When I was about 6 weeks pregnant I made an appointment for a free consultation with the nurse midwives at IHC's Intermountain Medical Center. The first question I asked was, "Can I do a VBAC?" I was told that they do a lot of VBACs and all of the midwives in the clinic were very supportive of VBAC. The nurse midwife also told me they had a high success rate but she wasn't sure of the exact number.
After thoughtful consideration I decided to put my care in the hands of the nurse midwives at IMC. It has turned out to be a good decision. They are willing to answer any and all of my questions honestly. At my first prenatal appointment at 8 weeks we went over my history. I told the midwife what had happened with my first child. She told me I was the perfect candidate for a VBAC. I was thrilled!
At my 15 week appointment I asked about the ultrasound and what the procedure was in their office. She said that because I was doing a VBAC I had to go to the Maternal-Fetal Medicine clinic and have the doctors there do my ultrasound. The reason being, if I end up needing another cesarean section then one of those doctors will be called in to do it. I was told that in addition to checking out the baby and making sure it is healthy the doctor would check to make sure the placenta isn't covering the uterine scar. If the placenta is covering the uterine scar then I won't be able to do a VBAC.
We have our ultrasound appointment next Monday. I am nervous but at the same time I feel like everything is okay. It's just one more hurdle to jump over on our journey to having a successful VBAC. We are grateful that we are being given the opportunity at all. Joe watched the VBAC portion of More Business of Being Born with me last week. Watching it again buoyed me up even more. Knowledge is power! The battles for VBAC that women previously had to face are becoming less and less. It is awesome! I'm grateful for those women who fought before me so I don't have to fight much at all.
Another thing the midwife told me at my last appointment was their VBAC success rate. She said it is over 90%! That's much higher than the average with is around 75%. We are excited! Hopefully the baby will be happy and healthy in it's cocoon and hopefully everything will be well with my scar.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Monday, April 22, 2013
Obstetrician or Midwife? + Natural Birth Education
When I found out I was pregnant the first time I had discussed with my husband about having a midwife instead of an obstetrician. I had just finished a child development class in college that focused on ages 0-8. The instructor had a midwife come to our class and explain midwifery and natural birth. I was intrigued by what she had said and I was very much interested in a natural birth.
My husband and I scheduled a consultation with that same midwife. Things went well but my husband still felt uneasy about it. His parents are both nurses and so he was more comfortable with the medical based approach. I was also unsure about it. I had never known someone who had done it that way. I wasn't educated on midwifery and natural birth in the least except for that presentation given in my class. We decided we both felt more comfortable with an obstetrician.
While we were comfortable with our obstetrician and he did, in then end, deliver our baby healthy and happy we decided that next time we wanted a completely different experience.
My first big exposure to natural birth was The Business of Being Born documentary. If you haven't seen this movie you definitely should. It is an eye opening film and it made me want to learn more on the subject. It was after this film that I had decided that the next time around I would have a midwife. I made my husband watch the film and he felt the same way. We also watched the documentary, Pregnant in America. While that one didn't have as big of an affect on me it was also eye-opening and worth watching.
After watching those films I started reading blogs and articles online. I read several birth stories and I also read articles talking about interventions and the complications that can arise from them. I read about the power that women have during birth. The out of body euphoria that is felt. I read all of this incredible information and educated myself. I only wished I had read it all before giving birth to my daughter. I would not have had my membranes stripped. I would have waited for her to be ready. I wish I had been more patient with her.
If you've ever met my daughter you know how easily scared she can get. I was thinking about her fearful nature the other day and I wondered if it is at all connected to her birth. I know that may sound crazy but she wasn't ready to be born. I allowed my membranes to be stripped which sent me into labor. I believe she panicked and that's why the chord wrapped around her neck. Then she had to endure contractions which slowed her down and in the end was ripped from her cozy cocoon. Call me crazy, weird, or whatever, but I honestly think that she came into this world scared. She wasn't ready.
Back to the purpose of this post.
We moved to Salt Lake a year and a half ago so my husband could attend graduate school. It has been a faith builder for me. I have not enjoyed living up here much at all but we have been greatly blessed in so many ways. One of those blessings is the fact that there are other birth options in the Salt Lake area. In St. George, where we lived before, you had two options. One, obstetrician or family practitioner in the hospital. Two, midwife at home who has no privileges at the hospital. In Salt Lake you also have those two options in addition to a nurse-midwife in the hospital or a midwife in a birthing center. For my second pregnancy I chose to have a nurse-midwife attend my birth in the hospital. I debated having a midwife in my own home but because I had an emergency cesarean the first time I felt that It would be better for me to be in a hospital setting just in case something goes wrong. I am grateful that we have this option this time around. We are still getting the midwife philosophy of care while having immediate access to medical interventions if they become necessary.
