I’m
expecting baby #5 and am due in October. My midwife (who delivered 3 of my
babies at home) is requesting all of my birth stories. I believe that birth is
something very special and memorable. Since I enjoy reading other ladies’ birth
stories, I thought I would share mine on my blog starting with Joshua my
oldest.
At the time
I was pregnant with Joshua my husband was stationed at Sheppard AFB in Wichita
Falls, TX. I had been receiving my prenatal care at a birthing center in
Denton, TX. It was over an hour drive from where we lived but I was determined
to have an all-natural birth. The midwives there were great and the birthing
center was beautifully decorated. I had planned to have a water birth and the
birthing center had a very nice birthing tub. It seemed like the perfect place
to have a baby since my home was not an option at the time.
At my 36
week check-up my midwife felt the baby and said she was 90% sure that Joshua
was in a breeched position. Later that day, an ultrasound confirmed that he was
indeed breeched. The midwives at the Birthing Center informed me that in the
state of Texas it is illegal for midwives to deliver a first time mother’s breeched
baby outside of a hospital.
My midwife
referred me to a doctor that was known for successfully delivering breeched
babies. The doctor was a man which I was not comfortable with but he referred
me to a female doctor that also delivered breeched babies. Before seeing the
doctor, I had tried many natural things to turn the baby. I went to a special chiropractor
who was known for turning breeched babies, I did acupuncture, handstands in a
pool, lying on an elevated iron board, using a flashlight to guide the baby to
the light, I applied ice to the top the baby’s head to move the baby down, and
I commanded the baby to move down (okay, maybe this was taking it too far but I
read it online and I was desperate) and nothing worked.
My doctor
advised me to do an external version (a procedure to manually attempt to move
the baby to a head down position) and if it was successful I could go back to
the birthing center. I decided to try the external version. They were
constantly monitoring the baby via ultrasound to ensure the baby would be fine.
The doctor found that the baby was in a position where the cord was making it difficult
to move the baby safely. The doctor informed me that she could continue trying
to move the baby to a head down position but based on his position it would increase
the risk of me going into immediate labor which would end in an emergency cesarean.
So, I decided to not allow the external version to continue and we would plan
to have the baby naturally at the hospital. I had wanted a natural labor badly
and the midwife from the birthing center advised me to hire a doula that they
knew. So, I hired a doula and she was very encouraging. She had told me that
just a week before she was a doula for a lady at the same hospital I was going
to and her baby was breeched. She said that she had an all-natural delivery
which was a great encouragement to me.
On September
5, 2007 my husband and I went to church for the Wednesday night service. During
the service I had a couple of contractions but nothing major. Once we got home
I was unable to go to sleep because I was having mild contractions. I stayed up
writing a letter to my grandmother until it got to a point where the contractions
were very intense. I woke my husband up and we headed to the hospital. I called
my doula and she said that she would meet me there. The drive was an hour and a
half and very difficult while having contractions. We got to the hospital
around midnight. I was admitted and checked and very disappointed that I was
only dilated to 1 cm. My doctor said
that she definitely thought I was in labor because I had an appointment the day
before and when she checked me I was not dilated. My doctor was very kind and
said she was not going to send me back home (since I was only in early labor)
because she knew how far we came. They gave me a very nice delivery/recovery
room. It was the nicest hospital I have ever seen. My room was decorated with wall
paper, wood floors, the furniture was all cherry wood including the bed, and
adjustable lights (not your average bright hospital lights). The hospital also
encouraged me to eat and walk through labor. They provided me with a birthing
ball and said when I was more dilated they would fill the birthing tub for me.
One of my nurses advised me to walk the halls of the hospital so labor would
progress. My doula went home to rest since I was still in early labor and it was
very early in the morning. So, I began walking the halls and stopping between
contractions. I remember telling my husband that I did not think that I could
do this because I was only 1 cm and in so much pain. He said that I should go
back to the room and ask to be checked. When the nurse checked me she was
surprised and told me I was 6 cm dilated. I was greatly encouraged by this and
was motivated to continue on. I called my doula and she came right away. At
this point it was around noon. My doula tried to help my pain by massaging my
back but I think she caught on that during labor I just rather be left alone. I
took warm showers and sat on my birthing ball to help through contractions. I
was checked again and they said I was around 7 cm. They filled the birthing tub
and allowed me to labor in there however, I was not allowed to deliver in the
tub since I had a breeched baby. Once I was in the water I felt so relaxed—it
really is nature’s epidural. My doctor was walking by when she saw a nurse
asking me to get out of the water so she could monitor the baby’s heart rate.
