My sweet, sweet snuggle monster. Baby L was conceived just four short weeks after having my IUD removed in preparation for trying to grow our family yet again. Baby A is now 5, baby J is 2 and if you have yet to read my previous birth stories, you should know that I have one c-section and one medicated VBAC under my birthing belt. In the two years since baby J was born I’ve read and researched birthing possibilities, outcomes and had discovered the wonderful world of home birthing. I knew in my heart that I wanted to have this baby at home, with a midwife and my children close by, if not watching their newest sibling arriving earth side. We found a wonderful midwife and starting planning our homebirth. Would we go with an inflatable birth pool or ‘The Vermont-style birth tub’? Around 20 weeks, we went for the anatomy scan which showed very clearly that we were having another BOY! Our excitement changed to worry when the radiology technician told us she had to get the doctor and would return shortly. It turns out that baby L’s umbilical cord inserted into the outer edge of the placenta, rather than the center of the placenta (marginal cord insertion). The placenta was also a little closer to my cervix (placenta previa) than they liked to see. After much discussion, we decided it was best to go back to the lovely ladies we knew and trusted, for a hospital birth. Under their watchful eye, the placenta moved away from the cervical opening which would allow me to attempt a second VBAC. Fast forward to month 9, we had three false labors that gave us great practice in the art of dropping off the two ‘big kids’ with their Auntie while we headed for the hospital. After two previous membrane sweeps, I waddled my way into the office at 41+2 weeks pregnant. The sweetest nurse sat me down for my first, and only, Fetal Non-Stress test. She told me everything looked good AND she shared with me what I now call ‘The Secret Formula”. The first step of the formula was to have my membranes swept, which the doctor did about 15 minutes later, at which point I was told I was 3cm dilated. I went home to work on the rest of ‘The Secret Formula”. Four hours later…. it was time to pass the big kids off to Auntie one last time and head to the hospital. Once I was changed into a hospital gown, my cervix was checked for dilation...4cm. The anesthesiologist came in to discuss the usual policies and procedures regarding epidurals. While I contracted away, I signed the paper feeling confident that I would reach my goal of giving birth without the epidural this time. I still felt strongly that Baby J’s birth was unnecessarily traumatic due to my decision to get an epidural at 6cm. I wanted to avoid that altogether this time. I spent most of my time laboring in the wonderfully warm tub which provided me with a sense of weightlessness. I made it to 7cm before returning to the bed. The contractions were getting so intensely strong, closer together and I felt that I was unable to stay on top of them with my breathing. Shortly after being checked again, I asked for the epidural. I really felt that I couldn't do it any more. That’s when I learned that the anesthesiologist was busy with a c-section and probably wouldn’t be done before I was completely dilated. (I still wonder if this was true, or if it were a tactic to keep me on track with my goals.) I spent the final stage of dilating lying on my left side in the hospital bed, clutching onto the bed rail and tensing up every muscle in my body with each contraction. I can’t describe it any other way than intense. Suddenly, I got very sick to my stomach and asked the nurse for something to get sick into. As she walked away I heard her say to my doctor ‘aaaannnd… complete’. (I later learned that vomiting during transition is quite normal and can be a sign that a women has fully dilated.) Very soon after getting sick, I felt for the first time, the ‘urge to push’. I continued to lay on my left side and pushed my son out in just 5 minutes. I was overwhelmed with the sense of accomplishment. I was so proud of myself for giving birth to my third baby, without pain medication. Baby L was placed on my belly long enough for me to give him a kiss and fall in love. He was whisked away to the warming table while I delivered the placenta. In an attempt to nudge things along, my OB tugged gently on the umbilical cord… it broke away from the placenta. She quickly asked the nurse to give me a shot of some pain medication while telling me that she was going to have to reach inside to get the placenta. It was a very uncomfortable feeling, even with the pain medication, but I am thankful for the skilled OB I had that day and that she was able to retrieve all of the placenta. When Baby L was given back to me I could see that his little face was quite bruised. I learned that it was from coming down the birth canal as quickly as he did. The bruising faded a few days after we were finally home, which was 4 days after Baby L was born. Like his brother and sister before him… he wanted an extended stay as well. On day two of our stay, Baby L’s bilirubin numbers spiked. We had to stay a little longer so he could hang out under the lights. We spent all of that time doing skin to skin and getting our breastfeeding relationship established. I am still very thankful for the anesthesiologist being held up which led to me achieving my goal of an unmedicated birth. There is something very empowering about achieving any goal you have, but for me…. natural labor is at the top of that empowering achievement list.