Since being pregnant I have watched The More Business of Being Born segments. They have created 4 new documentaries which go more in depth into certain topics. One of which is solely on VBACs. That documentary has been invaluable to me. I've watched it twice now and keep bugging my husband to watch it as well. I have also read Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin. That was an incredible book. I couldn't put it down. If you don't know who Ina May Gaskin is you should google her name. She has been practicing as a midwife on The Farm for several decades now. She is basically a self-taught midwife genius. Read up on her and then read some of her books. She's awesome! She also has a documentary coming to Netflix in May. Oh and if you watch the More Business of Being Born one of the segments is about The Farm midwives. Watch her, read her, you'll be impressed. She is a hippie/granola and, to most people, has a peculiar lifestyle and mindset. She intrigues me and is so honest and spiritual in her midwifery care. Love her!
The more I read and watch the more comfortable I am with our decision to go natural and have a midwife. I am thrilled to be laboring and delivering the way it was all intended to be done. I am also terrified. A lot of it is still unknown to me. Will I be able to handle the pain? Will my body be able to handle a vaginal delivery? Will it be quick or take 20+ hours? I have a lot of mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical preparation to do. I am looking forward to the journey.
My husband and I scheduled a consultation with that same midwife. Things went well but my husband still felt uneasy about it. His parents are both nurses and so he was more comfortable with the medical based approach. I was also unsure about it. I had never known someone who had done it that way. I wasn't educated on midwifery and natural birth in the least except for that presentation given in my class. We decided we both felt more comfortable with an obstetrician.
While we were comfortable with our obstetrician and he did, in then end, deliver our baby healthy and happy we decided that next time we wanted a completely different experience.
My first big exposure to natural birth was The Business of Being Born documentary. If you haven't seen this movie you definitely should. It is an eye opening film and it made me want to learn more on the subject. It was after this film that I had decided that the next time around I would have a midwife. I made my husband watch the film and he felt the same way. We also watched the documentary, Pregnant in America. While that one didn't have as big of an affect on me it was also eye-opening and worth watching.
After watching those films I started reading blogs and articles online. I read several birth stories and I also read articles talking about interventions and the complications that can arise from them. I read about the power that women have during birth. The out of body euphoria that is felt. I read all of this incredible information and educated myself. I only wished I had read it all before giving birth to my daughter. I would not have had my membranes stripped. I would have waited for her to be ready. I wish I had been more patient with her.
If you've ever met my daughter you know how easily scared she can get. I was thinking about her fearful nature the other day and I wondered if it is at all connected to her birth. I know that may sound crazy but she wasn't ready to be born. I allowed my membranes to be stripped which sent me into labor. I believe she panicked and that's why the chord wrapped around her neck. Then she had to endure contractions which slowed her down and in the end was ripped from her cozy cocoon. Call me crazy, weird, or whatever, but I honestly think that she came into this world scared. She wasn't ready.
Back to the purpose of this post.
We moved to Salt Lake a year and a half ago so my husband could attend graduate school. It has been a faith builder for me. I have not enjoyed living up here much at all but we have been greatly blessed in so many ways. One of those blessings is the fact that there are other birth options in the Salt Lake area. In St. George, where we lived before, you had two options. One, obstetrician or family practitioner in the hospital. Two, midwife at home who has no privileges at the hospital. In Salt Lake you also have those two options in addition to a nurse-midwife in the hospital or a midwife in a birthing center. For my second pregnancy I chose to have a nurse-midwife attend my birth in the hospital. I debated having a midwife in my own home but because I had an emergency cesarean the first time I felt that It would be better for me to be in a hospital setting just in case something goes wrong. I am grateful that we have this option this time around. We are still getting the midwife philosophy of care while having immediate access to medical interventions if they become necessary.
Since being pregnant I have watched The More Business of Being Born segments. They have created 4 new documentaries which go more in depth into certain topics. One of which is solely on VBACs. That documentary has been invaluable to me. I've watched it twice now and keep bugging my husband to watch it as well. I have also read Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin. That was an incredible book. I couldn't put it down. If you don't know who Ina May Gaskin is you should google her name. She has been practicing as a midwife on The Farm for several decades now. She is basically a self-taught midwife genius. Read up on her and then read some of her books. She's awesome! She also has a documentary coming to Netflix in May. Oh and if you watch the More Business of Being Born one of the segments is about The Farm midwives. Watch her, read her, you'll be impressed. She is a hippie/granola and, to most people, has a peculiar lifestyle and mindset. She intrigues me and is so honest and spiritual in her midwifery care. Love her!
