Rix’s Birth Story
First some back story. I had a csection with the girls and I really wanted to have Rix naturally and vaginally. I spoke with my doctor about this at our first appointment when I was only 5 weeks along! She said that there were a few guidelines about VBACs at her practice. First off that they would not induce, second that they would only let me go one week past my due date. I was ok with both of these things just hoping that I would go into labor naturally before then.
At subsequent appointments she started to change her story. It became that she would schedule a csection if needed at 40.5 weeks, then 40 weeks, then 39 weeks. I had lost trust in my doctors support of me having a vaginal birth. I was so frustrated and upset by this. Especially since I had been going to her for so many years and felt I could trust her.
So I started to do lots of research. I joined a few face book groups for VBAC support. During this I realized I really wanted to hire a Doula. I also realized I knew nothing about VBAC’s, the risks and the reasons why doctors do csections unnecessarily.
I realized There were two things I needed to do. First was to switch doctors and second was to hire a Doula. So I started looking around at doctors and asking advice on the online forums about doctors that were VBAC supportive. I found one who was close to us and made my first appointment. Which was my 30 week appointment. My first appointment was good and while he didn’t have the same good bedside manner as my other OB he was upfront and honest about risks and benefits and his guidelines were much better! He would induce at 41 weeks and would not schedule a C-section. So first order of business done. On to finding a Doula.
I spoke with Ben about my desire to hire a Doula and while he was not fully on board and thought it was a little bit stupid to hire someone just as support BUT he told me that if that is what I really wanted to go ahead.
So I did some interviews and hired Lindsay. I felt like she was going to be awesome and I was excited to have her on board my birth team.
She gave a birth class when I was about 35 weeks that Ben and I both went to. I am so glad we did because after this class Ben felt much more comfortable with the decision to hire Lindsay. He learned some ways to help me through contractions and other things to help. (which later on was a life saver)
During the last month of pregnancy I had quite a few Braxton hicks and was hoping they were helping me get ready!
At my 38 week appointment the doctor swept my membranes and I started to have some more painful contractions during the evenings especially.
But at the next appointment I was still only dilated to a 1. I was 80% effaced and baby was in station 0. So I was not ready yet, but my body seemed to be doing what it was supposed to!
At my 40 week appointment I was still only dilated to a 1 maybe 2 and 100% effaced with baby in +1 station. My doctor was called to do a C-section so at that appointment I saw the NP and had to call back to see about scheduling an induction. My doctor had said at my previous appointment that my body was doing what it was supposed to do and he really would like to schedule my induction for Tuesday or Wednesday of the next week so I would be 40+5. I told him I wanted to think about it and would schedule it at my 40 week appointment if I wanted to go through with it.
I spoke to Ben, and his mom (who was coming to help with the girls while we were in the hospital) and Lindsay. We all agreed that this would be good. So I had the nurse speak to Dr. Downey and get all that set up.
She called on Thursday the 23rd with all the info and we got my induction all set up. I though to myself as I was hanging up with her that now I had this set my mind and body would relax and I would have the baby in the next few days since I had a plan now!
Sure enough, that evening the contractions hit full force. At about 3am they were right on top of each other with no break in between. I called Lindsay for advice on what to do. I couldn’t time them since there was no in between and the pain never stopped. I had let this go on for an hour before I called Lindsay. In speaking with Lindsay she didn’t feel like these were labor contractions but the non stop pain worried her. She was worried that my uterus was rupturing. So I went to the ER to get checked out and see if I was really in labor. When I got there the contractions had slowed down a bit and the pain had gotten less as well. The nurse checked me and I was still dilated to a 2. After being there for a couple of hours the contractions had slowed down to about ever 8 minutes apart. So they sent me home. I was a little frustrated by this just because the contractions when I was at home were right on top of each other. So how would I know when to go in again?
Anyway, I went home and let Ben nap for a while. Got the girls up and ready and fed. Then when Ben woke up I laid down and slept for about an hour and a half then the contractions started again. They were random and all over the place. They were still quite painful and I couldn’t sleep through them. That day I tried to get a bit more sleep throughout the day but was not very successful.
