Aviva James, born April 23, 2010, at 4.45 am after 12 hours of pre-labor & 13 hours of active labor. 8 lbs 1 oz, 20.25 inches long. Drug-free, augmentation-free, midwife assisted hospital VBAC.
Woke up at 4 am on 22nd w/ real contractions. Definitely much stronger & painful than any others. I was wondering what it would feel like & everyone was right, I just "knew". 15 mins apart until 8 am & then they went away
Already had dh take day off work b/c he also awoke at 4, so was extremely disappointed. Had 2 or less contractions from then. At 4.30 pm, the frequency picked back up, yay! 10 - 15 minutes apart. Had my mom pick dd up around 8 pm. Still going every 10 - 15 mins. Was having some real contractions & some gas-inspired ones, too, which was annoying, so I got in the tub to relax. Laid in the tub & watched a video, which was nice. I was already having to move onto my hands & knees during them by that point. Got out of tub, started timing them. I was having several short ones & then one long one about 5 mins apart. Stayed in that pattern for quite some time. Sat on couch w/ dh, sitting up & dozing in between them. Had to move to hands & knees & rock thru each one. Decided to stop timing. Became uncomfortable on couch & moved to sit on my pillow on the floor. This was at 11 pm & contractions became noticeably more intense, but not longer. Started timing again ~ They were about 2 mins apart, about 40 seconds long. Threw up. Had more contractions. After timing for a bit more & having a tiny bit of pink on toilet paper, decided that it was time to go to the hospital. Called in & spoke to midwife. Told them we were on the way.
2 am: Uneventful drive (we live pretty close) & check in. Was on hands and knees in the waiting room, lol. Got to triage & they were still increasing in intensity. Told dh that if they said I was anything less than 7cm that I was going to cry right there. He said okay
Got into gown, things getting intense. Had one that put me on the floor. I said that I either peed myself or my water broke. Nope, it was bloody show! Got on the bed (kneeling) while triage nurse was still checking me in. DH was not impressed w/ her, haha. She had all this stuff she was supposed to do, like collect urine and draw blood. Yeaaaahhh, neither of those happened 
Midwife came in & talked to us for a minute & watched me work thru a contraction. She checked me & I was at seven 
She was satisfied w/ this and had them wheel me back to L&D room. I had to lay down for that (nooooo!) & I screamed my way down the hall. The nurses in L&D were much swifter than the triage nurse & got my heplock in and the monitors on. They all left & it was just me, dh, midwife, and a nurse. Had many more contractions & screamed my way thru all of them. I was either kneeling w/ my hands on my thighs or kneeling draped over the back of the raised bed. Midwife checked me again & I was at 10cm. Offered to break my water & I declined. M/w said it would not interfere & I could push whenever I was ready. Urge finally began kicking & I started pushing. I would scream at start of contraction & then go into pushing mode. Contraction would subside & I would rest. I could not keep my eyes open at this point b/c I was having double vision. I pushed and pushed and pushed. It was so painful & I was screaming at the top of my lungs every time. Baby moved down, then not, then down some more, then not, etc. Finally, she was very close & my water broke during one push. I pushed a few more times & I started to get the ring of fire. Baby's heart rate started dropping v low (about 60) during the pushing & m/w said I needed to get on my back & push as hard as possible to get her out. Many nurses & drs appeared to help me roll over & hold my legs & help the baby once out. I shoved as hard as I could, but I physically could only push during a contraction. M/w said to try and push anyway b/c baby was extremely close & it was time to get her out. I tried pushing & it brought on a contraction & I pushed as hard as I possibly could. The midwife helped pull her head out & her whole body slid out at once. They put her right up onto my chest & she was all gray but snuffling (dd1 was gray at birth, too, so I was not worried). The nurse was rubbing her vigorously; I think she was concerned. She started breathing real nice & the nurse stopped. The cord was done pulsing shortly after & the m/w clamped it & dh cut it. They took the baby to the warmer & cleaned her while I delivered the placenta, which also sucked & was painful. I did not tear at all on the outside, but I did on the inside b/c dd was born w/ her hand up by her face (neuchal hand). That, and dd's short umbilical cord are probably what was keeping her from coming down quicker. Tear was not bad & I was impressed that I had birthed an 8 lb baby w/ no outer damage!
All in all, it was an absolutely perfect vbac. DH and midwife were both AWESOME, hands-off, and totally supportive. I had planned on laboring mostly at home and I did; we only spent 3 hours of labor time in the hospital & one of those hours was pushing. It was the most painful & horrible experience of my life & I am not sure that I ever want to birth another baby, but after a scheduled c-section w/ no labor, I am incredibly thankful that I got this "second chance". I've now done both ends of the birthing spectrum & feel complete w/ that!
