Sticky: *November 2012 Nightlight's Arrivals, and Birth Stories*

Please post your birth stories here!
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I will update the arrivals as more babies arrive!

**August**

1st
~scifigal~ Samuel Ray 2lbs 12oz, 15"

**September**

16th
*~*Amber*~* Bria Lynn Robinson 1 lb 10oz, 13"

**October**

18th

TiffyTaffy Gideon Maxwell 9lbs 1oz, 18.5"

23rd

lemonlemon Paisley Grace 8lbs 4oz, 20"
belindab Amaris Piper 8lbs 15oz, 19.5"

25th

mom on the run Adam Craig 8 lbs 12 oz
gabeminamom Cristiano 7 lbs 4 oz, 20"

31st

jgriffith Owen Benjamin 7lbs 15oz, 21 3/4"

**November**

3rd

argylefrog Archer David 7lbs 5oz, 20 1/2"

4th

augustbaby2010 River 7lbs 14oz, 20"

7th

Kier Kellen Isaac 6lbs 1oz, 19 3/4"

9th

mama_to_peanut Callie Jane 7lbs 7oz,

11th

harmonybear Micah 5lbs 15oz

15th

moon7starr Josslyn Flora 8 lbs 9 oz, 21"

16th

haysmama Piper Olivia 8 lbs 5 oz

24th

Honey3.14 Sean William

27th

Astolate Carson William 9lbs 9oz, 21.75"
alwayssmile Zoe Adara 7 lbs 12.8oz, 18 3/4"
Risstopher Kyla Grace 6lbs 3oz, 18 1/2"

28th

Lyricly_ Owen Romeo Gerard 7lbs 12oz, 20.9"

30th

claireCJ Griffin Benjamin 6 lbs 12 oz, 19 1/2"

**December**

1st

snuffy1680 Joshua Daniel

7th

AkMomma07 Marek Joshua 7lbs 13oz, 21.25"

Sam's Birth Story...(I did this late last night so please excuse any typos etc)

It's a bit long, tried not to be graphic about it, but it's not the happiest read but at least in the end there was happiness in the form of a beautiful little boy. Being it's not the happiest of a birth story,I wish I could be sharing something similar to Sebastian's birth, I do feel a bit odd sharing it. So hopefully I am not scary any one or anything.

As the saying goes every pregnancy is different?.

And this one fits the old saying and was totally different from my first.

Every labor is different too I would imagine because the birth Sam was nothing like the birth of Sebastian.

It all started on Saturday July 28th waking up with bleeding issues and talking to the on call OB who suggested I go to Fairview Ridges.

We went and ended up getting admitted for observation even though after some exams and an ultrasound they couldn?t pin point the case of the bleeding.

The bleeding stopped on Sunday and I was sent home.

On Monday I still had no issues so I went along with my day and went to my OB appointment. She had no idea either as to the source of the bleeding but thought maybe the cerclage was getting pulled a bit by rather light contractions.

Tuesday morning I woke up and knew something was not right as the bleeding had returned and it was a lot heavier.

Back to the hospital we went for more exams, ultrasounds, etc?

Due to how far along it was decided if I went into labor it would be best to go to the University of MN. So I was transferred there later in the afternoon by ambulance.

After being admitted into the hospital I had a lot of labs drawn and then exams were scheduled for the next morning.

On Wednesday morning I was told that it wasn?t a placenta abruption as they initially thought because of how the labs turned out. At that point they ran through other things they thought it was but after some exams and labs decided it wasn?t and the docs were puzzled. Cue me feeling like I should be on an episode of House.

Then I had an ultrasound, which looked to be promising as the tech said Sam was measuring 29 weeks and a few days. She even said he was weighing 3 pounds 2 oz. everything about him looked great but she did notice some bight spots on the ultrasound which I guess bright equals blood.

Eventually they wanted to do another exam to check and see if the cerclage was tearing. Being it had been a rather rough couple of days needless to say the girly parts were sensitive and hard to examine.

So they gave me some pain meds to sort of knock me out while they did the exam.

I wasn?t told right away what the decision was and was taken back to my room. I asked if I could order some food finally as I hadn?t eaten all day because they didn?t know if any of the exams would require me to be knocked out. The nurse said yes I could eat according to the doctor. I ordered up some food and just after I hung up the phone the nurse came flying back in and told me I couldn?t eat and I was getting my cerclage taken out.

Shortly after that I was greeted by the doctor?s explaining that after all the exams from both hospitals, labs, ultrasounds, etc it was indeed a placenta abruption and I needed to get the cerclage taken out.

So I was off to the OR to get it taken out.

Once I was awake I was told that I was dilated to 4 and we needed to go into labor.

So we were off the labor and delivery floor.

Being my platelets were rather low they didn?t want to do a C Section and didn?t feel like it would be a safe option.

So they started me on the meds to help reduce the risk of cp in the baby and gave me some meds to increase contractions.

They came hard and fast and extremely painful but I wasn?t really dilating more.

So they kept increasing the dosage.

They attempted to break my water but couldn?t and said we should wait till it breaks on its own. Finally it did and then the pushing began and the room got crowded with doctors, nurses and NICU staff ready to go as soon as Sam made his appearance.

He finally arrived at 11:02pm in a fast and furious push where I guess I kicked the doctor. Totally didn?t realize I kicked her?.

While the doctors dealt with m, Dan popped over to make sure Sam was o.k. while he was being checked out by the NICU staff.

