Well I will go first I suppose! This is just copied and pasted from my original post about Paige's birth. I will try and dig up Mia's for you all as well.




Woke up on Wednesday 12th Sept at 4am when I got a strong contraction. Tried to roll over and get back to sleep, but 10 minutes later I got another one. I decided to go have a shower and see what happened. They kept on coming at 10 minutes apart. Not wanting to get my hopes up I got comfy on the lounge until Sean got up for work. I figured if I was still having them when he got up I would get him to stay home. They were, so he stayed. I rang my mum and told her what was going on so she could get some stuff ready and come up to watch the kids. She is an hour away so I wanted to give her plenty of warning. Sean and I mean while started getting things ready for the kids and packing up some final things for me.




My Mum got to our place at 7.30 am and I was still only getting them 10 minutes apart. Jessica mean while has been up and down all night with diahorrea. And we decide she won't be going to school and that we should get her into see the Dr. So my Mum and decide to take her down to see the Dr and then go shopping for food. I needed to do it anyway and hoped the walking would get things going a bit better. At this stage I couldn't walk when I got a contraction and had to concentrate to get through it, so it took some time to get around the shopping centre. We ended up being out for 6 hours. We got home a 3pm. By then my contractions were getting hard to breathe through and were 5 minutes apart. I decide to take a shower and get ready to go. We left the house at 4pm, but needed to get out some cash and post a parcel. So I was down at out local shops, in labor which no one could believe. I don't think they believed I was until Sean went back and told them she had been born the next day. I was in such a good mood and had heaps of energy, so I can see why they didn't think I was. We laughed about it all the way to the hospital.




We got to the hospital and got checked out. At first I don't think the midwife believed I was in labor, until I had a contraction anyway. I was a little disappointed to find out I was a stretchy 2cms. But they decided I was definitely in labor and could stay, but wanted me to walk the halls. By then my doula and hypnobirthing instructor Emma had arrived. She was hungry so we decided to walk to the kiosk. My contractions had spaced out a little to about 7 mins apart by this time, so we hoped they would pick back up. It was about 15 minutes we were gone and by the time we got back they were back to 5 minutes apart and nice and strong. It actually started getting so strong I decided I would cope better in the shower.




The shower was heavenly and helped a bunch. But after a while in there I started to get panicky and lose focus. It started to hurt very bad. Emma tried everything to try and get me to calm down and I did to a degree. But I now had the fear in my head and unfortunately felt a lot of pain from this point. But the hypnobirthing techniques certainly helped me cope. I also used the gas at this point which also helped relax me, but didn't really do anything for the pain. Things get fuzzy from here because of the gas, but my contractions got VERY strong and I went from 5 minutes apart to 1-2 minutes apart.


At about 8pm I decided I wanted an epi. Sean, Emma and I discussed it, they wanted me to be sure because they knew how much I had wanted to do it without the epi this time. But I knew I wasn't coping as well as I hoped and I knew it was the right thing for me. I got checked to see how I was progressing and was 7-8cms. Just after the exam I felt a gush and my waters broke. They were slightly stained, but the midwife wasn't worried and though it might have been an old mec stain. She ended up having tests after birth and was perfectly fine, so the midwife was right not to worry.




The anesthesiologist was meant to take over half an hour to arrive, but was there in less than 10 minutes. That was a shock, Dr's are never early. LOL. Anyway, That meant they hadn't even done my IV. Laying on the bed was agony and I really wanted to get back to my hot shower. But I will say the anesthesiologist was very quick so I didn't have to stay balled up for long. He did the best epidural out of the 3 I have had. I could feel everything from my pelvis down and the top of my belly up. I could move my legs fine. And I could also feel all the pressure. Just the aweful cramping was gone. For here things went pretty quick. I still had to breathe through contractions as the pain and pressure in my pelvis was intense, but it was manageable. We were all joking around between contractions and basically having a ball. I had the coolest midwife, she made it so much fun. Who knew I would say that about labor?




It got to 10.15pm and I asked about a top up for my epi as I was meant to get one every 2 hours. I was worried I would end up getting it too late and be in agony for the actual birth. The midwife said she wanted to check me as she thought I was very close to having Paige. She did and found I was 10 cms already. I was still worried as it had taken over 2 hours of pushing with Mia. She was sure it would be soon. And was urging me not to get the top up. We were talking about it when suddenly I involuntarily went "ungh...", It was the weirdest sensation. I had never felt an overwhelming urge to push before. I had the urge to push with Mia but itnwasn't overwhelming and didn't just happen like that without warning. Lucky the midwife still had her gloves on! It happen again a couple seconds later and her head came out. We all freaked out! She didn't have time to call the OB, another midwife to help, or break down the bed. I had another contraction within 30 seconds, my body pushed involuntarily again and she rotated around. Next push and her body came out. I finally felt the ring of fire everyone describes. I was actually glad of that, it was incredible feeling my baby coming into the world. Who knew I would feel like that? But it was incredibly empowering.




We were all just in shock. No one could believe how quick it happened. The midwife joked that Paige decided about the top up of the epi for us. LOL. She came out very calm, and eyes wide open. She didn't cry at all. Not a peep. They laid her on my chest and she just stared at me. We waited for the cord to stop pulsing and Sean cut it. I put her to the breast and she started feeding immediately, and she has been a great nurser ever since. I had one little tear and the OB let me decide whether to have a stitch or not and I decided to leave it be. Nice change from the 2nd degree tear with Mia. Within half an hour I had delivered the placenta and was in the shower. I felt incredible. I did not feel like I just had a baby. Everyone was amazed how good I was feeling.




So my last birth has been a perfect one, which I am very grateful for. It didn't go exactly to plan. But I feel very good about how it all unfolded. And I am VERY grateful I managed to have another successful VBAC. I do not have a single regret or complaint about how it went. I even got to have a baby before my due date for once! Only an hour and an half before, but I was glad to just not go overdue. And glad to have only 5 hours of hard labor. All the others were over 24. It was so nice to have such a great experience for my last baby. I feel very blessed.




Here is a slideshow for you...

Here are my three birth stories:



Initial C-Section

The last month of my pregnancy, my amniotic fluid level was low, so after putting me on bedrest Dec. 18th they decided to schedule a c-section or induction for the 22nd (my due date was the 30th). Ryleigh was a frank breech, so her feet were up by her head. I went into the hospital at about 5:30 am, and for some reason they didn?t have me down on the schedule. They decided to go ahead and get me prepped while they got a hold of my doctor. I got an epidural as they were going to attempt an external cephlatic version. I started shivering (probably partly from the meds and partly because it was freezing in the OR) so they covered me with heated blankets. They initially had trouble turning her, but they finally were successful. Unfortunately her feet were still up by her head and they didn?t want to take the chance of one of her feet coming out first, especially since she was my first child. So they nixed the induction and went ahead with the C-section. Ryleigh Christine was born at 9:10am on December 22, 2000 and was screaming before she was even completely out. Her apgars were 9 and 9. Dh showed her to me and then took her out to see my sister and Dad since they were the only two to make it in time. She weighed 6 lbs., 7 oz. and was 20 ¾ in. long. Although Dh had wanted a boy, I was thrilled to get a little girl and so was he.



1st VBAC ? at home (long)

Well, the doctor had given me the go ahead for a VBAC (I had GD and they were worried about size) and I had been having some random contractions. On Monday night I went on a hospital tour with my sister and went out to eat. My Dh had been working long hours, so he wasn?t able to go. At 4:00am Tuesday morning I was woken up by a contraction. They were about 15 minutes apart at that point and not too bad. Since they were regular, I decided to stay home from work. At some point in the morning, Dh & I took dd to daycare and dropped her carseat off with my FIL so that he could pick her up after work. By that point my contractions were about 5-7 minutes apart, so we decided to go to the hospital and get checked out. I think it was around 11am when we got there. I went to the bathroom to change and I lost my mucus plug. I was only fingertip dialated, but I was effaced and the baby was very low. My contractions were about 4-6 minutes apart and after about and 1 ½ there I hadn?t progressed any more. Although my doc said I could say if I really wanted to, after he left, the residents really pushed me to go home and said to return when my contractions were 3-5 minutes apart for an hour. We were closing on selling our house the next day, so we stopped by the title office on the way home to sign a Power of Attorney in case I couldn?t be there. When I got home, my contractions slowed down considerably and I went to sleep. At about 7pm I woke up and they were about 7-9 min. apart and getting a little stronger. My sister called about 10-10:30 pm and by then they were back to 4-6 min. apart but definitely a lot stronger than before. I also got a migraine about then. I?m not sure of the exact timing, but the contractions went from 4-6 minutes, to one right after another and I knew there was a problem. I went in to go to the bathroom and my Dh went to go get my clothes so we could head to the hospital. I started to sit down, but had another contraction and my water broke just as Dh was bring in the clothes. I sat down on the bathroom rug because I had an overwhelming desire to push. Dh asked me if I thought I could make it to the car or whether he should call 911. I said he better call 911 since I wasn?t sure I could make it to the car and the hospital was 20 minutes away. He was on the phone with 911 and they were instructing me not to push (not fun!). The paramedics and the fire department arrived (in our city they always send both, even though Dh told them not to send the fire truck). So there was a paramedic at my feet and a fire captain at my head and a bunch of firefighters peering into my tiny bathroom. Dh couldn?t even fit in there. They were going to carry me to the stretcher, but as they lifted me the paramedic saw that the baby was crowning and put me back down. They put some oxygen on me and finally told me I could push (but not to hold my breath ? yeah right). All I could think was Thank God! and that I hoped the baby would fit my pelvis. About 3-4 pushes later, on October 15th at 12:34am, Connor James was born (two days before his due date). They loaded us both into the ambulance with Connor on my chest and took us to the hospital (I had to go due to my GD and my tearing). They delivered the placenta at the hospital and stitched me up. Connor weighed 7 lbs., 4 oz. and was 21 inches long. Even though things didn?t go quite as planned, it was a wonderful experience.



2nd VBAC ? induced

I was so happy that my new doc didn't want to induce me early, only to be induced at almost 41 weeks. She let me go as long as she could (I had gestational diabetes) as they usually don't let GD patients go over 40 weeks. I had contractions off and on the last week and was actually contracting some when I went in for my induction, so they actually considered it an aumentation. They started the pitocin at 8 or 9am (can't think which now). I started at 1cm and was partially effaced, but still long. They also inserted a foley bulb to help me start to dialate. By about 10:30am, the foley came out which meant I was at 3 cm. They upped my dose every 30 min. I think, but didn?t do it as fast or top out as high as they normally would. I had to stay in bed and be monitored at all times due to induction of a VBAC and my GD. The contractions got pretty bad around 2 pm (prob. due to the pitocin and the fact that I couldn?t move, and they were about 2-4 minutes apart. Up til then I had been progressing at about 1 cm an hour. At about 2:30 pm I was at 6cm. I did break down and get an epi at about 3:30 although it never did really take as I was in transition by then. I had about three more contractions and the pain wasn?t getting much better when all of the sudden I felt a lot of pressure and my water broke. My doctor was getting ready to go on break and came into check on me at just that moment. I was at 10 cm and ready to deliver. A few pushes and Olivia Bonnie arrived and was put on my chest. She was very alert from the beginning, just looking around. Olivia ended up being a little bigger than they had thought, at 8 lbs. 6 oz., but she had a smaller head than my ds, lol. She was 21 inches long.

