VBA2C Wooo hooo!

If you read the last post you already know something about VBAC and the risks involved so I won't repost those statistics. The birth that I want to share this time was even more gratifying than the last. It involves a mom who had 2 c-sections. She really wanted a vbac after her 1st c-section, but it didn't happened and she was really grieved over it. So this time she did more research, prayed even more and became more resolved. They hired me a few months before the birth. We talked, planned and prayed. This time she had a doctor that I knew we could count on if the goings got tough. I knew he wouldn't bail for convenience or fear. Dad was fully on board and encouraged her in her exercise regime. She called to let me know Wed morning that she was crampy, having bloody show and contracting occasionally. She went about her day normally but taking time to rest. Wed evening things had gotten more regular (10min apart).At 10 pm I checked her cervix and found her to be 3-4 cm dilated and baby's heart tones were great. I suggested she continue to take it easy if she could and be active if she couldn't. At 1:30am on Thursday morning dad called to say that contx had gotten very close and much harder. We planned to meet at the Birth Inn at 2. (I thought the change of scenery would be good) When she arrived she was 5 cm and working very hard with her contx, but doubting her ability to cope. We encouraged her regularly, listened to baby, and changed positions a lot! She found the shower to be helpful. By 5am she was 6 cm and very disappointed to have only progressed 1 cm in 3 hours. I assured her that any progress was good. She felt discouraged but persevered. Her husband was amazing and refused to get discouraged and kept her focused. At 8 am things were still the same with contx 2 min apart and hard. She began having some pressure in certain positions, the baby was coming down. While she wasn't making progress in dilation things were changing and progress was being made We decided to go to the hospital (this was a planned hosp birth) for a scene change. We got checked in by 9am. Still 6 cm:(  Mind you she has now been 6 cm since sometime before 5am:(  She found the tub to be most helpful! Of course she had to be monitored regularly so this gave us position change and the movement was good. This mom was constantly questioning herself but amazed me in her resolve, which seemed to grow ever more strong with each passing hour. The nurse checked her at 11am and found her to be 8cm! PTL!!! PROGRESS at last! She was encouraged, finally. At noon Dr J came in, she was still 8 cm. She got back in the tub, which really did help her to relax. We discussed options, I knew she was running out of steam. Of course the epidural was on the fore front of our minds. As much as I wanted her to have relif and give it to her I just felt  that we still needed to keep it natural. Especially since she had gotten blocked in the birth before and had failed to progress afterwords. I also got some encouragement from grandma that helped me know that I too need to help this mom stay the course. (Grandma reminded me that this mom was terribly disappointed after the last section.) At 12:30 K began to do lunges with one foot on the side of the tub, alternating legs and coming down into squates, with a lot of dads help.. He was working up a sweat as well..This  really worked to increase the intensity of the contx and bring baby down into the pelvis. At 12:40 pressure was increasing a lot. She beared down about 4-5 times. At 12:55 she moved from the bathroom to the room. At this point the baby was crowning, she crowned her for 4 more contx and baby burst forth:) A beautiful girl weighing 8lb 4oz and 19in long! Dad was as satisfied as ever beaming with pride and emotion! Mom exclaimed, "I did it, I can't believe I really did it!" Honestly....I thought, "I can't believe you did it!" This was the hardest birth I had been to in awhile but  the gratification was so worth it....I'll forever have etched in my mind the words that burst forth from her mouth when it was all over....."I DID IT" K I am soooooooooooooo proud of you!

Women were made to birth, if we just believe in them and trust the Lord!