Liam's Birth

After ending up with an emergency c-section with Xander, I was determined to have a different experience this time around. I decided to have and all natural vbac. I took classes and prepared much more than I had the first time around. My doctor wasn't very supportive towards the end and I was told I wouldn't be able to have my baby naturally. Well, I proved them wrong! This birth turned out almost exactly as planned from beginning to end and it was an amazing experience. I have never felt so proud of myself. It was probably the first goal that I have made and accomplished in a long time. It was empowering and showed me the strength within myself. I am grateful to have been able to do it.
My contractions had been off and on for over a week, so when I started to get some while at the park with Xander, I figured they would just go away too. When they didn't and became more uncomfortable I had to lure Xander back to the car with the promis of a candy treat :-). I texted Brandon before driving home to let him know I really wanted him to come home right after work and that I didn't think it was really anything to worry about. Five minutes later I changed my mind and told him to come home asap. I was so worried that it was false labor, but couldn't deal with taking care of Xander while having the contractions. It was about 3pm by then. By 4pm I told Brandon to get rid of Xander and call the doula, still thinking I wasn't really in labor, but just in case wanted to have someone with lots of experience assess the situation. When our doula, Christina, got to our house, she observed me for about 10 minutes and said, "I don't usually say this right away, but we need to leave for the hospital soon." The whole ride to the hospital all I could think was that we are going to get there and I'll only be at 2 or 3 cm. It was so hard to make it up to the labor and delivery. I had to stop every few steps for another contraction. I kept hearing Christina say to people just passing by "It's okay. She is just in labor." When we finally got there and I got all checked in it was time to find out how much hard work I had done and how much was ahead of me. When the nurse said 8 cm 100% effaced, I couldn't believe it. I was so happy. Christina was very excited too. It was perfect. Not too soon and not too late! I was able to handle the pain pretty well. The hardest part was with every contraction I had a huge wave of nausia. Also I hated the nurse poking and proding me and constantly reminding me I was high risk and that I could hemorage to death if I didn't let her. It was really annoying. Brandon and I were so happy we hired Christina. I was on the fence about it for a while, but was really glad I decided we needed the extra expertise. She made sure to do the one thing Brandon wouldn't do. Make me do something that hurt! Brandon loves me so much and hates to see me in any pain, so he would never tell me what to do if he knew it would be hard for me. Christina made me stand and squat for some contractions and I decided it was too hard and I couldn't do that anymore. But after a while of just laying there and wishing I wasn't in labor anymore, I figured the best thing to do was to listen to her and do what she says. So, I told myself to suck it up and get it over with. It worked! After doing two contractions squating, my water finally broke. Then after a short rest, I was up again and all of the sudden I felt this weird "pop" and was overcome by the urge to push. I couldn't stop it, but the nurse was telling me not to push and to "blow bubbles". After a few contractions of pushing, Liam came into the world. I couldn't believe it. I had done it! That was all I cold say over and over again."I did it." Even though I had planned and prepared, there was still the doubt that the doctors had put there that I wouldn't be able to push him out when it came time to. But I was able to and he was healthy and okay and I was okay. It was a great moment I will never forget. I never thought that doing something that women have done since the begining of time could make me feel so proud and happy and strong. Natural birth was hard, but it was worth it. Liam was born on October 12th, 2010 at 10:07pm. He weighed 8lbs. 1oz. and was 21" long. He was and is a precious addition to our family.