That evening about 8pm the contractions started to get so painful that I had to get Ben to start the hip squeezes to help me through them. The contractions continued throughout the night, we were on the phone with Lindsay throughout the night and eventually she was helping Ben through my contractions because I couldn’t talk. She recommended I take a sleeping pill and more Tylenol to try to get some sleep. So I did. I was able to sleep between the contractions at this point but the sleeping pill made it so much worse because now I was still not able to sleep through the contractions but I felt completely drugged out every time they hit and couldn’t get my brain to work through the contractions like I had been practicing and so they hurt so much worse.
I took three baths that night trying to get them to slow down and rubbed lavender and took another Tylenol and nothing was slowing them down.
Finally about 5am after laboring hard for 2 solid hours with contractions starting to be about 2 minutes apart I couldn’t take the pain and no sleep any longer. I asked Ben to call Andrea who was going to watch the girls to come over and Lindsay to meet us at the hospital.
I was so tired and in so much pain and the contractions were so close together when Andrea got to the house I didn’t even hardly say hello to her. I just needed to get to the hospital.
The drive to the hospital was excruciating. I was in the front seat facing the back of the car just hanging onto the headrest because Ben was trying to get to the hospital quickly because he knew the car ride wasn’t comfortable. I am pretty sure we made it in record time!
We got to the hospital and I was still having painful contractions one after the other.
It felt like an eternity but was probably only a few minutes before we got taken back to triage for them to check me before we could go up to Labor and delivery.
Once back there Ben gave the ER nurse my birth plan. On it was that I didn’t want to be checked vaginally unless I asked. So when the nurse told me to lay down on the bed I told her I wasn’t sure if I could. Laying down was not a position I could labor it. It was excruciating. But I laid down and she checked me. Told me that I was dilated to an 8. I cannot tell you how relieved I was after being sent back home the night before being dilated only to a 2. They rolled me to L&D and It was once again very painful riding on my back on the gurney.
At this point the only tolerable way for me to labor was standing up and I was so exhausted that I knew I wasn’t going to make it. I asked for an epidural so that I could take a nap.
Lindsay asked a few times if I was sure. That I was probably dilated to a 9 or 10 at that point and I didn’t have very much farther to go. But I knew that I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the birth of my son if I didn’t get some sleep. So they called up the person to give me the epidural and that was a feat in itself. Trying to get an epidural while having very painful contractions every minute was hard! Trying to stay still through contractions was very very difficult.
Got the epidural in place and laid down and pretty much went to sleep immediately.
When I woke up the nurse checked me and the baby had descended and they wanted me to start pushing. Lindsay had to go to take care of something while I was sleeping and had called another Doula to take her place while she was gone.
Just as the nurse was having me do some practice pushes Lindsay made it back.
I was pushing from laying down in bed and it just wasn’t working. So Lindsay suggested the nurse get the squat bar to help me push. The nurse asked her if she had brought one with them. That was our comic relief for the moment.
I was so glad that I got that nap so I could enjoy this part of the day of my sons birth.
We got the squat bar put in and it moved things right along.
Because I had an epidural I needed both doulas and Ben to help lift me up to the bar so I could hold on and push. I pushed for about 30 minutes and the nurse had me stop because the doctor wasn’t going to make it! The doc hurried in and had me push twice more and there he was!
The doctor was cracking me up because as she was cleaning him up and getting him to my chest she was talking in baby talk to Rix telling him what a darling sweet boy he was and that he had such a nice round head for a vaginally birthed baby, ect ect. It was more comic relief for the day as Lindsay and I shared a look of “what the…”
Best day ever. He was placed on my chest and I got skin to skin for a good while! The nurse took all his vitals while he was laying on me, and Ben got to cut the cord after a minute or two of him laying on me.
He latched right away and hasn’t stopped being a pro nurser since.
I never intended to get to the hospital dilated to an 8 and I wasn’t planning on getting an epidural because I was worried about an abruption and I wanted to be able to feel the pain to tell if there was an issue, but I am very pleased with the way things turned out. I have a beautiful baby boy and a few weeks later and I feel almost like normal again. So different from the very long recovery from a csection and a month of bed rest.
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| Laboring and getting blood drawn and iv in |
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| After I got the Epidural I was almost instantly asleep |
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| The mood in the room was happy and jovial after Ben and I both had naps |
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| Baby Rix is born and Doc is cooing |
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| After more than an hour of skin to skin they are weighing Rix |
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| Cute little foot prints |
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| The next day the girls get to meet Rix for the first time |