He was off to the NICU and I was exhausted and just rather spent on the events of the previous few days and mainly the whole day that just ended with the birth of Sam. I had no idea when I woke up that morning he was going to be born. Dan had no idea when he was popping by the hospital to see me that he would spend basically all day there keeping me sane and welcoming his son into the world.

a picture:http://flickr.com/gp/libradragon1976/400nF3

It's a short birth story but here it is... On Wednesday October 17th I had my weekly checkup and my new Doctor wanted an u/s so they could get an estimate of his size to determine when and how I was going to deliver. She wanted me to get in that day but the earliest I could get in was the next morning on the 18th. So I went in at 8:30 AM to the MFM Doctor for them to do the u/s. He was measuring close to 10lbs and I had a lot fluid. So after that they wanted to monitor me. I was having contractions already and he was having some decels. So they told me to wait out in the waiting room for a few. They called me back and called my Doctor and she said because of everything and I was already showing signs of early labor that she was at the hospital doing c-sections for that day so to come over to the hospital straight away and I was having the baby that day. I started freaking out because she said it had to be by c-section and because of my anxiety I was starting to have panic attacks already. I called up my SO and let him know and to tell his work I was coming to get him. Then we went home and got our stuff and showed up at the hospital around 2. We had to wait till they had a temporary room set up where they had me sign all the paperwork, put in my IV, take some blood, put in my catheter in...ouch! and had to shave where the incision was going to be lol. I'd say around 4-5 they had my room ready and moved me to there. My mom and daughter were going to wait around but 8 PM rolled around and she had school the next day so I told them to just go and we will call them. At 8:12 they wheeled me into the OR. It took them a while to get my spinal in. They kept messing up. Finally they got it in and got to work. I started feeling really sick and I was about to throw up so they gave me meds for that. I was so sick I don't even remember my SO coming in. My BP was dropping and I almost passed out but then I heard them say ok a little pressure and I heard him cry and my SO kept saying OMG he's here, he's here...he's so cute. I could here the baby cry in the distance. Gideon Maxwell was born at 8:44 PM at 9lbs 1oz and 18 1/2" long.

The week from Halloween to November 7th I was so uncomfortable, and had a lot of on again off again contractions, that all progressively worse, especially in the last couple of day. The evening of the 6th I went and saw a chiropractor to see if that would help with my back pain, it did, but then I spent the night feeling like things were changing. I went to bed that night and things seemed to stop.

The morning of the 7th I woke up in a lot of pain, that got worse as I was running erronds. I got home and tried laying down to see if that helped, but it didnt. I was to the point that I just couldnt function or take care of the kids. I called my OB to see what I could do, and his nurse told me that she would just switch the appointment that I had scheduled for the next day to that afternoon. I then called my husband to come take the kids and I there, since I knew that I wouldnt be able to drive myself. I also called Ds1's school to let them know that DH would be picking him up early as we wouldnt be back in time to get him when school was done.

We got to the appt and DH and the kids stayed out in the waiting room while I went in. I told him about all the pain I was having. He checked me and I was "really thinned out", and where he had put me at a 1cm a few days before I was now about at 3cm. He told me that I was in "latent" labor at that point. That I had 2 choices: I could go home, labor longer there, and go in when things really picked up or I could go get admitted, monitored, and he could break my water to move things along. Given my 1/2 hr drive one way, not including the time it would take to get everyone ready, in the van, and dropped off at my sister's, I took the 2nd option. As I headed out the door I over heard my doc putting in the orders and over heard him tell the nurse on the phone that my water was also bulging, so I am even more thankful now that I didnt decide to go home.

While I got addmitted DH took the kids over to my sisters. Once I got up to the OB floor I got into a gown and put on the monitors. At that point I was contracting every 5 to 10 min. At about 3pm my doctor came in and broke my water. The nurse told me that as soon as the contractions and pains got more intense to let her know so that she could get my epidural ordered... that given that this was my 4th baby and things could go faster than they have in the past... and that there is always a chance that we would have to wait a bit for the annesitist to get there... that she didnt want me to miss my chance to get it. So, around 3:45 I got my epidural. I have to say, I LOVE the guy who did my epidural. About an hr later the nurse checked me and I was a full 3, at around 5:30 I was at a 4. At 5:45 the nurse came in and started pit since I wasnt progressing as fast as the doctor would like. My doctor stopped in at about 6:15 and asked how things were going. I told him that I was feeling more pain and pressure on my right side, to which he said to press the button for more epidural meds. That he was going back to his office to do some paper work he had left, and then was going home. But would be back to deliver. A few min. later the new nurse came on and came to see how things were going. I told her I was still having the pain and pressure so she checked me and said that it was because I had just a little bit of a lip of cervix left. She ran to call the docotor back over, and to finish setting up for delivery. At 6:30 I was complete, but had to wait to push since the doctor wasnt in the room yet. He came in, and as I got my legs into position Kellen came down. They had me give one push, and his head was crowning. They had me stop pushing so that the doctor could finish putting his gown on. One more push and his head was out. Then, with the final push his shoulders were out and the rest of him followed. I swear that my contractions pushed him out more than I did. Kellen Isaac was born at 6:42pm November 7th, 2012. He was by far my easiest labor, and delivery... let alone the fastest :)

As soon as he was out they laid him on my chest. The nurses started to rub him, and suck out his mouth and nose with a booger bulb, to get him to cry. They said that since everything had happened so quickly that all the gunk hadnt been squeezed out of him. His cry was so tiny and mouse like. I held him as they wrapped him up, DH cut the cord, and I delivered the afterbirth. After about 10 min or so the nurse took him to wrap him up a bit better and put a hat on him while I got re situated in the bed. DH had his turn to hold and admire his boy for a few min, as did my mom, who had arrived a few min AFTER he was born. Then they brought him back and I nursed him. He knew just what to do, and went to town.

