I guess in order to fully explain why having a VBAC is important to me, I should share Maddy's birth story. Those who are close to me already know how it all unfolded, but I'll share it for those who don't know. <WARNING: This is going to be LONG!>
Madalyn Grace was due on 8/29. On Wednesday 8/19, I was hanging at home after Joe went back to work (he was home for lunch). I got up to go to the bathroom, and when I sat on the toilet I felt a weird pop, almost like my back had cracked. I didn't think anything of it, until I went back to the computer room, and sat down. All of a sudden I felt a gush. I was in complete shock that my water had broken!
I called Joe, and we decided he should stay at work as long as he could (he only had just under 4 vacation days to last until June), so my mom came over to help me get everything around. (The call to my mom was funny. I was standing in the bathtub freaking out because I couldn't move without making a mess! I couldn't reach any clean clothes or a towel!) After about an hour (still no contractions), I called the doctor, and they told me to head to the hospital. Joe came home, and we headed up. My contractions started around this time (4-4:30ish).
When we got to triage, the nurse confirmed my water had broken, and said I had to wait for the resident to check me before they admitted me to L & D. After about 5 minutes she came back, said they needed the room, so she checked me (I was at 3, 80% effaced, and she said the head was +2). When I got to L & D (and I got the LAST room, thanks to the full moon), they wanted to monitor me again, so I had to lay down (standing had been helping a lot with the pain, once I had to lay down the pain was WAY worse). After the monitoring, I decided to get some Nubain. About an hour later, (around 8?) I decided to get the epidural. It was great! When I got the epi, I was dilated to 6, 80%, and +1. For a while I couldn't feel a thing. After an hour or two, I was feeling extreme pain with my contractions, this time as a burning in my hips. I mentioned this to the nurse, and she checked me again. She said, "Well, you're at 8, but I'm going to get the doctor. I'm thinking I was feeling girl parts, instead of a head." An ultrasound confirmed that she was indeed breech (frank breech), and I would need a c-section. They gave me a shot of something to stop my contractions, and whatever they gave me made me shake really bad. When they took me in for surgery, Joe had to wait outside. Before they brought him in I started feeling really nauseous. They gave me another shot of something for that. Joe came in (and watched the WHOLE thing!), and Madalyn Grace was born at 12:16 a.m. on August 20th, weighing 7 lbs, 2 oz, and 21 inches long. After she was born they had people from the NICU there to check her out since there was meconium in my water when it broke. She was fine, so they wrapped her up and handed her to her daddy. Once she was in her Daddy's arms, she finally stopped crying.
After they finished putting me back together, we were wheeled to recovery. I nursed her for the first time, and things were good. Our families got to meet her while we were still in recovery.
Around 4:00 a.m., they moved me to my room. They said they were taking her for a bath and would bring her right back. HOURS later, I finally woke Joe up to go find out where she was (I was unable to get out of bed for almost a full day after surgery). As he was getting his contacts in, a Dr. came in and told us that she'd been taken for some testing because her lips were turning blue when she sucked on the nurse's finger. They told us AFTER the fact that they did chest x-rays and had the NICU come down to evaluate her. They were still waiting to see if they were going to have to move her to the NICU. I was so angry and helpless, because I couldn't even get out of bed to go see her! Finally around 8:30-9:00 they brought her back. She never showed any problems, and I have no idea what caused the blue lips, or even if they really were turning blue.
What really frustrates me is that I had at least 4 different doctors tell me she was head down (starting at 32 weeks). I made sure to ask at every appointment, because I was breech and born by emergency c-section. I had an appointment the day before my water broke, and the doctor said, "she's head down and engaged".
The doctor who delivered her said that there was no way she was ever head down. If I had known that earlier in the pregnancy, I could've tried some things to get her to turn. Even if the outcome was the same, it would've been nice to plan a c-section, rather than get all the way to 8 centimeters, and have to have my labor stopped.
Madalyn Grace was due on 8/29. On Wednesday 8/19, I was hanging at home after Joe went back to work (he was home for lunch). I got up to go to the bathroom, and when I sat on the toilet I felt a weird pop, almost like my back had cracked. I didn't think anything of it, until I went back to the computer room, and sat down. All of a sudden I felt a gush. I was in complete shock that my water had broken!
I called Joe, and we decided he should stay at work as long as he could (he only had just under 4 vacation days to last until June), so my mom came over to help me get everything around. (The call to my mom was funny. I was standing in the bathtub freaking out because I couldn't move without making a mess! I couldn't reach any clean clothes or a towel!) After about an hour (still no contractions), I called the doctor, and they told me to head to the hospital. Joe came home, and we headed up. My contractions started around this time (4-4:30ish).
When we got to triage, the nurse confirmed my water had broken, and said I had to wait for the resident to check me before they admitted me to L & D. After about 5 minutes she came back, said they needed the room, so she checked me (I was at 3, 80% effaced, and she said the head was +2). When I got to L & D (and I got the LAST room, thanks to the full moon), they wanted to monitor me again, so I had to lay down (standing had been helping a lot with the pain, once I had to lay down the pain was WAY worse). After the monitoring, I decided to get some Nubain. About an hour later, (around 8?) I decided to get the epidural. It was great! When I got the epi, I was dilated to 6, 80%, and +1. For a while I couldn't feel a thing. After an hour or two, I was feeling extreme pain with my contractions, this time as a burning in my hips. I mentioned this to the nurse, and she checked me again. She said, "Well, you're at 8, but I'm going to get the doctor. I'm thinking I was feeling girl parts, instead of a head." An ultrasound confirmed that she was indeed breech (frank breech), and I would need a c-section. They gave me a shot of something to stop my contractions, and whatever they gave me made me shake really bad. When they took me in for surgery, Joe had to wait outside. Before they brought him in I started feeling really nauseous. They gave me another shot of something for that. Joe came in (and watched the WHOLE thing!), and Madalyn Grace was born at 12:16 a.m. on August 20th, weighing 7 lbs, 2 oz, and 21 inches long. After she was born they had people from the NICU there to check her out since there was meconium in my water when it broke. She was fine, so they wrapped her up and handed her to her daddy. Once she was in her Daddy's arms, she finally stopped crying.
After they finished putting me back together, we were wheeled to recovery. I nursed her for the first time, and things were good. Our families got to meet her while we were still in recovery.
Around 4:00 a.m., they moved me to my room. They said they were taking her for a bath and would bring her right back. HOURS later, I finally woke Joe up to go find out where she was (I was unable to get out of bed for almost a full day after surgery). As he was getting his contacts in, a Dr. came in and told us that she'd been taken for some testing because her lips were turning blue when she sucked on the nurse's finger. They told us AFTER the fact that they did chest x-rays and had the NICU come down to evaluate her. They were still waiting to see if they were going to have to move her to the NICU. I was so angry and helpless, because I couldn't even get out of bed to go see her! Finally around 8:30-9:00 they brought her back. She never showed any problems, and I have no idea what caused the blue lips, or even if they really were turning blue.
What really frustrates me is that I had at least 4 different doctors tell me she was head down (starting at 32 weeks). I made sure to ask at every appointment, because I was breech and born by emergency c-section. I had an appointment the day before my water broke, and the doctor said, "she's head down and engaged".
The doctor who delivered her said that there was no way she was ever head down. If I had known that earlier in the pregnancy, I could've tried some things to get her to turn. Even if the outcome was the same, it would've been nice to plan a c-section, rather than get all the way to 8 centimeters, and have to have my labor stopped.