My VBAC Birth Story 1/31-2/1 2011

Well here is my birth story, I wrote it a 2 weeks post-partum so sorry if I sound sleep deprived ;) : PLEASE DO NOT READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ ABOUT BIRTH RELATED DETAILS. You have been warned!



On Monday Jan 31st I discovered that I had lost my mucous plug at 5am, during one of my 20 trips to the bathroom during the night. Though I knew it didn't always mean labor was starting, I had a hard time sleeping due to nervousness, I couldn't believe that this might be the day I was going to give birth! At around 7:30am the contractions began, and after a few hours I let our babysitter (Sarah) know to come over soon. I had my 39 week appointment that day so decided to go to that to get checked so that if it was just a false alarm I hadn't gone through the trouble of going to the hospital. When I got there the contractions were 3 to 5 minutes apart, about 30 seconds long. My lovely sweet doctor was out sick that day so I had to see another, who tried to get me to schedule a c-section for the following week "just incase". She was such a downer! I mean I know the risks, you don't have to lecture me while I'm in labor! Wouldn't you know it, my contractions slowed down a ton while I was in the exam room, but I was 3cm and 80% effaced at that point. I was told to go home, the doc. didn't seem convinced that I was in labor.
So on the way home we got Starbucks (strawberry frappe for me ) and had some great couple time before we got back to the house. Sarah wanted to meet her parents for lunch so we let her go, and within the hour the contractions started picking up again and we felt that we should go to the hospital soon. Once she returned we headed off.
When we arrived we had to sit down and check in with a nurse. When asked what my biggest fear was Nate quipped "an earthquake?" ha ha. I found that pretty funny when I wasn't having a contraction. I ended up saying the "baby exit" part. We were then put in the monitoring rooms (I forget what they're called) and I changed into my own gown that I got for Christmas. I was still 3cm (super nice doctor checked me, she was so smiley). We were told to go walk around for an hour, this was at 4:50pm. Within 10 minutes of walking I was hit with some huge contractions! After 30 minutes I started crying that I couldn't do this and PLEASE could I be 4cm so they could admit me and give me the epidural! I got checked again and I was almost 4 so I was admitted, thank God! The anesthesiologist took a long time to arrive (he was kind of a jerk too) and by about 6:30pm I was comfortable. I had not gone into this wanting to go drug free so I went as long as I could tolerate it. I have a pretty low pain threshold and those big contractions hit me harder than I could handle.
I was checked at 9pm and I was 6cm and 90%! The nice doctor broke my water and I tried to rest a little. Around that time (I think) I got a headache so was given some Tylenol. At about 11:45pm I felt a ton of pressure so called the nurse and she checked me, I was complete and +2! With the nurse I pushed while we waited for the doctor who was delivering another baby (the only other patient in L&D, can you believe it?). I got the hang of pushing and when the dr came in (a new one as they had changed shifts, I never even saw her face as she was wearing a mask the whole time LOL) I continued to push. Thanfully my headache went away during this time, and the possibility of rupture never even once crossed my mind! She was doing a lot of massage but finally said she was going to help me, gave me a shot of lidocain because I was so nervous about being cut and I heard two or three snips, yuck. With some more pushing (without an ounce of pain, it was awesome) her head popped out! It was like an audible "pop!". She suctioned her mouth and nose and she started crying before she was all the way out. Out she came at 1:17am on 2/1/11 and she was HUGE! The predicted 5-6 pound baby was almost 9 pounds! I'm so glad they told me she was small, it really eased my mind (even if it was a lie ha ha). She had a lot of vernix too, and DARK hair! I was not expecting that at all! And she did not a cone-head at all. She layed her on my chest and it was amazing....such a wonderful experience. She turned out to be 8lbs 13 oz & 20" long. If she was born on her due date or beyond she probably would have been bigger than her brother (9lbs 3oz, 20" at birth).
I asked how many stitches I got and the dr said she couldn't even count. Yikes! I tore a little beyond the cut but it was only 2nd degree thankfully.
I got to eat right away and I stayed pretty numb "down there" for a good day afterwards. I was so happy that she made it to the 1st, that way my kids had their own birthday month! All in all labor was 18 hours from the first contraction to the birth, but only 7 in the hospital. Only pushed for less than an hour. I can't get over how AMAZING my body is, it knew just what to do, like a pro LOL!
The recovery was much easier than my c-section, though the first few days were very sore. But now I can't even tell! It was a wonderful, pain free birth and it couldn't have gone any better. God is so good!!!