I haven't had a VBAC yet but I'll post my C-section story and the events leading up to it.
Before the birth...
TJ was a bit of a surprise for me and DH. We had taken a natural family planning course before we were married. I told one of my co-workers about the NFP class and she told me, "It absolutely works, but don't cheat, that's how I got pregnant." Well we didn't take her advice and got pregnant with TJ. I felt so unprepared for the pregnancy and birth (I didn't even have a regular OB/Gyn!) but even more unprepared for everything that happened after I found out I was pregnant.
When I was around 10 weeks I went to the hospital where I'd deliver and got assigned to an OB. I was a little nervous because everytime I was assigned a roomate in college, it didn't go well, and I was scared that I wouldn't mesh well with my new doctor. But I was really really lucky and he was really great. I had a bad experience with one of the nurse practitioners in the practice and wasn't looking forward to exams, but my OB was way better than the NP (thank God!) When I was about 18 weeks, I had a routine ultrasound. I almost decided not to have it because our insurance wouldn't cover it, but I was curious to see the baby, and decided that we'd just have to pay for my curiosity, lol. It was lucky that I had the ultrasound because during the exam, they found out that the placenta was lying very low. The perinatologist who talked to me after the exam assured me that in over 95% of cases, the placenta "moves" so that I could have a regular vaginal birth (which is what I had hoped for). I felt confident that everything would be ok. I had absolutely no risk factors for placenta previa and no one has any idea why I got it in the first place.
I started talking to my friend Rachel, who had had a homebirth a few years before, about being pregnant and giving birth. She was so reassuring and positive. She answered all of my questions and made me feel like such a chicken for being nervous and unprepared, especially since her baby was even more unexpected than mine (she got pregnant in our sophomore year of college, after being told by at least a half a dozen doctors that she'd never have any children!). She was way more excited about my pregnancy than I was, lol, I was still pretty nervous.
A few weeks after my first ultrasound, I had another one, and again I was assured that the placenta would most likely move and I'd be able to have a natural birth. DH and I signed up for childbirth classes.
DH and I went to visit his parents for memorial day. When we got home, there was a message on our answering machine from Rachel's mom saying that I should call her. It was late so I decided to call the next morning. When I talked to her, she told me that Rachel and her DH were in a car accident and that Rachel had died. I couldn't believe it. The only thing that Rachel and I didn't have in common was that she was a mom and I wasn't and now we'd never have the chance to be mothers together. I was absolutely crushed and to this day it makes me so sad and angry that we never got to do mommy things together. The day after I found out she died was the day I was officially diagnosed with complete placenta previa. I have never been so miserable and scared in my entire life! The perinatologist and my OB told me there was still a chance that the placenta could move, but I knew it wouldn't. The last time I was able to travel more than 20 minutes from the hospital was to go to Rachel's funeral.
The rest of the pregnancy, sadly, is a blur. I was on partial bedrest, and I was lucky, since it could have been worse. There were 3 women on the L&D unit at the hospital with placenta previas, all of whom had to have complete hospital bedrest due to bleeding. Although we knew we'd be having a c-section, we took a childbirth class
"just in case" and when the instructor found out that I had a complete
previa, she was amazed that I wasn't on bedrest in the hospital and
said that I must have a cervix of steel. I like to think that may be
Rachel put in a good word for me to God to keep me safe. There were I feel so bad that I was so sad and scared during what should have been a happy time. I feel bad that I still call May 30-August 18th the worst summer of my life, because it was the summer I was pregnant with my precious TJ.
My OB told me that he'd like to deliver me by 36 weeks so that I wouldn't dilate and risk bleeding. I was very very lucky that I had no bleeding at all during the pregnancy. He wanted to see if I could be delivered at 35 weeks because he was going to be on vacation while I was at 36 weeks. He apologized a million times that he'd be out of town and said that he'd try to work it out so that he could be there for my c-section. I told him he was crazy and that he should enjoy his vacation with his family! On 8/12/05, a Friday I was exactly 35 weeks, and my doctor had me get an amnio done to see if the baby's lungs were mature enough to be delivered. The amnio was one of the most physically painful things I've ever had done to me! I got myself all worked up so that just having the techs touch me hurt! I can really see how the mind and body are so connected, so I'm hoping to use that to my advantage when I eventually have a VBAC. While we waited for the results of the amnio DH and I hung out on the L&D floor. My nurse was a girl that I went to high school with, so that was cool and chatting with her kept my mind off of waiting for the results. Because I might be having surgery, I was told not to eat and I was starving all day long. Finally at 5:30 my OB came to tell me that the baby's lungs weren't mature enough, and that I'd have to have the c-section next week with a different doctor. He apologized again for not being able to be there, but I told him again to just forget about me and enjoy himself. He told me that he doesn't just forget about patients and that he'd be thinking about me, which I thought was sweet of him.
The next day I talked to the doctor who'd actually be doing the c-section, and he seemed nice enough and assured me that he'd done several c-sections involving placenta previa, so I felt that I would be in good hands.
and on to...
The actual birth story
On 8/19/05 at about 6am DH and I made our way to the hospital's birth center. When we got to the L&D desk, there was no one there except for a resident reading some files. I coughed a few times and of course the resident didn't even turn his head. Finally one of the receptionists came up to the desk and asked what we were there for. DUH! I told her that I was there for my scheduled C-section with Dr. L. She flipped through some files confirmed my name and DOB and showed me into the pre-surgery room where DH and I got dressed, me in a hospital gown, him in scrubs. And a nurse put in an IV for me, which was even colder than I expected. DH and I tried to keep the mood light, but we were both concerned about the risks of not just the surgery, but the previa itself. My doctor had told me that in placenta previa, the placenta can grow too deep into the uterus making it impossible to get it out, which can lead to hemorrhaging, hysterectomy and even death. He did tell me that he could avoid a hysterectomy if he just cut out the piece of uterus where the placenta grew into deep, so that was somewhat reassuring, but I never thought to ask the new doctor if he could do that too. I was really really nervous.
Then the doctor came in, introduced himself and gave me the consent forms to fill out. As he put it, if I didn't have the c-section either I or the baby would die, or both. While I signed my name, I thought "my you're quite the ray of sunshine aren't you!"
A nurse took me into the OR and explained that I'd get a shot of lidocaine and then the resident anesthesiologist would put in my spinal block. They had the worst time even getting the lidocaine in because, again I got really nervous and kept flinching when they touched me. The birth instructor told us that that happens to some women, where they get so nervous that they interpret everything as pain. She also told us that if they can't get the pain under control these women usually have to have general anesthetic during their c-sections. I already knew that I wasn't going to have the birth I wanted, but I was determined to have the c-section I wanted. The nurse suggested that I might be flinching because I was cold (I swear it was like 40 degrees in there!) and thought that warm blankets might help me relax. She gave me a few blankets and I tried to focus on the warmth of the blankets and not the pain in my back. All of the sudden the "real" anesthesiologist (who had taken over for the resident) said "got it!" and I felt this warm sensation spill down my back into my legs and I started to feel wobbly. The nurses helped me lay down on the operating table. I had told the anesthesologist that I often had to have several injections of novocaine before I felt numb, so to help the numbing process along, they tipped the table down so that I felt like I was almost standing on my head. It was such a wierd sensation. He tested how numb I was getting by poking me with a broken tongue depressor. I had to laugh at that because here I was in this ultra modern hospital having a c-section and that's the best they could come up with to check on how numb I was getting.
Finally, they brought my DH in. Later my DH told me that they had told him that they'd get him about 5 minutes after I was brought to the OR, but it had taken them about 20 to put my spinal block in, so he had convinced himself that something horrible had happened to me! Poor guy.
Before they started the surgery, a nurse asked me if I wanted a mirror to see the baby being born. I declined because I didn't want to see myself cut open (I'm ok seeing other people's blood, just not my own...in what I assumed to be mass quantities). They asked DH if he wanted to see, but he's even more squeemish than I am and also declined. Everyone looked at us like we were nuts! Apparently everyone who has a c-section wants to watch!
The surgery started and the whole time I kept waiting for the doctor to say "oops" or "uh-oh" or for the mood to get frantic, but it seemed like it was no big deal for anyone except me and DH. I was convinced that since I had been so lucky through out the pregnancy, that something horrible would go on during the birth.
The anesthesiologist and his resident were talking about their weekend plans as they monitored me...I felt like saying "yeah, enjoy your beach house, I'll be in here recuperating from surgery thank you very much!!" Finally a nurse told me that I'd feel lots of pressure, which I did, but no pain. I thought I'd hear more suction noise or something, but before I knew it, the doctor announced "its a boy!" and handed TJ off to some nurses to be checked. I tried to get DH to go check on him, but he wanted to stay by me and make sure I was ok. One of the nurses asked if I could hear the baby, and I said no, because I thought he should be crying, but then all of the sudden I heard this humming noise and I asked, "is that the baby?!" She said yes and I was so happy that I could hear him! They brought him around to me and I asked if it was ok for me to touch him. The nurse laughed and said "of course its your baby!" I was surprised at how calm TJ was. The rest of the surgery went well. I was very suprised that everything went so well. I didn't even need a blood transfusion. I really felt that Rachel was keeping an eye out for me.
I kept telling DH to go check on TJ but he wanted to stay with me. If I ever need another C-section I'll have my mom stay with the baby. Even though I knew he was just down the hall, it was still little scary that he wasn't with me.
Finally they took me back to the pre-op room to rest for a few minutes before they brought me to the Post-partum unit. A nurse came in with TJ and I finally got to hold him. He laid on my chest and lifted his little head up to look at me. All of the nurses cooed until he, rather violently, flopped his head back down. They let me hold him while they took me down the post partum. Once we got to our room DH and I started calling our friends and family to let them know about TJ's arrival. The next day, one of my nurses was named Rachel! I couldn't believe it! At first I wasn't sure if I was ready to deal with someone who had the same name as my friend, but I'm glad I didn't ask for another nurse. Later on DH and my mom remarked to me how much she looked like my friend! There were so many times that I felt Rachel with me even if she couldn't physically be there. It was so comforting.
My recovery went pretty well, although my brother made the mistake of bringing over a Mitch Hedberg DVD (he's a comedian) and I was really sore from laughing. I had no infections and I could eat real food the next day! We only had some issues with breastfeeding, but those were resolved and at 26 months, TJ shows no signs of stopping that!
My OB said that I would be a very good candidate for a VBAC. So I'm hoping that history doesn't repeat itself and I don't have placenta previa again.
Sorry this was so long, but it felt good to write this all down.

So Tuesday I woke up with contractions lasting 15 minutes apart, but were not strong. So evening comes and around 7:30 my water broke and I had bloody show. Left for hospital and upon arrival was about 3cm. Then progressed to a 5 then an 8 then a 10. It went so fast then babies head was right there pushing out and 20 minutes later she came out. I was so emotional and was able to reach down and help grab her out. It truly was one of the most memorable and meaningful moments of my life. My Ob was out of town this night and I got this Dr. who tried to scare us by coming in and asking me questions like why do I want a VBAC? I said I had done my research and felt very comfortable with my decision and it was very important to me to stay with my plan etc. I also told him how there are risks with C-section too and I felt confident my body would be ok for this. He said he did not feel I was a good candidate and would not recommend it. I could not believe it. Here I was having contractions every 2 minutes apart and he wants to try and change my plan. He even had this form that he read off saying the risks about death for me and or baby etc. I already Knew this but it scared my hubby and he started questioning me. I told my hubby I had already done my research and he is just doing his job by trying to cover his rear. I could tell my hubby was scared. But I stayed firm and told Dr. that I want to still do VBAC and would like to avoid a c-section at all costs. Then towards the end he really changed his tune and was saying how wonderful my body was responding to this delivery and how great I did..... Blah Blah Blah........ I only had to push for 20 minutes and hubby was able to pull her out and I did too and put her right on my chest. It was a wonderful moment I will never forget. Here are some pictures of me and daughter 1 1/2 hours before we left to hospital and us introducing baby to dog. and little Reese.

Here's my story-


C-section- My baby was breech, feet first. I have an unusual shaped uterus- the right half never developed, so I only have a left half and left tube. So since there is more room for the head, babies in women with this anomaly tend to be breech. I had scheduled a c-section for May 4, 2005. Well on April 23 I felt no movement from my baby. I had only felt a little movement over night, and nothing at all in the morning. I called the doctor and was told to come in for monitoring. After a half hour of monitoring and a pretty long ultrasound, the doctor came in and said my baby needed to come out now, that he wasn't doing well. 15 minutes later he was born. He had the cord wrapped around his neck 4 times, and that's why he wasn't moving. After 4 days in the nursery on an IV because his blood sugar was very low, he came home and is fine.


My VBAC- My second baby was born in the hospital on Sept 23, 2007. He was head down and I got a lot of encouragement from my doctors to do a VBAC. I started labor around 10 pm the night before. Around 2 am the contractions were 5 min apart, and I was told to come in and get checked, since I was a VBAC, and they wanted me in earlier than later. I was only 1 cm, so after walking around the hospital for an hour, they sent me home. I went back around 2:30 pm when the pain was pretty intense and contractions were 3 min apart. I was 5 cm at that point, and got a room and an epidural shortly after. From that point on I had my own nurse and was monitored all the time. My doctor let my body do all the work, and when I got to 10 cm, she didn't have me push, she waited another couple of hours until his head was way down, so I only ended up pushing a few times- 20 minutes worth of pushing and he was out. And even though I was monitored all the time, my doctor and nurses didn't freak out when I would move and the would detect my heartbeat instead of the baby's, they just moved monitors around until they found his. Since that happened every time I changed positions, they weren't overly concerned. Over all it was a great experience.

Caitlyn just seconds old!




8lbs 5oz

11:12pm, January 13th 2008

19 3/4 inches

14 inch head

Born at home, in the water.

I am editing my birth story a bit cause I wrote it so quickly I didn't talk much about the emotions that came with each phase and honestly, when I wrote it, nothing had quite sunk in yet.

I went and saw Rikki Lake's documentary 'The Business of Being Born' Saturday night (01/19/08) I walked out in tears afterward running to Jill to say 'Thank You' and give her a hug. The whole thing made me realize how special Caitlyn's birth is to me.



Friday, January 11th - I had an appointment with Jill (midwife). I was 2cm, 75% and +2 station. Jill massaged my uterus and stretched the cervix. I was 40 weeks and 5 days pregnant. I was ecstatic at the progress since our previous visit, but still feeling like this is the pregnancy that will never end

Saturday, January 12th - Chris and I decide that I needed sometime out of the house and went to a local mall for a walk. Something just felt off that morning? The contractions were getting stronger and more frequent, but not labor. But, I felt like it was time. My mother flew in for Ava's arrival and was planning on the same for Caitlyn's, so we called and we made plans for her to fly in that night.

She landed at 7pm? yes I was driving around and having contractions every 15-17 minutes? she kept asking if I really should be driving; god I'm stubborn! I can't thank my mother enough for flying in. She gave me the support I needed with Ava and the extra hand around the house throughout the week.

