Saturday, June 22, 2013

Baby Josiah is HERE! Part 2

When I passed the 37 week mark I was sooooo happy, because my baby was considered full term, I was one week shy of this milestone with Justice, so reaching this point was an accomplishment. I knew at any moment after this, baby could be on his way out.

Days passed, Weeks passed, and I had a feeling that Josiah would take me all the way :)

For some women, pregnancy lingers even post the 40 week mark, even up to 2 weeks post expected delivery date, I was hoping that it wouldn't be that long, but mentally just tried to prepare myself that it was a possibility.

At my doctor visits, My OBGYN would check to see how much I was dilated, for two straight visits, it was 0 dilation, I wasn't ready, and I was sent back home.

In week 39 I buckled down and got the house ready for baby, organized his drawer, took off tags, took things out of boxes and bags, set up the stroller, bouncer, bassinet, and car seat. Prepared the car with infant mirrors and car shades, Ryan and I were just on a mission, because we knew baby could come at any moment.

I created a birth plan, checked off my things to do list, it was just crunch time and I was in that kind of mindset. It's funny because when I had Justice there was NO Preparation, I bought like MAYBE 6 oufits, lol

The Lord just provided in an immense way because I had NO IDEA what was coming, and the crazy thing is it wasn't even stressful, He provided every need!

This time around I knew what to expect and wanted to go gender neutral on a lot of baby items for future children, Lord willing.

God is good though because we have everything we need, baby Josiah is ready to go, the only thing I have to buy at this point (post delivery) is a bookshelf, lol because the books WILL be collected, gotta grow that library for him as well ;) (MAJOR SIDE NOTE)

... Getting back to the delivery...

Week 40 came and there was nothing... until about 3 days prior to the expected delivery date, a good friend encouraged me to WALK. We went walking together for about 20 minutes, and that next day, trickle, trickle, early that next morning about 3am in the morning, I felt ... SOMETHING

lol

I was like, hmmm, that's different... went to the potty and nothing came out, but I noticed that I had a feeling to go back and sure enough I was losing my plug (the plug to the uterus, which holds the baby)

About an hour later, VERY mild contractions began.

I knew they weren't Braxton Hicks because I FELT THESE... clearly with pain

So I'm running back and forth to the bathroom, and at some point, the hubby says, are you okay? lol I'm thinking like NO I'M NOT OKAY

lol, but calmly I say, I just lost my plug, and I'm having contractions

So Ryan responds by saying do you think I should pack my bag?

LOLOLOL... I respond with a YES

Now mind you I had my bag packed, Justice's bag packed, and suggested he pack his bag the week prior lol, but uhhhh my husband got up and packed

A few shorts...

I go out front and he and little Justice were knocked out sleeping on the couch in the living room, lol

I basically labored that whole day, timing my contractions, they seemed to be on a consistent rhythm then, went off, they weren't as consistent, so I didn't call my doctor right away

The next day, early in the morning about 3am, the contractions were strong again

I called my Douala and she made it to my house by 6am, and kept me company :)

Fortunately, my doc appointment was that same day at 10am, so no real rush, seeing as though my contractions were about 10 mins apart instead of the 5 minute active labor contractions I was looking for

Heading to the doctor that day with the hubby, we had our bags in the car and car seats ready to go, I had a feeling that I was gonna be staying there, and seeing that is was an hour away from my house i was HOPING that day was THEE DAY

Got to my doc appointment and found out I was 3 cm dilated!

He wanted me to go straight to the hospital, but I decided to walk a little to help labor progress a little before heading straight there, so I went to a nearby mall and walked about 1 1/2 hours

I didn't want to go to the hospital too early and potentially be stuck in labor at a certain dilation, that could potentially send me into a c-section and I didn't want that, I wanted to be as far along as possible

Baby is ready to pop at 10cm, I figure if I could get to 5 cm, that was better than nothing

While I walked I honestly didn't feel my contractions, the times that I did numbered maybe 3 to 4 times, and when the contractions came I just stopped and let them pass, breathing deeply but normal

Ryan and I got to the hospital, I was accompanied by my Douala, mother, father, husband and lovely daughter

I had already pre-registered, so the hospital had all my info, I was admitted to the hospital, given a labor room, and when checked, I found out I was 6 cm dilated!

What a difference a steady walk made!

I was put on the epidural, a little Pitocin and within an hour dilated to about 9cm, and about 30 minutes more, fully dilated to the 10!

It was crazy, so fast, before I knew it, the nurses were coming in with the swaddle blankets, preparing for baby, saying, it's gonna be any minute now...

Doc came in, coached me and my pushes, I didn't feel any pain, but I DID FEEL THE PRESSURE of baby boy coming down, boy did I feel the pressure!

I would say I had to push about 21 times, in intervals of 3, and during the pushes the nurse (who had never experienced a vaginal breech birth) was encouraging me, saying you're doing great! She was about as excited as me!

