I had my baby and my VBAC 💛

*My birth story* it's a long one.

Let's start with Thursday the 5th. I was 40 weeks and feeling defeated. I was 1 cm dilated on Tuesday, so I had no hope of this natural VBAC I had wanted so bad. My fiancé and I made the trip up to Sioux Falls, to talk to my ob there. We get there, talk, she's telling me she won't let go to 42 weeks but since baby is measuring average, no need to rush. She then asks to check my cervix. I tell her how on Tuesday I was a 1, middle cervix and it was soft. She checks anyways and tells me I'm a 3! I was so happy. She then sweeps my membranes and we sat an induction date for 15th and all is good. It felt good to know I was progressing but also that we had a date sat and we could relax. Wellllll. That didn't happen. We get home, all of us are tired, so we're all asleep by 8. I wake up to intense pain at 3, I realize these are contractions, I don't time them but about 3-4 an hour until 6am. I get up, use the restroom, and I wipe and there's nothing, so I'm like ok, let's get this day going. About a half hour later, I feel all this discharge, when I wipe, it's my mucus plug and then my bloody show.. I instantly start crying, I call my mom, and I cry. I text my sister and I cry some more. Contractions are still coming, every 10-12 minutes at this point. I wake my son up, get him ready for school, thankfully my mom picks us up, and takes us. Fastfoward through the day, contractions are steady but not consistent. Then around 6pm, they pick up, finally my mom convinces me to go up to the hospital. I get there, they check me, and I'm at 4 and 80% effaced, contractions are not 4-6 minutes apart. Since I'm a VBAC, they call Sioux Falls and they say to get to the hospital now. It hits me. All at once. I'm having this baby. I progress pretty quickly. I walked, bounced on my ball, did it all. My nurse was awesome and kept telling me I was doing great. Doctors come in, tell me my risks, tell me I'm amazing and tell me that we're gonna do this VBAC. So reassuring. By 2:30am, I'm at 8, the pain is intense. The next thing I know, I get checked and I'm at 10, she can feel his head. It's go time. Panic sets in, I'm really have my baby, I'm really getting a VBAC, I'm getting the birth I deserve. It's 4:30am, it's time to start pushing, it's my nurse, my mom and my fiancé. The support was real, they never doubted me. I pushed for almost two hours, I was so high on adrenaline, I don't remember the doctors coming in. I pushed and as soon as I heard "his head is out" I pushed until they said feel his head, and I felt it, pushed and grabbed him out. I GRABBED MY BABY OUT. My dream. I did it. Everyone was happy, screaming for me, crying, I was thanking everyone. It was one the most beautiful moments in my life. I got to hold him, keep the cord attached to the placenta(for a few minutes), I nursed him, and just lived in this moment of bliss. I loved both of my births, they're both special to me. I hope when you read this, you are inspired, because we all deserve the birth we want. Malcolm was born October 7th, 2017 @ 6:25 am. Weighing 8lbs and 6oz. 💛💛💛💛