VBA2C Success Story! :)

This birth story leaves out no detail so if you aren't the type that like knowing the details of BIRTH then don't read it! :)

Rayce's Birth Story:

Well, my due date of December 3^rd came and went. I figured I would go past my due date since Ammon was 11 days over. I was just praying it wouldn’t be 11 days! All my doctor appointments had been very discouraging. No dilation. No softening. No progress. The only reason the doctor kept from c sectioning me was because I HAD gone into labor myself with Ammon (thank goodness I waited it out with him!). So we knew my body WAS capable of starting labor… just late. I was adamant that we DO NOT do a c section and wait it out until the very last minute, being 42 weeks.

My due date did mark something though! The first sign of labor, even though I didn’t know it. I was walking to my bedroom and practically collapsed to the floor because I got the BIGGEST charley horse in my upper thighs. I then got up and had about two more charley horses. It was crazy! I didn’t think it was contractions or anything because it was in my thighs. That night though my contractions started. Very sporadic but there!

December 4^th was Sunday. I didn’t go to church because I was thinking I might possibly go into labor since my contractions were 10 minutes apart. Chaz found a primary sub and we all stayed home and waited.

Contractions came and went all day Sunday, Sunday night and Monday. By Tuesday I was tired and frustrated. The contractions were hard and pretty consistent at night but during the day they tapered off quite a bit. I was determined by Tuesday evening, the 5^th, to take matters into my own hands. I previously had done little to induce my labor because I knew my body wasn’t ready (cervix was closed) and I didn’t want to start something, have a closed cervix and then wind up getting a c section. This night it was different though because I had had contractions for 2-3 days so I knew my body must be pretty ready.

So Tuesday night I got out my exercise ball and started doing my famous hip rolls. This is what got my labor going with Ammon. Sure enough my contractions went from 10 minutes apart down to 5 minutes apart for an hour. It seemed when I got off the ball though my contractions would slow off again. Frustrated I got out my breast pump. I tried that and it did the same thing, bringing my contractions anywhere from 3-6 minutes apart. I got tired of doing it and decided to go to bed.

While laying in bed they really started hurting. I started questioning if I should go to the hospital because the pain was so bad or if I should wait until they were 2-5 minutes apart. My friend who was going to watch the boys with me lives 30 minutes away and then the hospital is another 30 minutes so I had to give myself at least an hour before I knew I’d get to the hospital. After calling my mom and asking for advice, my contractions now being 2-5 minutes apart and very strong, I called my friend and told her I needed to head to the hospital.

Chaz and I were pretty sure I’d be dilated to a 2, at least! I was anxious to see and also very anxious as to know who the doctor was on call at the hospital. I knew there were two doctors there that were overly conservative when it came to VBACS and they were quick to c section. I had been warned by the nurses at the hospital. Well, I checked in and they told me the two doctors on call were the ones that I DID NOT WANT TO HAVE! He was standing right there and I told him “I am doing a VBAC after 2 c sections.” He tried to play it cool but I could see on his face he was not happy with that idea.

I felt sick and scared. The nurse came in and checked me. I was only a 1!! I couldn’t believe it. He said we could go home. Relief flooded me. GOOD! I don’t want to have this baby with this doctor. I think he was relieved as well. But then he came into the room again and said, “Plans have changed. You need to stay here. The head doctor said you are high risk because of a VBAC so we don’t want you to go anywhere because we want to monitor you. We need to be safe and don’t want anything to happen and we need you here in case of a c section.” He then went on to say the word C SECTION like 10 more times. I told him that if I was only a 1 then I could be there for 2 days before anything happened! I knew in his mind he wasn’t thinking I would be there for 2 days. In his mind all he saw was c section. I consented to staying at the hospital as long as I could walk around and continue to progress my labor. He agreed.

The nurse who was in charge of me was feisty. I didn’t like her one bit. She said she was going to hook me up to an IV and I was taken back and said, “The doctor told me I could walk around the hospital.” She said, “You can still do that with an IV.” So, I let her IV me. I asked her to numb it first because I knew this was one of the worst parts. I hated the IVs. Nope, they don’t numb. Sorry. Toughen up. Little did I know that was the LEAST thing to be concerned about tonight! After she did the IV she then said it was time for an EPIDERAL. What!? I am only a ONE and I don’t even know if this baby is COMING and you want me to get an epidural!? PLUS you said I could walk around! Yeah, they totally lied.

No walking around. They changed their minds. I was going to have an IV, get an epidural AND get hooked up to all the monitors so they could watch me and baby closely. I was livid. I asked where my doctor was and when their shift was going to change. 6 hours. I started praying nothing would happen for at least 6 hours. They ended up putting the epidural in me because they told me it was just going to be the catheter in my back and no medicine. They insisted it was in my back and ready just in case they had to rush me in for a C SECTION. Of course….

7 am rolled around and that dumb doctor and his nurse LEFT! Thank goodness. MY doctor came in to talk to me. He wasn’t on the delivery floor that day but he said he was going to watch out for me since he was my doctor. I felt better already. He brought in another man doctor with him, the doctor that was on call. Both of them together started talking to me about my options.