I went to bed around 10:30 with contractions every 12-15 minutes? they were strong, but nothing like the 'pain' I was 'sure' to encounter! I handled them very well, by breathing through them

Sunday, January 13th - 1 am. I wake up Chris and have him time the contractions; I was no longer sleeping soundly through them. They were every 10 minutes. Again, I'd just breathe through these? I kept thinking to myself 'if this is it, this is easy!' We went back to sleep. I was skeptical that tomorrow was the big day, I didn't want to raise flags with false labor.

Around 10am I kinda got a feeling this was the real deal, I was having contractions every 7-10 minutes, pretty strong. I called Jill and left her a message 'are you ready to have a baby in the next 24-48 hours, cause I think it's time?!' I spent most of the morning on my birth ball, playing with Ava. Chris and I were trying to decide if he should stay home from work? I was still skeptical that I was anywhere near ready.

11:30am?. Where the hell's Jill???? She still hadn't called back and I wanted that security that she's a phone call away!!!!! Now, see, when I panic like that, something's gotta be goin' on. She finally called back 30 minutes later. I told her to take a nap and I'd call when I felt like I needed her support.

1pm. Chris ain't goin' nowhere!! My contractions are down to 5-7 minutes strong and ALL in my back. I really had to focus through them. I started using hypnobirthing breathing techniques and some visualization. I turned on some very mellow music. The contractions were strong, but not a 'pain' I couldn't handle and honestly, I don't think I'd call them painful, more, uncomfortable.

We made plans for Ava to go to MIL's house and was picked up by 2:30. This whole picking up Ava thing, really upset me, cause MIL and I don't get along. The last thing I wanted was her in my house while I was trying to relax. Long story really short, she told Chris some BS lie about I told her to come get Ava NOW, when really I told her she needed to be making plans with Chris. Chris and I were thinking 5pm ? 6pm? She kept trying to talk to me and give me hugs and my moms standing across from me saying 'wait, she's having a contraction? give her a minute' FINALLY, Chris was able to usher her out of the house, but it took me awhile to calm back down.

After this fiasco I called Jill, now I needed her!

3:30pm, Jill arrives. Shortly thereafter, Alex arrives. Alex is an Apprentice midwife and has recently had her 1st home birth after 2 c-sections, she was a great source of motivation/inspiration to have there with me.

By the time Jill and Alex arrived, I had been in and out of my pool, which was soooo comfortable and relaxing.

We get Jill and Alex set up. Sterilize some tools, get them familiar with where everything was kept (towels, medical supplies etc.) we check Caitlyn's heart tones, 130, which is extremely normal for her. Jill check's me: 4 ? 4 1/2cm, 100% with just a small lip remaining and +2 station! I was excited! Were gonna have a baby!

I kept changing positions, I no longer was feeling contractions up front (uterus/cervix) I was ONLY feeling them in my back. And they were becoming more and more uncomfortable. I was trying hard not too, but I moaned through most of them, it just felt right.

By 5pm the back labor went from uncomfortable to downright painful. Jill, Alex and Chris all took turns applying pressure to my lower back. They massaged me with Bengay. Even between contractions I needed the constant pressure. At this point I switched from music to Hypnobirthing affirmations; I needed to be some place different, I was getting discouraged I couldn't do this!

Along with the painful back contractions, came the nausea. After every contraction I was getting sick. I couldn't keep down water or food. We checked Caitlyn's heart tones. 180! She was taka cardia (sp?) Basically, she was showing signs of distress. We all went into panic mode at that point, we have 20 minutes to get heart rate down or we need to get to the hospital ASAP! I needed to eat, get some water and change positions.

This was incredibly scary for me. A hospital transfer means a c-section; my worst nightmare.

Thankfully 20 minutes later, after some much needed food and water, her heart tones were back down in the 120's? I did however continue to vomit after each and every contraction. Jill check me again 5cm's. WHAT!

I should mention at this point that my contractions were no longer regular. As soon as they became painful in my back, they began to only last 15-30 seconds and come every 15 minutes or so. They became so painful that my sciatic nerve would send shooting pains from my mid back through my thighs. I was paralyzed with every contraction. It wasn't a matter of relaxing, I slept between each and every one. REALLY! I would fall asleep on the side of the tub and wake up for the next one! I was discouraged. But Jill convinced me that 5 to 10 would go quickly.

Eventually the sciatic nerve pain didn't release even between the contractions. I began moaning and occasionally screaming during them. I began squeezing Chris' hand. No amount of pressure on my back or Bengay was relieving the pain. I couldn't stand, I couldn't kneel? the thought of moving was painful in and of itself.

10:30pm? I announce: I'M DONE! I need pain management help! We talked about a hospital transfer and the hope that MAYBE I could convince them to let me finish labor and not rush me in for a c-section. Jill was frustrated too. The contractions weren't regular; they weren't strong, so likely there would be little to no progress. BUT, there's a chance that I'm magically ready to push.

GO FIGURE! I'm 9 1/2cm's, with the bag bulging!!!!! My lack of confidence is common during transition. Many women decide 'they just can't do it' just before they are ready to push.

Hearing my progress, just made me that much more motivated! I'm ready! Lets have a baby!

Jill and Alex ask me to wait just a few more minutes while they got the necessary medical supplies ready. Jill asked where I wanted to be, tub, floor, bed? We decide on the tub, which was now way too cool and needed to be refilled. While I'm waiting for that, Alex gets me ready to break the water.

What a weird feeling that is. Jill tried to break the water by flicking the sac, but alas, we had to break out a 'crochet hook' I am so surprised how much water it actually was! It literally felt like a water balloon exploded inside me. Jill checked me one last time to make sure the cord didn't come down before Caitlyn's head; it didn't, I'm ready!

But the back pain. How was I going to move from the floor to the tub??? After several false starts, I finally got on my knee's in the tub, I leaned over the side. Hindsight, I really wanted Chris to catch Caitlyn, I really wanted him in there with me, I should have been more vocal about this. Chris chose to sit in front of me wiping my face with cool rags. That was incredibly helpful however!

Pushing came naturally and easy. The pressure was extraordinary; I want to describe it as pleasure. Some women have had orgasm's during childbirth, I don't want to say that's what I had, but the pleasure sensation was amazing. I could feel Caitlyn moving lower and lower with each push. The lower she got, the better my back felt. I wish I had made plans before hand to catch Caitlyn myself, but I was still paralyzed, I couldn't twist or turn still. I'm kinda bummed about this, but secretly wishing I have a chance to have a 2nd homebirth in the future!

Anyway, throughout the whole pushing phase I was quiet, only saying a few words; even making a joke. But one push made me let out a huge scream. Miss Caitlyn decided her elbow should come out with her head! Jill had to reach in and pull her arm out? little stinker! With out Jill's assistance, pushing anymore could have caused some serious damage (tears). All in all, I pushed for 17 minutes!

Looking back, I kinda didn't want to make those last few pushes. The last 10 months of my life have been spent planning this big event. I've been wrapped up in the anticipation of this moment and it's here, I don't want it to be over!

Caitlyn joined us at 11:12pm, January 13th, 2008 weighing 8lb'ss, 5oz's at 19 3/4 inches long, 14inch head and 14.5inch chest circumference and absolutely beautiful.







As soon as Caitlyn was in Jill's hands I fell back in the pool onto my butt?. Yes, sitting on Caitlyn's cord! It took an acrobatic move to get her under my leg and onto my chest. All I could think was 'I DID IT!' I was speechless. I was in awe.

Caitlyn and I sat in the warm water for what felt like an eternity. We let the cord stop pulsating before Chris cut the cord. Then I had to wait for the delivery of the placenta. I didn't want to move anyway. It felt great to not be in pain anymore. I was brought orange juice and leftover nacho's. My mom finally came up to see us.

The placenta was delivered and transferred into a Tupperware storage to be freeze dried and encapsulated. YES. I am eating my daughters placenta! (www.placentabenefits.info) That alone was a unique experience, delivering the placenta.







This was an amazing experience. Everyone say's they admire me and I'm a bigger woman than they are, cause they couldn't do it?. But honestly, the pain you experience is just a brief moment in time, then it's over. Nothing will ever compare to the joy I feel when I think about Caitlyn's birth. She joined us peacefully at home, with no medical intervention that wasn't necessary. I didn't have to rush off to some hospital with strangers constantly poking and prodding me. If I was hot, I cooled off. If I was cold, I warmed up. If I wanted to be nude I could, if I wanted to sit, stand, lie down, squat, kneel? whatever, I could.

Women are constantly worried about 'THEIR' dr. not being there and in reality, the dr's only with you for a fraction of the time your in labor. Would an OB spend 8 hours with you applying pressure to your back? No. Would a midwife, YES. Midwife literally means 'WITH WOMAN'? If I wanted Jill to come 4, 5 or even 10 hours earlier, she would have been there. I encourage every woman with a normal, low risk pregnancy to find a midwife. OB/GYN's are surgeons, they are good at what they do, surgery and in the rare need for a surgeon, I am thankful they are there, but what about a normal healthy pregnancy requires surgery?

My birth story goes something like this, i was 20 -22 weeks pregnant with my daughter when i noticed i was swelling up like a macy's day parade balloon! my ankles were nonexistant and even my face was bigger. i called my OB nurse and she said its normal, keep my feet up, and if i get really concerned i can go to the hospital and get everything checked out. on the 4th of july i was hanging out with some friends and one in particular freaked me out. she told me this wasn't normal, something is wrong, and since i was due to go out of town in 9 days, i REALLY needed to get myself checked out. hince, i went tot he hospital the very next day. i had called my boss and told her i just needed a peice of mind and that i would call her later and probably be there in a few hours. the first thing that they do is check my BP - HIGH, run some labs - ABNORMAL, do and U/S - baby is measuring at 22 weeks not 24 like it should be. they send me home on bedrest and have me do a 24 hour urine sample. i comply and go back the very next day for results. they redo labs and BP. bad news, i am spilling protein in my urine. they send be back home on bed rest and tell me that i HAVE to get in to see my dr first thing in the morning. again, i comply. when i finally get into my dr office to see a NP because it was friday and all Drs were buys, they see me for about 15-30 minutes and send me immediately to a hospital with a level III NICU. they basically tell me i am looking at a premature birth within the next few weeks. so off we are to the hospital. we call my mom, my husbands mom and my boss to tell them all whats going on. i get to the hospital, and almost immediately i am admitted. they tell me it looks like have PIH and i won't be going home pregnant. the goal now was to keep me pregnant as long as possible. i was in the hospital for 1 week exactly when things took a turn for the worst. my BP kept climbing higher, and now my liver is starting to shut down along with my kidneys, causing the worst pain i have ever felt. it was then, the Drs decided to induce. i was 25 weeks and 6 days. i was in L&D for 4 days on Magnisum, Pitocin, Pennicilin, and regular fulids. i only dilated to 1-2... at 26 weeks and 2 days, they did an emergency csection bringing rylie marie in at 1 lb 7 oz. she stayed in the NICU for 81 days and has not lasting effects of her prematurity. i am now 17 weeks pregnant with baby #2 and completely plan on haveing a VBAC. i was lucky enough to have a regular csection so i have the choice. i'll have to let you all know how it goes in JULY!!!!

Here's my story

Jackson Page

Mon. Feb. 18, 2008

7:25am

7lb 9 oz

21 inches



8pm Sunday evening I was putting my son, George, to bed. I was talking about "baby Jackson" coming home soon (as I was scheduled for a c-section tuesday) and I showed him a picture of himself when he was a newborn to show him what Jackson might look like.

I put the picture away and a few seconds later I felt a strong punch from the baby way down low and a few seconds later, water started to flow. I told George I'd be right back and I ran to the bathroom. When I stood up again, it gushed some more so I knew this was it! At this point, George had gotten out of bed and was following me around, playing. I called my mom and dh and they soon arrived (DH was helping a friend move some furniture).

We arrived to the hospital at about 9:30 pm and I was having pretty strong contractions, 5 minutes apart. They checked me in and settled in. About 11pm they checked me and I was about 4cm.

I labored for a few hours, then had to ask for an epideral because the pain was just too much for me, and I was loosing my relaxation techniques quickly. She checked me again and I was almost 7cm. This was about 1am.



The anesthesiologist came in and it took her 2 HOURS to get my freakn epideral in and complete. That was sooo hard! I had to sit perfectly still through 3 contractions, when I felt like jumping out of my skin!



Once that was over, I felt much better, although I couldn't fall asleep. I could tell I was having ctx but they weren't painfull.



At 5am my midwife checked me and said - "you ready to have a baby? His head is right there!"



So, I pushed for a while but couldn't feel enough to do so efficiently, so they turned off the epi. I started feeling them again almost immediatly. I pushed in various positions to get the baby turned, but eventually they turned the epi back on to give me a couple of bolus doses to take the edge off, which helped tremendously and I was able to push better.



So, 2 1/2 hours of pushing, and Jackson finally made his way out! (at 7:25 am) Once his head was through, his body came flying out very quickly, and his shoulders gave me a 4th degree tear, from "top to bottom". the midwife called for the physician to stitch me up.I'm so glad I had the epi at that point!

I held Jackson while she finished.



I'm greatful that I was able to experience a vbac, but the tear was not so fun! We are planning on having at least one more child, and whether or not I have another vbac depends on how well I heal "down there". Dr said I may have to go see a specialist and have another surgery to fully repair things, but I pray that it will heal well on its own. Only time will tell, but things feel ok so far!



Jackson is a good baby who nurses all the time and George LOVES his little brother!!