We stayed in the delivery room for about 2hrs. My mom, sister, and BIL all hung out with us while we waited. About an hour before we were moved to our other room the nurse came in to weigh, measure, and give him his vitamin K shot. He was 6 lbs 1 oz and 19.75 inches. He is my biggest baby. The nurse came in just before we were moved to help me to the bathroom and then get in the wheelchair to go to the other side. DH and my sister helped give Kellen his first bath once we were in the new room. They all stayed until 10 or so. When they left we sent Kellen to the nursery where he slept until 530 am and they brought him back to nurse. While he was gone I didn't sleep all that well but it was nice anyway.

I have to say, so far he is such an easy going baby. His brothers and sister love having a baby brother. Our family really feels complete :D

Sorry, this got long!

Saturday began just like normal. At noon, DH and I sat down to watch a football game. DH told me to be sure not to go into labor until after the game. After the other team scored all too easily on thr first possession, I jokingly asked if he wouldn't like it if I went into labor to save him having to watch our team get blown out. DH said no, hold off until after the game. So I did. ;) I watched the game from my birth ball, doing all the spinning baby exercises I had been doing for weeks trying to get him to turn from ROA to LOA. I had occasional contractions all through the game, but they weren't strong or timeable, just noticeable. Sometime during the game I got up to use the bathroom and noticed that I thought he might have flipped sides, but I wasn't quite sure.

After the game, DH and I went for a walk around our neighborhood. Our usual neighborhood circuit is 1.125 miles round trip, and since we left DD and the dog at home with MIL this time, we were able to do the whole thing without all the stops we usually have to make. We got home, ate dinner (I wasn't very hungry), and watched more football. At this point I noticed that our dog was acting very strangely. She kept coming over to me and sitting by my feet, acting like she was nervous or scared of something. She kept giving me nervous looks.

DD went to bed early that night because she hadn't napped all day long. After her nap, MIL asked if I wanted her to cut my hair and I agreed. So she cut my hair and around 9pm I got into bed to catch up on computer things with my laptop. Around 9:30 I started to get regular contractions, though they felt the same as the false labor I'd been having for a long time. I closed the computer around 10:30 and got up to brush my teeth and get ready for bed. Usually when I get up and start moving about, those contractions slow down or stop, but this time they didn't. I called my doula to let her know that this might be a false alarm, but I wanted her to have a heads-up just in case these turned out to be the real thing. Then I climbed back into bed and tried to go to sleep. Eventually I realized that I just wasn't going to be able to sleep through these, so I decided I should try to walk around and see if that would make them stop or get things going. At this point my contractions were about every 5 minutes apart. I think this was around 11?

By 11:45, they were 3 minutes apart and I was having to breathe hard through them, and not able to walk at the peak. I think I waited another 20 minutes before calling the on-call midwife. The on-call midwife that night is famous in our city as one of the very, very best in the business. She's famous for bringing waterbirthing to the city several decades ago. She told me to start driving to the hospital, despite the fact that I'd only been contracting every 3 minutes for 20 minutes, and I wasn't sure if the contractions were even a minute apart. But she said it sounded to her like it was the real thing, and anyway if the contractions stopped on the way to the hospital we could just turn around and go home.

So I called my doula, who seemed confused why we were already heading to the hospital when we hadn't even waited an hour for the contractions to be less than five minutes apart. We talked for a bit and long story short she managed to convince me to wait a bit - or at least take my time getting packed for the hospital. We wound up leaving our house around 12:40am, which wasn't quite an hour... but by that time I didn't want to wait any longer.

I remember saying many times through this pregnancy that I didn't want to have to drive to the hospital while I was in strong labor, because we live so far out... and I didn't really get my wish. The car ride was pretty miserable. I contracted every 2-3 minutes the whole time, and I couldn't get into a comfortable position for any of them. We got to the hospital and the parking garage was closed... :annoyed: so we had to drive around even more in order to find a spot, which ended up being not a legal spot (more on that later).

The lady at the front desk asked if I was there to have a baby, to which I calmly answered that we were going to try. She directed us to the maternity floor. The lady at the desk there kept asking me lots of questions, most of which I could answer fine, until a contraction hit me. She asked me how tall I was and how much I weighed, and I remember telling her very tightly that I had no idea right now, but if she gave me a minute I would figure it out. We went down to the triage room where they asked me even more questions and took their time getting me hooked up to a fetal monitor. They had to do a 20-minute strip before I was allowed in the birth pool, and they wanted to check my dilation. They were also supposed to give me penicillin for group B strep, but they hadn't gotten that going yet. I think around this time my doula arrived. It was sometime around 1:30 by now. The nurse checked my dilation. I was "a good 4 to 5 cm". So then they set me up with a fetal monitor, but she said that so long as they could still track the baby, I was welcome to get up off the bed and get into other positions. Thank goodness for that! I was so, so miserable by then. I was handling the contractions so much worse than with DD. Everything was so intense and I just couldn't keep my cool like I did with her. The contractions were in my lower back despite the fact that he was perfectly positioned. My doula was able to take some of the back pain away every time it hit, but it was still SO intense. At one point the nurse went out to... I think find the midwife? DH had discovered he needed to move our car, so he wasn't there. In other words, it was just me and the doula. I had a dream in the second trimester that the doula and I were the only ones in the delivery room when he was born, and in-between contractions I told her about this. She laughed and said that if she absolutely had to she could catch a baby. It was maybe one contraction after this that I felt like I had to do something to get rid of the back pain and so I pushed during the contraction. And my water broke. This was around 2:30, I believe? They still hadn't found the midwife, they still hadn't taken me off the fetal monitor, they still hadn't even thought about filling the birth pool, I was still in a triage room and not a labor room, they still hadn't given me penicillin or even placed my IV. And there I was feeling the need to push (though I hadn't told anyone) and my water broken.

