Congratulations to second-time mama, Angie, on the arrival of sweet baby Ben! Read on to share in Angie’s prep for her vaginal birth after Cesarean (VBAC) and the healing power of a caring midwife’s hug.

Love,

Alisa, Sarah & the women of Blooma

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Welcome to the world, baby Ben!

{By Angie R.}

As a lot of VBAC birth stories seem to start out, this one also began over two years ago with the birth of my daughter via C-section. While we were so thrilled to be first-time parents and she brings so much joy to everything she does, I knew from that moment on that my next birth would be so very different.

After turning into a “birth junkie” and reading so very, very many birth stories and research on birth, that while I read some of it the first time around, I never really digested it on the right level. Every book I read — Birthing from Within, Baby Catcher, Ina May’s books, Spinning Babies, Belly Button Bliss, the list could go on — really helped me realize that it is not possible or very healing to blame one person or event in a birth. BUT there were certain things that I felt needed to be a must at our next birth: respect, evidence-based rather than fear-based maternity care and good communication during labor.

I had a quick labor with my daughter for a first-time mom, but Evelyn was not in a good position coming down the birth canal. I have always felt that if I would have just been allowed to get up, move around, push in different positions and also allow for additional time for pushing (we only pushed for two hours), she would have eventually come out just fine as there were never any issues with her heartbeat.

I remember feeling so rushed and pressured at that time which is the last thing you want in birth. That combined with an OB that does not do her own postpartum appointments left me feeling like we had a run a marathon, gotten tripped at the end but had no idea exactly why.

After researching my own OR records, I put together my own version of why that first birth unfolded the way it did.  I know now how important it is to have the opportunity to fully digest a birth with those who attended it — this to me is just as important as the prenatal appointments! I eventually needed to get to that place of understanding that birth is so complex and the mystery is that we will never know why things unfold the way that they do. But I do know that for some reason I was meant to have the birth that I did with my daughter. Without that birth, I would likely not have had the opportunity to learn so much the last two years and ultimately have the amazing birth experience we did the second time around.

The recovery from having a full labor, pushing and C-section was horrendous with my daughter and I knew I never wanted to go through that again if possible thus I was so committed to the fact that the best and only way to do so was to have a birth with no unnecessary interventions, and so begins Ben’s Birth Story:

After becoming pregnant this past spring, we visited two midwifery practices at hospitals and a birth center and decided on the midwife practice at Methodist. My gut reaction after we found out we were expecting this time was to stay far away from a hospital birth this time, but each appointment with the midwives at Methodist got better and better. Ultimately I was very happy with our decision. It is amazing how healing a hug from a midwife after a prenatal appointment can be!

My labor with Ben begin late, late the evening of Jan. 26th. I just could not fall asleep and was awfully uncomfortable in bed while having what I thought were Braxton-Hicks contractions. My mind was in denial that I was probably going into labor. I got crabby with my husband that he was not going to sleep and instead staying up late watching TV. How silly but I think my intuition knew he was going to need some sleep.

At about 1 a.m., my mind started to overcome the denial of going into labor but still was not totally there yet. I thought I could just take a hot bath and that might delay things until the next day. I should point out that I was totally fine at this point with staying pregnant for awhile longer (39 wks and 4 days) — I was not uncomfortable at all and was enjoying this last little bit of time with my daughter, going to prenatal yoga and trying endlessly to prepare my work office for my leave. I really was not ready to be done being pregnant yet!

A hot bath with some lavender oil and an hour later, my husband and my mind finally realized that these were real contractions. Nothing painful by any means. Just good steady contractions with a lot of cramping in my lower pelvis area. None of the dull backache that I had with my daughter in early labor had started.

After the hot bath and crawling around on the ground on all fours (I absolutely did not want to be in bed), we called Sarah, our doula. She always joked about waiting for that 3 a.m. call from us and sure enough, she got that call at 3 a.m.! When she showed-up a little before 4 a.m., I was definitely appreciating any kind of counter-pressure that could be applied on my lower back during a contraction.

After going back and forth between the ground and resting my head on a pillow between contractions, the bathtub — again using a towel to lay my head on when resting — and the toilet, we made a lot of progress.

By 5:30 a.m., I thought we better start making our way to the hospital otherwise I didn’t think I was going to be able to get in the car and get there if we waited any longer. The pressure down below by this time was so intense and all I could say was that I just wanted my water to break. I could just feel it sitting there putting so much weight on my bottom and just wanting it so badly to release.

After a bumpy car ride with my lying on my side in the backseat (I could not for the life of me get on to all fours — way too much effort at that point), and with my husband and Sarah enjoying the full moon and clear sky, we made it to Methodist. I remember being thankful that we didn’t get stuck behind that awful train on Excelsior Blvd. I wonder if there have been any babies born in that spot before waiting for that endlessly long train to go by??

