aubrey's birth story...xpost :)

on friday oct 30th i was awoken to some contractions at 3:30 am, but not at all painful. i had a feeling that they were different that morn for some reason, so i stayed up and walked and bounced on my birth ball, and walked some more.

at 6:30am molly started coughing a bit ( she woke up with a runner nose and a cough that am...poor kid. what a way to start the big sister adventure!) i went up and gave her a drink of water and laid back down. at 7am , i heard ( felt...?) a pop and thought " wow, that could have been my water. no gush. til i stood up...but even then only little. i went to the bathroom and sat on the toilet for a about 20 minutes til i was sure that that was what it was. then i woke dh...and then molly got up. pretty regular morning.

we called the mw at 8:30 and she came to check that it was indeed my waters ( it was ...) after a very uncomfortable internal ( and MUCH gushing afterwards,) it was confirmed. we were gonna be having a baby that day or the next. the fun was about to begin...

for the rest of the day we walked, i contracted on and off, but nothing really picked up. my parents came down to be with molly and us and it was a relatively relaxing day. after a long walk at the mall and some lunch, i was wondering when things were going to begin to become more obvious...( soon to find out that they weren't going to without a little help from miss oxytocin...)

at 4:30 MW called back to see how things were progressing...i said that they really weren't...i wasn't THAT uncomfortable through the contractions when they came...and they weren't coming consistently at all. i knew time was ticking as our hospital only allows VBAC'ers 15-24 hrs from the time water has broken to get baby out.

MW asked to meet us at the hospital at 6:30 to do a non-stress test on the babe and a white blood count. we went for another walk and ate some spaghetti...and then reluctantly headed to the hospital. we got there about 7 pm and from then on had absolutely NO contractions while the tests were going on.

from there, my midwife explained that likely the only way that i could have a VBAC in my situation was to do a transfer of care and hope that the OB would be open to using a little oxytocin. i did not want to transfer, but i did not want another c-section. by this time it was 8pm and the new shift was coming on. it was then that i found out that it would be my OLD OB from molly's birth ( who i did not get along with ...and was the reason i went with midwives the next time around...) would be the one coming on and making the decisions.

this was a very hard moment for me. had a big meltdown, but also knew that my MW would stay with me. i also had my doula and husband on my side. i was assured that he would be warned to be more sensitive with me this time and we went ahead with the decision to transfer.

i got sent to my room and set up with the IV ( wickedly painful...i hate IVS!)

once we were set the contractions started slowly at about 9:30. at ten they were very intense, but i was still only 2-3 cm. that was when i lost it a bit...we laboured hard and fast til 11 and then i said i wanted my mw called...i was shaking with each contraction and i wasn't sure how much longer i could take with everything on top of one another and still only being 2-3 cm.

15 minutes later MW arrived and i had some powerful urges to push...mw checked and i was 7-8 and forging ahead very quickly standing up. she decided to have me get up on the bed and do the next few contractions on my left side to try to slow the urge to push down as i finished dilating.

from there, it was not long until i was ten centimetres but i had a small lip. with some stretching ( ow!) it disappeared and then the pushing began. it was not long before she was crowning and then out. i was pretty much in shock by the end as things had progressed really quickly and were very intense, but i was so happy to have my girl and be done! DH , MW and doula were awesome and OB ended up doing a nice gentle birth. i have 1 2nd degree tear with three stitches, but it has not been too bad. ( though i can't imagine how much it would hurt to have any more.

all in all, it was a positive experience...i am feeling so much better now than i did at this time after my section. very worth while.

thanks for listening...we are all adjusting pretty well, nursing is goin well, even though my nips are a little torn up. we are getting it together pretty well.

she is a beauty and i'm so proud of molly too...what an amazing blessing to have two great girls and a Dh who is so involved. i am a lucky girl

I'm so glad things went well for you Smooch! Looking forward to pics!