My doula pressed the call button and got the nurse back in. The nurse checked the strip and took me off of it, but started talking about how there might not be time to get me in a labor room and the pool filled up. Despite the fact that I'd been asking how soon I could get in the pool from the moment I got there. :annoyed: DH came back sometime after this. I'm not really sure when, but it was before my IV was placed. Then they finally got my penicillin going. I think at one point while she was placing the IV, my doula asked me during a contraction if I was pushing. I said I was, and the nurse and doula started discussing calling the midwife in. One of them finally got her on the phone and told her something to the effect of "the patient who just got here an hour ago and was at 4-5 cm is now pushing and her water's broken". I think the midwife walked in during the next contraction. :lol: At least, that's what it felt like to me.

Now at this point, we're still in triage. All the nursing staff seems against getting me into a labor room and a birth pool. The midwife and doula are for it. There are a few tense moments while they discuss this. Finally the doula convinces the original nurse that this is what I want and that she will help get it set up if they need help. So things start moving really fast at this point. I'm wheeled down to the labor room and then urged not to push while they fill up the pool. Seriously? lol I don't think I could have stopped. In any case, I didn't stop. I just stopped pushing so hard. ;)

The pool was filling up so slowly and I was miserable. So they had me get into the pool even though it was only like 1/4 full. It was hard to climb in during a contraction, let me tell you. Ugh. But the relief in the water was immediate. It wasn't the same degree of relief I got in DD's labor, but it was enough to make me feel a bit more sane. The water level was really low, so they had me on my knees and someone (DH, maybe?) was pointing the hose filling up the pool over my back to help with the pain. It's all really a blur from that point. I don't know how long I was in there, or much of what happened. I do remember at one point the midwife couldn't hear the baby's heartbeat on the doppler because of the sound of the pool filling up. I also remember her manually moving me into various positions as the pool slowly filled (it never got above 1/3 full, maybe?). I remember pushing a few times, and it was super painful, and then he was born. It was 3:13am - not quite 45 minutes from when my water broke and not even 2 hours after getting to the hospital. And no matter when you consider my labor starting, not more than 5 1/2 hours of labor. The pool was so empty that I couldn't hold him up to my chest (after a waterbirth, you have to keep the baby in the water so they don't get too cold). All in all just a crazy whirlwind of a birth.

I had a mild 2nd degree tear, but it felt like nothing compared to the almost 3rd degree tear I had last time. Micah's apgars were 9 and 9, I believe. He was 5 lbs 15.5oz, 19.5" and 13" head circumference. Because it was a fast birth, they didn't get the antibiotics in me like they wanted to, and so the hospital was extra paranoid about GBS and almost made us stay an extra day in the hospital. Also, probably because he's small, he's had some trouble regulating his body temperature. It's been pretty low. Today at the pediatrician's office it was 96.1. But if we're really careful about bundling him and doing skin-to-skin, we can keep it up in the 97's. Other than that he's doing great. He's a voracious nurser, often going for hours at a time without stopping for more than five minutes. I guess he's trying to make up for his small birth weight. :)

And finally, here's a picture of him being held by his grandmother:
http://i48.tinypic.com/2yxqlba.jpg

And a picture of him and big sister:
http://i50.tinypic.com/fdhq43.jpg

Piper's Birth Story

I was scheduled for an induction on November 16th at 39 weeks. I called at 5:00 AM to find out what time to come in. I was told to be there at 7:00. So I set an alarm and tried to get a few more minutes of sleep before getting ready to go.

We arrived at 7:00 and got checked in and were shown to our room. I changed into my gown and we waited for about 40 minutes for them to get things entered into their computer. I got my IV at about 7:45 and the OB came in at 10 after 8:00 to break my waters. This was so painful. I have had my waters broken by a doctor two other times and it has never been more uncomfortable than just a cervical check. She tried constantly for about 3-4 minutes while the nurse mashed on the top of my uterus. OUCH. She said I was 4 cm dilated. Once that was done, they started the Pitocin.

It took about 45 minutes for the contractions to become mildly uncomfortable. I unhooked myself from the monitors at least 3-4 times to go to the bathroom within an hour and a half. At 10:30 the contractions were hurting (a little over 2 hours from when Pit was started). I stayed out of bed because I could handle them better standing up. I went ahead and asked for my epidural at this point because the anesthesiologist had a c-section at noon.

Epidural was in at 11:15. He had a patient come in already complete at this time, so he ran out to help her and said he'd come back to hook up the button thing that you can press for more meds. I started to feel tingly and numb in my abdomen and legs. The nurse checked me at 11:25 and I was 5 cm. I told her that with my last birth I dilated 5 cm in an hour and a half after getting the epidural. So she went ahead and called for the baby warmer and delivery set up.

The anesthesiologist came back at 12:15 and set up my pump and pressed the button for me for some more pain relief. I was pain free in my abdomen, but felt lots of pressure and pain through the cervical area with every contraction.

No one had been in to check me at that point and I was getting VERY uncomfortable. I told DH to call her in here to check me and that I was feeling like I was at 10. Apparently my nurse had gone to lunch and it took a bit to get someone else to come in. I remember tearing up at this point because I felt like I should have been pushing and nobody would believe me and get in there to help me. I told him to be prepared to catch the baby and I was serious. Once another nurse came in, she was irritatingly slow while I was lying there in pain feeling like I should be pushing. She was asking me questions I can't remember now. Then my nurse came in right after and they discussed who should check me since she was back. I was just like, somebody get over here! This baby is going to fall out! (in my thoughts). The fill-in nurse checked and said I was complete (No kidding!).

I did some light pushes on my own to take the edge off while we waited for my doctor. It was about 12:45 at this point. The epidural did not do anything in the nether regions. My legs weren't even numb-just tingly. The nurse came over and started putting her fingers under the baby's head to help guide her while I was lightly pushing. It hurt SO bad.

