Worlds Longest Birth Story....begins now!!

The Morning of the Induction....


Preface/Set-Up: After my c-section with Jacob, I was determined to try for a vbac (vaginal birth after ceserean) this time with Norah. I wanted to experience the instant connection with my baby. I wanted to feel her on my chest within seconds of birth and witness the little things like seeing her get weighed, measure her length, and be able to watch Steven cut her cord. None of this was an option with Jacobs birth. I felt alone in the recovery room while everyone else was admiring him and watching his first moments. With Jacob, I was able to dilate to a 10, after 32 long hours and push for 4 hours but because of the position of his head he wouldnt budge and therefore, resulted in a c-section. Although I wasnt considered an "ideal" candidate for a vbac I wasnt ruled out either and my Doctor was willing to let me go for it. Ideally, she would have liked for me to go into labor on my own for a higher success rate but thankfully she was still willing to induce me. (even when many Doctors wouldnt) can I tell you how much I loved my Doctor...seriously.

Induction Day: 41 weeks 5 daysWe went in at 7:30am which turned out to be one of the busiest days labor and delivery had seen in a long time. I heard they actually had to cancel a few inductions that morning because of the mayhem. Im so glad I wasnt one of them! My first check was at 9:00 am and I was at a 3. Which was a cm more than at last weeks appt. Because I was at a 3 already, my Dr decided to just go with the Pitocin because the foley catheter automatically falls out at a 3 and would have been pointless. So once I was hooked up to the Pitocin around 10ish we all just kinda waited. We walked the hallways and bounced on the birthing ball. I was determined to get out of bed this time and not stay in bed all labor like I did with Jacob. The walking and the birthing ball felt incredibly good and relieved a lot of pressure. One of my favorite shows, "The First 48" was having a marathon all day so thats what stayed on tv all afternoon :) hehe. My parents and Jacob came by for lunch and I was still feeling really good. When they left to take Jacob home for a nap the contractions slowly began to intensify and become more regular. I was checked at 3pm and was a 4. Although it seemed like little progress at the time, my Doctor was very pleased and remained hopeful things may start to progress a little faster. I was now considered in active labor. Stevens family stopped by that afternoon and thats when things were getting even stronger. Painful but still managable. Stevens family left to go to my parents house for dinner and hang out until they heard from us again. My great friends Morgan and Michelle stopped by with the kids and it was so nice to see them, right before that I was given Fentanyl to help take the edge off because I still wasnt ready for an epidural. I was feeling good...and hope I made sense when I was chatting with them :) Since the Fentanyl was so short lived I was able to get one more dose before the epidural. I actually considered laboring naturally...but then I realized my water hadnt been broken yet and I've often heard that one the water breaks, the contractions can get extreme. The thought of that scared me so I opted for the epidural. Because of the craziness that day my nurse convinced me to get the epidural sooner rather than later because of the chance we may have to wait for awhile as other moms were quicky requesting their drugs....and the amount of c-sections going on that day. (There were at least 7 done that day) Needless to say, my anesthesiologist was hot property. Ironically, it was her last day as she was going to be moving to Hawaii to continue working at a hospital down there, the staff threw her a luau and even I got a piece of her chocolate cake! After I got the epidural, my Doctor decided to go ahead and break my water in hopes of kicking it into gear. I was checked less than an hour later and was at a good 6. She told me she could easily strectch me to an 8 if she needed to. So we updated our parents and just continued to wait. Within an hour, I was checked again and officially at an 8. Made another call and told them they might want to start heading our direction. Assuming this was going to be like Jacobs delivery, no one was in a real hurry and thought we still had some time so they all cleaned up dinner and made a phone call or two and Stevens Mom and Dad dropped his brother off at our place to house sit while we were gone...and for the first time ever, my parents forgot the cell phone. My nurse began telling me about some pressure I would begin to feel that is not masked by the epidural. At that same time she said that, I began feeling pressure...not regularly but I now knew what she was talking about. Within 10 minutes it wasnt going away and she checked me. I was at a 9 and she had me do a "trial" push when resulted in me now at a 10.

