Long Labor Ends with Beautiful HBAC

For months and months I had dreamt of this moment. The moment when my daughter would be here and I would be able to say that I did it. I had my home birth after cesarean  I imagined what my birth story would contain and couldn’t wait to write it. And now, that the time is finally here. I find myself having a hard time putting into words everything that I am thinking and feeling. So, instead of a carefully planned story I’m just going to write and see what happens.

Most VBAC stories start with the details of the prior c-section. But when I tried to write that out I realized that the details of my C-Section aren’t important. The simple facts is, it happened. It gave me a beautiful, healthy son. I will probably never fully recover from the disappointment of having it.  It changed the way I look at birth indefinitely. If it hadn’t been for that C-Section I probably never would have realized that I could have a different experience. That I could actually have control over the choices made for me, my baby and my body.

From the moment I found out I was expecting again I began to research VBAC’s and natural birthing options. I researched hospital VBAC’s, birthing centers and home births. The pros and cons of using a doctor or a midwife. Whether or not to have a doula and every other decision I could possibly want to make.  I’m so thankful that I took the time to learn my options. I had the most empowering and healing birthing experience with a birth team that could not have supported me more.

My due date was November 14th, which came and went. Day after day we waited as patiently as we could for our girl to decide she was ready to join us. Despite my best attempts at walking, squatting, bouncing on my birth ball and a handful of other natural induction techniques my girl was quite comfortable and showed no signs of budging. I started to get checked by my midwife fairly regularly at 40 weeks and although there was always progress, it was very slow and steady. So it was no surprise that my labor began the same way.

By 4:30 p.m.  my friend Jinna had arrived to keep my son occupied, my doula and midwife had both arrived and my sweet husband was setting up the birth pool. I decided to be checked one last time to make sure that getting in the pool wouldn’t slow down my labor. At 5:45 p.m. I was found to be only 4 cm. I was so disappointed. 31 hours of labor and I had only dilated to a 4. My midwife explained to me over and over that dilating to 4 was going to be one of the hardest things to do in my labor and that it was not uncommon for it to take the longest to go from 3 – 4 cm and that now I had reached 4 cm it was very likely that the rest of my labor would go at a much more typical pace.

My midwife checked me at 9:00 p.m. and I was 7 cm. Then while being checked my water broke – what a relief! It was at this moment I professed my undying love for my midwife. She then uttered the only words I wanted to hear, “Oh wait you’re a 9. Wait, now you’re complete! Back in the pool, you can push whenever you feel the need.” I pushed for 40 minutes in the pool in several positions but because my girl was positioned just a little crooked it made pushing a challenge. So out I went to try another position. About 10 minutes later she was here!

After 35 hours of labor my girl was born at 10:01 p.m. She was immediately handed up to me. We had done it! All of the preparation, worry, pain and impatience were gone. All that mattered was that she was here. She stayed with me except for one short period in which she did some skin to skin with her Daddy. She latched 20 minutes after she arrived and nursed for almost 40 minutes. She was quiet, calm and very alert. Immediately recognizing her Daddy’s voice as he told her how beautiful she was. When we finally got around to weighing and measuring her my girl weighed in at 8 lbs. 4 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long with a giant 14 1/2 inch head! Sadly that large noggin caused a 2nd degree tear but what a small small price to pay for such a wonderful experience. I am so thankful that I was able to do this and so grateful for the support provided by my incredible birth team.