Finally my OB came in at 12:52. I pretty much forgot all about how they teach you to push and I was just screaming and using all my breath with the pushes. Then my doc said to take a deep breath and push for 10 seconds while she counted, and I thought, "oh yeah, I remember this!" So I did that one time and felt her head come out. RELIEF! I thought it was over and she would just slide out. But it started hurting again, so I gave it one more agonizing push and she was born at 12:55pm, 3 minutes after my doctor walked in the door.

They laid her on my chest and she cried. It was really emotional because it was such a relief physically and I had been scared that the nurse and doctor weren't going to be there in time. She got to lay on me for a few minutes while they rubbed all the "cheese" off her and DH cut the cord.

They cleaned her up a bit and got her apgar scores (8 and 9), then gave her to me all swaddled up and I was able to nurse her and we had her to ourselves with no interruption for an hour. After that the baby nurse came in and took her vitals and gave her a bath.

DH ordered me some lunch and I ate. Shortly after eating I asked DH if he thought I looked pale. He said yes and the baby nurse agreed. I told them I didn't feel well and that I was really weak. I looked under me and saw a lot of blood and it didn't seem right. My nurse came in and said she was going to call my doctor. She said sometimes the uterus gets lazy when you've had more babies and mine wasn't contracting well enough, so it was causing me to lose blood to quickly. She gave me another bag of Pit and palpated my uterus. It was incredibly painful! The doctor ordered an injection of something I can't remember the name of. I started feeling better shortly after that. They also took some blood to check my hemoglobin level. Even after I was feeling better, she wouldn't allow me out of bed. I really needed to use the bathroom so she got me a bedpan. The most humiliating experience ever. lol

My parents and DH's brought all the kids in to see us and meet their new baby sister. The older two were so excited and said she was cute. It was great to have all of us together for the first time. They left so the kids could go to bed.

Finally, almost 7 hours after she was born I was able to get up. It felt great to walk around!

Piper is a great baby. She sleeps 3-4 hours at night and is a great nurser. She hardly ever spits up, which is a complete change from my last two babies. I really feel like our family is complete now and it makes me so happy to have everyone here.

Piper Olivia
November 16, 2012
12:55 PM
8 lbs 5 oz
20.5 inches long

Zoe Adara’s Birth Story

November 27, 2012
7lbs, 12.8oz
18 3/4"
4:56pm

This is not a quick birth story because it was not a quick birth. But before I can start on Zoe’s story I have to first mention a few things about my son’s birth. As much as I felt I was informed about birth beyond the average woman (and sadly I was!), I know looking back I wasn’t informed enough. When I showed up to my 41 week appt with Aiden I thought I had given him enough extra time and had no issues when the OB said that he was not comfortable with any mom going past 41 weeks and I would be induced. At 41+3 I was induced (weekend got in the way of a sooner one) and I did not do well with the cervidil, AROM, and pit circus. It was not enjoyable in the least bit. Aiden did not enjoy it either. I had a c section. I hated how we were separated for over 2 hours after birth. I hated that I laid in recovery without any information about my son. I hated that he was given formula during this time. It was not how a mother and baby relationship should start. I knew immediately that I was going to VBAC (vaginal birth after c section) with my next child. I started researching more birth information and asked questions of other VBAC moms. When I discovered I was pregnant in March of this year, I knew what to look for in a VBAC friendly provider. I was very fortunate to have found a great office just an hour away thanks to another local mom. I asked them questions and felt comfortable continuing my care with them. The one negative? I had a 42 week limit. Considering how many moms seeking VBACs can’t find a provider that supports a full term pregnancy (a mom is NOT post dates till 42 weeks), I was happy. Other than PUPPS annoying me in the last month, I had a very normal and boring pregnancy. I saw CNMs (certified nurse midwives) the majority of the time.