Joshua
Connor

Due 02/15/2008

Born Thursday, 02/21/2008 at 3:02am

9lbs 9oz,
21 ½ inches





On
Tuesday night I started getting contractions (that I could recognise as
contractions - before that I didn't know if I was having them). They were not that bad, but at around 3am they started getting worse, so that
I was unable to sleep. I took a bath and
then tried to sleep, but wasn't very successful. Around 10am we decided to go to the
hospital. By then my contractions were
between 4 and 6 minutes apart. We got to
the hospital but of course when I got all the straps on to monitor the
contractions they dropped right back to every 7 - 10 minutes. They did an internal check and I was 1cm
dilated (up from 0 the day before). The
doctor on call said we should go home because it didn't look like anything was
going to happen soon, although it could still be later that day, but maybe only
in a few days.

I was a
little disappointed, but not too bad. We
went home (on the walk through the parking lot to the car I had about 3
contractions - typical - when the doctor couldn't see!). We were home at about 12 and then just stayed
home. I relaxed mostly, because I wanted
to see if the contractions got stronger when I was lying down, not moving (I
was getting them much more often when I was moving). The contractions got stronger and stronger,
then it was almost Kevin's bedtime, so we decided to bring it forward a little
and put him in bed before we went back to the hospital. Our neighbour came over to watch Kevin and
stay the night. By the time I was back
on the same bed I had been on earlier that day to see how my contractions were
going, it was around 9pm.
They were quite painful by this time (DH had to press hard into my back
to help ease the pain, and I was definately not able to walk through them. Then the nurse examined me and I was 4cm
dilated. So I was admitted into the
hospital. This time I was so relieved,
because the contractions were already very painful and I had told my DH that if
they had told me we must go back home, I would have cried (actually, I cried
from relief when they told me I could stay!).
They asked me if I would be wanting an epidural, and I told them I
definately would!

I was
taken to the labor and delivery room. It
took AGES for the anaethetist to get there (maybe it wasn't so long, but it
felt like ages to me). Eventually he got
there and put the epidural in. Then
things started getting better. I could
feel contractions in my left leg - it would ache, but it wasn't
unbearable. So I started enjoying the
labour again. We had a very nice nurse,
and around 11 she checked me again and I was 7cm dilated. A little while later I felt a funny pop and
water gushed out in the bed. After
changing the pad under me, the nurse said that I must call her if I felt like I
needed to do a bowel movement, because that would mean that the baby was on
it's way down. About half an hour later
I started feeling like that during contractions, but she said it was too
early. An hour later it was getting
really uncomfortable, where I had to start doing breathing exercises during
contractions with the pressure on my bottom.
It was about 12:30am.
I told the nurse that it was much worse, but she didn't check me
then. At about 1am she came and said the
doctor was being called down for somebody else, so she'd check me, although she
didn't expect me to be ready until about 3 (she said on average a woman dilates
about 1cm an hour, especially when it's the first vaginal birth). She checked me and surprisingly announced
that I was ready, I was 10cm. So she
showed me what I (and DH had to do). It
was just the 3 of us in the room. I had
to tell them when I felt a contraction starting, then they would each help me
lift up a leg (I could feel them, but they were more heavy and my right one was
difficult to control properly) and they would hold my legs up, I had to grab
between my knees and pull my legs towards my body while taking a deep breath
through my mouth and breathing out through my nose as I pushed. We did 3 cycles of 10 at each
contraction. For the first few cycles it
felt as if I was going to blow my face up, but then I started being able to do
it so that the pressure was going towards getting the baby out instead of my
face. She asked me before we started if
I wanted a mirror, and at first I wasn't sure, but I told her to put it there
and I could close my eyes if I didn't want to look. But it actually helped because it didn't take
long before I could see the baby's hair, so I could see if I was pushing
properly or not (after some pushes I couldn't see it, so those were
wrong). After a while the head would
stay longer after I had stopped pushing, but then would suddenly pop back
inside again. Then she called the
doctor. He came in, they split the bed
up so that he was sitting in position to get the baby etc. We continued as we had before, except now I
couldn't see the baby because the doctor took the mirror away. So I watched him instead and I saw him cut me
during a few contractions, and he also put his hands on the baby's head to try
pull him out. Suddenly there was a lot of pressure, Dh and the nurse started
cheering me on, and that was when the head popped out. Then I felt a funny
squigly wriggly feeling and the baby slid out.
The doctor held him up and I saw him and realized that we had a boy, not
a girl as I had guessed! They passed him
to me and he lay on my chest while the doctor asked DH if he wanted to cut the
cord. I held Joshua for quite a while (I
had asked to do this before it all started and they had said they would do that
if the baby was ok). The doctor stitched
me up while I held Joshua. Later the
nurse bathed him in the room with us.

At my
last U/S I was told the baby was sunny side up, and DH said he saw Joshua come
out and he was facing upwards ? so that explains the extreme back labor I was
having.

What wasn?t
so nice about the labour is that I threw up a few times, although I don?t think
it was from the epidural, as I threw up the day before too. Apart from that though, it was a very nice
experience, where the nurse, DH and I were chatting between contractions.



Just born - Papa still had to cut the umbilical cord (they did it with Joshua lying on me)


The nurse took him to weigh him after I had held him for a while, then gave him back.






Then she took him to wash him him in the basin in the room adn then she dressed him.



Kevin met Joshua later that day.

Gabriel James


Due March 14, 2008


Born March 15, 2008


1:55am


8lb 1oz


21.5"




Hey ladies! This is Gabriel's story. I had a cesarean with my first due to breech positioning.




Well, I just got back from the hospital today. Things over the last few days have been a blur. Gabriel is here and he is a DOLL! I got my VBAC AND he was "sunny side up" (posterior postition) :-)




I started having timeable (not really painful at all) contractions on Wednesday. Consistently about 8min apart. Then they mostly went away for the night. Thursday they kicked in around noon and we timed them for hours and hours at 5 min apart, but still not too painful. They had me come in to check me since they were regular (since I was tyring the VBAC), even though they weren't really painful. I was one centimeter and went home. That night was horrible. I was in a lot of pain and wasn't sure when to go back in. I gave in to the pain at 5am on Friday and we headed out to the hospital. At this time they were coming at 4 minutes apart. Got checked and I was 2cm. I chose to walk around. Went back up after and hour and half and was 3cm. They admitted me at about 10am. I was having a realllllly long early labor.




I was going to see if I could do it without an epidural, but I had to have it. :-) I labored a while. Head had been low forever and I was at 4cm and stayed there for a long time. Dr told me to continue laboring since I was effacing, even though I was not dilating. My contractions had stalled too, and she suggested pitocin although I really did NOT want to introduce that and increase my chance of uterine rupture.




At about 9:30p and still being 4cm, I agreed to pitocin. They started it, and man, I had enormous pain/pressure about 45 min later. They checked me at 10:45 or so and I was ready to start pushing. All it took was me saying yes to Pitocin to really get things kicked up. 4-10cm in an about an hour. LOL




So, I pushed for about 1 1/2 hours until he was delivered sunny side up. I have a 2nd degree tear, but straight. There was meconium and that was scary waiting for them to finish suctioning before they would let him cry. All is great and we are home and happy, and I am in such a different world than I was after Charlotte's cesarean (as I sit here typing with my legs folded indian style) I feel great! Here are some pics!

Since this birth was SO different than Keaton's, I really had to take the time to figure things out before writing it out - and find out quite a few things that I didn't know were going on while I was laboring!



I'd been having real contractions off and on for about a week before the "big day." Thursday (8-14) I woke up to Keaton crying out around 345am. I went to the bathroom and came back to bed. After laying there for about 20 minutes or so, I realized that I had had 3 real, intense contractions. I looked at the clock and saw that it was only 405am. I waited until 420 (and 2 more contractions later) before telling Zach. The contractions were very short (15-20 seconds) but coming every 6 minutes. I called my mom to see if she could come down and help with Keaton (knowing if it wasn't that day it would be the next!) She agreed and got to work getting ready & heading down. I called my midwife to ask how long they needed to be (I knew they needed to last longer than 15 seconds!) and she asked me to wait until they were 60-90 seconds long.



Throughout the morning, the contractions stayed fairly regular, but after lunch, they "fizzled" out and became very sporadic. I talked with our doula, Faye, and she suggested I call my chiro and see if she could get things going again. I made an appointment for 430pm and Zach went with me. A good thing, too. Basically, as soon as she was done adjusting me, my contractions picked back up to 5 minutes apart and started to get a little longer (30-45 seconds) and even more intense.



We headed home with dinner and my contractions continued throughout dinner. I got a shower and they still continued. I called Faye and she encouraged me to rest, rest, rest. After a couple more hours, they were lasting between 45-60 seconds with a couple lasting closer to 90. I called the midwife she asked me to wait just a bit longer. I was getting antsy! I really didn't want to be laboring at the hospital, but I wanted to be there SHOULD something go wrong. I wanted to be in the comfort of my own home, but, I knew we had a 45-60 minute drive! Faye came over, showed me a couple of things to get things going even more. So I'd do these things for a few minutes and rest (rest mainly between contractions).



At 930pm, I decided that it was time. I wanted to be 7cm when we got to the hospital (less time for me to "agree" to an epidural...closer to the finish line!) My contractions were starting to feel like they did when I got the epidural with Keaton (at 6cm) - which is what lead me to believe I was at 6cm or getting close! We called our second doula, Shanna, and she headed on over and our entourage headed to the hospital! On the ride to the hospital, my contractions went from roughly 5 minutes apart to 2-5 minutes apart (I won't lie - I thought we may not make it to the hospital!)



**We had two doulas and were very blessed! Faye does not have her certification but has been through all the doula training, as well as experiencing both a c-section birth and a home VBAC. Shanna is in her training and needed some "observation" time. She stepped right in and was an amazing part of our birth as well**



We got to the hospital and checked into triage and they started to monitor Benjamin and myself. I got checked and the nurse informed me I was at "a good 6cm" - woohoo!! They got me a room with a tub - something I waited ALL day to get into! - and started to get me hooked up to the monitors. After some time, I finally was able to get in the tub. As SOON as I sat down, the midwife came in and informed me that they weren't getting a good read on Benjamin's heartrate and were picking up some "decels" (decelerations in his heart rate). She informed me that they were going to break my water (NOT what I wanted) and do internal monitoring on Benjamin (also, NOT what I wanted!) I was very irritated, but knew the monitoring was for the best. I got out of the tub (not after demanding 5 more minutes and not getting that!) and headed back into my room. The nurse tried to find my veins to start a hep lock for an IV if one was needed - took her two VERY painful tries and then she went to get another nurse to help her out, she eventually "got" it.



My midwife went to break my water which took a good 5 minutes atleast and then found Benjamin's head and inserted/started the internal monitoring. I was still "allowed" to get up and move around, but at this point, I was getting frustrated and didn't feel up to it. Faye came over and reminded me that this was for mine AND Benjamin's good, birth's don't always go the exact way we planned, but it's more likely to go as planned with the internal monitoring.



I continued to labor and after some time I was checked again and was told that I was "9 and a lip" (basically just about a 10) and if I felt the urge to push, I could GENTLY do so to get around the lip. I'd been having that urge for a VERY long time so it was nice to be "allowed" to!



The urge to push was much more extreme by this point and this is when I really began to doubt myself. Faye was very encouraging in "teaching" me how to get through these rough contractions. She continued to remind me of my goal and how close I was to holding our sweet boy! I would be lying if the thought of another c-section didn't sound AMAZING at this point! I didn't voice that concern and had to work really hard to push it out of my mind - I knew it was too late for an epidural and my only two ways out of this pain were a c-section or pushing this guy out!



That's when things started to get scary. Benjamin's heart rate began to drop during the contractions when I was pushing - the same point Keaton's did. I was really getting discouraged by this point. It didn't help that the Attending OB was standing right there witnessing this (I could see dollar signs in her eyes as she was picturing my c-section!) ((The attending was there because the midwife had another patient who was pushing before me. She left to be with her and said she would return as soon as that baby was born - turns out, both our babies were born at the exact same time!))



I got on my side to push, then to my other side. After about 30 minutes of this and his heart rate continuing to drop, they told me my last resort was on hands and knees and oxygen between contractions. As soon as this position/method started, I was wishing for more rest. If I didn't need the oxygen, I could have relaxed a bit between contractions, but unfortunately, I had to continue to hold myself up with one hand and the mask with the other (I did have help from Zach, Faye & Shanna in holding myself, but things would have gotten worse if someone was forcing that mask against my face!) Shortly after being on my hands and knees, Benjamin started crowning and everyone yelling that they could see him encouraged me to press through!



However, at 3am, I was really starting to get tired. Also, hearing his heart rate drop in between contractions and take some time to rise again was not encouraging - I felt like I was doing something wrong to him by pushing. Shortly after 3, the attending said that I needed to get serious and get him out soon. I thought that I had been trying with all that was in me before, but when she said that, all I heard in my mind was, "Get him out NOW or it's another c-section..." All I could think was how much I wanted to avoid that surgery, that recovery, those feelings/thoughts that still plague my mind.... I was screaming "GET OUT" in my head through the next contraction (I don't EVEN want to know what I was really yelling!) For most of the contractions, I could get out 3-3.5 pushes (if there is such a thing as half!) For the last contraction, I got serious...5 pushes and then, before I could realize it, he was out & I heard his sweet screams!



