I wanted a September baby, and I guess that's
what she wanted too! At 12:30 am on September 1st, I began feeling contractions.
I wasn't sure if they were more Braxton hicks, since I had been having a lot of
those, so I went to bed. I woke two minutes before the alarm went off the next
morning having a pretty strong contraction. I woke my husband for work, and he
phoned my mom to come over to watch our son and stay with me until I knew for
sure if this was it. An hour later, I was pretty sure this was it, and my
husband called in to work too. By 8:30 they were about 3-6 minutes apart and we
were off!
Once we were checked in and they checked me, I
was 3cm, station -2 and 50% effaced. I was going to try and hang in there no
meds as long as I could, I didn't want to slow things down. Finally I got to the
point where I decided that it was time to try the epidural. I was only 4cm's and
I figured I had hours to go. I got the EPI at about 2pm, and at 3 all went wild!
The monitors were going off, alarms were sounding and everyone was running in
the room. Amanda's heart rate had fallen very low.
They rushed me into the OR, and said that if
Mandy's heart rate was ok, they would look and see what was happening, if not,
and emergency section. They were afraid that my uterus may have ruptured from my
previous section. Well, thank the Lord, Mandy was fine, and they had time to
check things out. I was 8cm's now and no rupture. I had gone from 4-8cm's in an
hour or so. They watched a while longer there before moving me back into the
regular L&D room.
Once there, we discovered that the EPI had been
disconnected and left off. Well, actually, I discovered it... the freezing had
completely worn off. They had to get permission from the doctor to re-administer
another boost shot. By the time they did that, I was almost fully dilated and
ready to push. I started pushing at 5:25, by 5:55, it was time for the doctor to
be there. My husband, who by the way, was absolutely amazing throughout this
whole thing, watched as the whole delivery happened and Amanda was working her
way into the world. I pushed after the doctor was there, then they had to cut
the cord as soon as her head was out, the cord was around her neck. Another
couple minutes and she was out! So, all in all, it was an exciting day for us,
not quite an uneventful delivery, but well worth it in the end. :)
Daddy cut the cord, Mandy was cleaned off and
within 5 minutes she was breastfeeding like a pro! When we left the hospital,
she had only lost 4 ounces, which is less than half of what they allow! That,
the nurse said, means that she is feeding really well.
I would like to take this opportunity to Thank
all my online friends who have been there throughout this pregnancy and say that
it has been an absolutely unique experience to be able to share this with you!
For those of you who have been around since I was pregnant with my son, isn't it
amazing how time has flown and our children have grown!
Korte, author of Every
Woman's Body, gives firm reasons for VBACs--they are safer for
both mother and baby--and backs them up with medical facts. Strong
chapters on overcoming fear, planning your VBAC, finding
VBAC-friendly doctors and hospitals, and experiencing a VBAC make
this book invaluable. The appendices provide fascinating
statistics about infant mortality rates and cesarean and VBAC
rates around the world, as well as extensive listings of
resources.
(January 1998)
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Daddy cut the cord, Mandy was cleaned off and
within 5 minutes she was breastfeeding like a pro! When we left the hospital,
she had only lost 4 ounces, which is less than half of what they allow! That,
the nurse said, means that she is feeding really well.
