Veronica’s Wonderful VBAC

Veronica was such a well educated mom.  She took Hypnobabies.  Her education and Hypnobabies tools served her well during her birth.  She was very empowered and didn’t let anyone’s negative attitude or misinformation affect her birth!  It was an honor to be her doula.  I am sharing her story with her permission.

1:44 AM on Saturday the 11^th of December I get a call from Veronica.  Her Pressure Waves started around 10 pm at 15 minutes apart.  They are now 10 minutes apart.  She has to stand and rock through them.  Chad has had very little sleep so I go to help support her.

(I call Jenn to come and watch my kids since Rob and T2 are on a campout.  I know she has a crazy day on Saturday – so leave instructions for her to pass out my kids to any of our friends who will take them.  I don’t think about them again until after the baby is born.  I know Jenn has made sure they are safe and happy.)

2:50 I get to Veronica’s house.  Her kids are just leaving with the grandparents.

Her pressure waves are still 10 minutes apart lasting about a minute.  I help her get in hands and knees position leaning on sofa, this allows her to sleep between pressure waves.

3:40 she eats some soup and then sits on the birth ball leaning on the sofa.  She is sleeping between pressure waves.  She is very tired.

4:05 she feels the baby make a distinct movement (turning) during a pressure wave and feels a lot of pressure on her cervix.

She starts vocalizing a bit through her waves which have jumped up to 4-5 minutes apart.

The intensity is different and she wonders if it is time to go.

4:40 we head out to the hospital.  Veronica vomits in the car.

5 we get to hospital.

She refused to ride upstairs in the wheelchair, because it is hard for her to sit through a pressure wave.  The nurse is not happy about it, but I love how empowered Veronica was.  She stood up for her rights and knew her needs were more important than the nurses.

In triage Veronica refuses a gown and after a quick cervical check gets on her hands and knees for monitoring.  Veronica doesn’t want to know how dilated she is, but later I find out she was 4cm (where she was “stuck” last time leading to Failure to progress for her cesarean)  It was a smart choice to not find out how dilated she is.

5:30 we are getting settled into a room.

6:15 Veronica sits on the rocking chair and dozes between pressure waves.  Chad sleeps on other chair.  She is still very tired and while she is able to sleep between pressure waves, they jolt her awake during them.

7 we get a new nurse, Sally

7:15 Veronica feels urge to poop with pressure waves.  We try some new positions: kneeling, sitting on the ball and end up back on the rocking chair so she can really rest.

8:30 Veronica is very tired and wants to know if there is anything she can get to help her rest.  She needs to be checked first and we are told Dr. A.  will be in soon to check her.

9 we are back to standing through the pressure waves.  She is SO tired she is falling asleep standing up between pressure waves.  We end up back on the chair about 9:30.  Dr. A. still hasn’t come and she is getting frustrated.

10 – Dr. A. is doing a procedure and may be another 30-40 minutes.

10:15 we get in the bath while we wait.  She loves it there.  It is hard to keep the baby on the telemetric monitors and I try to hold them on. Chad holds her arm with the IV up so it won’t get wet.  We are all cozy in the bathroom.

11:45 out of the bath

12:00 Dr. A.  comes in  and checks her.  She tells me in the hall she is at 6cm -2 station.  She would like to break her water and asks why Veronica doesn’t want to do that.  I explain that she wants as little intervention as possible and I tell her I will talk to her about it.

I go in and talk to Veronica and Chad.  She has been exhausted from the beginning of her birthing time and she just wants to sleep.  She is feeling very fractured, being asleep between pressure waves and then jolted awake by them, so it is hard to stay on top of things.  Currently she is experiencing intense discomfort in her thighs during the waves and is just needing to sleep.

We talk about the options:

• Nubain
• Epidural
• Keep on doing what she is doing.

I reassure her she is doing great, she has progressed past where she was stuck last time.  She wonders if the epidural will slow things down (her biggest fear)  I tell her there is no way to know, but she has a great pattern of pressure waves and I think they will keep going.

After much thinking and talking she decides to get the epidural so she can rest.

By 1:30 she has the epidural and is resting.  It was so exciting that a few minutes after getting the epidural her water breaks on its own!

2:15 switch to other side.

2:30 gets a bolus because the discomfort in the thighs has returned.

2:45 Veronica gets a temporary catheter to empty bladder.  A check shows she is 8cm and 0 station!

3:10 She has urge to push with pressure waves

3:15 A quick check finds only an anterior lip Tears of joy when we tell her it is almost time to push!

3:40 still anterior lip and we flip her to the other side.  She is breathing the baby down with these urges to push.

At 4:15 she is really bearing down and another check reveals she is complete.

Yay! She can hardly believe the time is here to push!

She starts pushing using the mirror to inspire her

4:40 Her friend Emily arrives.

Pushing is going great.  Veronica is anxious for baby to get here!

5:20 Dr. A comes in and helps do perineal massage and encourages Veronica.

5:32 P.  is born and goes straight onto mom!

7 pounds 15 ounces

19.5 inches.

Emily and I go to get some dinner from Ruby’s after P. is latched on and nursing well.  We all eat a celebratory meal together.

It was a great birth.  Veronica and Chad were a great team and did awesome.  I think if Veronica hadn’t been so exhausted throughout the whole birth that she easily could have gone un-medicated.  But she was exhausted and falling asleep between pressure waves and just needed to rest so she could have the energy to push when the time came.  I think that she did awesome!  It was an honor to be at P’s birth.  🙂

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