I didn't know what to do with myself once he was out! I just collapsed and tried to catch my breath and wrap my mind around what just happened (and what I just did!) I heard one of the nurses comment about his cord being wrapped around his neck twice (causing the "decels"). Zach said it had to have been loosely wrapped because when he came out, by the time he could realize he was here and look, there wasn't anything around his neck.



I collapsed on the bed for a few minutes and then got some help turning over and finally got to see my sweet, sweet boy. It was so amazing to be able to see, touch and HOLD him immediately after birth (as opposed to stare at him from across the room for a couple hours, like I had to do with Keaton).



It was such a different experience than with Keaton. I've already had family, friends and nurses ask which way I'd do it again (natural, meds, vaginal, c-section) and without a doubt - natural vaginal - definitely. Zach gets a little scared when he hears that, but, he agrees this way was much better. It was amazing to work as a team together to bring this sweet guy into the world. With Keaton, after I got my epidural, I had to be told when I was having a contraction, Zach fell asleep because I didn't need his help through the contractions, he didn't know what to tell me while I pushed and then, even though it was an emergency situation with Keaton, he "sat there" during my c-section. This go round he was able to be so much more involved in every aspect (including me almost breaking his hand on that last contraction/pushes!) For me, it was great to have my husband right by my side encouraging me through it all, letting me know how close we were to seeing Benjamin, how awesome I was doing and be "there" for it all. He was able to clamp and cut Benjamin's cord (last second decision!) and hand him to me. Granted, he's been a lot more exhausted this go round (rightfully so!) but has been still, a huge help in my recovery (such a humbling time!)

Babies Name: Shawn Edward

Babies Gender: Male

Date of Birth: 9/21

EDD: 10/ 2 ( 38w 3d)

Statistics: 11:37p 7lb 2 oz 19 inches

Birth Story:

So, we had a really busy weekend. saterday went to a renaisance festival and walked all day and then that night we did all of our maternity pictures at a friends house. They turned out great will have to post some when I get time. That night we also BD'ed.

Sunday am I woke up at 4 am with contractions and just thought I had to pee, So they contiued and at 430 they were coming every 3-5 minutes apart but not painful so cleaned my house and thought it would help things along. I called my mom and had them come down for the day just in case this was it. The contractions died down and I took nap. We promised Isaac we would take him to the apple Orchard so we went. Contractions started back up but they were like every 5-7 minutes. We went for another walk to try to help things along and they ate supper and during supper I couldnt sit down and was having major contractions. I knew it was time to go.

We left at 645 or so and in the car they were coming every 1-2 minutes apart and I had to breathe through them. We got to the hospital about 700pm and got into our room and they still werent that painful I could manage.

730 they checked me and I was a 5. I was SOOO happy. I wanted to be past 2. that is what I was at when I went in with Isaac and I Knew I could do a VBAC if I was further along.

8pm they decided to break my water and get things moving. Well, things really picked up from there the intensity came on and I had to breathe through every contraction and so on. I DIDNT want a epi but I did get a spot of fytenol(sp?) it was suppose to take the peak of the cotraction off. Well, it did for alike hour or so but were still really painful. Anyways at like 10 they told me it ws time to push. I was in complete disbeleif. Jared was soo awesome supporting me the whole time. So, I started to push and I tried several different pushing positions and I pushed and pushed and pushed. It was the hardest thing I have ever done. Finally I pushed this little guy out! The ring of fire, all I can say is OMG ouch!!!! I did get a 2nd degree tear, which will hopefully heal soon.

He was born at 1137pm via vbac! I am SOOO Proud of myself for being able to do this, it was soo important to me and I did and pretty much drug free. I had the help of my Awesome DH, 2 midwives and a labor nurse.






[center]Here are some pictures!! [/center]



Proud Mommy and Daddy mintues after birth!


[center]

[/center]


[center]Proud mommy Mintues after birth!



Isaac meeting is brother for the first time!

[/center][center]

Isaac checking him out and his little feet!



Our new happy family!





[/center]

Thanks for looking and sorry it got long winded!

jayden kenneth neal k*****



sept. 15, 2008



8 lbs 19.25 inches



i was having contractions on and off all day on the 14th but they were just like i'd been having for almost two months so i thought nothing of it. my husband and i laid down for bed at around 11:30pm. about 15 minutes later i noticed that the contractions were coming closer together. they usually stopped when we laid down for bed. so i paid attention to them for awhile although i didn't think it was going to happen. at 12:30am they were coming every 3-5 minutes. i waited about 45 minutes and tried to wake up my husband. he's not that easy to wake up and when i told him about the contractions he said ok and rolled over and went back to sleep. so it took me about 30 minutes to wake him up. we both still didn't think it was going to happen. around 2am they were getting stronger and were every 2 minutes apart. so i called my dr and my dh called his sister because she was keeping zakary. she lives about an hour away though so we had to bring zak with us and she was picking him up from there. We got to the hospital around 3 am. I was 2 cm and 80% effaced. I was in a lot of pain at that point so i asked for the epidural. I had planned on going without pain meds but I couldn't do it. So they sent for that. They checked me again at 6 am and I was 5 cm and 100% effaced. My dr broke my water and put some internal monitors on. I was in a lot of pain after that. The contractions were coming way stronger then before and even closer together. At 8:30 am they came to give me my epidural. I was in heaven after that. I couldn't feel anything. My left side was so numb I couldn't move it until an hour after I delivered though. At 9:15 am my dr came back in to check me. I was 8-9 cm. She said she'd be back in about half an hour and I should be ready to start pushing. I started pushing at 9:50 am. After about 15 minutes of pushing the baby's heartbeat started to drop with every push. The doctor let me try a little longer and then they said they needed to use the vacuum to help get him out faster or else I might have to have a repeat c-section. After pushing for maybe 5 more minutes with the vacuum jayden was born. It was 10:24 am. I tore in three places. He had had a bowl movement in the womb and they had to take him right away to suck it out. After they got it he still wasn't breathing well so they had to take him to the nicu. They let me hold him for a minute first which I was very thankful for since I didn't get to hold zak until he was 2 days old. Jayden had liquid in his lungs and air around his lungs. He only had to be on oxygen for a couple hours. He was still breathing too fast to come out of then nicu though. I didn't get to see him until about 6pm. The next morning at around 9 am they let me breastfeed him. He had been on an iv before that. At 3 pm he came out of the nicu. He was in the room with us. At 1am he wasn't eating very well and the nurse said he looked like he might be jaundice so she took him to the nursery for awhile. He had developed jaundice. They brought him to my room every 3-4 hours so I could feed him but other then that he had to stay in the nursery under the lights. The next day at around 9 am he came off the lights but they wanted to keep an eye on him. I was to be discharged that day but they wanted to keep him until the next morning the retest for the jaundice. My nurse tried to let me stay another night but she couldn't. So the next morning we called the hospital and he was ready to come home. We had to follow up with his doctor the next day. He's been good every since. He's not sleeping at night too well yet but that's to be expected I guess. Some nights I get some sleep and other nights I don't get any at all. He eats way too much. I feel like I can't keep up with it. Zak doesn't pay any attention to him at all and isn't acting any different. I'm still sore from tearing and I pulled back muscles too. Everything is going pretty well though.

Finally posted (click to link)



A few things for here that I didn't include...

...they did NOT ask for/receive my post-op paperwork from Katherne's c/s for breech positioning

...the doc there does vaginal breech deliveries!



It took me a while to write this up. All-in-all, its a happy story. And a more recent photo...

Initial c-section (June 2007): At a routine DA, my son's heart rate was non-existent. I was rushed to the hospital and he was delivered via c-section since they did not know what was going on in utero. Within 24 hours of delivery, his heart had corrected itself and all was well.

Unsucessful VBAC (11/21/08): My doctor and I decided I was an excellent VBAC candidate. At 40 weeks and 2 days, he decided to induce me with a low dose of pit. We arrived at the hospital and the pit. begain at 6:30 am. By 7:30 am, my contractions were pretty intense and coming on top of one another. The doctor broke my water and insert an internal fetal heart monitor b/c it seemed like the heart was doing something funky (sound familiar?) After an hour of TERRBILE contractions that hurt worse than anything I have felt before, the doctor told me that he could not let me continue to labor. The baby's heart was jumping from 150 bpm to 72 to nothing and then back up again. I was extremely upset but my doctor said I had no choice. I was wheeled to the OR, prepped for surgery and Noah was born at 10:33 am. Turns out, he had a double knot-one of which was very tight. He said that if I had made it to pushing, I would have had an emergency c-section where I would have been knocked out.

All in all, it was not what I wanted, but I am doing okay. The recovery has been MUCH better (at least the 1st 24 hours). Noah has been hooked up to monitors b/c his heart beat is abnormal. Hopefully that corrects itself soon.

Water broke on 11/26 at 8pm. No contractions. Called the hospital and they said to hang out a home awhile. So I did. Went into the hospital at 1030pm. Got triaged. Water had indeed broken. Was admitted. Still no contractions.

Went to room. Advised to sleep. Had light contractions. Did not sleep. That was a bad choice.

Practioner came in at 7am. Checked me. 3-4cm dialated. Contractions not even showing up on monitor. Advised I was making progress. Told to wait a while.

Sometime before noon contractions stop. I fall asleep.

Around noon, they decide to start pitocin, but a very small amount. Added in very small increments until contractions came on steady.

Got in the tub somewhere around 6-7cm. THE TUB IS AWESOME. IF YOU CAN GET IN THE TUB. GET IN THE TUB.

Practioner showed up and she had me get out of tub. Contractions came on very very strong. She left the room and I was ready to push.

Pushed for 25 minutes and baby boy was born!

I didn't have an epidural but I did take a dose of some pain medicine through IV. It started with "Nu" and it did not make me loopy but did seem to relax me a bit and "take the edge off".

The baby was on a fetal monitor the whole time, but the monitor was hooked up to this box that allowed me to move around however I wanted. It did not bother me.

I also had a hep-lock which was no big deal. It was a little more annoying to have the pitocin through the IV but I still was able to get in the tub or sit on the ball.

No problems or complications.

I had a C-section due to breech baby with my first.

Both ways have their plusses and minuses. Having a baby the normal way is harder up front but an easier recovery. But I nursed both babies and felt like I bonded fine with both.



I encourage women to discuss their options with their doctor and do their own research as to what they want to do. I don't think one way is better than the other. Pushing a baby out of your vagina isn't exactly fun.

I also encourage everyone to learn everything they can about both ways so neither is a surprise.

