I was due around the 3rd week of April. I say “around” because my dates don’t always correspond with the doctors. Which is okay. I know the date of conception with all my babes and based on that the due date is usually within 3-5 days of the doctor’s prediction. Since my previous labor/delivery ended in a c-section, the local hospital was not equipped to handle a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). They are, they just not to do them because of how small of a hospital they are. I was okay with that. As much as we wanted to do a home birth, we wanted to make sure that a successful VBAC was going to work for me first. So that meant finding a doctor and hospital who would accommodate. Fargo has a fantastic facility and Dr. H had delivered many a VBAC babies successfully and was known for his openness for non-aggressive labors. We were happy.
Two weeks before my due date I began having bouts of labor……regular contractions for hours on end getting as close as 4 minutes apart. And then they’d stop. Just stop. It was weird. It was not fair. I’d get excited and make calls for my mom to be ready to come or call John home from work or whatever. And they’d just stop. This happened probably 4 times. One of my last appointments just days before my due date, Dr. H said I was about 3 centimeters and very thinned out. This was promising but not good enough. I was anxious. Dr. H stripped my membranes and sent me home. We had a c-section scheduled for 1 day after my due date (as was his preference). It was getting too close to that date and I really didn’t want to submit to surgery. One day before my due date I called Dr H’s office to cancel the surgery. I didn’t want it. I didn’t. He and I compromised and I ended up coming in early in the morning on my due date (April 21st) to be mildly induced. He promised it would be the lowest possible amount of pitocin they could administer and that it would be shut off as soon as labor was progressing. He told me that I had already begun labor with my little episodes of contractions and that I was dilated enough that it wouldn’t take much. I was okay with that.
We arrived around 7:30am and I was ready to go by 8:00. They hooked me up and quite honestly the pitocin was so mild that I was having regular contractions for 3 hours and was able to talk through them. All of a sudden things started really picking up. They shut off the pit and let me go on my own. I was about a 6 or 7 at that point. I walked a little bit, tried to sit up and labor but mostly I just laid on my side. That wasn’t too conducive to moving a baby down so John helped me up. There was a point of labor where I got distracted by the pain. I knew it was happening and before I could refocus, a hard contraction came that sent me into a tizzy. I lost it. I demanded drugs and of course the nurses complied. John was shaking his head trying to get me to refocus and telling me that I could do it. I didn’t care. I was frantic and the nurses came in with the paperwork. I signed. As soon as they left the room again I think I regretted it. And then another contraction came and with it a very strong sense of focus and will. After a couple more contractions the nurses came back in to inform us that the anesthesiologist was backed up with 2 people ahead of me for the epidural. They told me to prepare to not get one in time. A sense of relief came over me. I KNEW I could do this without the drugs. I KNEW that I had to find a strong focus or this last part would not be as utterly satisfying and beautiful as I’d looked forward to. John and I locked eyes and got back to work. The nurse suggested the tub. It sounded good. I made my way to the bathroom. The short walk from the bed to the bathroom seemed like a mountain. While standing in the bathroom waiting for the tub to fill a bit more I had a contraction that nearly dropped me to the floor. Thank goodness for my super strong husband. Finally I was able to lower myself into the tub. Oh my. That felt wonderful. For anyone who has had the opportunity to labor in water, you know what I mean. The ‘weight’ of the contractions seemed to feel less than half. Seriously. I went from a 6 ½ to almost a 10 in a matter of 15 or 20 minutes without hardly feeling any of the contractions. That warm water relaxed me enough to almost push. The nurse urged me to get out of the tub as quickly as possible in between contractions and get back to the bed for delivery. As soon as I stood up and out of the tub, again a contraction came that felt like …. Well….. It wasn’t a nice feeling. ;-) We shimmied back over to the bed and got situated.
The doc came in the check me and said I could push whenever I felt the need. Oh this pushing stage was tremendous. The relief to be able to push that baby out was freeing. I pushed and pushed and pushed. It felt like forever. Really it was about 30 minutes of pushing at that point. How some women do it in just minutes, I don’t know. Maybe the fact that I consistently have 9-10lb babies has something to do with it. Anyway, Dr. H told me to stop pushing for a couple contractions. Yeah. Not something a laboring woman wants to hear. Wyatt began to crown and not pushed would help prevent tearing and/or an episiotomy. Oh the burning!!!!! I remember screaming at that point. Yeah, I was one of those deep moaning/grunting/screaming laboring women. It helped. ;-) Then came the moment. Dr H looked up at me and “okay, give it one more slow steady push.” And I did. He slithered out and onto my tummy. He was beautiful!
I remember looking over at John, who was all teary eyed and smiling and he said to me, “You did it. You did it again.”
Wyatt Leonard was born at 1:26pm on April 21, 2009. He weighed in at 10lbs and measured 22.5 inches long.
**tearing/episiotomies are a nightmare for me. Haven’t received the episiotomy and have only torn slightly. With Hayden I got 3 stitches. And with Wyatt they put in 5. Not bad.
And so with 3 completely different birth experiences under my belt, with a successful vbac as the most recent, we are happy to be a candidate for another homebirth. We are fortunate enough to have a midwife/NP just 40 miles away (which is close considering our location) who is more than happy to deliver this babe. And we are very excited - YES, excited - to welcome him/her into our family and into our home from the very first breath of life he/she takes. Being home for a birth is so peaceful, warm, comforting, and convenient. We wouldn’t have it any other way.
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