Want to catch up?
- Part 1: The Trip to the ER During the Winter Storm
- Part 2: The Labor and Plane Drama
- Part 3: The Birth
- Part 4: The DVT and Losing It
Isn’t that face precious? That’s my baby girl sporting her grumpy look.
While sharing her birth story, several people asked if I would’ve done things differently or if I regret any of the decisions I made.
- Would I have stayed home to birth?
- Do I regret having an epidural?
- Do I wish I’d continued seeing the OB, since I started seeing him in the beginning of the pregnancy?
I can’t address everything, but I’ll do my best to respond to a few, because yes, there are things I would’ve done differently.
I don’t know why my body labored so slowly this time–was it all down to stress? Did labor begin before the baby was ready to be born? Was I on the road to pre-eclampsia, or something worse, and my body decided it was time?
As for the interventions at the hospital:
In many ways I felt as though I was re-living the birth of my firstborn daughter, but this time I was educated, more confident, and both my husband and I were wiser and more experienced.
With my first born, I had numerous interventions, including a couple of IV drugs; a spinal; pitocin from the get-go that was increased; external, internal, and intra-uterine monitoring; an episiotomy, and watched my daughter be resuscitated. And from the time I was admitted right up until the time I was pushing, the word “c-section” was brought up. I felt as though they were looking for a reason to wheel me into surgery.
As for the last birth, the OB and nurses understood my concerns with pitocin, and also explained that it was the “lesser of two evils.” His thought was that 36 hours into labor (33 hours since waters broke), he’d rather give me a tiny bit of pitocin to get the baby here than to run the risk of an emergency c-section. They never gave me more than the lowest dose and in less than 90 minutes, she was in my arms.
As for the epidural, I honestly don’t know how I would’ve fared if I didn’t have it. The pain wasn’t intolerable, but I was exhausted and I remember my head hurting terribly and everything echoed. I don’t know if my body would’ve carried on as well as it did without the rest I got. It also helped my blood pressure return to normal.
And as for the extra fluids, we never saw more decels.
With these decisions, I was aware of the risks and benefits, not only from my experience and research, but also from the staff around me.
After speaking with my support team, we realized that these interventions often associated with higher risk of c-section, likely prevented me from having one.
Another difference between my first and last births is feeling as though the staff was looking for a reason to do a c-section with the first birth. During my last, I felt as though the staff were trying to do all they could to avoid it. After all the births I’ve had in a hospital setting, I’ve never seen a staff so experienced on what a normal birth looks like and so intent on doing all they could to prevent a mama from having major abdominal surgery.
Looking back, I wish I had my primary midwife and my other midwife friend accompany me to the hospital. She offered to take me in but I had all kinds of things on my mind–extra financial obligations if we were facing a hospital bill, not being sure what I would encounter at the hospital, but mostly because I didn’t want to drag her 40 minutes away, if there was a possibility they would send me home.
Even though she wasn’t there, we stayed in touch via text messages throughout the labor so she was still there to answer questions, when they arose. When the baby was born, I immediately texted a picture and throughout it all, she and the other midwife cheered me on with encouraging messages.
In the end, I’m pleased to have had a supportive midwife team, a supportive OB, and of course the incredibly supportive nursing staff. And after losing my earlier baby through miscarriage, I feel beyond blessed that I have this baby girl, grumpy looks and all.
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Such an amazing, dramatic story … with a beautiful ending. 🙂 My last set birth was also not routine, and I did end up having a c-section. However, the minute the words were mentioned, I felt total peace and knew that this was God’s way of getting my baby here safely. I have never, ever felt anything close to that in the past. (Shrug) Just goes to show that His ways are definitely NOT our ways!
What a beautiful story! Adelaide is such a sweetheart! To me she has that tough look and going to be tough as her Mommy! Thank you for sharing your beautiful story and congrats! Bless your dear heart…
She’s so beautiful! One truth I’ve heard that I completely agree is each baby is different, each birth is different. I’m glad she’s here and safe (and so sweet!). Congrats.
My first child was a (necessary) c-section and I was determined to have a VBAC with my 2nd. Like you I always had reservations though, I never felt at peace about it but I knew that a VBAC was what *I* wanted. I tried so hard to get labor going with him. Ended up spending a night in the hospital because he wasn’t moving and I had overdone it. He kept doing this repeatedly until at 40 weeks I agree to a repeat c/section. My OB and the nurse were shocked my uterus was so thin from my previous section and I had a small tear that had started already but thankfully the scar tissue kept it from bleeding. Anyways, all that to say, it was totally a God thing that had me have the rcs instead of *my* VBAC and gave me a healthy baby boy. I completely get that feeling of having reservations (I thought I had just read too many horror stories and was nervous due to a miscarriage) but going against those reservations. I’m so glad your sweet little girl arrived safely and you’re okay now!
She’s just precious! I love the natural when at all possible, but so thankful for doctors when we need them!!