On Sunday (1/18/09) DH, TJ, and I went to a mall. We did tons of walking and I was so hoping that I’d go into labor from all of the walking around. Of course I didn’t. Then Monday I did a ton of housework hoping that would trigger labor. Again, nothing! Then Tuesday, I was so sore and tired, I just took it easy all day. That night I made my grandma’s homemade macaroni and cheese recipe for dinner. After dinner TJ and I went to bed. DH stayed up late playing World of Warcraft. Shortly after DH came to bed, around 2am, I felt kind of wet all of the sudden. I went to the bathroom and I couldn’t tell if my water had broken or not, but there was a little bit of blood. I was really excited, thinking it was bloody show and that I’d have my baby in my arms soon. I also couldn’t believe that the day before I went into labor was so restful and I’d eaten probably the blandest dinner ever, instead of something spicy!
I decided to let DH sleep for a bit, so I didn’t wake him up right away. I started to get contractions and I felt like I had to go to the bathroom every five minutes, so I gave up and decided to just sit in the bathroom. I grabbed my copy of “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” so I’d have something to read. I was bleeding a lot more, so I looked up “bleeding” in the book and of course, it listed a ton of terrible possibilities, and suggested that I call my doctor ASAP! This freaked me out, so I called labor and delivery. They said I should go ahead and come in but they also said that I had enough time to get stuff together and take a shower. I woke DH up and let him know what was going on. I called my mom to see if she wanted to come over now or later to watch TJ, she said to check with my brother, Tim, and his fiancée, Alli, (they rent our upper flat) and see if they could just pop down to watch TJ. Alli said they’d just come down when we left for the hospital. I called my mom back and let her know, so she said she’d sleep for a while and then come over. I took a shower (which was so nice!) and got DH up and finished packing last minute things. By about 3:00 we were ready to go. I woke TJ up to let him know were leaving, but he hardly woke up enough to know what was going on. Then Tim and Alli came downstairs and we were off to the hospital.
We got to the ER and they asked if I wanted a wheel chair or not. I asked for one, and I’m glad I did because there was no way DH and I would have found the L&D unit from the ER with out help! We got into triage I got changed into my stylish hospital gown and the nurse hooked me up to the monitors and asked me a bunch of questions. She asked about a birth plan (I was surprised about that!) and I said that I didn’t write anything down, but that I had discussed preferences with my OB. She said that he had put in my chart that I wanted delayed cord cutting. I thought that was cool that he noted that for me. I let her know that I was doing hypnobirthing, but that I would be open to pain meds. For me the most important thing was having a VBAC, but having a natural birth would be icing on the cake so to speak. She thought that it was cool that I was doing hypnobirthing and kept asking if it would wreck my hypnosis if she asked questions. Between questions listened to my hypnobirthing script on DH’s Zune player.
My OB wasn’t in yet, but I saw one of the residents. He checked me and boy did that HURT! I was crying and squeezing DH and the nurse’s hand when he did that! Afterward I told DH that my OB was way gentler when checking! He said that I was 2cm dilated and that the baby was at -3 station. I mentioned that at my last DA a week before the baby was at -1, and the resident started babbling about how they use spots on your spine to determine station—like I was contradicting him or quizzing him or something. At this point, I was really hoping he would not be the one catching the baby!
Anyway, he said that since I was at 2cm, and having regular contractions, I could stay at the hospital. By about 4:30 I was in my L&D room. I put the Zune back on and started having DH give me back rubs, because I was having a lot of back pain. I was also trying to find a good position to labor in. After a while (eventually I had no concept of time) my 2 nurses came in and suggested that I use a birthing ball. They said the back pain was from the baby being sunny side up and that sitting on the ball would help turn him. They also suggested that I talk to the anesthesiologist now, in case I wanted an epi later.
The anesthesiologist came in and he looked just like 2 friends of DH and mine (they’re twins, so we found their triplet I guess!). He was really nice and let me know all of the risks and benefits of an epi as well as other meds and non-medicine ways to cope with pain. He also let me know that his wife had 3 natural births, so he knew that it was possible for me to have one too. He also said that once I got the epi, they’d have to monitor me more closely because if I got the epi I’d go from doing a natural process to a “medical event”, which I didn’t like! I signed the consent form for the epi and the anesthesiologist left and said I should call if I felt like I needed an epi or another drug for pain.
After a while my OB came in and said that he’d cancel our scheduled appointment for that day. He joked that he was dreading it, because he wanted to talk about scheduling a c-section if I went too far past my due date, because he knew that I was going to bargain for as much time I could get out of him. He checked me, which was uncomfortable, but not as painful as when the resident checked me! I was 4cm and the baby was at 0 station at that point and he said that he’d be on the unit for most of the morning if we needed him. On his way out he reminded me that I had a 99% chance of having everything go “perfectly”. He seemed really excited to be part of my VBAC experience. I kept looking over at the little bassinet in the room, trying to visualize my baby being in it, and being able to watch the nurses check him out. I was so excited to actually be able to see that.
I went back to listening to my hypnobirthing scripts and sitting on the birthing ball. I filled out the VBAC survey that was part of a resident’s research study (I was really excited to help out with it!) I went to the bathroom a few times and labored in there. The last time I used the bathroom I thought my stomach looked “high”, like it did before the baby dropped. I kind of brushed it off, thinking that may be the monitor on my stomach was making the gown hang weirdly and that’s why my stomach looked “high”. I went back to the birthing ball, but I couldn’t get comfortable. I complained to DH and the nurse that I kept feeling a weird pain or pressure really low in my abdomen and pelvis between contractions. I knew that pain between contractions could be a sign of rupture, but the nurse didn’t seem concerned, and no one seemed to notice anything weird about my stomach, so I didn’t worry at that point.
By now my contractions were coming about 5 minutes apart but the pain between them was getting worse. I wasn’t able to focus on my hypnobirthing scripts anymore. I told DH that I was thinking about an epi. He asked me if I was sure. I said that I didn’t like being considered a “medical event” but the pain was really getting to me. I told DH that I could handle the contractions alright, but the pain between them was too much. I called for an epi. I felt really defeated at this point, but I kept focusing on the fact that I wanted a VBAC more than anything.
The anesthesiologist came back and we went over the risks and benefits of an epi again and he asked if I was sure I wanted one. I said yes and he started it. I hate hate hate getting poked so I cried like a baby the whole time. I was glad DH was able to stay with me during the whole process, but unfortunately, he hates needles and got sick while the anesthesiologist was working. Luckily he made it to the bathroom. Part of the problem was that he hadn’t eaten anything all day (even though I TOLD him to bring snacks for himself, he didn’t).
Once I got the epi, I got comfy in bed. I was glad that I could still move my legs even though they were totally numb, which was the weirdest feeling. I tried to get DH to go to the cafeteria to get something to eat, but he wanted to wait until I got checked. The nurse checked me. When she did I joked that it was much easier to be checked with an epi than without one. She said, “yeah you would not tolerate this without an epi.” Then she said “I can’t feel the baby’s head.” That got me really scared. She said that it might be because my bladder was full and it pushed the baby up a bit. I had just used the bathroom, so I knew that wasn’t it, but I was trying to hope that it was the problem. The nurse also mentioned that she had short fingers so may be the baby was just in a weird position that was making it hard for her to find it. But I knew that the baby moving up was another sign of rupture, but I didn’t say anything to DH. I just kept focusing on my OB saying that I had a 99% chance of a perfect outcome. The nurse decided to call my OB.
My OB came in and said that he couldn’t feel the baby and that was a sign of rupture. I burst into tears when he said that we needed to do a c-section STAT. All of the sudden there were a million people in my room. Everyone was moving so fast, it was amazing and frightening all at the same time. Nurses took off my glasses and jewelry. The anesthesiologist came back in and explained that he was going to give me more medicine in my epi. People kept telling me that everything would be fine and I kept telling them that I knew I’d be alright but that I was just so disappointed that I wasn’t having a VBAC. I think I actually said “you don’t understand I host the VBAC board!”
They got me to the OR within seconds (it seemed like) and as soon as I was numb enough, started the operation. It felt like the decision to incision time was about 5 minutes. I asked if I could still announce the baby’s gender (another part of my unwritten birth plan) and whoever I asked (a nurse may be?) said “of course!” I tried to stop crying because I didn’t want to be sad when I saw the baby.
I kept asking for DH and they finally brought him in after the surgery was started (luckily he didn’t see anything!) They kept asking if we had a camera. I was surprised because with TJ’s c-section we weren’t allowed to have cameras in the OR. My OB said “your uterus is in tact” when he got in, which was a relief. A senior anesthesiologist, who was supposed to attend a different c-section told DH to take a picture, he said “no!” so she grabbed the camera from him and took a picture! A few seconds after the OB said that my uterus was still in tact, I could hear the baby cry. They took him away for a minute and then brought him to me so I could announce his gender. It was kind of funny because they held him in such a way that all I could see was his “boy parts”. The oxygen they gave me made my throat dry so I could hardly whisper “it’s a boy!”
While my OB finished the surgery, I had DH follow the nurses to take the baby to get cleaned up. I was surprised when they said that he’d be getting a bath, since they usually don’t bathe babies at that hospital, they just kind of rub the vernix into their skin. I found out later from my OB that Ryan was “covered” in muconium, so that’s why he got a bath.
They brought me back to my L&D room to wait for DH and Ryan. My OB came in after the surgery and he seemed really disappointed for me. He knew how bad I wanted a VBAC and I always felt like we were equals in our discussions at my DA’s and now I was “demoted” to patient. I asked him a bunch of questions and he was nice about answering them. I really appreciated him spending that time with me.
Eventually DH came in with Ryan and I finally got to get a good look at him. I couldn’t hold him for a long time because the pitocin they gave me made me shake so bad that I was making the bed rattle and shake. DH and I joked that we should call an old priest and a young priest for me (like the Exorcist). I finally got to hold Ryan and I was able to hold him on the way to the post-partum unit.
A few days later my OB came to see me again and I asked him some more questions about the surgery. I needed to know that it was the right decision. It was then that he told me that Ryan was really high up in my stomach. He said that he didn’t feel him at all when he checked me. I really feel that I would have eventually ruptured, since I had so many signs of it. It’s definitely not the birth story I envisioned, but I’m glad Ryan is here safe and sound. And I want to make it clear that I do not regret trying at all!

This is going to be long, lol!  Don't say I didn't warn you.
 
Kaden Benjamin
Friday, March 13, 2009
7 lbs 13 oz
20.5" long
 
On Sunday March 8th, DH and I went to Target to try to walk Kaden out of me, lol.  I had been having ctx off and on for several weeks.  At my dr. appt the week before the dr. said that at my Monday appt, we would talk about setting up a time to break my water.  I did NOT want to do this at all.  So, I scheduled my appt for Wednesday instead.  So, on Sunday, I knew we needed to do something to get things going.  The week before I was seeing the chiro and doing nipple stimulation in hopes that it would stir something up.  And, nothing.  So, we get to Target and all of a sudden I am getting the aura of the start of a migraine.  I got migraines all through high school and college but they went away after the stresses of school.  I have only had a few since then.  Two of which where the week before I had my BFP's with my LO's, so right away I turned to DH and said, labor is around the corner.  I just know it as I am going through a hormonal change right now.  He told me it was wishful thinking of course.  Got home Monday night and did my nightly ritual of nipple stimulation and had some good ctx for a couple of hours, then nothing so we went to bed.
 
On Monday, I had another appt with the chiro and he did more active accupressure points on my ankles and my hands.  he told me that he would see me back on Wednesday after my dr. appt, and we would go from there based on what the dr. said.  After my appt, we all went bowling, Emma, Adam and I.  Someone told me Bowling can start ctx.  Well, Monday night I had a few, but nothing to write home about.  I woke up in the middle of the night with some and timed them, about 8 minutes apart, but eventually I dozed off, so obviously not the real deal. 
 
All day Tuesday I would have strong ones off and on.  I was just praying things would speed up.  I did more nipple stimulation and took a nap.  Woke up from my nap and the ctx were really strong for a while, but of course, again petered out on me.  I decided that I would go to the mall after I picked Emma up from daycare and we would do some laps (it was way too cold to walk outside).  We walked around a while, and I had a few ctx that I had to stop for.  We decided to eat Applebee's together as I thought, this might be the last time that it is just Emma and me.  Partway through the meal, I started having strong ctx, and was really having to focus my breathing through them.  I was so ready to head home as I didn't know how bad they might get.  Of course, 2 1/2 year olds don't eat fast and she was miss pokey!  Finally she finishes and on the way home I was about ready to die driving because they were getting so strong.  They were still about 8-10  minutes apart, so very doable.  I just wanted to get home and get Emma to bed so that I could focus on them.  I finally get her off to bed and go to the restroom and lose a big chunk of my mucous plug and have some bloody show.  Yay, I thought!  Maybe tonight is the night!!!  After that ctx picked up, and were every 5-6 minutes and I really had to focus through them.  It was so hard because Adam wasn't there to help me breathe and focus.  He asked if he needed to come home from work (he works nights), but I told him to just wait.  He gets off at midnight.  By the time he got home they were very miserable.  I was still losing chunks of mucous, but things weren't speeding up.  He coached me through the ctx all night.  I didn't really sleep at all.
 
Woke up on Wednesday and still having ctx.  UGH!  I swore labor would never end.  Wednesday we took Emma to the sitter for the whole day and Adam and I focused on dealing with the ctx.  We had a friend that was going to pick Emma up so we were hoping sometime that day we would be having a baby.  Ctx all day long were anywhere from 3 minutes apart, then 10, then 3, then 5.  They were all over the place.  We went and did a little shopping as my doula said I needed to walk, walk, walk.  Oh, yeah, I was supposed to go tot he dr. today.  I actually called in and said that my daughter was sick with the stomach flu and I would call back to reschedule, lol!  I'm so naughty!!!  I couldn't go in having ctx, or he would have sent me straight to the hospital.  While we were out and about, they really picked up on a pain scale, but didn't get any closer.  By the time we got home, they had fizzled out again and I was exhausted, so we took a little nap.  I would still wake up for the ctx, but was so exhausted that I was able to sleep in between them.  Not great sleep, but at least something.  Wednesday night was horrible!!!  I literally thought I was going to die all night long.  Ctx would be 3 minutes apart for about 2 hours, then 10, then 5, then 8.  All over again.  Why couldn't things get consistent!
 
I woke up Thursday in tears.  I told Adam, "I can't do this another night.  I just can't anymore."  I was missing Emma as she was gone the whole day before and I was exhausted.  I called my doula and she suggested having Emma come by for lunch and a little time in the afternoon to lift my spirits.  She also said that she had talked to two of her homebirth midwives about my labor pattern, and they said, "Nicci, why do you think dr. don't want to do VBAC's?  Because they take too long and they end up inducing or using pitocin."  She said that most VBAC labors last anywhere from 2-6 days.  I was like, 6 days!!!  I can't do that many more of this!!!  She said that it is because the uterus is only contracting for the first couple of days from the scar tissue down and around to the back.  Totally made sense as my whole belly was never tensing up, it was just really low and extremely painful low.  I was just praying that things picked up soon.  My doula said that she would be by around 5 if I didn't call her sooner to check on me and do an ankle massage.
 
When she came by I was in better spirits.  Having Emma around really helped a lot, but I was really getting emotionally worn and physically exhausted from the days of labor.  She gave me a massage and at the time my ctx were about 10 minutes apart again.  I broke down and cried as I felt it would never end.  She decided it was time to call around and see if she could find someone who could come to my house to check me to see what progress I had made so far.  She called her homebirth midwife from out of state to get some contacts, and she said, I'm in Linocln!  Woohoo!  She was less than 5 minutes from my house at a home birth.  She said she would be more than happy to come check me.  Yes!  Now, I'm just praying that I am at least a 4 or something.  I was only 1 cm at my last dr. appt the week before.  She got there and checked me and said, you are 95% effaced, and 6 cm dilated!!!  WooHOO!!!! I was making some progress.  She said my birth canal was really short, so pushing him out should be a breeze.  I was +1 station as well.
 