At every interval the doctor would say, what body part he was seeing!

And before I knew it my husband ran to my side, held my hands and SAID YOU ARE ALMOST THERE, KEEP PUSHING, I knew he saw something!

So even though I WAS TIRED, I pushed and felt that beautiful body come out!

He ENTERED THIS WORLD BOTTOM FIRST, and I delivered him vaginally!

Praise the LORD!

On to the next adventure :)

With that, to all the ladies out there, if you or someone you know has had a c-section, IT IS POSSIBLE to birth vaginally

I would encourage anyone out there to DO YOUR RESEARCH and when it comes to your health, always get a second opinion, and weigh your options, there are ALWAYS options

I am humbled and blessed to have experienced what I have, and give all glory to God, thank you Lord for allowing me this experience, thank you for keeping me safe and baby safe, and thank you for being in control, Amen! :)





Baby Josiah is HERE! Part 1

Baby Boy has finally arrived! He entered our lives on June 7, 2013 at 9:43pm.

For the last 3 months of my pregnancy I have been hush-hush because I was working hard to have a home birth. At the third trimester mark, most babies turn into a head down position, in preparation for exiting their mother's body. Usually at 28 weeks and beyond this can happen at different points for different women.

For most, that being about 97%, babies turn, and mom is in the clear. For about 3% of pregnancies, baby doesn't turn, and this is named breech presentation. The breech baby could be bottom first, foot first, etc...

Needless to say Josiah was apart of the 3%, breech presentation, from 28 weeks on! The entire third trimester for me was stressful, I tried exercies, went to the chiropractor RELIGIOUSLY every week, even increasing my visits to up to 3 visits a week to get the baby to turn. I tried acupuncture, tried to direct him to turn using music (yes even the Mozart), ice, and talking techniques. I crawled, washed my floors on my hands and knees, washed the baseboards... nothing...

I tell you there are so many things that people suggest you do, from walking to standing upside down in the pool! I must say, I didn't do that one :)

At about 36 weeks I begin to accept the fact that maybe just maybe it just wasn't meant to be.

Unfortunately, in Florida midwives can't deliver breech births at home. So my quest for home birth seemed bleak. In meeting one, my midwife told me that if at 36 weeks the baby hadn't turned that I would legally have to transfer my care to the back up OBGYN. She did however reassure me that if the baby turned after this period I would be able to still have the baby at home.

I'm not gonna lie, it was a VERY emotional time for me, especially around week 36-37. I had set my sights on a home birth, water delivery. It seemed that going this route was the only way I would have this VBAC delivery (Vaginal birth after c-section). I cried when I found out he wasn't turning.

Thankfully this emotional state only lasted one full day, I was a wreck.

But I gave it over to God, really just prayed and came to grips with him turning if it was meant to be.

Babies can turn at any point, some turn day of delivery, so I felt that it was best for me to keep in mind that I shouldn't manipulate nature if it wasn't necessary, if the baby was to take me to week 40, and turn, so be it, if he was to take me to week 40 and not turn, so be it :)

So my midwife, gave me my options, which the back up OBGYN gave her to give to me.

Option 1: External Version, this is when the doctor physically maneuvers the baby from the outside of the stomach, and attempts to turn him by shifting his position.
Option 2: Planned C-Section
Option 3: Midwives in Tennessee (Trained and legally allowed to do breech births)
Option 4: Transfer my care to a breech specialist about 1 hour away

Looking at my options, I felt the best choice for me was #4

I didn't want to do the external version, because if certain things went wrong, I could've been rushed into an emergency c-section, the very thing I was trying to avoid at all costs.

It's one thing to medically NEED a c-section, its another thing to put my body in an unnecessary situation and potentially cause an emergency by choice.

I knew I wasn't planning a c-section, and I REALLY knew I wasn't going to Tennessee.

So I chose to transfer my care to the breech specialist.

I met with the doctor, liked him, explained my situation to him and he told me he would take me on. Hallelujah! He told me he had done 2 VBAC breech births before... yes... just 2, I felt, 2 was better than none!

So at about 38 weeks I was officially in the care of  the breech specialist about an hour away from where I lived, and went to my appointments weekly.

He told me that my case was rare and presented a few problems. Although he specialized in VBAC births, breech births, and multiple births, I had a combination of things working in my situation. I NEVER had a vaginal birth, so my body never experienced a body coming out that way, I had a C-Section so it would be a VBAC and baby was not head down.

He said he only performed 2 of the 5 breech presentations, he wanted to see a bottom first.

Only in this case would he do the vaginal birth.

I knew from an ultrasound done about 1 week prior, that baby was in fact bottom first, so I was at peace with going forward with the VBAC breech birth.

That brings me to, how Josiah actually came :)

Part 2...