The more I read and watch the more comfortable I am with our decision to go natural and have a midwife. I am thrilled to be laboring and delivering the way it was all intended to be done. I am also terrified. A lot of it is still unknown to me. Will I be able to handle the pain? Will my body be able to handle a vaginal delivery? Will it be quick or take 20+ hours? I have a lot of mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical preparation to do. I am looking forward to the journey.
Monday, April 15, 2013
Sunshine's Birth Story
I expected Sunshine's birth to be an amazing event. One that would leave me feeling accomplished, like I could do anything. Instead, it left me feeling traumatized.
I had a plan. I printed out a birth plan from babycenter.com and filled in my preferences for how I wanted my birth to go. No pitocin, no epidural, no episiotomy, and above all everything possible to avoid a cesarean section. I had this idea in my head that I wanted to go all natural. It was a well meaning idea, but I had not at all prepared myself to do that. I didn't read the right books that would give me the information I needed to build up my resistance to any and all interventions. The only book I read was What to Expect When You're Expecting. While it gave a good basic run down of everything it did not provide me with what I needed to attempt a natural birth. My one regret. I should have educated myself more.
I discussed with my doctor what my wishes were throughout my pregnancy. He seemed to smile and nod, but never really accepted my wishes. When I asked questions about possible complications with different interventions he wouldn't answer directly but would tell me that we'd do whatever was best for the baby.
On Sunday, January 30th, 3 days before Sunshine's due date. I started to get some mild but steady contractions. They became 5 minutes apart and although they didn't feel like the real thing we decided to go to the hospital. When my mother was pregnant with my older sister she felt different all day and when the contractions finally started hitting hard she went to the hospital only to deliver my sister within 5-10 minutes. The doctor didn't have gloves or a gown on yet. This story worried me a bit so there we were. I was hooked up to monitors and they showed contractions 4 minutes apart. After an hour there was no progress so I was sent home. Over the next few hours the contractions became less and less. I was bummed.
We had an appointment with my doctor on Tuesday. He told us he was disappointed that I hadn't gone into actual labor on Sunday night. He said he was going to do a pelvic examination to see if I had progressed at all. He then said he was going to strip my membranes and I would most likely go into labor within the next 24-48 hours.
At the time I was attending college and was doing my preschool practicum. Since we lived on the opposite side of campus from the preschool I decided to walk to preschool to help me go into labor. It worked. By the time I was done with preschool and had walked home I was definitely feeling the contractions. By about 4 o'clock they were in full swing. We decided to go to the hospital at 7:30. With the way I was looking they decided to put me in a laboring room instead of an observation room. They put the monitors on me to check my progress for an hour. As I laid in the bed I remember feeling incredibly uncomfortable. I didn't feel like I was in a good position but its what I did because that's what everyone does right? After an hour I hadn't progressed. My doctor was called and he told them to keep me and get me started on pitocin. Yeah, that wasn't on my birth plan. I didn't feel like I had a choice though. I wasn't asked if I wanted pitocin they just told me that's what they were going to do. I am a non-confrontational person. I like to keep the peace and I am pretty passive in situations like this. I didn't refuse the pitocin.
As the nurse was getting the IV started Sunshine's heart rate dropped to 80 bpm. Suddenly there were about 5 nurses in our room having me roll over to my side and putting oxygen over my face. I was asking if everything was okay and I was told everything was fine and this was pretty common. I wanted to slap someone. There are 5 nurses in my room doing multiple things to me and everything is fine?
Her hear rate went back up as the contraction ended. They called my doctor and he said he would be in to evaluate me. While we waited her heart rate dropped again. Soon it was dropping with every contraction. Suddenly there were more nurses and CNAs in my room. They began scrambling to get an IV in me. They poked both of my hands about 3 or 4 times each and I finally told them to just put it in my arm. They said they needed to get fluids in me. They got the fluids in and then started pitocin. Pitocin makes contraction ridiculous.
The doctor finally arrived and said he would like to do internal fetal monitoring to get a better read. Her hear rate continued to drop with every contraction. He then said he was going to break my waters. That felt really weird. When it came gushing out he discovered there was meconium in the water. Everything was working against us. With all of the chaos that was going on I began to panic. I couldn't handle the pitocin induced contractions and asked for an epidural.