My doula told me that I should try to get some rest if possible and to call if we needed her.  She was going to go home and nurse her little one and get some rest.  If she hadn't heard from us by midnight she would call or come over.  She said, If your water breaks go to the hospital immediately as it will go fast after that.  Call me and I will meet you there.  Also, the midwife suggested that I labor on my hands and knees.  That the pressure from the baby down on the scar tissue would help dilate me faster.  Also, I had a slight cervical lip, so that would help with that as well.  So, I took a shower and we assumed the position.  By about 11:00, I was ready to die.  I told myself, two more ctx like these and we need to call Nicci.  Ctx were about 3 minutes apart lasting at least 90 seconds.  Well, at 11:19, just before I was going to tell Adam to call Nicci, I felt the pop and my water broke!  Yippee!!!  Adam stayed so calm.  He loaded up the car and I went to the bathroom.  We headed downstairs and were halfway out the door and I remembered that we needed my orange juice for after he was born.  Adam laughed that I actually thought of that. 
 
The ride to the hospital was excrutiating.  Ctx were one on top of another.  Adam called and told them to page my dr. but they kept arguing that he wasn't on call.  He said, my wife is a VBAC patient and her dr. said we needed to demand you page him.  They called back later and said, Dr. D. will meet you there.  UGH!  Not my Dr!!!  And, to top it off the most anti VBAC dr. in town!  Great!!!  We get to the hospital and I wanted to walk in.  Silly me!  It took us forever to get to L&D because I had to stop so many times for ctx.  Once up there the stupid receptionist is like, you need to sign this and that.  Well, ctx were on top of one another and I couldn't even look at her.  Finally she realized we needed  a room NOW! lol
 
Got into the room and they checked me and the nurse said, Maybe a 5 or 6.  WHAT?!?!?  Are you kidding me?  I was a 6 6 hours ago!  They got me on the monitors and put in my hep lock.  I then asked to go to the bathroom.  In there I about broke down.  They had made Adam go sign the admission paperwork and Nicci was in there with me.  I said I can't handle it anymore.  Not if it can be hours and hours longer.  Since it had already been days, who knew how many hours these 4 cm could take.  She calmed me down and reminded me of the Natural Allignment Platueau.  She said, Kristen, focus!  This is going to go fast.  Trust me.  you can do it.  We went back into the other room and I leaned over the side of the bed and rocked during the ctx.  A few ctx like this and I was screaming that there was tons of pressure.  Luckily Adam was back by now and helping to keep me calm.  I did a couple more ctx standing like that and I screamed that the pressure was too much.  Nicci and Adam got me into the bed on my hands and knees but the pressure was too much.  At this point the ctx never stopped.  I would have one, it would peak, and start to go down, then peak again over and over.  I laid on my said and said I need to push I can't not anymore.  Nicci told me to give it a practice push to see how it felt.  It felt soooo good!  She said try one more like that and she would get the nurse.  I did another one and it felt great so she went to get the nurse.  Who, of course I think rolled her eyes because I had been there less than an hour and she didn't believe I could be ready to push. 
 
She  checked me and that is when pannick ensued, lol.  She screams out into the hallway, she is 100%, 9.5 cm, and +2 station!!!  There was no dr. there yet as they thought they had plenty of time!  They told me not to push which was killing me and I wasn't taking deep breaths because of this.  At this point Kaden's heart tones were not stable and the room filled and panic ensued.  Before I knew it I was on oxygen and hooked up to an IV.  They made me move back to hands and knees to help put pressure on the cervical lip.  They were afraid I would tear it if I continued to push and they wanted Kaden's heart to stabilize before they would let me push as well as they didn't know how long it would take me to push him out.  This all was happening only an hour after I got to the hospital.  My ctx were still one on top of another and they couldn't get ahold of my dr., so they were forced to call in Dr. D, the anti VBAC dr.  UGH!  But, she wasn't in the hospital anymore and was on her way home so we had to wait for her too.  Each ctx. my body would involuntarily push and Kaden's heart tones would drop.  The nurses were getting frantic.  I could hear things going on in the room but couldn't see as I was on my hands and knees.  I would hear bits and pieces, "Call the resident for back up" "Prep O.R."  "Get the anesthesiologist up here stat".  Hearing all of this was freaking me out as I knew what they were prepping for...and emergency c section.  After days of labor and all of my prep the last 9 months this couldn't end in a c section. 
 
I was able to not push at all through the next 2 ctx., and was doing my horsie lips and taking my deep breaths.  Adam was amazing throughout all of this, staying calm for me and helping me focus.  A few ctx later, I couldn't control it again and pushed a little bit to relieve some pressure.  His heart tones dropped again and the nurse got in my face down on the bed and said, "hun, I know you want to do this vaginally and we don't want  a c section...you cannot push!"  That is all it took for me and I held off pushing for what felt like forever but was probably only about 15 minutes of nonstop ctx.  Finally someone walked in and said, Dr. D is on the floor.  The nurse turned to me and said, "Okay, hun now you can push"  A few pushes later and you heard them screaming again, "he is crowning get the dr. in here!"  The nurse told me to reach down and feel my baby and I could feel all of his hair.  I started to tear up.  I couldn't believe it. 
 
At this point the dr. got in the room and she made me roll to my back.  My doula tried to argue for me, but the dr. said that I had to for the safety of the baby...kinda a lie we found out later.  So, I rolled to my back and she told me to push when I felt that I needed to.  I pushed non stop holding my breath, over and over.  Adam later said he thought I was going to pass out and he had no clue that I was able to do that.  There is a picture of him crowning and another of his head out already only 30 seconds later.  THey made me stop pushing to suction him (he had meconium), and then I pushed once more and he was out!  Only 1 minute of pushing and my little Kaden was born. 
 
I reached out to grab him and the horrible dr. whisked him to the NICU nurses.  She didn't even hold him up for me to see.  Nicci asked if I wanted Adam to go to the baby or stay with me and I wanted him to be with Kaden.  I was crying that I wanted my baby.  Nicci asked why they couldn't do their tests on my chest and was arguing with the dr.  The dr. then told her to shut up or she was going to kick her out.  Nicci said she didn't understand why I couldnt see him.  She goes, You have no idea how traumatic her first birth was with not holding her daughter right away.  At this point the dr. said, "nurse, get her out of here".  I was begging no no no!  The nurse just stepped back, like I'm not kicking her out and ignored the dr.  Nicci hollered over to Adam and told him to bring Kaden to me.  So, Adam ripped him out of the NICU nurses arms and brought him over to me.  They were all freaked out, like Noone does this, lol!  I finally got to see him!  He was perfect in every way.  They had him on oxygen on my chest and got him breathing and suctioned out really well.
 
The delivery room cleared out faster than Nicci had ever seen in all of the births she attended.  Everyone knew we didn't want their interventions so what was the use, right?  The NICU nurse even just told our L&D nurse to watch his oxygen and if it dropped to call them as they weren't going to stay around to monitor him.   A couple of hours later, the nursery nurse came down to weigh and measure him and wanted to give him his first bath.  We declined and said that we wanted to do a bath together in the jacuzzi.  She was flabbergasted and said, "we don't do that".  I asked her why as I didn't see a reasonwhy not.  She left the room and came back saying, whatever.  Then left again.  She told the L&D nurse to take his temp after the bath as she wasn't going to bother coming back down. Our L&D nurse was AWESOME by the way.  I absolutely loved her.  We enjoyed our relaxing bath together in the jacuzzi and then headed to our recovery room.
 
13 hours after Kaden was born at 3:15 in the afternoon on Friday, we were discharged and headed home.  The nurses and hospital staff were all confused with us leaving early and told us they didn't think we would be able to because the pedi wouldn't let us, but our pediatrician was awesome.  I had talked with him a few weeks ago about wanting to go home right away and he agreed that it shouldn't be a problem.  Sorry the post got so long, but there was a lot to tell!  Thank you all for all of your support!
 
Some pictures of Kaden and our new family!

Zachary Brian Metcalf
Born March 12, 2009
16:31
9lbs 5oz 22 inches
On Tuesday, March 10,  I went to my Dr. appt and was checked at found to be about 3cm dilated and she stripped my membranes. The stripping didn’t do much that I could tell. Wednesday morning I woke up not feeling well and thought I might have food poisoning. I was having contractions on and off but nothing hard or too close together.
In the afternoon we went to Costco to walk around but that trip was cut short due to Kalista having an accident on the floor haha. We got home around 6:00. I went potty and came out to the couch to sulk about not having any contractions from the walk. As I was sitting down I felt my water and JUMPED back up and ran to the bathroom and said, “MY WATER JUST BROKE!!!” and Gavin said “are you sure?” I was 100% sure. So, we got things together and put Kalista in her pajamas and headed off to the hospital. It was so cute Kalista kept saying, “Your water broke mom? You gonna fix it?” We had to try and explain that her baby brother was taking a “bath” and that it was time to get out so he pulled the plug haha.
We got to the hospital and I was having some contractions but nothing too bad. We got checked in and as I told people I would like to avoid an epidural they all just looked at me and laughed. It was very discouraging and annoying to say the least. My doctor was not on call, her partner was. The nurse came in and said that the doctor want me to know that she strongly advises me to get an epidural due to the fact that I was attempting a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After C-section), just in case they had to do an emergency section they wanted me numb. I still refused the epidural and went on laboring every 2 min. The contractions felt like menstrel cramps that got progressively worse and worse.
It was Wednesday, which means Gavin has a hockey game at 10, since not much was happening and I was still at a 3 I told him to go ahead and go to his game and then go home and clean up a bit and come back. So, around 9:45 he left and went to his game and got back at the hospital around 12:45. They had started 1cc of pitocin an hour to get my contractions stronger and more regular because at that point they were not changing anything. I was very nervous to use any altering drugs as it can increase the chance for uterin rupture in a VBAC but they assured me I would be very closely monitored.
Gavin got there and I told him to go to sleep, so he did and didn’t wake up till around 9am. While he was sleeping I labored in the halls and on my birthing ball. It was VERY hard to achieve any type of concentration because I had the belts on me and 2 IV’s and water gushing out with every move I made. Not to mention the constant interruptions to check my cervix and blood pressure. So, finally at 5:30am after laboring more than 10 hours and only making 1 cm progress my doctor said we had to turn up the pitocin and try and break any more water bag up there. I said STOP I’m getting an epidural for sure let me get that first. I got the epidural and HATED the way it made me feel. It wore off 4 times and I couldn’t move my lets at all. BUT, it was better than the contractions.
FINALLY at I believe 1pm they checked me and said I was complete and I asked if I could labor a while to bring him down and let my epidural wear off a little as I could not move anything below my chest. That may have been a bad idea, I’m really not sure. So I started pushing once the epi wore off and 50 min later my big baby boy was born.  The pushing was very intense and a feeling I can only describe as having the “runs” really really bad worse than anyone has ever had and when you feel the urge to push and they tell you not to there is no controlling it. Once his head came out I was still pushing and nothing was happening and all of a sudden the room became in a panic. They were yelling at me to push even though I wasn’t contracting because the baby couldn’t breath and he was stuck. And when nothing was happening the doc said OK and reached both of her arms in and had to get his shoulders unstuck. She finally did and he came out and she plopped this huge bloody ball on my tummy, I remember thinking what’s this really heavy thing she just set on me not even realizing it was my baby… They called the INCU unit in and checked him out, it took about 30 seconds for him to purk up but he did great.
I had a fever so he was born with one that spiked to 102!! So he was in the nursery for about 3 hours with an IV but nothing in it. Finally his blood work came back fine and his fever went down on it’s own. Just as I was going down to see him they were wheeling him to my room so we got to spend time together.
He’s an amazing baby and we love him SO MUCH!!
Having a VBAC was one of the most amazing things I have ever done. My doctor said if I can push out a 9lb baby she knows for sure I can handle vaginal birth haha. If we have any more i think i will for sure squat while pushing so he or she doesn't get stuck. I feel 10000000% better than I did after my seciton even though I tore from vag to anus 2nd degree i felt SO GOOD just 4 days after his birth. Good Luck to all ladies trying for a VBAC. Even though mine went NOTHING like I planned I wouldn't change a thing.

