A Baby Story

(Yeah, I suppose this is a little graphic, and it may contain pictures of a very large pregnant woman.)

On Monday, Brian and I went in for one last doctors appointment. We all felt it was best not to induce labor, since pitocin or other drugs would make the contractions stronger, and cause the chance of uterine rupture to increase. Even though I was only one day past my due date, the doctor seemed impatient to give me more time to go into labor on my own. I asked about inducing by breaking my water, instead of a scheduled cesarean, and he agreed to give it a try. When he was on the phone in the other room, scheduling the induction, we heard him say that he thought we'd end up with a c-section anyway, but I was determined to at least try for a VBAC. That made me more determined than ever.

The next morning we left Alyssa and Ethan with my mom and headed to the hospital. They broke my water around 11:00. I wanted to go natural for as long as possible, but because of my previous c-sections, I needed to be monitored closely, so walking around all day to help labor progress would be a bit difficult. The nurse (Linda) proposed the deal that I be monitored for a half-hour, then I could walk around for a half-hour. Brian and I watched "Myth Busters," "Dirty Jobs" and "How It's Made" on the Discovery channel while the contractions started and strengthened. The doctor said I could get an epidural when I dilated to a 4. Once the contractions started to get real bad, I began to rethink my "go natural" strategy. The nurse suggested that I spend my half-hour off of the monitors in the tub, since the pain from each contraction would radiate down my legs and make it difficult to stand. That helped a ton.

I was waiting for the doctor to come and check my progress before I asked for the epidural, but then I found out that he probably wouldn't be back at the hospital until after five o'clock. I didn't know the nurse could check me, so once I found out she could, we asked to her to do so right away. Apparently I had surpassed the 4 that I was hoping for and had made it to a 6! It took about an hour and a half for the anesthesiologist to come, and while we waited Brian sat by my bed and held my hand. I wanted him to be there, but when I hurt, I didn't want him to talk or move at all. For a while he tried to lighten things up by joking that I really wasn't having a contraction because it wasn't registering on the monitor (it wasn't sitting on my belly right) but after I yelled at him to hold still and hush up, he stopped. Before he realized that things were getting worse, he thought I was just resting, so he ended up taking some pictures of me during a contraction.

It took forever for the epidural to be put in, and that was not fun. The baby was wedging himself in the front of my belly, which hurt, and I had to sit still, hunched over, during the contractions while the anesthesiologist poked needles in my back. Once the epidural took effect, things were so much better. We watched some more shows on the Discovery Channel and rested as much as we could while I progressed. The epidural wasn't quite strong enough to keep me from feeling the heavier contractions, but when it came time to push, that was perfect. It hurt enough that I was in control of pushing, instead of having the nurse (Amy, at this point) tell me when to push, but the epidural took enough of the pain away to make things bearable. I started pushing at 7:55 and he was out at 8:34. Brian was wonderful while I was pushing. He held my head (and one of my feet) and encouraged me through the whole thing.

After all the preparation for a VBAC, it felt so amazing to succeed. It felt good to be in control of the pushing and to be so involved in giving birth to my baby. I can't begin to describe the feeling I had when I looked down and saw him coming out. With my c-sections, I didn't see my babies until they were weighed and cleaned and wrapped in a blanket.

The doctor was so amazed. "How did you know you could do that?" he asked, "How did you know that it would work?" From his point of view, he saw a pregnant woman who was perfectly happy scheduling a c-section, but then at 8 months pregnant, was bound and determined to have a VBAC. He didn't quite understand, and I've got to say that he was surprised.

So the whole experience was amazing. I felt connected to Brian and the baby. Almost every VBAC story I've read has the word "empowered" in it somewhere. I have to agree; giving birth is an incredibly empowering experience. After that, I felt like I could do anything.


Marcus is such a sweet baby. He only cried for a minute at first, and he's stayed so calm ever since. He sleeps most of the time (like all newborns) and when he's awake he just loves to look around and watch the family. The kids have had a little trouble adjusting to having him around, but they love him, and we're glad to have him in our family.