"I have two babies and my births couldn’t be more different! My first baby was born at 41 weeks and 3 days. The day prior, my water broke at home. We went into the hospital sometime after when the contractions begun. It was just my husband and I but we felt prepared by many hours spent researching natural childbirth. I had a solid birth plan, going medication free and that was that! I ended up getting pitocin after a long while in order to progress labor due to my water already broken. Got to a 10 and pushed for three hours! The doctor tried to vacuum my baby out with no luck. We made the decision to go to a C-section. I then got a spinal epidural and went into surgery where my baby was born! Looking back, I would have gotten a doula so they could position me (I was laid on my back the entire duration which wasn’t right for me!) and try to shift the baby towards the exit as well as coach me how to and where to push from.
For our second baby, we were praying and standing together in a VBAC. We got a doula this time around and did much more focusing on positioning. I went to 42 weeks to finally be sent to hospital so they could induce me. While I was there, I went into early labor on my own and had them break my waters. Labor was quick! Our doula came and helped coach my breathing- I honestly don’t think I would’ve had our vbac without that. When I wasn’t breathing, the baby’s heart rate dropped which caused the doctors to come close to pulling another c-section! I had the nitrous oxide to utilize which I can’t say physically calmed the pain but it did calm me down enough to breathe in order to push. Baby came quick, vbac successful! As for emotionally processing the births, a big help was having pictures documenting the whole thing so I could process it better."
Thank you Leah for sharing your experience with us and for having me at your beautiful birth.
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