#1 C SECTION. He cracked a joke that I knew this 100 years ago and obviously will not choose this one. He has a sense of humor. I decided I really liked this.

#2 Pitocin. That word scares me. It is a fact that inducing with pitocin increases your risk of uterine rupture because it contracts the uterus harder and stronger.

#3 We can take your IV and epidural out and you can go home. Yes, please. This option sounded nice. He knew I liked this idea the best. He spoke with me about if I don’t start dilating and all this that my c section date was going to come up fast and he was worried about c section. Basically he really wanted me to consider the pitocin. I do trust him, so I thought about it.

That’s when the other man doctor spoke up!

Option #4. We put this tube looking thing with a little ball looking thing, called the balloon into your cervix and the balloon starts to blow up slowly and help you dilate. We can try this without pitocin and see if it works on you. If not, THEN we can talk about pitocin.

Sweet. Let’s do the balloon! They also said they would grant me permission to WALK around the hospital floor and go on my exercise ball. THANK YOU!!!! Only down fall to that is that I still do not have the epidural medicine and they have to insert the balloon. Not comfortable.

So they put in the balloon with no epidural (it wasn’t too bad) and then we waited. 10 minutes after putting it in I had to go to the bathroom. No problem they said. The balloon will not come out until I am dilated to a 4. So I started going the bathroom and then WABAM! It felt like I was pushing out a baby! I freaked out! I yelled to Chaz and he didn’t know what to do, he couldn’t see what was happening. We pushed the emergency button next to the toilet and nurses came running in. By that time it had already come out. Not the baby. The balloon. But it felt like what I would think a baby would feel like. Lol. They were all surprised it came out since it had only been in for 10 minutes. While I was waiting for the doctor to come check my dilation I was standing up and felt something running down my leg. I told the nurse. My water just broke! J The doctor then came in and checked me. I was a 5!!! Yay!! He couldn’t believe how fast this was all going.

Now we waited to see if I would progress faster in dilation by myself. They said they would give me 3 hours on my own. I walked and walked and did the ball. Contractions were HARD! I was allowed to walk for 30 minutes and then had to get back on monitors for 10 minutes while they checked the baby’s heart beat. Sometimes his heart rate would drop because the monitor would slip off my stomach a little bit. This always made my heart race. And it happened a lot. The baby always came back strong though.

An hour later I was a 7. I still didn’t want the epidural because I wanted to be able to stand and walk. Contractions were SO MUCH MORE bearable STANDING!! I hated to lay down. It hurt my bum and back so bad. During this time the doctor asked me if I was going to do it naturally. I didn’t even know that was an option! They told me that it was because the epidural was already in place in my back so that if something went wrong they could just put the medicine in me right away and wheel me away for a section. I considered going natural for the next 2 hours. I knew the benefits! I was a little scared about getting stitched up in the end though and feeling that. Remember, NOT A FAN OF NEEDLES. I decided that if I had to get the pitocin to get things going that I WOULD get the epidural. If they came to check me and I was like an 8 then I would do it naturally.

After the two hours I knew my contractions were getting a little worse but still not consistent enough. I figured they would put me on pitocin. They came and checked me. Still a 7, almost an 8. The doctor suggested a LITTLE pitocin. (This is not my original doctor but the doctor who was introduced to me by my own and who was on call. I decided throughout this whole ordeal that I REALLY liked and trusted his opinion). OK. PIT me. BUT first EPI me!

The anesthesiologist came in and injected the medicine right away. I told her the last time I got one it only numbed half my body. So I moved around a little to get it flowing evenly, hopefully. Nope. She added more. Nope. More. Nope. I was still feeling EVERYTHING! In fact it was getting worse! It seemed to have numbed my stomach but everything lower than that I was feeling 10 times worse. Especially with the pitocin now in my body as well. This was the worst pain I have ever felt. I honestly thought my bum was going to explode. My body was also starting to convulse/push without my permission. It was the weirdest thing. The doctors were kinda laughing cuz they thought I was being funny telling them my bum was going to explode and they said they have never had anyone tell them so honestly that before. I didn’t care! I just wanted RELIEF!!

Great. I can feel everything. And I have to go the bathroom. I don’t have a catheter in. I am hooked up to the epidural so I can’t get down off the bed, plus my left leg is a little tingly even though I can raise it to the sky. I refused to let them put the catheter in me without the epidural. I have heard nightmares of how bad this hurts. What was I going to DO!? AHHHH! Next thing I know I am going the bathroom in a bed pan! If you have ever experienced this it is demoralizing and humiliating. Not to mention the sickest feeling ever. I couldn’t believe this was happening!

Then, I had no choice. They put the catheter in me anyway. Another thing I have never wanted to experience, I experienced.

