Kara Dalton
Birth Doula
Blog
my vba2c
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I had 2 planned c-sections. They were not truamatizing, they were beutifal births but after I had my second son I knew I wanted a different birth experience with my future births. I became obsessed with learning about vbacs. I spent the next 3 years educating myself as much as I could. Two weeks before halloween of 2012 I found out I was pregnant. One of the first things I remember thinking was here starts my vbac journey! My pregnancy was extreamly hard. I suffered with hyperemesis gravidarum (hg). The worst experience of my life. That's a different blog post lol.
I found a great Dr. abou 40 miles away but was so worth it. I had high blood pressure and the worst swollen legs and feet i'd ever seen. My Dr never seemed too worried. I did not have to ask him about a vbac, he asked me and I knew then and there it was a good sign. fast forward to 38 weeks prego and I decide to have a cervical check. I was about 2 cm and 50% effaced! I was so excited! I was on a high. the next weeks I did nothing but visualize my birth and try to induce labor. I learned babies WILL come when THEY ARE ready! Anyway the next week I had my second sweep of membranes.It made me crampy but again they stopped. That night I had an odd feeling. I woke up to my husbands alarm at 5:30 in the morning. I had mild cramps but they were 10 minutes apart. Every time the alarm would go off i'd have a cramp. Told my husband your not going to work! Contractions kept steady but nothing bad yet. I decided to go to the hospital. Long story short I was sent home because I wasn't dilating yet. We had an hour long drive. my contractions started picking up at this point. It was about 5:30 p.m. I got a subway sandwich because I knew I was not going to eat for a while. Got home and I relax on the couch. I'm very silent. Husband ask why I am so quite. I said contractions are getting much stronger. He said your not acting like it. I said I have to focus!
I moved to an old trunk at the end of my bed to sit on and lean on my bed. It was getting much more intense at this point. I wanted to get away from my older boys because they were a distraction. Dr said if you feel like your in active labor come in. So again we drove to the hospital. I was wearing a long blue cotton sun dress that was so comfortable. The seats in the car are heated and that gave some relief. At this point I started vocalizing deeply through my waves of contractions trying to keep as relaxed as possible. An hours drive only took about 40 minutes with my husband. Every time i'd contract he would speed up a little lol. It took me about 20 minutes to get up to triage because with every contraction I had to stop but boy did it feel good to be not sitting!! My Dr happened to be there and admitted me at midnight on my due date! I labord naturally for a few more hours but with the first contraction of transition I knew I needed help. I could not breath. I tried to breath through them but I just couldn't. My bp was also getting hire and I just had a gut instinct to get the epidural.
I kept visualizing my baby coming down and out and my body opening to let him out. I also prayed a lot because I knew getting an epi lowered my chances of a vbac. Four hours later at 7:30 a.m. I was at 10 and felt pressure. Here it was the moment of truth. Was I going to vba2c. Heck yes I said to myself! First practice push I peed on my poor Dr! Everyone laughed but I was embarrassed. He said this won't take very long she's a good pusher! I wanted a mirror and there wasn't time. I said I can wait and they said baby isn't lol. Husband had one foot nurse had the other. They had me almost sitting up. They had to turn my son because he was postierer. Omg that let all the pressure off my back. I held onto these circle handles that came out from the bed. These were awesome. Gave me much needed leverage. I didn't feel much pain but felt a ton of pressure and could feel exactly how to push. I was in the zone! I broke my attention to ask my husband if he was ok. He said yeah lol. I said well your so quite lol. After a little laugh back to the zone I went. My epidural started wearing off when his head was halfway out. Hello ring of fire and I don't want to feel you any longer! His head was out and he let out a cry. Dr. said not yet your not completely born yet. My Dr. Loves to make jokes. Next push Eli Raymond Dalton was born 6 lbs. Pushed under 20 minutes. He was placed on my chest and never left me for an hour! That was why I wanted a vbac. I couldn't believe I did it. Dr. Said who'd a thought someone who's never labord and been pregnant 2 times before could do it. Also said I should teach women how to birth because I know what I'm doing! God love him words I needed to hear.
You can do it ladies! Don't let anyone ever tell you you cant. Never doubt what you can do. I was faced with many challenges during my pregnancy and I overcame them and had my vba2c. "Yes you can"!
