Let me start at the beginning, my oldest daughter Mercedes
was born in June 2011, via C-section due to her being footling breech, and the
hospital we used did not allow vaginal breech deliveries. After7 hours of labor
and a c-section our beautiful little girl was born. Our experience was still
beautiful and wonderful and I learned a lot in my labor and delivery. I feel
like it made me stronger in a lot of ways, but I did miss that I didn’t get to
experience the natural delivery that I had prepared myself for, for months and
months. I asked our doctor about having a VBAC delivery and he was very
discouraging about it, “VBACs are too risky” he told me. My husband and I
decided that we were not going to take no for an answer, so we started
researching VBAC’s vs. Repeat C-Section. After months of research we decided we
would find a Midwife and have a homebirth. We got pregnant with Charli in June
of 2012 and were so excited to find a midwife, and start on our new journey of
preparing for not just a VBAC but an HBAC! (Home Birth after Cesarean) (Please
understand that I KNOW that a homebirth and/or VBAC is not for everyone, and I
fully support and respect that!)
My pregnancy was fairly easy and uncomplicated, we found an
incredible Midwife who supported us and encouraged us to continue our research
and to know all the information that we possibly could in regards to
Homebirths, VBAC’S and the risks and benefits of both. My due date was set at
March 2, 2013 and we were so excited and so ready!
Second pregnancy is so different than the first! I had
Braxton Hicks contractions from the day I found out I was pregnant until the
day I delivered. Wednesday, February 27, I woke up with contractions 2 minutes
apart. I told my husband who told my mom (who was living with us at the time),
she took care of Mercedes and I got in the shower to see if contractions would
stop…they did not. My mom called my sister Brianna, who was coming to take of
Mercedes while I labored, and our midwife was notified. ALL DAY LONG I had
contractions that were about a minute apart and about 45 seconds long. My
midwife decided to come out and check on me and to see how I was doing…I was
tired and discouraged. I would rest, walk, squat, take a bath, watch movies, I
baked cookies, I was up on my feet, etc…and contractions would NOT STOP.
I
asked my midwife to check me before bed to see if I was dilating or anything. I
was dilated to 3 centimeters L.
I went to bed and continued to have contractions all night long, by this point
they had slowed down a little but I was still having them. My sister took
Mercedes for the day and Luke took me out on a date day! We went to the movies
and saw “Identity Thief” I laughed and laughed and was able to relax, I was
still having contractions but they were now about 3 minutes apart and not
strong at all. We went out to lunch, and then went to the mall to walk around
and enjoy a very large helping of frozen yogurt from Yogurtini, then we went to
test drive new cars.
Friday morning Luke went back to work and it was just me and
Mercedes for the day. I was EXHAUSTED! I spent the day getting the house picked
up and spending lots of quiet time with Mercedes. I had contractions throughout
the day but nothing major. Luke had to work late that night, so I put Mercedes
to bed and was going to watch movies. As I sat in the rocking chair nursing
Mercedes I had a pretty strong contraction. I looked at the clock 8:30pm, a few
minutes later I had another one; I laid Mercedes in her bed and I went to get
myself ready for bed. Luke got home around 9:30, he asked how I was feeling and
I replied “Great, I don’t wanna talk about it”. He wouldn’t take that for
answer. I told him that I was having contractions but I wasn’t timing them and
I just wanted to go to bed. We laid down and I had a contraction, I had to
close my eyes and focus…man it was long. As soon as it ended I said to Luke
“I’ll wake you if I need you”, less than a minute later I reached out for his
hand and said “Okay, I need you”. He instantly was awake and had the stopwatch
out on his phone. The contraction was a minute long or more, he went in to wake
up my mom who came in to time the contractions so that Luke could focus on me,
around 10:00pm. Contractions were a minute apart and about a minute and half
long or so. My mom called Brianna and told her to come out so she could help
with Mercedes if she woke up, and then called Amber to put her on standby.