The anesthesiologist came back in after the worst 2 hours of my life. She tried moving the catheter around and giving me more medicine to numb me. Nothing, nothing, nothing!!! Finally she said she could take it out and do it again. OKAY!!! DO IT!!! Why didn’t we do that 3 hours ago!?!?! So I got ANOTHER Epidural. Note: The anesthesiologist who put in my first epidural that did NOT work also did it to another woman across the hall from me and hers didn’t work either. Good thing his shift changed so I could get another one!!

The second epidural WORKED! It was amazing. Relief. I could still feel tons of pressure in my bum but no pain. BEST EVER. I was going to go to sleep.

That is until all of a sudden all the nurses and doctors rush into the room. I heard them say, “Get her on her side. The baby’s heart rate is dropping too low!” My mind raced back to this exact scenario with Ammon when I was rushed in for an emergency c section. At that moment, I looked at Chaz and saw the worried expression on his face and knew that he and I both knew what was next. Emergency C-section. My heart dropped. They threw the oxygen mask on my face, turned me to the side, muttered some words and then the next thing I know everyone was still and talking normal again. I asked what was going on and if the baby was okay. The nurse just looked at me and said, “Yeah baby. His heart beat is just fine. Baby is doing well.” What? They fixed it? No C-section? By this point my heart could hardly handle anything more. Smooth sailing, please!!!

I fell asleep. Doctor came to check me. I was a 9. He said I would be pushing soon. He left the room and I started getting teary eyed and choked up. Was this really happening? Was I really a 9!? They told me to call them when I felt like I needed to push. They said it would feel like I needed to make the biggest bowel movement of my life.

Uh, too bad I had been feeling like I needed to make the biggest bowel movement of my life since the first epidural went wrong. Did they not understand when I told them how much pressure I felt there? How was I going to know now when the baby was ready to come out? It’s felt like that the whole time!! So, a nurse came back in 15 minutes later and I told her, “I feel pressure and I feel like I need to make a huge bowel movement but I have felt that the entire time so I don’t know if it is real or not.” She decided to get the doctor just to make sure.

Doc came in and said, “She’s complete! A ten. You could have this baby out in just a couple pushes.” So they prepared me and the room. I couldn’t believe it was actually happening. As we were waiting for a contraction to happen the doctor asked us what the names of our other children were. We told him, “Marek and Ammon.” He said, “Is Ammon a religious name?” We said that it indeed was. He then smiled and said, “I think we are of the same faith then.”

Puzzle pieces just started coming together as he said that. Answers started flooding into my brain and heart. I had prayed and prayed over and over that Heavenly Father would help me have this VBAC and that he would not forget his promise that when I felt alone I would feel his ministering angels around me. I then realized how literal that was for me at this point. To me, this mormon doctor was my ministering angel. He was the one who had given me the 4^th option of the balloon when C-section or going more past due felt imminent. He was the doctor who calmed my nerves during the whole labor. I had felt that he cared about ME and what I wanted and not about some c-section and lawsuits. Chaz and I knew and felt he was different from all the other doctors and we were grateful. Now we knew why. What an incredible blessing and direct answer to prayer.

So, Chaz had insisted to me during the whole pregnancy that he would NOT watch and he would stay by my head. I told him he would be surprised and that he would change his mind. I was right. A few contractions/pushes later the baby was out. The cord was wrapped around his neck which scared me because the doc said, “Cord around neck. It is tight.” One final quick prayer later and our little Rayman Elliott was born. Chaz even cut the cord, with blood spurting everywhere. It was awesome. Rayce grabbed the scissors that were attached to the cord. We were afraid he’d lose a finger because he kept getting his hands in the way! One of the first things a nurse said was, “Wow! HE is REALLY PINK! That is very good. We love pink.”

They put Rayce right onto my chest. I was a little surprised because he literally just came out and was still all gooey. I didn’t care. It was the best feeling in the world to be able to hold him right after being born. What a gorgeous, perfect little baby. We had done it!!!!

Meanwhile, the doctors started stitching me up. They said I didn’t rip too bad but there were some stitches they had to do. What should have been a 5 minute job actually ended up taking an hour and a half!!! They kept finding places that were bleeding and they were really intricate and hard to stitch. All of a sudden I felt something hurt. “I can feel that! The epidural is wearing off!” They believed me. It HAD been over an hour! So they gave me more epidural medicine and also numbed me up with another shot. Thank goodness.

Then, one of the other doctors mumbled to the other, “Looks like we have an arterial bleed. I’m trying to make it stop but it won’t stop.” Chaz heard that right away and said, “Um, did you say arterial bleeding? Because in the army you are taught that’s a very bad thing.” The doctor said it was just a little one, but yes, they needed to get it to stop. Him and the other doctor kept trying to no avail. They called the head doctor on the floor to do it. He was busy and couldn’t make it in for another 15 minutes so the doctor just sat there holding my bleeding artery while we all chatted. No biggy.

The pro doc came in and was able to stitch the artery right up! Finally it was done.

Everyone was happy. I think A LOT of the staff were in complete surprise. My original doctor came in to congratulate me and said, “I love it when my patients prove me wrong.” He laughed and walked away.