Amelia Grace was born today, via a very successful VBAC at 6:12AM. She was 7lbs3ozs and 20" long. She's perfect as can be and worth every painful moment! I have this overwhelming feeling of pride in myself right now...I can't believe I actually went through with the VBAC! The midwives and nurses at the hospital were all so proud and so happy that we went for it, and that it was a success.
We arrived at the hospital last night just before 5:00PM and checked into triage. After getting all settled in and hooked up, the midwife on call came in to check me. I just knew I was in for "bad" news, I could feel it. And sure enough, just like with Olivia, after everything I was only dilated to 1, BUT, I was significantly effaced and baby was very low. So, that was promising. Shortly after, my urine analysis came back and showed that I was very dehydrated. The nurse said that can cause labor to stall, so they got an IV of fluids going, eventually pumping 2 bags into me. Once those were done, about 2 hours later, they took another sample and called the midwife in again. This sample came back much better, and I had dilated to 3! So, it was official, I was checking in!!
I could not stay in that bed any longer, so Christian and I were off to walk the halls while they got my room ready. Because of my high risk situation (the VBAC), the baby and I had to be monitored constantly. Luckily, my amazing nurse got me hooked up with one of the few suites with wireless monitoring. So, I was able to walk around, go in the bathtub and be much more free. At 9:30PM, we were all set up in the room. Then, it was a few hours of resting, sitting, standing, sitting, bath tub, resting, sitting, etc.
By around 3:00AM everything had gotten much more painful and it seemed like a lot more was going on. They came into check me, and I had only dilated to 4! I couldn't believe it. They went over my pain management options at this point. I was determined to go as far as possible (hopefully all the way) without drugs, so I shot everything down at this point. The midwife broke my water since I made it to 4, in hopes of it moving things along.
A short time later, I just couldn't take the pain anymore...I think breaking my water was starting to move things along a little faster as well. I was really against getting an epidural because I did not want to be tied down to the bed and I did not want it to slow down my labor. They had discussed another option with me, a different shot, that doesn't take away the pain or tie you down, but it was just meant to take the edge off between contractions, so you can rest. They thought the constant pain I was feeling was again stalling things, and assured me this would help move things along. So, we decided to go with that. It definitely helped...the contractions were as painful as ever, but between them I felt like I could actually relax, breathe and forget what was happening.
They came in again to check me around 5:00AM, and I was dilated to 7!! I wanted to cry I was so excited...things really were moving along! It wasn't long after that I started feeling a lot, and I mean A LOT of pressure, and the contractions felt like they were non stop, one after another. I told Christian something was happening and that I needed to push, so he got the nurse, who got the midwife. She checked me and said "Yup, you are about to have a baby!". I was dilated to 10, fully effaced and baby was low, low, low! Everybody got ready and it was time to push. About 20 minutes later, Amelia Grace entered our lives.
I looked at her, and it was just the most amazing feeling. I couldn't believe I did it...I actually did it! All of the fear, all of the hard work, the pain, the worry...it was over. She's here, and it feels absolutely amazing!
My mom arrived shortly after, followed by Christian's parents and Olivia. Olivia did not know what to think about little Amelia, she seemed pretty weirded out by the whole thing. After we were checked into our room, we got a little resting, alone time. Later on, we were blessed with visits from so many of our friends and family members...my mom and Olivia stopped up for another visit, Kari and Andrew, the Madrid's, Melissa and her her mom, Christian's mom stopped up again, my stepmom and niece Angel, my Dad. Everybody was so excited to meet our newest family member, and who could blame them!
So, here we are, officially a family of four! Now the fun really begins!
Congrats to you all - glad it all went amazing! (Told ya!! :))
ReplyDeleteTotally teared up reading this. Makes me want another one.
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