violently with each contraction. I thought my legs were going to give out, but the pain was so much worse in any other position. The monitors kept losing his heartbeat when I was bending over. The nurse kept touching me/adjusting monitors during a contraction, and after repeatedly telling her that I don't want to be touched during a contraction, and her continually ignoring me, I actually smacked her hand away.

I started asking for an epidural, but had previously asked my birthing team to try to distract me. If I could be distracted, I didn't need it that badly.

They were successful until about 8:40 p.m. I was checked again, and had progressed to a 4.5, 90% effaced, and a -1 station. After dilating a half centimeter in 2 hours, I felt that my body was tensing up too much during contractions. I was sleeping in the 45 seconds between contractions, and was yelling, rather than moaning, through contractions. I was fighting my body and keeping myself from progressing. I decided I definitely wanted the epidural at this point.

The anesthesiologist was in my room 20 minutes later, and my one easy contraction happened while that giant needle was in my back. For that, I was so thankful.

I finally got some rest at this point, but baby's heart decels weren't matching up with my contractions, so they gave me oxygen, and flipped me from side to side until they got a good reading. This was the best. I didn't feel a single pain or pressure with contractions.

At 11:00 p.m. I was 6-7 cm and closed my eyes for awhile, but never slept.

At 12:00 a.m., I was at 9 cm, 100% effaced, and a -1 station.

At 12:50 a.m., I was at 10 cm, with an anterior lip. The nurse pushed it back and I was complete! I asked to labor down until I felt the urge to push. Mostly, I was scared I was going to spend hours pushing, and I wanted to rest more.

At 2:00 a.m. I was at a 0 station, and my OB was on her way in!

At 2:15 a.m., they put an internal monitor on him at this point as he was still having decels, and I got more oxygen. The OB arrived and I was at a +1. I reminded her that I didn't want an episiotomy, I didn't want the baby pulled on while he was coming out (to prevent tearing), and I wanted to catch him. Also that I wanted to push/deliver him laying on my side with my top leg in a stirrup (also to prevent tearing). My OB said she'd never delivered a baby in that position, but that she'd try. After that talk, they emptied my bladder, which moved him down to a +2 station.

I labored down a bit more, and started a couple practice pushes at 3:20 a.m. I immediately pooped, and continued to poop with my first few pushes, I didn't give a fuck. Did not care one bit. I think my DH was a bit scarred, though. At 3:30 a.m. my Doulas and OB remarked that they saw lots of dark hair.

As he was crowning, I asked to pant through the next contraction to allow for stretching.

One contraction later and I reached down and caught him myself.

I pulled him onto my chest and he immediately tried lifting his head. They waited for the umbilical cord to stop pulsing and then cut it. Maxwell Kelly was 8 lbs 10 oz (2 lbs bigger than DD, who the doctors told me wouldn't fit through my "narrow pelvis") and 21" long.

This is where things got a bit scary. The OB "tugged" on the cord and my placenta ripped away with the first pain I'd felt since my epidural. I started hemorrhaging, and was given pitocin to get my uterus to contract. I lost about 1000 mL of blood before she got the bleeding under control. Max immediately had trouble breathing. He was sucking the skin in between his ribs and grunting with every breath, and had a temp of 103 degrees. They took him to the NICU and he was under an oxygen hood with 40% oxygen for the first hour, then was breathing room air. His breathing wasn't as severe, but it was still very fast.

After he was taken, I developed a fever, but it went away within an hour. They concluded both our fevers were the result of the intense labor, as we both tested negative for any infections.

I was moved to my postpartum room and Max stayed in the NICU (but wasn't admitted) for about 21 hours. He nursed for the first time at 24 hours old and things have been going great! I thank the precautions I took, and my OB listening to my wishes. I didn't tear at all and the recovery has been so completely different from my c-section.

Thank you for reading my novel of a birth story! Annnd here's some cute pictures...