Birth Story #2

About oh...ten months after Zac's birth, I finally convinced my sweet husband that I wanted to have another child, that I wasn't crazy, and that I thought things would be OK. It took a lot of prodding and pleading, but finally, after Zac's first birthday, we found ourselves expecting Chayce. She is only 22 months younger than him, and I suppose we can attribute that closeness in age to the fact that I thought it would take longer for me to get pregnant.

She was due August 5th, but on the weekend of July 24th, while partying it up with the pioneer day celebrations in Utah, I started to feel contractions. I didn't know that is what they were, because...well...I had never had a contraction before.

Oh..oh...let me back up. During the 10 months of gestation (oh, and I'd like to talk to the fella who said 9 months. 9 months does not 40 weeks make, my friend!) I did a lot of research on VBACs (vaginal birth after cesarean) and found a wonderful doctor in Logan, who had just moved there from California. I was very impressed with his record of having no lawsuits against him, given he was practicing in the most litigious county in the USA (or world, more likely), so I trusted him. He was very excited to help me out.

So, back to July, a week of contractions...but not bad ones. Nothing to scream about (ha ha).

On August 1st, in the early morning, I was woken by my contractions. YAY! I thought. I paced much of the evening, as my doctor had told me not to come in too soon, as laboring at home would keep me relaxed and increase my odds of a successful VBAC. I went in that afternoon, sure I was close, and found that I was at...a one. Ug. I went home, laid down, sort of slept, and paced more. I walked around the block, dug my nails into my husband's arm (sorry honey!) and was sure I was making progress. On the 2nd of August, I went back in to be checked, because Stephen was sure after the way I'd grabbed his arm, I had to be pretty far along...so, I went in, and by that afternoon I'd made it to...a two. Oh, this was slow going. My doctor was amazed that my contractions were as constant as they were (I'd been on the monitor) but such little progress was occurring. I went back home. I stayed there until I was in tears. I couldn't take more, I wanted to rest, and even though I had planned on a completely natural birth, I wanted something to ease the pain. I got to the hospital (again, ug). This time I'd made it to a five! Aack! Finally, they admitted me, and let me have an epidural. Getting the epidural was the biggest mistake I'd ever made, and I would like to strangle the nurse that told me that getting an epidural is better than yelling during pushing. Whatever. I hope she doesn't work there anymore, but she probably does.

My epidural only worked down one side. One leg numb. One half of my abdomen. I could still feel contractions on half of my body, and really felt it when my doctor broke my water. I wasn't allowed to get up and walk due to my numb leg, so I couldn't even move through my contractions. I was not happy, or relaxed. I wished I'd stayed home a little longer. Of course, then I realized that the control to the epidural was right next to me, and so I turned it off. I sat back, tried to relax (ha ha ha) until the numbness on my right side wore off. A little while later, I realized that as I had toughed it out one-sided my daughter was arriving. She didn't have far to go, so I paged the nurse.

She came in to see what the matter was, and I explained to her that I could feel my daughter was close to crowning. She didn't believe me. In fact, she said, "You have an epidural, you wouldn't be able to feel the baby." I retorted that I had turned it off, and that she'd better check me NOW. So, she grumpily obliged, took a peek, and viola! "Oh!" says She, "You've only got about 2 inches to go!" (Meaning, one or two pushes and that baby would be here. Duh.)

So, she called in my doctor while I continued to sit there. For some reason, the contractions really were doing most of the work, and while I felt the baby progressing, I didn't feel the urge to push. Finally, when the doctor came (he wasn't far away, as this was a VBAC), I gave a push and there she was! Yay!

Chayce Elizabeth, born 7 lbs, 7 oz. Two and a half pounds bigger than her older brother had been. Whew! I do remember, though, talking to another nurse, and asking her why I was in pain. See, I'd been told that a VBAC would heal faster. It did. 4 days vs. 6 weeks. However, I think I was hoping it'd be over as soon as it was over. Sigh.

Chayce, about an hour after being born.


Chayce, today.