I soon began to feel a lot of pressure. My doctor said I may have progressed quickly and I could be ready to push. He checked me and I was at 4 cm. He then said that because her heart rate was dropping low with every contraction he felt it was best to do a cesarean section. My heart sank, I was devastated. He then said that we needed to do what was best for the baby. I knew she needed to come out and it needed to be quick.
I asked Joe and my doctor to give me a priesthood blessing. After the blessing every thing went so fast. They prepped me, rolled me into the surgical room and she was out. It took about 20 minutes from the time of the blessing to the time she was delivered. When the doctor pulled her out the chord was wrapped around her neck. It was good that we had gotten her out when we did.
Sunshine was born at 11:11 PM, weighing 6 pounds 2 ounces and she was 19 1/2 inches long.
Because of the distress she was having and the mecconium in my water they let me kiss her and then they whisked her away. I was sewed up and rolled back to my room. My husband had gone with Sunshine to make sure everything was okay and to be there with her. I wasn't able to see Sunshine until a little after midnight. While she was away from me she was bathed, given shots, had the gooey stuff put on her eyes, and had her footprints done. All of these things could have been done after I was able to hold her, nurse her, and bond with her. Thankfully when they brought her to me, 45 minutes later, she was ready to eat and latched on right away.
The following days went better than could be expected. She took to breastfeeding really well and we were able to bond quickly. I fell in love fast. Though nothing went according to plan I am grateful that she made it safe and I am grateful that we have the technology and methods to save babies who need it.
I had a plan. I printed out a birth plan from babycenter.com and filled in my preferences for how I wanted my birth to go. No pitocin, no epidural, no episiotomy, and above all everything possible to avoid a cesarean section. I had this idea in my head that I wanted to go all natural. It was a well meaning idea, but I had not at all prepared myself to do that. I didn't read the right books that would give me the information I needed to build up my resistance to any and all interventions. The only book I read was What to Expect When You're Expecting. While it gave a good basic run down of everything it did not provide me with what I needed to attempt a natural birth. My one regret. I should have educated myself more.
I discussed with my doctor what my wishes were throughout my pregnancy. He seemed to smile and nod, but never really accepted my wishes. When I asked questions about possible complications with different interventions he wouldn't answer directly but would tell me that we'd do whatever was best for the baby.
On Sunday, January 30th, 3 days before Sunshine's due date. I started to get some mild but steady contractions. They became 5 minutes apart and although they didn't feel like the real thing we decided to go to the hospital. When my mother was pregnant with my older sister she felt different all day and when the contractions finally started hitting hard she went to the hospital only to deliver my sister within 5-10 minutes. The doctor didn't have gloves or a gown on yet. This story worried me a bit so there we were. I was hooked up to monitors and they showed contractions 4 minutes apart. After an hour there was no progress so I was sent home. Over the next few hours the contractions became less and less. I was bummed.
We had an appointment with my doctor on Tuesday. He told us he was disappointed that I hadn't gone into actual labor on Sunday night. He said he was going to do a pelvic examination to see if I had progressed at all. He then said he was going to strip my membranes and I would most likely go into labor within the next 24-48 hours.
At the time I was attending college and was doing my preschool practicum. Since we lived on the opposite side of campus from the preschool I decided to walk to preschool to help me go into labor. It worked. By the time I was done with preschool and had walked home I was definitely feeling the contractions. By about 4 o'clock they were in full swing. We decided to go to the hospital at 7:30. With the way I was looking they decided to put me in a laboring room instead of an observation room. They put the monitors on me to check my progress for an hour. As I laid in the bed I remember feeling incredibly uncomfortable. I didn't feel like I was in a good position but its what I did because that's what everyone does right? After an hour I hadn't progressed. My doctor was called and he told them to keep me and get me started on pitocin. Yeah, that wasn't on my birth plan. I didn't feel like I had a choice though. I wasn't asked if I wanted pitocin they just told me that's what they were going to do. I am a non-confrontational person. I like to keep the peace and I am pretty passive in situations like this. I didn't refuse the pitocin.
As the nurse was getting the IV started Sunshine's heart rate dropped to 80 bpm. Suddenly there were about 5 nurses in our room having me roll over to my side and putting oxygen over my face. I was asking if everything was okay and I was told everything was fine and this was pretty common. I wanted to slap someone. There are 5 nurses in my room doing multiple things to me and everything is fine?
