Birth Story #3

The thought of undergoing a surgical delivery again--with all its sights, sounds, smells and feelings--filled me with nausea and fear.  I knew it was time for a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean).  But a VBAC after one cesarean makes many doctors uneasy, and a VBAC after two cesareans is. not. done. So I went to a large mid wife practice that has also managed to partner with a few doctors and met with a mid wife who seemed open.  She suggested I meet with the senior doctor to be sure.  As he put it, being at the end of his career and understanding the honest facts about cesareans and VBACs, he didn't think either of us "have that much to lose."*

Birth Story #2

He was due May 10. But I elected for a scheduled c-section, routinely a week early, making it May 3. But then my husband's paternity leave began at the beginning of that week and since my first child was born on July 1 we asked the doctor if we pretty please might have the baby on May 1. :)

With everything planned and packed, we took our first born to my sister-in-law's the night before and enjoyed a restful night at home. At 7:00a.m. the next morning we drove to the hospital, showered, dressed, and prepared.  I walked through the hospital doors wheeling my luggage behind me.  I sat at the admitting desk filing out paperwork and answering questions. I walked to the pre/post op room where the nurse gave me a gown. I changed in the restroom then climbed onto the hospital bed and sat and waited. It was all very quiet and routine.

Birth Story #1 Part 2

I picked up the cold pay phone receiver, pressed the cold buttons, and shivered as I told my husband the news.  The pay phone made our conversation difficult to understand, he rushed to the hospital while I stopped by home to pack my bag and put some laundry into the washing machine.  When I finally arrived to reassure him, we were unceremoniously admitted to the hospital.

At 4 pm the nurses applied prostaglandin to my forbidding cervix (50% effaced and not even 1 cm.) The prostoglandin burned into my tissue, the IV dripped into my veins, my bladder swelled, and my sciatic nerve cringed as I was ordered to lay on my left side and not use the restroom for an hour--the longest hour of my life. The procedure was repeated at 10 pm for the second longest hour of my life.

Birth Story #1 Part 1: Birth and Burgers

After 4 births, whether by a sense of nostalgia, maturity, or appreciation, I feel it is finally time to write my birth stories. I feel like the poster child for methods of delivery having had an emergency c-section, a planned c-section, a vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) and a miscarriage. I hope my experiences will enrich yours be it past or present.


Birth Story #1 Part 1

I lay in the quiet darkness of the cavernous ultrasound room at the regional hospital. I listened to my deliberately slow breaths to ease the beating of my heart. The ultrasound technician hadn't said much, but I watched the calculated measurements flash on the screen: gestation 37.5 wks, head 37 wks, abdomen 32 wks, total weight 5 lbs 7 oz.