VBAC @home

Norah’s VBAC Birth Story I woke up around 7:30 Friday March 20, 2009 to regular cramping. I had just had light cramping for a few days before that had not been at any regular timing so I didn’t think much of it yet. My mother in law and brother in law came over around 8:30 to do some work in the yard for us. I got Ryan up and ready for work. I made pancakes for breakfast and ate about half of one before I got a little sick to my stomach. I told Ryan that he was going to have to go out for lunch because I didn’t feel well enough to make his that day. I also informed him to keep his phone nearby and sign on to AIM as soon as he got to work so I could message him quickly. I had stopped to time contractions for 30 minutes they were coming every 4 minutes. I wanted to go for a walk and get in the bath, but I couldn’t leave with the in-laws here. I did not want them to know what was going on at the time. They did not know we were having a home birth, and I didn’t want to let anyone know I was in labor yet. I still wasn’t sure it was the real thing. I called the midwife around 11 to let her know what was going on. I was supposed to have my appointment with her at 12:30 that day, but we had rescheduled the day before for the 24th. She asked me a lot of questions and said they would be on their way over in about an hour. My mother-in-law and brother-in-law left around 1pm, and the midwives showed up about 30 min later. I was talking to Ryan over AIM and told him that I was in fact in labor and to let his boss know he might have to leave early. At my previous appointment I was at 1cm and 50% effaced. She checked me and said I was at 3cm. The contractions were still light enough to where I could walk around the house. The midwives said they were going to go for coffee and be back in an hour to check on me again. I lost track of time at this point. The contractions were getting more intense and I started having the urge to moan through them, which helped immensely. After they left I had my mom call my sister to come over to help with Kaylee, and I got in the bath. Them warm water was so soothing and I was actually able to sleep in between the contractions. The midwives got back and came in to check on me. I was now at 4 cm. I stayed in the bath for a while longer. It was really helping me with the pain. I was surprised at how easy it was going so far. One of them came back in to check on me and listen to the baby during a contraction. The baby’s heart rate sounded a good and so did mine so I stayed in for a while longer. However the next time they checked her heart rate it dropped a lot during the contraction. They told me to get out of the tub and get in a different position to see if the baby would tolerate it better. It worked great. I got on the couch on my left side and the baby’s heart rate was so much better through each one then. She checked me again and I was at 7cm. The contractions were getting pretty intense, and I was getting louder. Kaylee woke up from her nap at this time. Ryan was told to come home. Kaylee was not doing well at that time. She would cry during my contractions. Ryan got home just in time to take her outside. The midwife was a little concerned about the baby being under a little stress while I was in the tub and wanted to break my water to make sure it was clear. I was a little nervous for my water to be broken so I asked her to wait a little while. I was really afraid my contractions would become unbearable. They were intense, but still never felt bad enough to need pain medication. She waited a while and then broke my water. This is where things got a little scary. There was a lot of meconium in the water. We started to talk about transferring me to the hospital. We got the car seat out and I started to get dressed. The closest hospital would take me but would automatically set up for a c-section since they banned VBACs. I refused to go there. The next closest hospital was completely full. She came back in and told me my options. I could either take a 30 min car trip into Austin to have my baby at a hospital there where VBAC’s were allowed, or I could push out my baby right now. She said we had to get the baby out as soon as possible. There was not really a reason not to try and still have a homebirth. They had all the equipment and training necessary to take care of the baby as soon as it came. I was not able to have a water birth anymore though. I started pushing on the couch, but it was not working well. We moved to the bed. Since I did not know how to push it was hard to get in the right position and the right grip on it all. After trying many different positions I ended up back on the bed. Pushing was the hardest thing I have ever done. I did not know how to push a baby out since my first was a c-section. Finally I was getting the hang of it and could feel the head start to emerge. Amber was getting a little worried at this time though and told me I had 3 more contractions before she was going to call 911. I was so close. I pushed through all 3 and the baby’s head was not out yet. Sheila got on the phone with 911. I was having another contraction while she was dialing so I gave it all I possibly could. That last one did it. The head was finally out. Shelia hung up with 911 and came back in to the bedroom. Amber was busy suctioning her lungs. After what seemed like forever I was able to push the baby the rest of the way out and they put the baby on me. Amber said she was not going to tell me the sex (we didn’t find out during the pregnancy) she wanted me to find out for myself. I looked and saw we had another baby girl. My sister got Ryan on the phone and I told him I had the baby and it was a beautiful little girl. He had taken Kaylee and gone to his mom’s since she was not doing well here at home. He was excited and came home immediately. The phone calls were made while Norah and I were getting cleaned up. The midwives were so great. They put clothes in the washer and took me in the bathroom to get cleaned off and she even helped me wash my hair. They stayed here until about 1am helping us out with everything. Norah was 7lbs 4 oz and 20 ½ in, and absolutely beautiful. Norah’s birth was exactly how I had imagined a natural birth would be. It was unbelievable that I did it. I was very scared about how I was going to handle all the pain, but it never got as bad as everyone had told me it would be. Her birth was exactly how I wanted it. I felt so empowered, like I was a true woman now. It was the best feeling to be experiencing after being robbed of that with my first childbirth experience.