Ashton's Birth Story-VBAC

I started this last pregnancy journey with the goal of finishing my second VBAC.

Here's the story (So that I never forget any of my children's birth, I have documented each one's stories)...

Around 4pm on Thursday August 1, 2019, I went into the hospital. I was having irregular contractions, dilated to 2 cm and 50% effaced. I was 39 weeks and 3 days pregnant. 

Here is a photo:

I am almost 6 feet tall and had gained nearly 50 lbs. Most of which I gained in the first and second trimester. I continued to workout this whole pregnancy in hopes that my body would bounce back quicker. Time will tell.

So, my doctor came in around 5:30pm and said he was going to do the foley cervical dilation balloon again since that worked with Elizabeth. So, they inserted the foley balloon which is extremely painful because I have a tilted cervix which apparently hides behind my spine. He tried to do it with a tool and ended up having to do it manually with his hands. 

Then, I called Rob and Bri and they both got ready to come up to the hospital. I asked Rob to pick me up Chick Fil-A for my last meal. Spicy Chicken sandwich and fries with a diet lemonade (always looking out for my figure).

The foley balloon makes you cramp almost immediately. The nurse brought me an exercise ball to bounce on which helped a little bit.

Around 9:30pm I asked the nurse if I could have something to help me sleep. She brought me 25 mg IV Benadryl which knocks you on your A$$, if you've never had it.

She gave me that and then decided to check the balloon. It's supposed to come out when you are 5 cm. She gave it a tug and the balloon slide right out. "Wow" she said, "You dilated faster than we thought".

Bri had gone home to get some sleep so we called her to tell her to come back up to the hospital (which is a 45 minute drive). 

Then, they gave me an epidural and started me on Pitocin. The on-call doctor asked my doctor if he should break my water but my doctor said to wait until the morning time.

So, I slept a few hours then woke up and watched Grey's Anatomy around 3 am. Around 6 am, I was laying in the bed on my right side (they turn you ever hour when you are in labor because you can't move with the epidural), and three nurses rushed in and jumped on top of me. They flipped me to my left side, placed an oxygen mask on my face and stopped the Pitocin (I was only up to 6 on the Pitocin). Ashton's heart rate had decelerated to 80 so he had either rolled on his cord or the Pitocin was effecting him. He came right back up to 140 bpm. 

Then my contractions slowed way down but eventually picked back up on their own. At this point I was 7 cm.

Around 7 am they checked me again and I was 9.5 cm with a bulging bag of water (still hadn't broken). The epidural started to wear off at this point and my back labor became unbearable.

At 8:30 am the doctor came in and broke my water. It was clear, no meconium (few).

Ashton's face was sunny side up so they turned me on my left side and put a peanut ball in between my legs to help him turn face down. It finally worked. Around 9:30 am I was ready to push and the little guy was in position. He was a -2 station.

I started pushing which immediately helped my pain. I pushed for 45 minutes. During this time, I decided I had wished I'd opted for a C-section. I didn't think I could push him out.

He finally made his appearance and he was perfect. Apgar's were 9 and 9. He weighed 8 lbs 9 oz, had extremely large feet, too.

In terms of weight, he was smaller than Jamyson and Elizabeth but larger than Bri, at birth. He had a little cone head that my husband pointed out but I still never saw it.

Here are some of his first photos...

The nurse standing behind Rob is the one who delivered Elizabeth, Her name was Alyssa. She came to visit us after he was born.

Sitting with his Big Sister.

 Jamyson was smitten from the beginning. She said, "Did Brother come out of your stomach or mouth?"

All of our family was in the waiting room: My Dad and Mom, Rob's Dad and step-Mom, my Dad's friend Bob Nuzzo who had just flown in to visit my Dad that morning. Rob's Mom and Step-Father had kept the girls for us and they came up to visit that afternoon.

The labor and delivery nurses at Methodist Richardson are extremely competent. Without their team of nurses and doctors, a VBAC would be nearly impossible.

That's all for now

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