Lincoln was a VBAC which stands for vaginal birth after cesarean. I had a c-section with Boston because he was breech (feet first) and since it was planned I never got to experience any of the joys of a vaginal birth like contractions and having my water break, etc. I have no complaints about my prior c-section because it was still a great experience and I had a really easy recovery but I still wanted the "natural" birth experience. So here it goes:
Tuesday March 9th:
10am: Dialated 1 cm. and 50% effaced. My midwife said I was measuring big and that she thought the baby would be "at least 9 lbs." and that he might be too big to fit through my pelvis so she stripped my membranes to try and speed things up. (Thankfully she was wrong on both counts!)
11pm: I was having contractions 7 min. apart and they were getting unbearable so we went to the hospital (I wanted drugs!)
11:30-12:30: When we got there I was dialated 2 cm. and 90% effaced (yay progress!!) They gave me pain meds and monitored me for an hour ... nothing changed so they sent us home. I was just relieved to have some temporary relief from the pain. They said it would last about 6 hours.
Wednesday March 10th:
1:30-3:30: I was finally able to get some sleep.
3:30: I woke up with really painful contractions that were 5 min. apart.
5am: I woke up Mark and told him we needed to go back to the hospital (I wanted more drugs!)
5:30: I was 5 cm. and 90% effaced. Yay, more progress so we knew this was the real thing!! I said "Is it too soon to ask for an epidural?" Thankfully it wasn't.
6:30: I got my epidural and they checked me again. The midwife said I was at 8 or 9 cm. and fully effaced. My water broke and she told me that the baby was coming really fast and she didn't think I would make it until 8am (shift changes).
7am: My contractions were really strong and really close together ... I was in heaven because I couldn't feel any of it. With each contraction the baby's heart rate would drop and take a while to return to normal so they gave me a shot to stop my contractions.
8am: no baby, no contractions.
9am: contractions start again.
10am: they are getting closer together.
11am: they are getting really strong and the baby starts to descend ... he's at zero station when they decide they need to stop my contractions again. I'm starting to realize this is going to be a long day because we're just going in circles.
12pm: no baby, no contractions.
1pm: the dr. comes in and starts talking about the possibility of a c-section if his heart rate starts dropping again. I kind of just zone him out because I'm so focused on having a vaginal birth.
2pm: contractions start.
3pm: Lincoln has descended to +2 station and they tell me I can start pushing. I was so exhausted and didn't think my pushing would be very effective since I was so sleep deprived but they were very encouraging.
3:30: The midwife keeps getting called out of the room by the Dr. who is telling her he's not comfortable with the situation - he's watching the baby's heart rate on a monitor from another room but I keep pushing.
3:45: The Dr. comes in and says "This can't go on any longer we need to get this baby out right now and my colleagues agree that we need to do a c-section immediately." I cry "No!" and he tries to tell me my baby will be brain dead but for some reason I just don't believe him. The midwife asks him if he can at least try forceps first and the Dr. said the baby was still too high for that to work.
3:50: They start preping for the c-section and I start pushing like my life depended on it. When the Dr. comes back in the room he observes that the baby is now low enough and that the forceps might work. He grabs the forceps and tells me to push.
4:03: Lincoln was delivered with the cord wrapped around his neck twice, his arm, and then his abdomen. No wonder he was in distress, poor guy.
My first chance to hold him. He was having a hard time breathing which is apparent by his flared nostrils in this pictures so they had to take him to the nursery right away and hook him up to a machine that helped to inflate his lungs. After an hour he was breathing well enough on his own.
After his first bath.
This first video captures his first cry which was such a welcomed sound because it took a while and it was making me nervous. 
13 comments:
I glad the VBAC was successful. I was so nervous about c-sections, so I was really grateful I had a vaginal delivery. Only, after everything I went through a c-section would have been a lot easier. Anyway, I am glad your sweet little one is here. Thanks for sharing your story.
Yay a successful VBAC! My aunt had a c-section and then a vaginal birth when the doctor said she probably was not going to be able to do it.
I agree with Alys though. I wished I would have had a c-section after what happened to Chloe. Your doctor sounded like a good doctor. Glad it all turned out well!
Wow! What a story! I'm so glad everything worked out in the end! Funny--I was thinking about texting you to see if you were still pregnant on Wednesday afternoon...I think it would have been about 2:00. I'm glad I didn't. You had been through a lot at that point, and I don't think you would have welcomed the reminder that you were still pregnant. :) And I'm so glad Lincoln was able to breathe on his own okay. Curt & I both noticed the oxygen saturation monitor on his foot in one of the first few pictures you posted & we were hoping it was just precautionary. Anyway, congratulations! And thanks for sharing the story!
I'm so glad everything turned out well. That must have been scary when the cord was wrapped around his neck! Lincoln is so cute and I love hearing Mark talk to him in the video!
Congratulations on your adorable baby!! I'm so glad that you were able to deliver your baby the way you wanted to. I hope recovery is going well and you're enjoying every minute with your new addition!
I'm glad everything was successful! Aren't epidurals wonderful? I love modern medicine! He is such a cutie! I'm glad you now know both ways of how to have a baby, I am still deathly afraid of a c section because it is "unknown" to me, next baby you have, you'll be ready for anything!
What an intense experience! I am so glad everything went well and that you and Lincoln are going okay.
He has such long arms! I'm glad everything turned out well. You never know what can happen, it's such a different experience every time. Makes me nervous about this next one, seeing how I've had a not so good experience, and then a wonderful one. Oh well, It's all worth it in the end.
I loved hearing your birth story---so different from Boston's. Thanks for sharing it. So, now I'd like to know which is better, c-section or vaginal? And how is the recovery going for you?
Congrats again!
And did you choose a middle name?
That is so scary! Holy Cow. I am glad that it was successful, but my heart just stopped when I read about the cord being wrapped around his neck. Way to go Lincoln! Welcome to the world buddy! so now you know what a vaginal birth is, do you want to ever repeat it?
Congrats natasha! I'm so excited you got your VBAC! It's C-sections for me from here on out, but I still have dreams of having normal deliveries. Glad all went well for you! What a beautiful boy!
Wow, what a crazy birth!! I'm so glad the little man is safe. All those unknowns can be so scary. Is that a CPAP machine that he was on? Looks like the same equipment that Savannah was on... except she needed it for about 5 days... Boo. Lincoln is so beautiful... you two make handsome babies, that's for sure! Hope I get to meet him sometime soon. Congrats again.
Thank you so much for sharing your VBAC story. I wish I could buy an entire book of them. I really hope that with my next pregnancy I can do it too. Congrats! Sorry I am late in commenting on this... I have been a little out of the blog world since starting in with foster care :)
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