From Renee/Bridget&Clara'smom
I delivered my 3rd beautiful girl, Anne Felicity "Annie," Monday morning, March 9. She was 7 lbs 5 oz.
We had a successful VBA2C, a completely natural, drug free delivery. It
definitely was the most painful, but rewarding experience of my life!!!
Here's my birth story:
I
had been having strong <span id="lw_1240242314_0" class="yshortcuts"
style="border-bottom: 1px dashed #0066cc; cursor: pointer;">braxton
hicks contractions</span>
since 37 weeks. Thankfully she held off until 39 weeks and 1 day, since
everyone in the family had really bad colds until a few days before the
birth! Saturday night around 10 pm , I started timing contractions for
the 100th time! They were coming between 4 and 13 minutes apart. I went
to bed and they continued to wake me up at least 3 times an hour. So,
in the morning, I told my husband that I thought today was the day. We
called my mom to stay with the girls, but while I was getting ready,
the contractions eased up a lot. We decided to go to Church and maybe
go to the hospital from there. I only had about 3 contractions during
the hour long mass, so we came home! Throughout the day, I continued to
have painful contractions but still spaced far apart. I took a nap and
just rested all day. By 2 am, the contractions were 2-3 minutes apart
and
very painful. I woke my husband and we were off once again. I was only
5 cm at the hospital and the OB on call started talking about
inducing and internal monitors, etc.. since I was "so high risk" and I
wasn't that far along (I had never met the OB before. My hospital was
Shands, a clinic, and I knew I'd probably get a stranger to deliver). My
OB (a research professor who focuses on researching VBACs), had said they can't make me do anything and unless
it's an emergency situation, I don't need a bunch of interventions. So,
we discussed with our doula and decided not to check in (we were still
in triage) for a couple more hours.
We walked around the hospital and the waiting room. Contractions got
very intense and extremely painful! I was also throwing up every now
and then. My husband and the doula helped me to get through it, though.
After 2 1/2 hours, I felt like I really wanted to be checked again. So
we returned to triage and I was only 6-7 cm. I could not believe it!
The pain was so intense at this point. The OB (a new one) came in and
said I need to have an internal monitor to measure the strength of the
contractions (to make sure they're not to strong to cause a rupture.) I
didn't want this, but she said it wasn't the type of internal monitor
that attached to the baby's head. I had researched all the warning
signs of a possible rupture, so I knew I didn't need this. But at this
point, I was just so tired out and didn't want to fight. So, I walked
to an actual labor room. I used the bathroom and 5 minutes later, when
they're
talking about the monitors and the IV and all, I feltl a strong urge to
push. They checked me and I was complete. So, no IV
or anything!!!
I pushed for 2 hours since she was tilted (she came out
with a cone head off to the side!) I had to have an episiotomy, but I
honestly feel I needed it. I couldn't push any harder or longer. I was
just completely exhausted at that point!
They
left her on my chest for 15 to <span id="lw_1240242314_1"
class="yshortcuts" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed #0066cc;
background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; cursor: pointer;
-moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin:
-moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;">20
minutes</span> before they weighed her. I was very happy with the
birth!
My 4 year old is happy also. She keeps telling the baby, "Mommy pushed you out! The doctor cut me and your other sister out."
Sorry
this ended up being so long!! Everyone out there whose longing for a
VBAMC, please know that it is very possible!!!! Being informed is the
key. Research the statistics. Read birth stories. Find an OB or midwife
who is supportive and knowledgable.
I was very depressed after
both of my c-sections, especially my second, since I knew it would be
so very difficult to find a doctor to help me have the birth I wanted!
Thank you to everyone for your support and all the great info! I really felt prepared for this birth!!!
-Renee

Baby Jonah
DOB: May 22, 2009
EDD:  June 1, 2009
CBAC

Ok gals, here's the whole story

Woke up on the 22nd with what I thought might be turning into a UTI.  Wasn't feeling too yucky, just thought I felt one coming on.  Well, by 6am I was peeing lots of blood (TMI, I know).  So I called my doctor and he wanted me to go to L & D to 'see where the blood was coming from'.  I knew by then exactly where it was coming from.  LOL.  The ride there was brutal toward the end, but I made it!  L & D is so full that I don't even get a room, instead I get a NST closet.  I gave a sample of urine that looked awful, so doctor wanted me to get a catheter in so he could figure out the exact kind of germ so he could start treatment.  The catheter was awful!  They started me on IV antibiotics and then doc started asking me questions about what I wanted to do.  He said there was a very small chance that baby could be passed the infection if I didn't go ahead and have him, but that it woud have to be via c/s since he couldn't induce.  He told me he would give me a day on the IV meds to see if things would maybe clear up or that labor would start on it's own.  Otherwise he would strongly suggest getting baby out just because of the risk.  And, delivering vaginally would be extremely painful with a bladder infection and that could pass the germ to the baby.  At first we were going to wait the day out on the IV meds, I really didn't want another c/s.  But, about an hour after that conversation labor started with a bang.  Ctx three minutes apart from the get go.  My doc let me labor for about 4 hours, but we decided since I'd been laboring but not dilating that we should just get the baby out.  My body had hit the evacuation button because of the infection anyway.  At that point I was in so much pain (every ctx felt like someone was twisting my bladder like a washrag) I didn't want the infection passed to my baby, either.  So off to surgery I went.  They had to bring up a staff from general surgery because L&D was so full.  One nurse from L&D was there for Jonah.  Then I had to recover downstairs in general surgery b/c there was no room open up in L&D.  It was absolutely insane busy here.  So Jonah was born at 2:27pm on May 22, 2009.  Weight: 7 pounds 4 ounces and he's 18 1/2 inches long.
He is very quiet but alert.  He's really a neat baby.  He is having a bit of trouble sucking, his suck is weak, but today is much better as a bit more colostrum and milk is coming in.
I'm off the IV antibiotics and up and around, but I was still on the cath 24 hours after surgery.  Let me tell you, If you don't get up ASAP after surgery it is HARD!  This recovery is the worst of my three c/s.
While I'm still upset that I didn't get my VBAC I know that my doc gave me every chance that he could.  He is very compassionate and knew that I wanted natural...but circumstances had other ideas.  This was a doozy of an infection, I could not describe the yuckiness of my urine b/c of this infection.  It hit like a hurricane.  I know that we made the right decision, even though it sucks still.
So that's how I went from gunghoe vbac to my cbac.  Oh well

My water broke at 36 weeks with DS1 and within 2 hours, he was in distress and needed to come out NOW!  I was put under a general anesthetic and within 6 minutes from leaving the Triage Unit, he was born via emergency c-section/vertical incision...DH nor myself witnessed his birth and it was a very stressful time.  DS was transferred to the NICU and it was determined that he had GBS disease which he contracted in utero.  He spent 11 days in the NICU on IV antibiotics and thankfully is doing well today.

Fast forward to this pg.

Liam James
Born: July 20 at 38w1d at 2:55 pm
6lb 14oz, 18 inches

Due to my history of delivering a baby with GBS disease, my GBS status was closely montired during this pg.  Despite having a classical incision and being told by my last OB that I could not VBAC, my new OB got my records and discovered that my uterine incision was actually transverse so he encouraged me to attempt a VBAC.  I was treated with antibiotics during the pg in an effort to keep the GBS from infecting this baby like it did DS 1.

Up until my 37 week appointment, the baby was in a complete breech position.  I found out at 35 weeks so started doing Moxibustion, inversion exercises, and many other 'tricks' that I found on the internet.  My Dr. knew how much I wanted to VBAC so he never pushed the issue of scheduling a c-section yet but we did discuss it briefly at my 37 week appointment.

At exactly 38 weeks, I started having mild contractions which progressed throughout the day.  Because I have never been in labor, I wasn't sure what I was experiencing and then I decided I should probably start timing them.  Around 10 pm, just when I was about to go to bed, I went to the bathroom and felt a small gush.  The contractions were now about 7-9 minutes.  Because of my GBS history, my Dr. had advised me to go to the hospital immediately if my water broke.  I wasn't sure if it broke, but we headed to the hospital anyway.  By the time we got to the hospital, my contractions were 4-5 minutes apart and it was confirmed that I was ruptured, 3cm dilated and 90% effaced.  The Dr. brought the ultrasound machine in to confirm that the baby was still head-up and much to everyone's surprise, he was not in an ideal position, but he was very much head down so I was admitted and started on IV antibiotics for the GBS.

My doula arrived and by 1:00 am or so, my contractions were 2-3 minutes apart and increasing in intensity.  I continued to labor med-free for about 9 hours and after being awake for over 30 hours (and not sleeping well the night before), I was completely exhausted and could barely function (and was only dilated to 6 cm).  My contractions started to slow a little and my doula felt it was likely due to my uterus/body being so fatigued.  I really didn't want an epidural but I knew that there was no way that I could continue as exhausted as I was and though my Dr. never made me feel like I was on a timeclock, I knew that I was because of the GBS and being ruptured.  The anesthesiologist came in and talked to me about my options and I agreed to a very low dose epidural for 2 hours just to let myself rest through some contractions so that I could labor more successfully.  I could still feel the contractions but they were toned down enough that I could rest (though I didn't sleep like I was hoping to).  After 2 hours, the epi was removed and within an hour or so, I was up walking again.  Around 2 pm, I suddenly had the urge to have a BM and it would not go away.  The nurse kept telling me not to try to push but I felt like I had to go to the bathroom and had to push.  My Dr. came in to check me and I was 10 cm and ready to push.  I pushed for 50 minutes and at 2:55, my little guy came into this world.  It was the most amazing experience I have ever experienced.  The nurse put a mirror at the bottom of the bed so that I could watch the entire birth.  We waited for the cord to stop pulsing, DH cut the cord, and Liam was placed right on my chest and he instantly calmed.  About 30 minutes later, he nursed for the first time and has been going strong since.  So far, he shows no signs of GBS and the preliminary testing showed no issues.  Though I was a little disappointed that I needed the epidural, I felt good that I was still able to experience the birth process fully since I had been removed from it for several hours before he was born.  My doula was very supportive and felt that I utilized the epidural appropriately (even though she is very pro-med-free - she was also my Bradley teacher). IF I ever experience labor again, I will definitely try to go completely med-free (and sleep when I think I am in pre-labor ).  Though I ended up with a 2nd degree tear and it hasn't been comfortable healing from it, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat to experience this again.

nataz wrote:So Tuesday I woke up with contractions lasting 15 minutes apart, but were not strong. So evening comes and around 7:30 my water broke and I had bloody show. Left for hospital and upon arrival was about 3cm. Then progressed to a 5 then an 8 then a 10. It went so fast then babies head was right there pushing out and 20 minutes later she came out. I was so emotional and was able to reach down and help grab her out. It truly was one of the most memorable and meaningful moments of my life. My Ob was out of town this night and I got this Dr. who tried to scare us by coming in and asking me questions like why do I want a VBAC? I said I had done my research and felt very comfortable with my decision and it was very important to me to stay with my plan etc. I also told him how there are risks with C-section too and I felt confident my body would be ok for this. He said he did not feel I was a good candidate and would not recommend it. I could not believe it. Here I was having contractions every 2 minutes apart and he wants to try and change my plan. He even had this form that he read off saying the risks about death for me and or baby etc. I already Knew this but it scared my hubby and he started questioning me. I told my hubby I had already done my research and he is just doing his job by trying to cover his rear. I could tell my hubby was scared. But I stayed firm and told Dr. that I want to still do VBAC and would like to avoid a c-section at all costs. Then towards the end he really changed his tune and was saying how wonderful my body was responding to this delivery and how great I did..... Blah Blah Blah........ I only had to push for 20 minutes and hubby was able to pull her out and I did too and put her right on my chest. It was a wonderful moment I will never forget. Here are some pictures of me and daughter 1 1/2 hours before we left to hospital and us introducing baby to dog. and little Reese.

 
Annoying doctor.

Hello! I'm a lurker but found everyone's info helpful in this last pregnancy!
Here's our story:
 
With our first it was a very easy, typical pregnancy that ended in C section.  We went to our last appointment before her due date, found out I was dialated to three, (didn't know it and didn't feel a thing!) and our Midwife thought something didn't seem right when she checked me.  I was sent for an ultrasound which determined our daughter was in the frank breech position and because of the dialation they convinced us the better way to go would be by section the very next morning. 
I did NOT want surgery...scared me to death and was totally unprepared for this!! So less than 12 hours later we had our daughter, (who also had hip dysplasia due to the position she was in) and I had a very long and hard recovery.  Was not my ideal birth.
 
With our son, of course all the warnings and risks were explained but I felt the need to at least experience labor and try anything to avoid another section.  The pregnancy was very difficult this time around, leaving my own husband questioning if this was going to go well! He was due September 8th, (today!) but I ended up getting sick with what they feared was the flu on August 27th.  Flu was ruled out but I had a bad upper respratory thing going on.  At around 4:00 AM on the 29th I began to feel contractions. I was a little afraid they weren't contractions but rather something wrong because of the illness or meds I was taking for it.  I took several showers and rested as much as I could and they eventually got to the point where they could be timed so I was then convinced I was experiencing labor!! YAY! I waited until around 8 AM to call my mom to come over and went to the hospital at 8:30.  I was put on the monitors and checked - 3 cm! and admitted. Not sure what time it was when they brought anest. in but I was contracting regularly and very strong. I was 5 cm. at that time and they went ahead to do the epidual.  After that, it was resting as much as I could since I had been up all night sick! They broke my water in the afternoon and found meconium, (apparently a lot) and basically hooked me up to a catheter system to flush it out around him! I had never heard of this but it was really quite neat that they didn't panic over it like I thought they would.  Around 4:30 PM they decided I was complete but wanted me to "labor down" a bit, another excellent decision as it would put less stress on him and my body.  We waited until 5 PM when the midwife checked he was right there! I was set up and pushed until 5:23 PM and he was born!! That's right! about 13 hrs of labor and twenty minutes of pushing, a great epidural and a very healthy son for my VBAC! He was 7 lbs. 10 oz. 20 in. long and no problems! The midwife and the OB were so happy for me and everyone was so supportive and helpful through it all!  I did have a midline episiotomy and a prolapse? Where the cervix could be seen right there and almost out when I had him but they were very confident that it would go back on its own by the follow up appt.
All in all, the recovery has been excellent and I cannot believe the difference in how I feel compared to the section! I wouldn't dream I could bend over, clean on the house, or walk anywhere without all that pain! It has truly been an amazing experience that I am proud of!