The doctor was upset and told the nurse that it was cruel to make me get out of
the water just to be checked and to go get the fetal monitor for the water. I
really liked my doctor, she was very kind and made sure the nurses did not
offer any pain medication which was written in my birth plan. When I was in
early labor a nurse did an ultrasound to predict how big my baby was to see if
a natural labor was an option. The nurse told my doctor that there was no way I
was going to deliver this baby vaginally, that he was at least 9 lbs. However,
my doctor told me that she saw the measurements the nurse took and did not
think they were accurate. She predicted the baby to be much smaller. My doctor seemed
very knowledgeable and fought for her patients.
The doctor
told me she thought I should get out of the birthing tub and go back to my
delivery room. She checked me and said I was about 9 ½ cm but the baby had not
dropped at all which is common in breeched babies. My doctor advised me to walk
the stairs of the hospital to get the baby to drop down. I did this for about
thirty minutes and went back to be checked and I was the same (baby had not
dropped). I started to tell my doctor and doula that I had the desire to push
but they told me to not push, that the baby was not down so it could be
dangerous. I started squatting to get the baby down and my water broke. The
doctor checked again and said the baby dropped just a little and I needed to
continue to try to get the baby to drop. I tried everything that I knew of for
the next two hours (I had done extensive research about breeched deliveries) to
get the baby to drop. Nothing availed and I was so sad that I wasn’t going to
have a natural labor. The doctor came to me and said that she had seen this
many times before where breeched babies get stuck high up. She advised me to
get a cesarean but said she had no problem waiting because the baby was doing
well and left it up to me. I said I would like to try for another 30 minutes
and she agreed. At this point it was 9:00 pm and I had been in the hospital for
a very long time. I still tried squatting through contractions and 30 minutes
later the baby was still high up. They started to prepare for a cesarean and I
was so sad and disappointed. My doctor tried to encourage me and told me for future
pregnancies I would be a great candidate for a VBAC (vaginal birth after
cesarean). She said that she would double suture my uterus which decreases your
chance of having a uterine rupture in future pregnancies.
Joshua was born on September 6, 2007 at 11:04
pm. He weighed 7 lbs. 12 oz. and 20 inches long (not 9 lbs.!). The moment he
was born they wrapped him in a blanket and handed him straight to my husband
and told him to hold the baby up to my cheek while they finished my sutures. I
will never forget him being close to my cheek and looking into his eyes, he was
so precious. They finished quickly and wheeled me into a recovery room. I told
the nurses I wanted to breastfeed right away. They helped position him and he
breastfed very well. My recovery and stay in the hospital went well.
We were released
two days later and went home. I remember being upset at my birth experience because
it didn’t go as planned but I made the decision to not dwell on it and to be
thankful that I had a healthy baby. I also had the hope of future all-natural births.
Things I Learned After Joshua’s
Birth:
I have
learned a lot from Joshua’s birth. I remember going to my lactation consultant
when Joshua was a week old and she saw on his medical records he was born
cesarean. She asked many questions about my labor and said that Joshua was very
healthy and she usually sees a distinct difference between babies who are born
cesarean/epidural verses all-natural. She said that he seemed very alert and
that had she not known he was been born cesarean she would have guessed he had
a drug-free natural birth. She
attributed his health and alertness to me going all the way up to the cesarean
naturally. So, I was thankful that at least I tried and I do believe that
Joshua benefited from this.
I have also
learned that although my doctor and hospital was very pro-natural-birth, they
still do not have the experience of a good midwife. Later on, my midwife told
me that when I was in labor and I felt the urge to push that I should have been
doing small pushes through contractions to get the baby to drop. She explained
that when babies are in the ideal position (head down) the weight of their head
helps them to descend. In a breeched birth you don’t have the weight of the
head and you have to work harder to get the baby to drop. My midwife also
offers a special stool in labor designed for breech babies. She has delivered
hundreds of breeched babies and even teaches seminars specialized on breech
labors to other midwives. A common fear during breech labor is that the baby’s
head can become stuck. My midwife says that if you have the experience and have
an understanding of the way a breeched baby travels down the birth canal, this
is near impossible. The baby’s head becomes stuck by doctors that don’t have
the proper knowledge and experience.
Even though
my first birth did not go the way I planned, I am thankful that the rest of our
children were born naturally at home. So, if you have had a birth that ended in
a cesarean don’t be discouraged. You can learn from your experiences and do the
proper research to go on to have a successful birth.
