Starting over feels great

My birth story started about 2.5 weeks ago when I started having strong, inconsistent contractions. I ended up going to L&D 3 separate times because I swore I was in labor, only to be sent home at 1-2 cm dilated. That was fine because baby would have been born early, and I didn’t want that anyway for his health. The problem was that I would end up having intense, painful contractions most nights for 2.5 weeks that prevented me from getting much sleep. I was completely drained and miserable. Fast forward to 3:30 a.m. on 9/18/18, I’m already awake with contractions but then my water breaks. It totally startled me because this never happened with my previous two pregnancies. I called my doctor, and was sent to L&D. This time I wasn’t sent home 🤗. I was hooked up to all the monitors, and was having pretty strong contractions every 4-6 minutes, but they were bearable. My doctor checked my cervix after being there for a few hours, and said I was only 3-4 cm dilated but almost fully effaced. After another couple of hours, my contractions spaced out to 10 min or more apart. I was getting super frustrated and worried that I wasn’t going to get the VBAC I was dreaming of. My doctor decided to start me on Pitocin to augment my labor and hopefully get my contractions closer together and stronger. Well that did the trick. After a couple of hours of close, VERY PAINFUL contractions, I asked for IV pain meds. They made feel very loopy but still in so much pain, so I asked for an epidural even though I originally said I was going to go without any pain meds. I couldn’t handle the pain, and I went in with an open mind. So after the epidural, I felt pretty good. I still had the IV meds in me too so I was all doped up and it made me pass out for several hours (I needed that). Then the nurse woke me up to check my cervix, and I was at 7-8 cm dilated! I was well on my way to a VBAC! The nurse put the peanut between my legs and had me lay on my side. At this point, I was numb from the waist down, but had horrible pain in my neck and shoulders. Maybe because I had to stay in bed and in the same position for most of my labor due to baby’s heart rate getting too high or too low. I stayed with the peanut for a couple more hours. The nurse came in once again to check my cervix, and to my surprise I was ready to start pushing. I pushed for about 45 min. It wasn’t terrible, except for the pain in my neck and back which was making it hard for me to keep my chin to my chest during pushes. The amazing part was that my epidural was wearing off by this time, and I could feel my baby coming down the birth canal. I felt every part of him exit my body ❤️. The doctor placed him right on my belly, and I just balled my eyes out. I couldn’t believe I was finally holding my babyboy. His name is Sean Patrick (named after his daddy). He was born on 9/18/18 (I was 38 weeks & 5 days pregnant) at 9:29 p.m., and weighed 6 lbs 14 oz and 19.75 in long. He is so little and our hearts are so full. I titled this birth story “Starting over feels great” because I have two older kids from my first marriage (ages 17 & 12). I never imagined I’d get remarried and have any more kids, but here I am with an amazing new husband and a precious newborn son. I’m so excited for what this next chapter in my life will bring. Thanks for reading. Good luck to all the expecting parents out there! Also, if you’re planning to have a VBAC, just believe you can do it and make sure you have a supportive team of doctors and family. Here are some pics. Enjoy!

Mommy’s ready for baby to get out!

Daddy geared up for mommy’s epidural.

First picture with mommy and daddy.

Right after his first bath at the hospital. He really loved getting clean.