Zoe’s birth story starts at 41 weeks (my estimated due date was 11/14). At that appointment I knew I was being put on the clock. I had an NST (non stress test) and quick ultra sound to check on Zoe. I saw an OB and talked about my options and risks. He was clearly nervous but respected my wishes to be given more time for my body to work. Next appt and another NST was set for 41 weeks and 5 days. I did not want to show up to that appointment. After looking at what little research there is on castor oil I did take 2 tablespoons at 41+3, a Saturday. Nothing happened (I was not okay with taking a larger amount that many do). That evening I took 2 tablespoons more. I woke up Sunday at 3am with my first pressure wave (hypnobabies language for contractions). I had pressure waves all morning and they even got to be 3-4 minutes apart at one point. With the help of hypno tracks I was easily able to work my way through them. However, they slowed down the afternoon. There was much walking and letting Aiden nurse as much as he wanted. Waves picked back up that evening and I worked my way through them all night. I did not sleep. I knew something was different because by now my waves were in my back, not just my front like they had been. I showed up for my Monday 41+5 appt having waves every 20-30 minutes. Zoe passed her NST, but the ultra sound showed that she had shifted herself asynclitic only a bit more wonky than a typical asynclitic presentation. She was leaning way far to one side at an angle and had the back of her head presenting first. I knew then that the OB was going to want to finally set a RCS (repeat c section). I was prepared to ask/argue for a foley induction, but with her presentation I was no longer comfortable with that. I envisioned the awful labor I had with my son that ended with a CS. The OB was definitely not okay with induction of any kind. He told me chances weren’t high that she’d shift for me to have a VBAC, but he’d give me my wish to not have a RCS till 42 weeks exactly and if I showed up in labor then I would be given the opportunity to VBAC. I had lots of hope and was immediately on the phone texting my best friend and on FaceBook messaging a group of over 20 women who had been supporting me from around the world. Yes, that’s right there was a huge FB chat going on for my birth and while I haven’t met most of these ladies they were on day and night offering advice and support from AZ to Canada to the UK to Laos to Australia. They got on the ball when I told them what was happening. While I was eating lunch after my appt, they sent me numbers and information on chiropractors within 2 hours of me that may be helpful. After lunch my husband drove the entire family (Aiden always went with me to every appoint even the ones at the end) over an hour away to a chiro who said she’d see me and see if she could help. Turns out she was a VBAC mom herself. She worked on adjusting me some and stretching out my round ligaments, which were way off balance and allowing Zoe to lean waaaaay off course. She gave me my “homework” and said if I’m not in active labor by the next afternoon she’d see me again and do her best to get me in active labor before my RCS. I left there with waves coming every 7-15 minutes. That evening I followed her suggestions which started off with a long relaxing bath. I watched Zoe shift herself from the far side. Then my husband and I worked on the pressure points she had shown me. By 10pm I was back in active labor. It took off quickly and I put all my energy into staying calmed and focused. My husband called his sister to come pick up Aiden at 1am. I have a fantastic sister-in-law to get up in the middle of the night and drive an hour to get Aiden! I spent the entire night changing positions and trying to ride my waves despite the horrible back labor I was still experiencing. I’m not sure if I vocalized it out loud, but I spent a lot of time repeating “deeper relax” and “open, open, open.” I listened to easy first stage from hypnobabies a lot, but don’t recall paying attention to any of it. For once the lady’s voice didn’t annoy me and acted as a constant calm presence. Meanwhile my husband did his best to support me and do everything he can to make the waves better for me. He reminded me to use the bathroom, to drink water, suggested snacks, gave me back counter pressure, gave me heat packs, and reminded me to move around and change positions periodically. He spent a lot of time texting my best friend and even getting on my FB chat to make sure he was doing what he could. I’ve since heard that he was worried that I was going to give birth at home due to how my waves appeared to him, but I knew that I was not in danger of that. I knew I had lots of time left to go, which at that point wasn’t comforting to my poor back. By 4am my husband decided it was past time to get me to the city that our hospital was in since it’s an hour drive there. At the suggestion of my chat ladies, he called around and found a hotel for us to go to. I refused to go to the hospital, so it was a good compromise for us. I wasn’t a fast mover with my intense waves, so it was 6am before we arrived there. The ride sucked. I ended up laying down on my side in the back seat with a heat pack on my back. I turned my hypnobabies birth track up way loud (headphones on!) and when I couldn’t be quiet reminded myself to moan through them keeping my mouth loose. When we arrived to the hotel, my husband drew me a bath in this huge jacuzzi tub and grabbed me food from the hotel to eat (ate bacon, eggs, tots, and part of a biscuit!). I moved between the tub, the toilet, the shower, and the bed thanks to my husband’s urging. I’m fairly certain I told my husband a few dozen times that I was done and take me to the hospital for an epidural. He reminded me that I didn’t want that. I told him I needed to sleep. I was really struggling at this point to stay focused and calm with the back labor. Looking back it was way better than the pit labor I had with Aiden, but at the time I couldn’t focus on that because I was so sleep deprived. All I could think about was how the waves now hurt and that I wanted to sleep. I did keep moving back to the bed to lay down on my side so I could rest in between waves. The bad part of this is that the waves hurt more in this position. Getting on my hands and knees, leaning over anything, and heck just standing was beyond what I could physical handle at that point. At 10am my husband called the OB office at my urging. I was pissed that they said to go into the office and not to the hospital. Though once there apparently I highly amused everyone (thanks honey for sharing!) by asking for my hairbrush because I was not going inside with my hair the way it was. I somehow walked inside and waited for them to call me back. I just remember standing in the waiting room with my hypno on my headphones trying to keep quiet so I didn’t scare all the old people and pregnant ladies. When I was called back they checked the heartbeat (which was great) and checked me – 5 to 6cm! OB came in and sent us off to the hospital with paperwork in hand for my VBAC! All I could think was “FINALLY!” We arrive to the hospital minutes later and learned that everyone was right – parking SUCKS there. My husband dropped me off at the entrance and he went off in search of parking. I walked inside and registered myself. Let’s say that sucked too. Especially because they told me to wait there for a nurse and it took what felt like hours for a nurse to come (at least a half hour in reality!). I somehow (where did the energy come from?!) walked the 10 minutes to the room they wanted me in. I stripped down and told the nurse that there was no way I could lay down in the bed on my back for a 20 minute strip like they wanted. So we tried with me sitting and finally laying on my side so I could keep getting counter pressure from my husband (this whole time I’d say ‘wave’ and he’d run over to help me). She was picking up the HB way low on me and it was only at 100. I was getting concerned. The OB came in and saw that and was clearly concerned and said that it was time to do the prep for a RCS. He kept looking at me and I know he was thinking about how much I wanted my VBAC. I shifted onto my back and I have no doubt I was screaming through the waves at this point. A whole bunch of people ran into the room. I got shaved down there, got my line in with saline, and more. The midwife on call from the practice was there too. Things were busy and a bit of a blur. However, Zoe’s HB improved and the OB said to wait and that if the HB stays like it is he’s okay with me continuing to labor. I was checked at some point and found to be at 7cm. Knowing this kicked in my head that I could still have my natural VBAC. Due to the issues with getting her HB still on the external monitors, I agreed for internal monitoring. At this point getting my VBAC was way more important. He asked to break my waters. I knew this was potentially going to make my waves speed up, but I was very worried about my energy and knew I couldn’t labor much longer. Told him to go for it. He broke my water and I immediately went to 8cm. “Not much longer now” I remember thinking. He left and said I was going to be under the midwife again! She came and checked up on me. I did ask at some point for something to help take the edge off and was given Stadol. I knew I couldn’t labor out of bed due to pure exhaustion (it was in the afternoon by this point!) and the bed was making my waves worse. I screamed/moaned through the peaks of the waves and used hypno to survive the going and coming of them. I stayed on my side mostly so my husband could keep providing counter pressure and heat packs. The Stadol made me feel loopy, but I was able to keep my calm better and focus on getting through each wave one at a time. At some point I noticed the waves changed, but I would never call it much of a push sensation. It took me several before I realized what it even was and told the nurse. The midwife came in again all happy and helped me work through pushing. She was very encouraging. I chose when to push and how long I could manage it. She was great at offering suggestions, but still letting me call it. However, it was very rough on me since my back labor was still there and I didn’t often feel a great sense of pushing. I had no idea until later how long I’d been pushing. I just knew that after awhile I was completely collapsing between pushing waves. I knew I had exhausted myself completely. My husband thought I was “being zen” when really I was struggling to stay awake period. The midwife mentioned that I might need assistance because the heart rate wasn’t staying steady and called the OB in. He recommended forceps and quickly told me risks. I agreed because although I knew I could push her out I was too far past the exhaustion point to manage it (I did keep trying when urges hit though). It hurt like hell pushing her out with help of the forceps, but she came out quickly at 4:56pm. Turns out I had been pushing for 3 hours! No wonder they were concerned and no wonder I was having issues staying awake! Zoe was immediately placed on my stomach. I left her there till the cord had stopped pulsating. I was still struggling to stay awake, but the shocked that she really was here after all my waiting was starting to wake me up. I did receive a pit injection as per my birth plan. The placenta came out quickly without me paying much attention. I had my girl on my chest and offered her the boob if she wanted it. She was perfect! However while she was on my chest the OB became concerned about my bleeding and got my permission for a full bag of pit. There was much fussing around me and I remember having lots of pain from people pressing on my stomach. I tried my hardest to concentrate on Zoe, but I’m pretty sure I let out some screams. Soon though the local worked and they were able to stitch up my 2nd degree tear (I was told that I had torn before the forceps) and my bleeding calmed down a lot. Once they were done with me down there I finally felt awake from the ecstasy of having my VBAC. I was able to enjoy the beauty in my arms. I was amazed and shocked that I had accomplished my goal. Everything I had gone through was suddenly 100% worth it.

