(no subject)
David Henry was born on April 24 at 11:08 by repeat c-section after at TOL and vbac attempt.
Tuesday morning I had been having some random contractions on and off. The timing was bizarre between them. 2 minutes, 10 minutes, 60 minutes. So we went on with our day. They stopped around midday, but my doula warned me that things could pick back up when the sun went down.
Around 8pm, they were back. And around 6-7 minutes apart. I got in the tub and they became more manageable, but closer together. I texted the doula a quick warning, but said I was sure I could sleep through them and was going to bed.
As soon as I laid down, they got way closer together. I tried "rainbow relaxing" through them (I had taken hypnobirthing classes) and it wasn't working, so I got back in the tub. I sat in our tub for an hour, denying that I was going into labor at night (didn't work for me, who was going to come watch Ben?). Once I realized that they were 3 minutes apart and NOT slowing down, I just sat there and cried. I know that is a stupid reaction, but I didn't want to wake up Ben to take him to Laura's (which was the plan). I woke Matt up and called Kelly, my doula, who said not to worry about Ben right then and there and that she was coming over. Matt and I decided to call one of his coworkers who lives in our neighborhood to come sit with Ben. And then we finished packing our hospital bags, because, well. I didn't expect to go into labor before my due date.
Around 1:00 in the morning, we decided to head to the hospital. It's ten minutes away from our house and that was by far the longest it ever took to get there. I drive that route so often that I have it memorized and could tell where we were based on the curves even sitting/kneeling in the backseat trying to get through the contractions. We were there by 1:30. The ride up in the wheelchair was awful and I may have yelled at the girl pushing it too hard to stop so I could stand up for a contraction. (Seriously, whose idea was it that I HAD to ride in a wheelchair to get up there?). We were told that the doctor on call was the ONE doctor who wasn't all that supportive of VBACs, and I admit that I totally lost my shit mentally for a bit.
Which is why it's good that we hired a doula who yelled at me in triage to get my shit together. We got put back in our room, where I continued on with my unmedicated laboring. I was only a six when we go there, which I admit really brought me down too. I REALLY wanted the epidural, but was convinced to wait until I was at least 7. I remember being annoyed about that.
I continued laboring in a bunch of different positions, and mostly being told to stop clenching up, which I found absolutely impossible to do. I didn't even REALIZE I was doing it half of the time. I got to a 9 pretty quickly, but still had a "lip" so they kept moving me around, which was about the LAST thing I wanted to do. They also didn't want me pushing because they didn't want me to swell up, but at that point it was damn impossible to not push. My body did it whether I wanted to or not. My water still had not broken, so we discussed it and decided to go ahead and break it (I truly thought breaking my water lead to issues with Ben, so that was my "dealbreaker" intervention that I really, REALLY did not want).
FINALLY I was at a 10 and they started letting me push "for real." This started around 7am. We tried about 45 different ways to push. In the meantime, the shift change resulted in the OB I liked coming in to be on call. I couldn't push David down past 0 station. He kept getting caught on my pubic bone. Not for lack of trying. The nurse and OB would use their hands to try to "expand" and make room for his head to move past. At 10, we decided on the epidural. I was exhausted and we were hoping it would relax me enough to get David out. I could feel his head, it just wasn't coming down. The new ob said she'd give me until 11, but that 4 hours of pushing was really enough.
At 10:45, David started having heart decels, so into the OR we went. I took my ipod with me and listened to the rainbow relaxation track while they were taking David out. I think it really helped. David was so wedged in the birth canal that apparently there was an audible *pop* when they took him out.
This csection was so different. I actually DID only feel pressure. I got to see David as soon as possible. I got to touch him and talk to him. The surgery lasted a long time. Apparently I had a lot of scar tissue on my uterus and bladder from my previous csection and tearing on my cervix. The OB repaired all of that. I was back in my room by 12:30 and holding David not long after.
Recovery has been...amazing? We came home on Friday. With Ben (my two year old), I hadn't even MET him by then. I feel so much better. I had hardly any blood loss. I can walk around without feeling like I'm going to die. Nursing is going well. My milk is already in and aside from the fact that my nipples hurt, everything is good.
I'm glad I tried to vbac. I am not all that sad about the csection. Apparently I'm the mythical girl who just CAN'T push a baby out. Ben probably was never coming even if he'd been positioned correctly because David WAS perfectly positioned and still wasn't coming out. We did everything "right" this time.
