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Let's Tell Your Story: Elisa, Tim, & Korben 2VBAC story!
Elisa shared her previous birth experiences, a cesarean and then a VBAC, vaginla birth after ceserean, previously on the blog. Doulas of Capitol Hill founder, Emily, had the honor of being Elisa, and her husband Tim’s, doula for a third time. Today on the blog Elisa shares her 2VBAC story!
We did it! He's here! I had my second VBAC on May 13th!
My first was a c sec due to breech in 2015 at 36w3d, then an unmedicated fast VBAC only 4.5hr in 2018 at 38w4d. This time I was determined to get my epidural! 39w3d - my labor started around 12:45am, we labored at home for an hour then went to the hospital. I was 4cm and about 80%. Low back pain with all the contractions this time, counter pressure from my husband and deep breathing helped. I labored for another 3 or so hours before we got the epidural placed. It took a good 40 mins and 3 tries that felt like an eternity.
We called our doula Emily Smith and we called our doctor. The hold music at the doctors office was a small bouncy back and forth sound that was perfect for swaying to in labor. I stood in the kitchen on speaker phone and was lifting up each foot slightly to the beat. It was pretty funny and the rhythm stuck in my head for a little while making those early contractions easy to move through.
We got checked in and got paper masks on. They took Tim's temperature. We went into the intake room at Inova Loudoun labor and delivery. I got in my hospital gown and got all hooked up to the fetal monitoring.
I was making progress in my labor. 4cm dilated, about 80% effaced, and contractions were about 5 mins apart lasting for about a minute. I had to breathe through the peak. I felt the pain in my hips and pelvis during each contraction and then it eased and went away. Tim was stroking my arm and helping me breathe through it. Whenever I tried to stand up to keep things progressing with the help of gravity, the contractions were much more intense and painful in my belly. It felt better just to sit and relax in the bed until we knew what we were going to do next.
Since this was all happening during the pandemic, I had to get a rapid covid 19 test. They had to shove a swab way up my nose in each nostril. It was very weird. It literally felt like they were trying to swab my brain through my nose! We got results back in like 30 mins and it was negative. I still had to labor in my mask as much as I could stand it, but the other people who came into contact with me could just wear a mask and not additional protective gear.
Labor was progressing along nicely. I still chose to labor sitting in bed this time. My hips were open and I was leaning forward like in a butterfly pose. The contraction would come starting with pain in my hips and pelvis. I would feel tightening and start to breathe. I would hold Tim's hand and hold onto my foot. He reminded me to keep my jaw relaxed and not to breathe through my teeth. It's very strange to open your jaw in a mask but it surprisingly stayed on pretty well.
I would chant "ooooh, oooopen, ooopen for Korben" trying to keep my voice low. Tim would stroke my arm. "that's it breathe, jaw relaxed, breathe, you got it, let it go" and then it would pass.
He also did counter pressure on my low back which was perfect and took the pain away. I could relax in between. I think the contractions stayed about 5 mins apart for most of my labor. My water didn't break on its own which helped keep baby at a steady pace, not coming too fast.
The anesthesiologist was having a very hard time placing the epidural. She tried in two spots and said she was getting blood vessels. She ended up having to place it again higher. The whole process was only about 40 mins but it felt like an eternity!
Meanwhile, I was contracting, couldn't move, and was getting scared and frustrated. I was trying so hard to stay still, to not focus on all that could go wrong, and to not pay attention to the needle or procedure. I really didn't want to think too much about it. Luckily my labor was very distracting!
My contractions were getting closer together, longer and stronger. I remembered from Elora's birth how I ran out of time at this point and I was so scared it would happen again. I started to feel nauseous and I knew I was going to get sick. A little peppermint oil swiped under my nose helped for a moment. I ended up removing my mask.
The only way I got through it once I started to get scared was to literally chant my mantra "I am brave, I am strong" once epidural was placed the pain disappeared.
This is probably my most favorite part of the whole experience. It made me feel incredibly strong. There could be so much happening around me and to me, but somehow I tuned it out. I focused and got through it.
I wasn't as numb as I expected which was great! I could still kinda move my legs and shift myself if needed. I was around 6cm dilated at this time with just a little cervix left. Used the peanut ball to open my pelvis and help baby move down.
I was in high spirits, so thrilled the epidural was working. I started to make jokes and talk about other things. We called the doula Emily Smith to check in and let her know how things were going.
I had to bear down and push almost like I was trying to make a bowel movement. It was really exhausting! I would run out of breath and I could feel that my face was probably turning red. I pushed as hard as I could each time and the first two were effective. The last push with each contraction didn't feel like it was very strong. I was getting so tired!
After the push was done, I would focus on my breathing and relax as completely as I could. My body was still shaking, but they told me not to fight it. I would let my body kinda flop to relax and I would close my eyes focusing on my breathing until they said it was time to go again.
I pushed on one side for awhile but baby's heart rate didn't like it. He seemed flopped over all on one side, so we switched to my back. Legs up and I pushed like that for awhile. Then we flipped to the other side, but that didn't feel right either. We went back to the middle position. Baby started making progress, he had to come through and under my pelvic bone.
Switching from side to side. Dr broke my water. We tried side lying pushing but baby didn't like it. Pushed on my back until delivery. Total labor time around 7hrs!
Used baby shampoo on my bottom to keep from tearing, which helped a lot! I only got one tiny tear at the top and recovery has been amazing! When pushing I could feel the contraction at the top of my stomach, building and then Dr and nurses confirmed on the monitor and coached me through pushing. Prob about an hour or so of pushing and baby came out!
I could feel him and all the pressure, but no pain!
I still grunted groaned and screamed when he was being born, my body was still doing so much hard work! It was shaking and I was exhausted. Korben was born at 7:24am, 8lbs and 21in long. He's a big boy!
I felt an instant relief and an overwhelm of emotion. I wasn't laughing or crying but it felt like both at the same time. Such an amazing moment! They placed baby on my belly and rubbed him, sucking fluid from his mouth and wiping him off. I could tell Tim was so proud and he was tearing up too. They told me he was beautiful, he was blonde, and that he was a big boy!