Definitely not my ideal birth, but it was incredibly powerful and healing. My body can go into labor. My body can dilate. My body can birth a baby. I got my VBAC. I got my precious baby girl. And all interventions were done with my consent and explained to me. I have no regrets. And the best part? My recovery has been nothing compared to that of a CS!!!

Kyla Grace's Birth Story

Last Tuesday, November 27, I had a 9:50 doctor appointment at 40 weeks and 3 days. DH took off from work because it was supposed to snow and being that I was overdue he wanted to be there to hear what, if any, options were going to be offered to us.

I was barely 2 cm dilated but again, my cervix seemed to be ready. My doctor said that sometimes women are ready but their body just doesn't send off the "go into labor" signal, however she was willing to let me go only until 41 weeks. She said regardless of going to 41 weeks that day I had to go to the hospital to monitor baby and make sure everything was ok, considering the fact that she had gone past her due date. After taking time to explain everything to us she turned around and said "unless of course you want to be induced today", I could not say no - it was like the carrot dangeling in front of me, I figured i am going into the hospital anyway and once I am there I will not be able to wait much longer, so DH and I made the decision to do it that day.

We left the doctor office and it was snowing hard out - it was beautiful. Came home, picked up bags and my Mother and on our way we went! We first stopped for lunch because I had no idea when I'd eat again and I was starving.

We got to the hospital around noon, and all settled into the labor and delivery room around 12:30. After the baby was monitored and everything looked good - they began inducing me with pitocin at 2:00.
By 4:00 I was 3 cm and 90% effaced, the monitro was picking up my contractions and i still felt nothing, my doctor came in to check me and then broke my water - at this point i was able to finally feel my contractions. They were not unbearable but definitely not comfortalbe, I figured I would get the epidural at this point before I reached the point of no return and i'm glad I did, because about 3 hours later the nurse came in to check me and I knew something was different at this point because the exam felt different - she RUSHED out of the room and my friend over heard her say to a nurse "SHE'S 9 CM!", they had to rush to call my doctor, and all the nurses were amazed at how quickly i had progressed. when my doctor got there she was excited, she said "wow i knew this would be fast but not THIS FAST, don't cough or laugh or she'll come out!"

After about 4 or 5 pushes, Kyla Grace was born at 7:44PM weighing 6 lbs and 3 oz and meashing 18 1/2 inches long. She was so beautiful, I will absolutely never forget that moment. I was very fortunate and blessed with this labor and only needed 1 stitch and no episiotomy. I don't know what I did in my past life but God was definitely with me and I feel extremely blessed.

Kyla is doing great and we really could not be happier, I am still in awe and cherishing every single moment!

My super long birth story for my short labor LOL

Thursday, 12/6, 12pm: Had my Biophysical Profile ultrasound. It showed that my fluid was low, not emergency level but definitely not where it needed to be. Cricket also slept through it so we got marked down for that. It showed that my placenta was aging, again not an emergency level but not ideal. The tech also noted that Cricket?s lower bowels were empty so there was likely already meconium in the fluid. Then I had my Non-Stress Test which came out great.

2pm: We talked with our midwife and she said because of all the various factors put together that it would best to get the show on the road. She gave us the option of starting in a couple of hours or in the morning. We chose to come back in a couple hours.

6pm: We came back to the hospital. The midwife did a cervical check and I was still 2.5cm dilated and 75% effaced. My heart sank, all the things I had been trying to get labor going hadn?t done anything. I was still the same as I was Tuesday morning. Then she inserted the cervidil packet to ripen my cervix further. After that we just hung out and tried to get some sleep.

Friday, 12/7, 6am: The cervidil came out and my midwife checked me. I was now 3cm dilated and 100% effaced. My heart sank again. After 12 hours of the cervidil and contractions every 8-10 minutes all I had gained was ? a cm and finished effacing.