Labor: I knew I wanted my mom with me really bad so we began urgently calling her...and got no answer. My nurse predicted I had about 45 minutes to push and asked me what I would like to do. I decided to begin pushing because for sure it wouldnt take that long to get to the hospital from where they live. I started pushing and about 30 minutes into it my mom came into the room and had was shocked to see I was ready to go! She instantly started tearing up and we both realized that I was really doing it!! The whole time I used a mirror and am so glad I did. I was able to watch everything and my nurse did a great job keeping everything nice and "tidy" for me to see. It helped me focus on where to direct my pushing and as Norah inched her way down the canal, I could see more and more of her head which was also very motivating! The sheer determination of wanting to avoid the c-section gave me so much strength. Its amazing what your mind and body can do when you want something so badly. The hospital was so busy that night, that I didnt end up seeing my Doctor for the first time until my very last push! She had been in back to back c-sections. I didnt mind at all because I had the best nurse ever! She was amazing and basically delivered Norah! She helped me so much when it came down to pushing. So finally when Norahs head began to come out they had me stop and thats when I knew, I had succeeded! One last push and out she came!! It was the best feeling ever! (Im literally tearing up typing this because I am so happy) Norah weighed 8lbs 14oz and was 21" long. She was placed on my chest and felt so warm and gooey :) in a good way! It was instantly love at first sight. She came out and I was shocked to see her hair was much lighter than Jacobs was and when I saw her eyes for a few seconds, I noticed they were also much lighter. I am very curious to see if shes going to have Stevens features. Regardless, this was hands down, my biggest accomplishment and am so glad I never second guessed my decision. I felt at peace with it my entire pregnancy. Praise be to God as I know there were so many people praying for us...I am so blessed.

Recovery: When Norah came out I recieved a 3rd degree partial tear....I watched them sew up the whole thing and it was quite facinating. It took a lot longer than I thought for the repair, but I was able to watch everything that was going on with Norah including the cutting of the cord, her weight, her height, apgar tests and her eye treatments!! I was on cloud 9 and could have cared less what was going on down below. Steven was quite interested as well because he insisted on taking pictures of the placenta...he also snapped a few shots of me pushing my brains out too!! I told him he needs a job in photo journalism!! He was elated that he got to cut her cord and I was in awe at everything going on around me. The recovery has been so much easier (even with the tear!) than I thought. The nurses made sure I was current with the pain meds and just seeing her makes everything so worth it. I've been able to use the bathroom with no problem either...my other fear! I want to personally thank the makers of Tucks, Dermaplast, and whoever makes those big panties and the peri-bottle :) as they have been a wonderful new addition to our bathroom. Norah checked out perfectly at both of her Pediactric visits and all the tests have come back great! We're scheduled to take her to her first appt on Monday. She was born a professional breastfeeder which has been wonderful, except for the fact thats all she wants to do! I've turned into gumby but its such a small sacrifice for so little time I dont mind at all!! It just means my milk is due to come in at any time!

I just want to thank my Mom and Dad for taking Jacob all this week as well as Stevens parents and brother for driving so many hours to check in on your newest granddaughter :) I also want to thank Katie and Jason, Chris and Angela, Danielle and Terry, Morgan, Michelle, Dave and Michelle, Carly, Pam, Stepheni, Suzie and Andy and Jessica for taking time out of your day to come down and see us!! It was so nice to see familiar faces all day long!!

**For those of you even considering a vbac I cant say enough how glad I am that I did it. I had so many things against me for example: I had a large baby and I needed to be induced. But my induction still ended up being textbook. From start to finish I was only in labor for 6 hours and 35 minutes. The recovery from the tear is nothing compared to the healing of the c-section, and I healed quickly from that (I was at the mall at 4 days post pardum) Its helped in taking care of Jacob as well. He can sit on my lap and I can easily play on the floor with him. I have no driving restrictions and I was able to eat a full meal right after her birth. Besides a little tenderness when I sit for too long, I feel as though I never had a baby. My bleeding has stopped completely and generally feel great. I hope this helps some of you as I know there arent a lot of resources from women who have done it...and I know the extra support would have been great for me. If you have any further questions do not hesitate to email me at LuvBug12683@hotmail.com I'd be glad to expand on anything you have read :)
**Stay tuned for some professional pics coming soon!!


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