Tuesday morning I had been having some random contractions on and off. The timing was bizarre between them. 2 minutes, 10 minutes, 60 minutes. So we went on with our day. They stopped around midday, but my doula warned me that things could pick back up when the sun went down.
Around 8pm, they were back. And around 6-7 minutes apart. I got in the tub and they became more manageable, but closer together. I texted the doula a quick warning, but said I was sure I could sleep through them and was going to bed.
As soon as I laid down, they got way closer together. I tried "rainbow relaxing" through them (I had taken hypnobirthing classes) and it wasn't working, so I got back in the tub. I sat in our tub for an hour, denying that I was going into labor at night (didn't work for me, who was going to come watch Ben?). Once I realized that they were 3 minutes apart and NOT slowing down, I just sat there and cried. I know that is a stupid reaction, but I didn't want to wake up Ben to take him to Laura's (which was the plan). I woke Matt up and called Kelly, my doula, who said not to worry about Ben right then and there and that she was coming over. Matt and I decided to call one of his coworkers who lives in our neighborhood to come sit with Ben. And then we finished packing our hospital bags, because, well. I didn't expect to go into labor before my due date.
Around 1:00 in the morning, we decided to head to the hospital. It's ten minutes away from our house and that was by far the longest it ever took to get there. I drive that route so often that I have it memorized and could tell where we were based on the curves even sitting/kneeling in the backseat trying to get through the contractions. We were there by 1:30. The ride up in the wheelchair was awful and I may have yelled at the girl pushing it too hard to stop so I could stand up for a contraction. (Seriously, whose idea was it that I HAD to ride in a wheelchair to get up there?). We were told that the doctor on call was the ONE doctor who wasn't all that supportive of VBACs, and I admit that I totally lost my shit mentally for a bit.
Which is why it's good that we hired a doula who yelled at me in triage to get my shit together. We got put back in our room, where I continued on with my unmedicated laboring. I was only a six when we go there, which I admit really brought me down too. I REALLY wanted the epidural, but was convinced to wait until I was at least 7. I remember being annoyed about that.
I continued laboring in a bunch of different positions, and mostly being told to stop clenching up, which I found absolutely impossible to do. I didn't even REALIZE I was doing it half of the time. I got to a 9 pretty quickly, but still had a "lip" so they kept moving me around, which was about the LAST thing I wanted to do. They also didn't want me pushing because they didn't want me to swell up, but at that point it was damn impossible to not push. My body did it whether I wanted to or not. My water still had not broken, so we discussed it and decided to go ahead and break it (I truly thought breaking my water lead to issues with Ben, so that was my "dealbreaker" intervention that I really, REALLY did not want).
FINALLY I was at a 10 and they started letting me push "for real." This started around 7am. We tried about 45 different ways to push. In the meantime, the shift change resulted in the OB I liked coming in to be on call. I couldn't push David down past 0 station. He kept getting caught on my pubic bone. Not for lack of trying. The nurse and OB would use their hands to try to "expand" and make room for his head to move past. At 10, we decided on the epidural. I was exhausted and we were hoping it would relax me enough to get David out. I could feel his head, it just wasn't coming down. The new ob said she'd give me until 11, but that 4 hours of pushing was really enough.
At 10:45, David started having heart decels, so into the OR we went. I took my ipod with me and listened to the rainbow relaxation track while they were taking David out. I think it really helped. David was so wedged in the birth canal that apparently there was an audible *pop* when they took him out.
This csection was so different. I actually DID only feel pressure. I got to see David as soon as possible. I got to touch him and talk to him. The surgery lasted a long time. Apparently I had a lot of scar tissue on my uterus and bladder from my previous csection and tearing on my cervix. The OB repaired all of that. I was back in my room by 12:30 and holding David not long after.
Recovery has been...amazing? We came home on Friday. With Ben (my two year old), I hadn't even MET him by then. I feel so much better. I had hardly any blood loss. I can walk around without feeling like I'm going to die. Nursing is going well. My milk is already in and aside from the fact that my nipples hurt, everything is good.
I'm glad I tried to vbac. I am not all that sad about the csection. Apparently I'm the mythical girl who just CAN'T push a baby out. Ben probably was never coming even if he'd been positioned correctly because David WAS perfectly positioned and still wasn't coming out. We did everything "right" this time.