5 Turners

Four years ago, Sydney was delivered by an emergency c-section. Two years later, Piper was born by a scheduled c-section. Eden entered this world in a much different way than her older sisters. Around 24 weeks into this pregnancy, give or take, I began seriously considering a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean). I read and researched as much as I could get my hands on. After much thought and prayer, I decided to go for it! And for many other reasons, I decided to go for it naturally with no drugs or other interventions. Again making a late decision, I hired a doula at about 38 weeks. (So thankful to God for leading me to that decision!)

My original due date was April 14th by the doctor’s little magic wheel. When I tried to explain I charted and my cycles were longer, the doctor didn’t seem to think it would matter. Well, I started going to a midwife after the the decision to VBAC. And when April 14th came and went, I re-explained about my cycles. So she adjusted my date to the 20th after looking at all my ultrasounds and measurements from the pregnancy.

Sunday, April 20th, my contractions began in the evening around 11:00 PM. They were regularly coming at about 7 minutes apart. I thought this would be it. They were strong enough that I could not sleep through them. So I stayed up all night, exhausted but excited. The contractions, however, tapered off and by the morning they were only coming about every 20 minutes. They remained like this throughout the day. Still too strong to sleep though them though, so no nap, and still tired!

Monday, April 21, the contractions picked up again around 9:00 PM and continued to get stronger and closer together. At about 1:00 AM they were around 6-7 minutes apart. Since we had an hour drive to the hospital, I went on and called the midwife and she advised me to come on in. I also called my doula, Amy, and she would meet me at the hospital.

Tuesday, April 22, the drive to the hospital was long and uncomfortable. I had found that sitting or laying during contractions made them worse for me, so sitting in the car was no fun. After a bathroom stop at a local IHOP, we finally made it to the hospital at around 2:30 AM. We were greeted by Amy, my fabulous doula! I checked in and the nurse did an initial check- 5 centimeters and 100% effaced! 1 1/2 hours later, the midwife arrived and checked me again, 7 centimeters and 100% effaced! WOOO HOOO! We were ecstatic at the progress and thought this may actually go very quickly and happen very soon.

They moved me to my room. Amy put on some calming instrumental music that I found very helpful though I think it annoyed Kenneth I could not sit during contractions. I tried sitting between contractions but could barely get up if they began while I was sitting. So I found it most helpful to stay on my feet, leaning over the raised bed, and rocking back and forth. Amy and Kenneth were fantastic at massaging my back and hips during contractions. Bless them!

Having not slept for two days, I was exhausted. And making it worse, I began vomitting. I couldn’t keep any fluids down. And after a couple of hours of this, they convinced me to get an IV with fluids to help me and the baby (whose heartbeat was dropping with contractions). After receiving the IV with fluids, I felt a definite difference in energy and the baby stabilized as well.

So, I checked in at 2:30 AM and very quickly went to 7 cm. Well, at 9:00 AM, there had been no change. Because I was a VBAC patient, the nurses, midwife and overseeing doctor were all getting very nervous. They wanted to break my water to try and help speed things along. But I was really opposed to having any sort of intervention, including breaking my water. From everything I had read, any sort of intervention could increase the risk of uterine rupture or the need for a c-section. I was doing fine and the baby was doing fine, so I didn’t feel there was any real emergency to be pushed toward an intervention. Nurse after nurse after midwife after doctor came in to convince me otherwise. For hours this went on. They were all very frustrated with me. Amy, who had also had 2 VBACs herself, kept encouraging me and supporting me that I didn’t have to do anything I didn’t want to do. Kenneth ran interference for me and began taking over all discussions on the matter with medical staff. At one point, I just had my hands over my ears like a child refusing to listen to them. No, I was not their favorite patient at that moment. At about 1:45 PM, with a room full of nurses conversing with my wonderful husband over the water-breaking subject, I just unplugged myself from the monitors and went to the bathroom. A wonderfully quiet place. I spent about 20- 25 minutes in there contracting on my own when the baby rotated and there was a definite change in my contractions. Amy could hear me and could tell by my response to contractions that something had changed. At this point, the doctor checked me, I was 10 cm complete!! YEAH! And my water broke while the doc was checking me! YEAH!! Not wanting to lay down through the contractions, they had a bar that went across the top of the bed that I could hold onto while standing and squatting on top of the bed. (More info than you probably wanted for visualization purposes!) I pushed from this position for about 10 minutes. The baby was almost here! At this point, they made me lay down, not feeling secure in their ability to catch a baby from that position I was not a good patient. I was a screamer. And several nurses and the midwife almost got hit. Had they been a few inches closer, I might have been able to reach them! After about another 5 minutes of pushing and feeling like I might die the baby’s head and shoulders were out. They told me to reach down, and I did, grabbing her and pulling her the rest of the way out right on top of my chest. Baby was born! It was the most amazing experience!! I was immediately overwhelmed by the emotions of the whole experience of actually giving birth.

We still were not settled on names. Our top 2 were Tatum and Eden with Tatum probably being my first choice. But having experienced this amazing miracle the way I did, Eden seemed much more appropriate. Eden means “delight, pleasure” and she certainly was that!

Not only was I thrilled and ecstatic about the birth of Eden Rae, but I was so thankful and overwhelmed that I was able to have a VBAC and do it without intervention just like I had wanted. Oh how thankful I was to my Merciful God who gave me so much strength and endurance and an extra measure if grace that day! I was so thankful for Amy and her encouragement and support throughout the whole time. And how blessed to have such a wonderful and supportive husband who was beside me the whole time and did fantastic job loving and supporting me in the ways I needed!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow and for the miracle of life!