TW: Photo of OR in comments.

Very long birth story.

Well my story didn’t end the way I wanted, and I’m sure I’ll do some more grieving along the way. On Wednesday evening at 41+3, I started to have strong Braxton-Hicks for a few hours at 7-8 mins. I took a shower and they distanced out at 15 mins apart so I put myself to bed. I woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep due to some pregnancy insomnia around 2:30 and felt very small tightenings happening but decided to try and sleep. Finally got back to sleep around 5am.

Thursday 41+4, I woke up for the day about 6:30am and noticed tightenings happening more frequently so I started to time them and the were coming on every 2-3.5 mins lasting 20-30s long.

7:00am I had a small bloody show so I called my toddler sitter who was to be our 3 yrs olds person during our HBAC, so she could get on the road because she lives 3 hrs away. Spoke to my midwife and she said as long as your able then still come to your 11am appointment over in the next town over, about a 30min drive away. I also gave my doula a heads up that today might be the day.

9:00am my mom showed up to help me clean house a little bit and and we left our house at 10:15 to make my 11am appointment. Contractions were coming every 3 mins lasting for 30s.

11am I got to my appointment everything looked good. My midwife offered a vaginal exam if I wanted. I consented out of curiosity and was 100% effaced and fingertip to 1cm dilation. After my appointment my mom dropped me off at Walmart to grab a few last min things and she went to Home Depot with my 3 yr old. After I was done I walked over. My contractions where coming every 3.5 minutes for 40secs that were starting to “pinch”.

1pm we grabbed some Arby’s and ventured home. On the way home contractions stayed the same and I started practicing my proper breathing and my horse lips. My mother who was driving was amazing!

2:00pm we got home and my mom continued to clean house and I went and got into a bath to try and relax contractions were coming every 4 mins for 40-45 seconds and while in the bath they intensified enough that I had to roll over on to my stomach each wave. I got out and crawled into bed to try and grab a nap. Four contractions into being in bed my water broke at 2:45pm. And it was mex stained but not bad, nothing to worry about just monitor. My husband started to fill the birth pool, we called my doula so she would come over, and updated my midwife.

3:30pm I was moaning and horse lipping through contractions as well as started shaking. All of which I knew was normal. My doula arrived about 3:45pm. I was feeling all of my contractions just in a band around my lower hips, stomach vagina and low back. Contractions were coming every 3-4 mins lasting 50-60sec.

At 4pm I got into the birth pool to try and relax and get some relief. My midwife arrived as well as her assistant. After an hour and a half I started to feel pushing and that I was totally unsure of myself as well as. I was starting to give up, which I also took as a transitional sign. At 5:30pm I asked my midwife if she would check me. I was 100% effaced and a tight 2cm. At first I felt very defeated but then was able to calm down and look at it as an opportunity to start over. I got a handle on myself and started to slow my breathing down and the intensity backs off till around 7pm I was able to lay down and let my husband message my hips.

7pm things started to kick back up in intensity and were still coming every 3 mins at about a min apart. I went back and forth between the shower and the bedroom and was having to be reminded to breath, I needed hip squeezes every contraction. I was starting to lose hope yet again. We tried side lying release through 3 contractions on both sides, forward leaning inversion through one, a belly lift and tuck through 7. Nothing worked to relieve any pain or intensity.

9:30pm I asked to be checked yet again because with every contraction I was feeling a lot of rectal pressure. I was still 2cm and a little swollen. I decided at this point that I was not able to calm myself and I needed pain relief. So hospital transfer it was.

10pm my midwife gave my some tincture to try and give me some relief. It didn’t work. We laid down the back seat in our suv and put a twin memory foam in because sitting was the number one bad spot for me to be at. My sweet blessing of a husband got me to the hospital that was 2.5hrs away, in 2 hours flat. My midwifes assistant road in the back with my and monitored baby and I while the midwife and doula reach drive their own rigs. We got checked into the hospital and fluids started with anesthesia in the room by 1:15am

1:15am on Friday at 41+5 I consented another cervical exam for anesthesia. Contractions never slowed or got less intense for the whole torture car trip, they checked me and I was 4.5cm (wahoo!!! I only made it to 4cm with my first during a 37 hr induction) got the epidural placed and my doula helped me get all situated with a peanut ball. Contractions on the monitors kept up at the 3-4 min intervals. My epidural was perfect I could completely move, transfer myself side to side. My doula kept me on a rotation with the peanut ball to a different position every 30 mins. At 5am they came it and checked me again I consented (everything was done with consent each time I felt totally respected and listened to!) I was a 5-5.5cm great slow progress especially with an epi in place.

7am with a shift change I told the nurse that I needed to pee with a stronger contraction I rolls from my right side to my back to pee, and baby’s heart dropped to 55, she rolls me back to my side no change and she pressed the big red button on the wall! Within seconds I had two doctors and five nurses in the room, they got me on hands and knees, and did an amino infusion stat, I had a oxygen mask on for every 2-4 heartbeats baby would skip a beat. Doctor called out loud to stat the OR, then bam heart back up to 137, OR cancelled got back to being positioned, oxygen mask came off after 20 mins, contractions had slowed to every 4.5-5.5 mins. During all this emergency I was checked again (still at 5-5.5 cm) because they were up there with the amino, and had placed a Fetal Scalp monitor, they even asked during the emergency, for consent! So impressed. Asked not told. At around 8 he had another decel not nearing as low, only to 90 but it did last longer than a min and took extreme positional changes to get him back up. The doctor recommended stopping my contractions completely for an hour. So they gave me a shot to do so.

Somewhere between 8-9am the doctor came in to discuss options with me, her recommendation was to give baby an hour if everything looked good they could put me on pitocin to restart contractions and do a three contraction test, or they could do the repeat. With my first I had had problems with pitocin dropping my blood pressures and heart rate as well as decels. I spoke to my team, all of which were still there. I made the decision for a repeat. I know I could have done the rest and saw where it took us. Not sure if it was fear or knowledge but I called it and told the doctor I wanted the c-section. She really wanted me to do the pit. Trial, I declined. But I did get a clear drape, perfect epidural that got upped for the c-section, 45 mins of skin to skin in the OR while they stitched me up, delayed cord clamping of 2 full mins, our own music playing and a ton of pictures taken. I feel I made the correct decisions. When he came out his head was very swollen to the right of his suture line so his head was crooked even with all the positioning we tried, he even had some bruises. He came out with perfect APGARs, screaming, still hasn’t had a bath, pooping and peeing, breastfeeding like a champ and my milk is already starting to come in, he does have a tongue and lip tie we will get clipped in 2-3 weeks, so I’ll be pumping right away to prep for retraining feeding. We are just over 24 hrs out of surgery and starting the discharge process, I’m up peeing and walking on my own, slept great the first night got a 2 hr stretch and a 4 hr stretch! Ready to get this little man home to meet his big sister, and get settled in, not ready for this damn c-section recovery, the doctor that did my surgery said there were some adhesions from my uterus to my bladder that she cleared out as well as reinforced my bladder with a couple stitches In the thin spots from the adhesion. She told me she would love to see me again when we go for number three and that she would support (of course) an in hospital VBA2C. Which I will definitely be going for, just not sure about the hospital part, who knows. Thank you if you made it this far. ********Again TW for OR pictures in the comments. *********