9am: We finally got the Pitocin going. They started it at 1 mL/unit and turned it up by one every 15 minutes.

11am: The contractions were finally starting to take some effort so I got up and sat on the birth ball for a bit.

12pm: By this point the Pitocin was at a 7 and I was leaning on the bed swaying through the contractions. I mentioned to DH that I wished they would turn off the Pitocin because I didn?t feel like I was getting much of a break in between. Soon after I said that the midwife came by to see how things we going and had the nurse turn the Pitocin off completely. The contractions kept going and just as strong but I felt like I had a more normal rest period in between after the Pitocin was turned off. The midwife also checked me and I was 4cm dilated at about 12:30/12:45.

1:30pm: They had me lay down on the bed because the monitors weren?t picking up Cricket?s HR very well. The contractions were really picking up and I really wanted to get in the tub but I wasn?t dilated enough yet.

2pm: The midwife let us know that Cricket was starting to show some decels in his HR during contractions and that she was going to talk to her back up doctor. Soon after the back up doctor showed up. He hung around and watched the monitors. Around this point I was 5-6cm dilated.

2:30pm: At about this time the midwife decided we needed to switch from the external HR monitor to a fetal electrode. (I found out later from DH that the external HR monitor was jumping all over, registering from 20 to 200.) So the midwife broke my water but nothing came out because his head was so engaged and then she put the electrode on. This was much better in terms of making sure Cricket really was doing okay.

After watching for a while my midwife and the back up doctor both agreed that the decels were getting too frequent and I was still only at 7cms. They let us know that they hoped I would move quickly to complete and push him out but that we need to start moving toward a c-section. I could tell DH was terrified and knew that?s what was coming and I think he really wanted to just hurry up to the c-section because he was so worried.

Random people started showing up giving me consent forms to sign, taking blood, asking questions etc. (I found out later that DH about came un-glued on the anesthesiologist because he was asking me questions when a contraction hit and I turned toward DH, holding his hand for support, and the anesthesiologist walked all the way around the bed and continued asking questions even though it was obvious I physically could not presently answer.) The midwife and the nurse even put on the compression socks and inserted a catheter.

In the mean time I was really struggling to stay relaxed during contractions by now and really focusing on relaxing my body. I can remember hearing the alarm go off semi-often during contractions saying Cricket?s HR was going too low. The midwife was having me frequently change sides and we even tried on my hands and knees. DH would encourage me especially after contractions that I was more effective at relaxing through and helped Cricket?s HR stay up higher. This really helped me know which things were working better for me to do. At some point they had me start breathing into the oxygen mask to help keep Cricket?s HR up. I was doing big open mouthed ?Ahh?s? through contractions and focusing on taking deep, slow breaths. It really was helping and the decels became less and less frequent.

The back up doctor said that things were looking pretty good but that we were going to keep moving toward the c-section. I was still only about 7-8cm dilated so I was starting to believe more and more that this c-section really was going to happen. Suddenly the pressure down low was not going away in between contractions, I took that as a good sign. I kept working through contractions and they kept prepping for a c-section.

I started to feel pushy during contractions but was still only 7-8cm dilated. I vaguely heard the doctor and midwife ask if they could have just 10 more minutes before they took me to the OR. I did my best to breathe through the contractions and hold the pushy urges off. All of the sudden, mid-contraction, I involuntarily let out a pushing roar. Somewhere to the side of me I heard the doctor say ?There?s no mistaking the sound of a woman ready to push.? Then the room sprang into action as the midwife checked me and happily announced ?She?s complete!? Then said to me, ?Go ahead and push with the next contraction.? I looked up at DH who was holding my hand and declared, ?I got this!?

As the next contraction hit I was laying on my side with my one leg up resting on the midwife?s shoulder, holding my leg with one hand and DH?s hand with the other. My body took over and began to push, so I gave it everything I had. I could feel him coming out already and could feel the ring of fire. I heard my midwife say ?Breathe Shauna.? But it was literally like I could not take in any air. DH must have seen that I was trying and not succeeding because he got close to my face and commandingly said ?Look at me.? Somehow this helped and I began the next push. With that he was out! At 3:19pm.

It only took him a moment to cry and they suctioned him out quickly because of the meconium. Then they placed him on my chest and he immediately stopped crying. Of course then I began crying. I was so overcome with all the emotions I had been keeping in, as well as relieved that I did not end up needing a c-section and that Cricket was okay. I looked at DH (who was even already dressed in his scrubs for the OR) and said ?I did it!? Then continued to cry and kiss my sweet baby.

After DH cut the cord the midwife held it up and showed me that the cord was over 3 ft long, which was where the problems arose from. As he came out they saw that he had the cord wrapped around his neck, the crown of his head, a loop between his head and me, and then wrapped multiple times around his body! No wonder he was having decels during contractions.

The midwife was in total awe and overcome with emotion too, she got all teary and had to take a minute to compose herself when we were talking about a half hour after Cricket was born. Apparently she was impressed with my pushing too because another doctor told me ?Yeah, I heard you got him out in 1 1/2 pushes, even Julie was impressed!? And if a midwife is impressed, I take that because she does this for a living! Somehow I managed to not even tear either, which is quite surprising given my short pushing. I?ll also add that because I only pushed for 8 minutes with Kostas, the back up doctor was more willing to give me time to dilate. He said if I had pushed for an hour or 2 with Kostas that they would not have waited as long for the c-section but did because they knew I had a past of short pushing.

It was a very intense labor and birth. I would not say it was pain free like I was hoping for but I do believe that the Hypnobabies preparation I had done helped me cope and relax better. Which my midwife agreed with because she told me that she was amazed at how well I managed through the contractions (I was her first hypno-birth).