Leaving the car running in front of the hospital, we started to make our way inside and into the elevators and upstairs to the third level. It was a long journey to say the least with lots of pit stops but we made it. I was in such a labor zone by this point that I honestly think I only opened my eyes a few times between when we got to the hospital and giving birth.  I just wanted to stay inside myself and not take anything else in.

The nurse that greeted us coming into the birthing center thankfully just brought us straight into a room and we were able to skip checking in via triage. Sarah and I headed right into the dark bathroom while my husband went back to park the car. After getting grounded in the bathroom, I did need to get a telemetric heartbeat monitor put around my waist and an IV port applied but nothing put in just in case of an emergency — these were the only two requirements for a VBAC mom and otherwise, I was so thankful that I was allowed to labor and birth just as I wanted.

The midwife on call did check me just once at that time and I was about 8 cm dilated with a bulging bag of waters. After kneeling on the ground in front of the bed — this became my sweet spot as there was no way in heck I was getting in that bed — I could feel the most intense pressure with a contraction and all of a sudden there was a huge pop and I am afraid a huge mess of water everywhere.

Oh but the relief that I had for a minute or two after my water broke was so wonderful! Sarah then gently reminded me that this was where things would take a different direction and that the next few contractions would feel very deep. And boy did they feel different!

I do think this is when my body just started to naturally push everything down as the only relief that I had during the next hour of contractions before the baby came would be to push. It felt like a freight train was moving down through my body. And as Sarah would always say during prenatal yoga class, things are really getting exciting when you feel like the baby is coming out your backside rather than your front and it certainly did! The contractions were definitely doing their job in pushing this little boy downwards.

We headed back into the bathtub at that time and spent quite a while with these heavy, pushing contractions. Hot water was being sprayed down on my lower back from the shower and oh how that helped. I do not think I would have made it through this last hour of labor without the hot water on my lower back along with the counter-pressure pushes by my husband, Sarah and the nurses. Both of these things were absolutely essential — with them I was able to stay focused on just getting through each contraction and not feel like I was totally losing control of being in the moment.

I did need to be reminded though to try and relax between each contraction at this point. They were so on top of one another that as soon as one ended, I would start preparing myself for the next one. I would compare this last hour of labor similar to being on a roller coster in a dark tunnel — I had no idea where the ride was going and when it was going to end!

Laying my head down on a towel or pillow between each contraction helped tremendously. As they preach in prenatal yoga, throughout this pregnancy I really focused on letting my jaw relax and that definitely helped me get through those tight, intense contractions. There was no point in being tight and fighting the contractions as they were going to come whether I liked it or not!

At one point, we decided I needed to be out of the tub and we headed back to the floor beside the bed. With the midwife’s suggestion, I managed to bring each leg up into a lunge position for a contraction or two in hopes of bringing the baby down even more. Oh my lord. Talk about ten freight trains moving through your body! That is definitely what those lunges did but they were so productive as not too much later, I could definitely feel his head crowning and proceeded to ask everybody as they were all just being so peaceful and calm that if they knew that hello, the head was coming out??!!

My very favorite and so sweet midwife was able to show up just as this was happening. She just had time to put on some gloves and catch the baby! I was so thankful just to have her presence there.

While half-squatting and half-kneeling along side the bed on the floor, Ben came out within minutes at that point and he came fast and with a hand up near his perfect little face. The act of him coming out was actually sweet relief in comparison to the contractions the hour prior to his birth. I do remember the burning, stretching sensation when his head first crowned but would take that any day over the prior contractions.

The actual emergence of the baby seems to be what so many moms fear, including myself, but that was actually my favorite part of it all! It meant that an end was near and that our grand little prize would arrive. Yes, there really is a grand little prize at the end! It is easy to forget that in the throes of labor. But these babies are just so so precious and perfect in every way. And they are ours to keep! Amazing!

After being born at 7:20 a.m., weighing 8 pounds and 21 1/2 inches long, Ben was able to spend almost two hours with us on the bed nursing and snuggling before having anything done to him. He was such an alert little critter since there were no drugs involved.

Since I did not have this special after-birth time with my daughter, this sweet ending as well as everything else about this birth was so perfect and so much an out-of-body experience in an incredibly amazing way.

The midwife and nurse team (which included two Blooma mamas!) along with my husband and doula made supporting me in this birth seem so effortless — they were all rock stars. Not once did anyone tell me to start pushing or stop pushing or make me feel that I wasn’t doing all of the right things naturally. They were a support team in the literal sense and just let my body do what it already knew what to do.

The recovery and the nursing this time around has been like night and day. I feel like a completely different mom than I did with my daughter — both mentally and physically and in a good way!

Dearly missing prenatal yoga right now… Angie

*{A little note from Blooma: We joyfully share birth stories sent to us by Blooma families, however, Blooma does not claim responsibility for and does not endorse individual choices made by families or their care providers. We seek to share an array of birth stories to showcase a wide range of experiences.}