Well, we had our baby 4/23/09 at 1:30pm after 2 days of pre-labor.
I had been having contractions pretty regular for 2 full days. They were anywhere from 5-20 mins apart and never stopped. I was losing my mucus plug and had some bloody show. To be honest I was afraid that the prodromal labor would last a week or longer. It was exhausting so I went to the hospital to be checked by my midwife. It was my first vaginal check. I was 39 weeks 5 days. She found my cervix to be 1cm dilated and 90% effaced. All that hard work was paying off. My Midwife said that effacement was huge progress. I went home and waited for labor to start. It did just that!
Ctx started picking up at 2:30 am on a Thursday morning. They were about 6-7 minutes apart. With each hr the contractions grew about a minute closer. By 5:30 I called my doula to tell her the status. I was still convinced that this wasn't actual labor and that they would slow down eventually. I was wrong!
My plan was to labor at home for as long as I could so I hired a doula for support but also a home birth midwife so that I could have extra support and the comfort of knowing that the baby was doing good. She periodically monitored the baby's heart rate all through labor. He tolerated labor like a champ - never a deceleration which made me very confident that everything was going great. The home birth midwife also did about 3 vaginal exams during my entire labor to make sure that we didn't arrive at the hospital too early.
The first time the home birth midwife checked my cervix I was 3 centimeters and fully effaced which was at 7:30am. (I really think the EPO worked that I took from 36 weeks on and all that walking).
In the earlier part of labor I used the shower to relieve some of the pain. I had a lot of back labor because the baby was in a posterior position. I have to say it hurt a lot and all throughout labor the 2 support coaches and my husband put pressure on my lower back through each contraction, which helped more than I can tell you!
By 10 am the home birth midwife checked me again because I was in extreme pain and really wanting to give up at that point. I know that I said a couple of times that I really wanted to go to the hospital for an epidural (which was not my plan, I wanted to go natural) and that I couldn't take the pain any more. I was at 6-7 centimeters at that point. My support group knew that I really did not want the epidural and that they knew things were really picking up. I was really afraid that if I did have an epidural that it would slow the progression of labor or that the baby wouldn't react well and I would end up in another c-section. So, they talked me through this critical point in labor.
After about a 1/2 hr of pretty much losing it and wanting to give up I found my grove again. I ended up back in the shower on a stool. The water really helped. Every contraction I jumped up and leaned on my doula while she rubbed my lower back. I made it another 1 1/2 hrs. At that point I was 8 centimeters dilated and in a lot of pain.
The car ride was horrible. I was in so much pain and it was impossible to find a comfortable position. Thank God it was only 15 minutes away. I think I had at least 7 or 8 contractions on the way.
I had another 3 from getting out of the car to labor and delivery. By the time I got to the room I was already pushing. I couldn't help it, my body was doing it on it’s own. At first I didn't even know if I was really pushing or not. I really think because I didn't have any medication that I felt that very strong urge to push and my big VBA2C baby was out in 20 minutes! I thought that was pretty decent for a 1st time vaginal birth! I had a 2nd degree tear inside but no tear on my perenial. It really didn’t even hurt as much as I thought it would.
Happy to say we had a healthy baby boy. He was 8lbs 14 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. I can't say enough how much my doulas and husband really helped. I don't think I could have done it without them. They had confidence in my body’s ability even when I didn't.
Vaginal birth was such a completely different experience. I was able to eat, take a shower and walk around after the birth. It was amazing! I felt empowered and somehow healed from my previous birth experiences. I felt victorious that I was able to birth my baby even though he was almost 9lbs! I have since had another VBA2C in the comfort of my own home. My birth experiences have changed me forever. It has changed my career path as well. I now help women as a doula all over my state make empowered decisions through their own research and VBAC mom’s have a very special place in my heart..
