Birth Story

Well, I promised a bit of news about the birth and I've had several folks ask me about it, so I thought I'd just sit down and write it now. I think I've been hesitating because it isn't a great story other than the fact that we are both healthy (= If you aren't in to birth stories, just let this post go right on by (=

So the day after mom arrived, we moved across town to wait for the birth. Craziness at the border was more than usual and we just didn't want to handle it along with waiting for baby. That was Thursday May 13th. It was quite an amazing packing job and we had to make sure the house was properly shut down. Unfortunately, we did forget Ryan's bag! So we didn't have any baby stuff with us at the hospital.

Vic came to stay with us on Monday the 17th and we had lots of fun finding things to do that would keep me walking and the kids busy. Mostly malls as that is the only air conditioned thing around here.

By Thursday night the 20th (a few days after the due date) Vic worked some of her midwife magic and we decided to go for a brisk walk and see if that would kick start anything. It was about 11pm. Sure enough, contractions started fairly light and regularly. I was able to sleep through them for the most part which was wonderful.

By 4 am we decided to head to the hospital for two main reasons. Vic's doppler (which picks up the heart beat of the baby) was not working so she couldn't monitor how Ryan was doing and she didn't feel really comfortable staying too long in that case. Also, the contractions were intensifying and I was not excited about riding in a car with the contractions getting stronger.

So I tried several positions on the ball, on the couch, leaning on the table etc while everyone loaded the car. It was a HUGE blessing that Jon, Vic's husband was able to be there for the weekend and say with all the sleeping kids! Bless him.

So we get to the hospital and just sailed right into a room and a nurse started right in on offering pain meds (= Vic told me later she about croaked that they hadn't put a monitor on me or anything but they were perfecty willing to stick a needle in my arm (= Ah well.

That nurse went off duty quite soon and then we got this WONDERFUL Kiwi midwife named Claire. Wherever you are, we love you! She and Vic got into a tangle at first because Claire was misunderstanding Vic but once they sorted that out, they were a great team and we felt well cared for.

I had been throwing up which happend with Layla as well and they eventually had to start an IV drip, same as with Layla. I just couldn't keep anything down. Vic says that Ryan wasn't doing super well at that point, but not poorly enough to be concerned. I just needed to eat.

So anyway at 930am I felt the water break which was VERY weird! I never felt that with layla and it seemed like Ryan just stuck his hand up and poked it open (= Of course contractions were more intense at that point.

The labor was fairly decent - hard work of course but I could tell it was more normal labor than with Layla. I had to be induced with her and it was wretched. I wasn't handling the pain super well, but I could feel Ryan moving down and I remember I kept saying "is he here yet?" I'm sure Vic and Claire were just dying because he SO was not ready to come out yet (= I also remember thinking, HOW DO WOMEN IN AFRICA DO THIS BEHIND A BUSH BY THEMSELVES?!!? I've had great faith in my body that it will deliver a baby on it own, but I've been proven wrong rather dramatically two times now (= I also remember asking Vic several times, how did you ever do this on your own?!? For her equally dramatic birth story, read this

She kept saying that she wasn't alone, that Jon was with her, but I was thinking "I've got four people helping me and I'm barely managing!"

So by 1130am they decided to give me an epidural. Originally Dr Jacobs wasn't going to do an epidural because he didn't want to mask the pain of the first scar and it was important to keep an eye on that.

It took a couple of tries for the epidural to work and then for about 20 mins I'm told that I actually relaxed and things were okay. Tom went to go take a nap, Vic went home real quick to do something and mom stayed with me.

Then the truly horrendous part started. I started to have the worst pain I have ever experienced. It was awful. I just remember thinking "why did everyone leave? why is this so bad? what is going on?" Dear mom was the only one there to help me out.

It took awhile for the staff to realize that something else was truly going on and by then Tom and Vic were back and they whisked Tom off to say they needed to do a C-section ASAP. They actually wanted me to sign a form! I was so irritated and I just scribbled something. Vic said that is actually really good that they weren't going to let anyone else make the decision for me.

So I would say that was rather a low point on the dignity scale - all these people standing around and me begging to make the pain stop. Horrendous. But I really didn't care either! Vic said that no one mentioned a uterine rupture, but all the talk about being worried about the previous scar is essentially that concern.

So basically, we really tried hard for a VBAC, and although it ended in a C-section I felt like I was able to experience a normal labor for part of the time which was great. I am SO thankful for Tom who was at my side the whole time and experiencing it all with me. Vic and mom were rubbing my back and so helpful in the midst of it all. Needless to say, if we have another kid, we'll just bypass the drama of it all and get a C-section!