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Sunday, February 06, 2005 Home with baby! As posted on the ICAN-Online Board: Thank you all for your help and support during my labor. I did end up having a repeat c-section, but it was MY choice, MY decision, and wasn't coerced or forced on me. Here is a quick sum-up of what happened. Monday afternoon, 4 pm, contractions started. They were ok, getting stronger, and at about 10 pm, I lost my mucous plug with a little "pop" and my contractions picked up enormously. Jeff helped me check my cervix, and we didn't really feel a change yet, but figured it would come soon. Before long, we'd called the doula to come over, and I was having a really, really, REALLY hard time with the contractions. By 4:30 in the morning, they were over 60 seconds long and 2 minutes apart. Both Jeff and the doula thought I was in transition by everything, so we went to the hospital. They checked -- NO CHANGE. I was 20% effaced and 1 cm dilated. I was very upset by that, and the midwife was surprised, because the contractions were very regular, VERY strong, and so close/long. We were in the hospital until 9 am-ish when we checked out AMA, with the only change being my effacement increased to 50%. We spent the day at home, the contractions had spaced out a bit in the hospital, but were still strong. They started to pick up after I'd rested and eaten, and then, at 7 pm, my water broke. There was some meconium, and I was a little scared about the possibility of cord prolapse or something (even though I know it is rare, I was home alone at this point, and the meconium being there just worried me). I got a friend to take me to the hospital and the doula and Jeff met me there (Jeff had gone to pick our son up to bring home). We got in, baby looked good on the monitor (relief), and my midwife arrived to check me. My cervix had still not changed at all (50% effaced, 1 cm dilated), my contractions since my water broke had spaced out more, but were strong, and the baby was still very, very high. I labored for several more hours, but was already feeling that there was a time line to reach, because of the waters and meconium, and I really worried about the baby. I got checked again at about 11 pm and there was still no change, and after careful consideration of the pros, cons, and consequences of either continuing to pursue the VBAC or going with the repeat c-section, I chose -- CHOSE -- the ERCS. Of course, I was sad about the choice, but I honestly didn't like either option 100% and knew that the longer I waited, that my emotional blocking wasn't going to get less but more, and I wanted to avoid the risks of infection that waiting longer and still having the surgery could have meant. We went back for the surgery, and although the situation wasn't ideal, it went well. The anesthesiologist was a real jerk -- same guy that got upset that I didn't get the epidural in the morning. But the OB who did the surgery (my CNM assisted in the surgery) didn't say a word about the whole situation, and was a really good surgeon. My midwife did say that the baby was really high still (not in the pelvis), but LOA -- which makes me believe that it could be true that she wouldn't fit in -- her positioning wasn't wonky, I was having good contractions, etc. Of course, I will never know if that is true or not, but it does make sense to me. At 12:27 am Wednesday morning, our daughter, Kira Elizabeth, was born. She was 8 lbs. 14 oz., 14-3/4" head, 20" long. Apgars 8/9. I am recovering okay, and am finally back home (got home Saturday afternoon). I labored for almost 30 hours, although my cervix never changed, I still consider it laboring -- and I know that I gave it a try, and made the right decision for me at the time given the situation and my emotions. Most importantly, it was my INFORMED choice -- something that I didn't get last time. You can take a peek at her at http://www.sepiamoons.com/kira Labels: caesarian, family, informed choice, Kira, Kristin, parenting, reclaiming our rights, VBAC ------------------------------------------------
Sunday, June 06, 2004 Staying Out of the Hospital? A post to a homebirth after caesarian group: I am about 6 weeks pregnant with my second baby. My first section was for several bad reasons, and I was coerced into scheduling. So, I never went into labor, and truly feel like I've missed something very sacred and special. If I were to trust the medical profession, it isn't that big of a deal and my healthy baby is the only goal I should worry about, and I should, for this second child, go ahead and choose his/her birthdate. Well, it just is wrong to me, and I desperately want to avoid the entire hospital situation. Right now, though, I have only been able to find one midwife who can/will do VBACs in town, and she works with an OB and in a hospital. I am not at all ready, nor is DH, to even consider a UBAC, so I'm not quite sure what to do. I have a few leads I need to follow up with this coming week, at least. Labels: caesarian, Kristin, parenting; pregnancy, stress, VBAC ------------------------------------------------
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