Woke up at 4 am on 22nd w/ real contractions. Definitely much stronger & painful than any others. I was wondering what it would feel like & everyone was right, I just "knew". 15 mins apart until 8 am & then they went away
Already had dh take day off work b/c he also awoke at 4, so was extremely disappointed. Had 2 or less contractions from then. At 4.30 pm, the frequency picked back up, yay! 10 - 15 minutes apart. Had my mom pick dd up around 8 pm. Still going every 10 - 15 mins. Was having some real contractions & some gas-inspired ones, too, which was annoying, so I got in the tub to relax. Laid in the tub & watched a video, which was nice. I was already having to move onto my hands & knees during them by that point. Got out of tub, started timing them. I was having several short ones & then one long one about 5 mins apart. Stayed in that pattern for quite some time. Sat on couch w/ dh, sitting up & dozing in between them. Had to move to hands & knees & rock thru each one. Decided to stop timing. Became uncomfortable on couch & moved to sit on my pillow on the floor. This was at 11 pm & contractions became noticeably more intense, but not longer. Started timing again ~ They were about 2 mins apart, about 40 seconds long. Threw up. Had more contractions. After timing for a bit more & having a tiny bit of pink on toilet paper, decided that it was time to go to the hospital. Called in & spoke to midwife. Told them we were on the way.2 am: Uneventful drive (we live pretty close) & check in. Was on hands and knees in the waiting room, lol. Got to triage & they were still increasing in intensity. Told dh that if they said I was anything less than 7cm that I was going to cry right there. He said okay
Got into gown, things getting intense. Had one that put me on the floor. I said that I either peed myself or my water broke. Nope, it was bloody show! Got on the bed (kneeling) while triage nurse was still checking me in. DH was not impressed w/ her, haha. She had all this stuff she was supposed to do, like collect urine and draw blood. Yeaaaahhh, neither of those happened Midwife came in & talked to us for a minute & watched me work thru a contraction. She checked me & I was at seven She was satisfied w/ this and had them wheel me back to L&D room. I had to lay down for that (nooooo!) & I screamed my way down the hall. The nurses in L&D were much swifter than the triage nurse & got my heplock in and the monitors on. They all left & it was just me, dh, midwife, and a nurse. Had many more contractions & screamed my way thru all of them. I was either kneeling w/ my hands on my thighs or kneeling draped over the back of the raised bed. Midwife checked me again & I was at 10cm. Offered to break my water & I declined. M/w said it would not interfere & I could push whenever I was ready. Urge finally began kicking & I started pushing. I would scream at start of contraction & then go into pushing mode. Contraction would subside & I would rest. I could not keep my eyes open at this point b/c I was having double vision. I pushed and pushed and pushed. It was so painful & I was screaming at the top of my lungs every time. Baby moved down, then not, then down some more, then not, etc. Finally, she was very close & my water broke during one push. I pushed a few more times & I started to get the ring of fire. Baby's heart rate started dropping v low (about 60) during the pushing & m/w said I needed to get on my back & push as hard as possible to get her out. Many nurses & drs appeared to help me roll over & hold my legs & help the baby once out. I shoved as hard as I could, but I physically could only push during a contraction. M/w said to try and push anyway b/c baby was extremely close & it was time to get her out. I tried pushing & it brought on a contraction & I pushed as hard as I possibly could. The midwife helped pull her head out & her whole body slid out at once. They put her right up onto my chest & she was all gray but snuffling (dd1 was gray at birth, too, so I was not worried). The nurse was rubbing her vigorously; I think she was concerned. She started breathing real nice & the nurse stopped. The cord was done pulsing shortly after & the m/w clamped it & dh cut it. They took the baby to the warmer & cleaned her while I delivered the placenta, which also sucked & was painful. I did not tear at all on the outside, but I did on the inside b/c dd was born w/ her hand up by her face (neuchal hand). That, and dd's short umbilical cord are probably what was keeping her from coming down quicker. Tear was not bad & I was impressed that I had birthed an 8 lb baby w/ no outer damage!All in all, it was an absolutely perfect vbac. DH and midwife were both AWESOME, hands-off, and totally supportive. I had planned on laboring mostly at home and I did; we only spent 3 hours of labor time in the hospital & one of those hours was pushing. It was the most painful & horrible experience of my life & I am not sure that I ever want to birth another baby, but after a scheduled c-section w/ no labor, I am incredibly thankful that I got this "second chance". I've now done both ends of the birthing spectrum & feel complete w/ that!
May I ask on the meaning/story of her name?
