I'd been having contractions since last Saturday, which kept tapering off early afternoon. On Tuesday morning I stopped having contractions and pretty much gave up thinking that I'd get my chance at a vbac. I went to bed around 9:30 and cried for a while. My DD came into my bed around 11pm wanting to cuddle. I noticed the contractions had started again at this point. By midnight I couldn't stay in bed anymore as the contractions started to get painful. They were coming pretty steady at about 6-7 minutes apart, lasting about 1 minute. At 2AM they increased in intensity and I considered calling my midwife. I gave myself 1 more hour and then realized that these were real and not going away!
I woke up DH and had him call my parents to make the 1 hour drive to be here with DD. Then we called Kristen, my midwife. Kristen met us at the hospital at 4AM and got me set up on the telemetric FHM system. Baby's heart rate was staying really steady in the 140s through all the contractions. I was handling the contractions really well - dancing around the room and bouncing up and down throughout.
Kristen had me lie down so she could check my cervix. I was certain I had to be part way there due to the fact I'd been having such intense contraction for days. With DD, I never progressed past 1 cm. But, when Kristen checked me, I was not dilated at all. As with my DD, she found a scar on my cervix that seems to prevent me from dilating. This scar has been looked at by 3 midwives and 2 OBs and no one can figure out what it is or why I have it. As we began discussing my options, c-section or waiting it out and hoping like last time that something would happen, the baby's heart rate began jumping from 190+ to 100 and back up again. At that point we decided that there was no decision to be made and the baby needed to get out right away.
The OB on call was really great, as were the nurses. The surgery went really well and I got to watch it all in the light fixture above my head. It was actually really cool to see. DH got to announce the sex and to everyone's surprise, she was a girl. Based on her size, the entire staff present were guessing boy. She took some maneuvering to get her out through the incision since she's so big: 9lb 9oz. She was born at 5:43AM.
She nursed like an old pro in the recovery room and has been wonderful since then. I got released from the hospital after 24 hours, so I was home yesterday morning. I'm finding the pain much worse than the last time, but I'm getting through it.
Thanks for all the good thoughts! Even though I didn't get my vbac, I still feel pretty good about the whole experience, especially in comparison with the last time. I'm so happy that I went into labour on my own and she came when she was ready.
Me in labour
Getting weighed at the hospital
At home with her big sister Amelia
I woke up DH and had him call my parents to make the 1 hour drive to be here with DD. Then we called Kristen, my midwife. Kristen met us at the hospital at 4AM and got me set up on the telemetric FHM system. Baby's heart rate was staying really steady in the 140s through all the contractions. I was handling the contractions really well - dancing around the room and bouncing up and down throughout.
Kristen had me lie down so she could check my cervix. I was certain I had to be part way there due to the fact I'd been having such intense contraction for days. With DD, I never progressed past 1 cm. But, when Kristen checked me, I was not dilated at all. As with my DD, she found a scar on my cervix that seems to prevent me from dilating. This scar has been looked at by 3 midwives and 2 OBs and no one can figure out what it is or why I have it. As we began discussing my options, c-section or waiting it out and hoping like last time that something would happen, the baby's heart rate began jumping from 190+ to 100 and back up again. At that point we decided that there was no decision to be made and the baby needed to get out right away.
The OB on call was really great, as were the nurses. The surgery went really well and I got to watch it all in the light fixture above my head. It was actually really cool to see. DH got to announce the sex and to everyone's surprise, she was a girl. Based on her size, the entire staff present were guessing boy. She took some maneuvering to get her out through the incision since she's so big: 9lb 9oz. She was born at 5:43AM.
She nursed like an old pro in the recovery room and has been wonderful since then. I got released from the hospital after 24 hours, so I was home yesterday morning. I'm finding the pain much worse than the last time, but I'm getting through it.
Thanks for all the good thoughts! Even though I didn't get my vbac, I still feel pretty good about the whole experience, especially in comparison with the last time. I'm so happy that I went into labour on my own and she came when she was ready.
Me in labour
Getting weighed at the hospital
At home with her big sister Amelia