Brianna arrived
around 10:45 (I think). Contractions were long and hard and I COULD NOT sit or
lay down, I had to stand and put my arms around Luke for support. Around 11:00
I got into the birth pool. My midwife arrived and checked Baby’s heart rate, it
was strong and clear. Contractions were about 30 seconds apart and 1 1/2 minutes
long, I was having a lot of pressure in my pelvis and bottom. Amber checked me
and told me that my bag of water was bulging and that I needed to try to get on
my knees and get gravity to help break my water. With help from Luke I got on
my knees and held onto him, the next contraction I felt my water break, and Transition
came and I was filled with doubt. All of my anxiety of being a VBAC came to the
surface; I voiced my doubt saying “I can’t do this!” Everyone reminded me that
I could and reminded me that I was in transition and that I was “there”. Luke
held me and whispered in my ear to help relax me. With encouragement from
everyone in the room I found my strength! I turned over and I was ready to
finish the job! A contraction came and I tried to relax and I felt my body
push, I remember saying “I think I just pushed”. I can’t explain it, but for
those who have experienced it you know what I mean when I say “my body pushed”.
A few more contractions, and again I let my body do the work for me. Amber put
the light down and said “she’s crowning, push gently when you are ready”. The
next contraction I pushed, I remember Amber calmly saying “Gentle, gentle”. But
when I tried to stop pushing, my body did not stop and OUT she came, that one
push and she went from crowning to completely out of me. Amber picked her up
and placed her on my chest, she instantly started crying and trying to find the
breast. I cried and said over and over “I did it! I did it! I actually did it! Thank
you God! Thank you God!” I was amazed at myself and my strength; I overcame
what “experts” say I couldn’t. I overcame what “experts” say I shouldn’t. I DID
IT!
Mercedes had woken up and saw Charli right as she was placed
on my chest and instantly pointed out “That’s Charli”. We waited for the cord
to stop pulsating before we cut it, Luke then took Charli so I could get out of
the pool and into bed, where I delivered my placenta. I had a tiny tear from
Charli coming so fast, no stitches needed. J
Amber and her assistant showed me the placenta and cord and pointed out
everything! I was amazed!
The pool got cleaned up and put away, Charli got weighed and
measured, Mercedes went back to bed, I got cleaned up and cozy in bed with my
new baby. Amber talked to me in detail of what to do and expect in the first 72
hours, she stayed until I was finally able to go to the bathroom. Then around
3:30am she was able to go home and I went to sleep with Charli asleep on my
chest. It was perfect and beautiful and everything I hoped and prayed for.
As a VBAC I had to overcome a lot of emotions, I had to get
the negative people out of my head, the people that said “you can’t, you
shouldn’t”. I surrounded myself with only people who supported and encouraged
me, people who prayed with me and for me. After my C-section, I felt “broken”,
I wasn’t allowed to do what God designed my body to do, I wasn’t allowed to do
what I KNEW I could do, I was labeled “high risk”, when I didn’t feel high
risk. When I was in transition with Charli, I heard all the negative people in
my head telling me I couldn’t do it, and my body felt like I couldn’t do it,
but my birth team reminded me I COULD! This experience made me feel invincible,
it made me feel like I could go out and conquer the world! This experience
reminded me and showed me…”I am not broken”.
I would not change a
single thing about my labor and delivery experience, I am so blessed that we
did not have any complications, I am blessed to have a healthy baby girl and
that I healed quickly. I am blessed and I thank God everyday! I also had my
amazing placenta encapsulated…for those who may not understand that, yes, I
take “Placenta Pills” everyday. Strange, yes, but totally worth it! It helped
me to get my hormones back to “Normal”, it helped my milk supply, and it helped
my overall healing process. I researched
Placenta encapsulation and in my reading found that women had success in it
preventing or curing PPD, that was my main reason for having my placenta
encapsulated. I had someone very close to me suffer from PPD and I watched her
struggle and hurt and try to overcome something that didn’t make sense to her.
She is one of the most wonderful and amazing mothers that I know and I am
blessed to have her in my life and as my best friend. I am pleased and proud of
my pregnancy, my HBAC, and my healing process and I know I could not have done
any of it without the love and support of my family, friends, and birth team!
