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19-8-2008 - Lorelei's Birth Story

My mood while writing this blog: Happy

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I was scheduled for induction on Friday, August 15th, at 8:00 am. That morning we dropped our son Ryan off at Daycare and headed to the hospital. We arrived my traditional 15 minutes fashionably late, and got registered and set up in the delivery room. Due to this being a VBAC birth my care was transferred from my midwife to the on-call OB. My midwife attends the birth but she only arrives once I am fully dilated, to act as the primary caregiver for the baby. (In the midwife model at my practice, there is a midwife assigned to me, and one assigned to the baby).

After about 20 minutes of fetal monitoring and an internal exam performed by the on call OB, I was started on a Pitocin drip. It took about an hour and a half for strong contractions to start and for me to start feeling the pain. For the first few hours I was able to control my pain with breathing. At around 3 pm I had an internal exam and was found to have only dilated to about 4 cm. At this point I tried to help myself through the pain of the contraction using gas, but there was really no benefit for me. The only effect I got was to feel sort of high and out of things between the contractions. It didn't actually help me deal with the pain. In fact I found that using my breathing technique was working better than the gas.

It took alot of pain for me to get up the courage to request the epidural, because when I was delivering my son, the epidural had basically stopped my contractions almost immediately. I had been determined to try to have a natural birth, and REALLY didn't want to have another c-section. I knew the recovery time would be hard, and that it would be doubly so, with a newborn and a toddler to look after. I requested an epidural when I was about 6 cm dilated. I was in a lot of pain from the contractions at this point, and was finding it very hard to cope. I asked for the epidural at around 5:30 pm but I didn't end up getting it until after 6:30 pm. The anesthesiologist had been called away for an emergency c-section. When I finally got my epidural, and it was incomplete. I was numb from the hips down, but could still feel contractions in my abdomen, and they were very intense. Eventually the epidural started to work on this area as well, but it took until almost 9:30 pm.

At around 10:30 or so, after about an hour of feeling "nothing whatsoever" below my waist, I called to nurse to say that I was worried the contractions had stopped. I had been talking with no problems to my husband and friend, and honestly believed that my labour had stalled. To my surprise when they came in to check how far I had progressed, I was fully dilated and ready to push. I had relaxed enough to let my body do the work it was meant to do. Immediately the mood in the whole room changed! Everyone was thrilled, they called my midwife, and she arrived just as I got ready to push. It was at this point that the doctor told me she had been sure we would be looking at another c-section as well.

After the first few pushes, I was able to reach down and feel her head, while she was still inside me. That made everything so much more real. The time went by really quickly, but I was told that I pushed for about 30 minutes. She was in the perfect position, so the pushing went well. Finally she was born at 11:32 pm! The midwife placed her on my chest while they cleaned her, and I immediately started crying. She was so little! I had been expecting a 9 lb baby. At my last ultrasound on Monday, they had estimated her weight as 8 lbs 14
oz. So we were figuring about 9 lbs, maybe even more. Her big brother was 9 lbs 11 oz when born, and we were expecting a similar size. She weighed 7 lbs 14 oz. and was 21 inches long. My friend cut the cord. Then the midwife took her for some suction and cleaning, and swaddling. It was at this point I found out that I had a 2nd degree tear, but I only required 3 stitches. It still hurts ALOT, but it's a hell of alot better than the c-section recovery was.

In the end, I have to say I am extremely HAPPY! My little girl is healthy and beautiful, I got to have the VBAC delivery I had been hoping for, and breastfeeding is going wonderfully well. (My son was a nightmare, and I almost had a breakdown trying to breastfeed him.)

I hope all of you have the births you are hoping for as well!

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3 Comments on Lorelei's Birth Story


1boythisismygirl - Friday, 23 Apr
I just wanted to say thank you so much for sharing Lorelei's story...I had an emergency c-section with my son and it did not go well at all and I am really wanting a VBAC this time around. It's really discouraging because you never hear anyone talk about the positive possibilities, and it really helps me to feel less overwhelmed and less stressed after reading your story. I wish you well with your newest addition. :) Thanks again for sharing

Js2ndtimeround - Monday, 27 Oct
I am hoping to have a VBAC as well thank you for your story. I am getting discouraged as I go into week 41 and they keep telling me A 9lb baby is on the way and don't want me to even try with that size. Congrats on your VBAC here's hoping for the best on mine!! It was encouraging to here what a success you had.

Trini - Wednesday, 20 Aug
Congratulations! I am soooo extremely happy that you had your VBAC. I pray I am just as lucky to have mine.