Her hear rate went back up as the contraction ended. They called my doctor and he said he would be in to evaluate me. While we waited her heart rate dropped again. Soon it was dropping with every contraction. Suddenly there were more nurses and CNAs in my room. They began scrambling to get an IV in me. They poked both of my hands about 3 or 4 times each and I finally told them to just put it in my arm. They said they needed to get fluids in me. They got the fluids in and then started pitocin. Pitocin makes contraction ridiculous.
The doctor finally arrived and said he would like to do internal fetal monitoring to get a better read. Her hear rate continued to drop with every contraction. He then said he was going to break my waters. That felt really weird. When it came gushing out he discovered there was meconium in the water. Everything was working against us. With all of the chaos that was going on I began to panic. I couldn't handle the pitocin induced contractions and asked for an epidural.
I soon began to feel a lot of pressure. My doctor said I may have progressed quickly and I could be ready to push. He checked me and I was at 4 cm. He then said that because her heart rate was dropping low with every contraction he felt it was best to do a cesarean section. My heart sank, I was devastated. He then said that we needed to do what was best for the baby. I knew she needed to come out and it needed to be quick.
I asked Joe and my doctor to give me a priesthood blessing. After the blessing every thing went so fast. They prepped me, rolled me into the surgical room and she was out. It took about 20 minutes from the time of the blessing to the time she was delivered. When the doctor pulled her out the chord was wrapped around her neck. It was good that we had gotten her out when we did.
Sunshine was born at 11:11 PM, weighing 6 pounds 2 ounces and she was 19 1/2 inches long.
Because of the distress she was having and the mecconium in my water they let me kiss her and then they whisked her away. I was sewed up and rolled back to my room. My husband had gone with Sunshine to make sure everything was okay and to be there with her. I wasn't able to see Sunshine until a little after midnight. While she was away from me she was bathed, given shots, had the gooey stuff put on her eyes, and had her footprints done. All of these things could have been done after I was able to hold her, nurse her, and bond with her. Thankfully when they brought her to me, 45 minutes later, she was ready to eat and latched on right away.
The following days went better than could be expected. She took to breastfeeding really well and we were able to bond quickly. I fell in love fast. Though nothing went according to plan I am grateful that she made it safe and I am grateful that we have the technology and methods to save babies who need it.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
I will have a VBAC
I haven't blogged on here for quite some time now. I kind of gave up on whatever it was I was doing with it. But now I would like to start up again and focus on something that is near and dear to me right now.
I have one daughter who turned 2 in February. She is an amazing, bright, little girl who is full of so much energy. I love her with all my heart. Because she is that amazing we decided to try for a second baby. We found out we were pregnant with our second child right around her birthday. I am currently 15 weeks pregnant and things are going well.
When I had Sunshine (our first child) I ended up having an emergency c-section. (I will post her birth story at a different time). I was devastated when that happened and have focused a lot of my attention the last 2 years on becoming more educated on all aspects of birth, specifically VBAC which is a vaginal birth after cesarean. I have learned a lot about VBACs and have also learned a lot about natural birth.
I want to document my journey and hopefully find some other women who are going through the same thing. It is exciting and scary at the same time. A VBAC is all that I am hoping for with my labor and delivery this time around. I'd like to leave you with a quote from Ina May Gaskin. It is a powerful truth and sums up why I want to have a VBAC.
"Whenever and however you intend to give birth your experience will impact your emotions, your mind, your body, and your spirit for the rest of your life."
I have one daughter who turned 2 in February. She is an amazing, bright, little girl who is full of so much energy. I love her with all my heart. Because she is that amazing we decided to try for a second baby. We found out we were pregnant with our second child right around her birthday. I am currently 15 weeks pregnant and things are going well.
When I had Sunshine (our first child) I ended up having an emergency c-section. (I will post her birth story at a different time). I was devastated when that happened and have focused a lot of my attention the last 2 years on becoming more educated on all aspects of birth, specifically VBAC which is a vaginal birth after cesarean. I have learned a lot about VBACs and have also learned a lot about natural birth.
I want to document my journey and hopefully find some other women who are going through the same thing. It is exciting and scary at the same time. A VBAC is all that I am hoping for with my labor and delivery this time around. I'd like to leave you with a quote from Ina May Gaskin. It is a powerful truth and sums up why I want to have a VBAC.
"Whenever and however you intend to give birth your experience will impact your emotions, your mind, your body, and your spirit for the rest of your life."
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