Birth Story!

Let's start from a little while back at 20 weeks. The anatomy ultrasound was showing baby boy measuring about a week and a half ahead. My midwife thought maybe my dates were just off but wouldn't change my due date unless it was more than 2 weeks. I consistently measured ahead through the rest of my pregnancy.

At my 37 week appointment, baby boy was facing up just like his sister was and I was barely even a finger tip dilated. So my midwife suggested things I could do to get him to turn around. I was so upset because I pushed 2 1/2 hours with Jess because of her position. I didn't want that to happen again.

At my 38 week appointment I was still only a fingertip dilated so I wasn't making much progress. Most likely because of his position. And then I was also measuring 42 weeks!! So we did a sonogram to see what's going on in there. He was measuring 9 pounds! They did let me know that the measurements could be off by a pound or more either way. 

We started trying to naturally induce labor in anyway we could. Except for castor oil. I refuse to ever try that! But nothing was working. I was only 1 cm dilated by 39 weeks! I was getting so discouraged. We started discussing our options since I was planning on trying for a VBAC. We decided to wait it out until my due date and then go from there. A repeat csection was discussed because of the possible size of baby and position might be working against me. 

A few days before I turned 40 weeks, I had an appointment. Still only 1 cm, maybe 1 1/2. I was seeing a different person in the drs office since both of the midwives I see weren't available. The OB mentioned an induction and said she would call and discuss it with one of the midwives. As much as I really did not want to be induced, I felt like my chances of having a VBAC were better if I atleast gave it a try. So we scheduled an induction for 8pm on July 2nd if nothing happened naturally by then. Well, 40 weeks rolled around and still nothing was happening. So induction it was. 

I was nervous how Jess and Jayven would take it so we told them a little bit before we left for the hospital. Jess was really excited so she let us going willingly. I was pleasantly surprised. Jayven wasn't quite as happy but he still let us go. 

We arrived at the hospital at 8 and got to use a mothers to be parking spot for the last time this pregnancy.

We made our way up to labor and delivery and they were all ready for us and showed us to our room right away.

I got changed into my fancy hospital gown and was so ready to get the show on the road.

They got me all hooked up with IV's and we waited. We waited until about 10 pm before they actually started anything. And the only thing I was allowed to eat was Popsicles or ice chips. 

The dr came in and checked me and when she did she said I wasn't dilated enough to get the balloon catheter that had been discussed with the other dr and midwife. So they said we would have to wait until 4 am and they would start pitocin. I was really disappointed and felt like it was pointless that we were even there. A few minutes later she walked back in and said she talked to the other dr and she wanted to check again. Apparently my cervix was in a very awkward position so I had to get in a different position for her to reach as far as she could and it turned out that I was dilated enough to get the catheter. 

The catheter was called a cooks catheter and basically they put it up inside me and it's supposed to get me dilated to about a 4 or 5. It was super uncomfortable and pretty painful getting it put in. And then it felt like I had a never ending slight contraction or really bad period cramps for the first few hours. They expected me to sleep through the night with this thing. I was in and out of sleep all night. 

At about 6am, I got hooked up to pitocin. And about an hour later they took the catheter out and I was dilated to  about a 4 by that point. I was super nervous about the pitocin because I've heard they make your contractions a lot stronger. 

At about 8am they wanted to try to break my water. Because of how my cervix was positioned, it was very difficult to get up there and I was in a lot of pain while they were trying. So they decided now would be a good time to get an epidural. It was my 3rd experience getting an epidural put in. It went pretty smooth except for some painful moments as she was trying to insert it. And then my blood pressure dropped pretty fast and low and I felt dizzy and almost passed out. So I got more fluids and started to feel better. 

Once it was in and started to kick in, they came to break my water at around 10 am. 

From about 10 am till about 4 pm I was at a stand still. I was stuck between a 4 and a 5 and wasn't making any change. They kept getting me to change positions as much as I could every 45 minutes and put a giant yellow peanut looking thing between my legs. I was in and out of sleep all day. 

In about an hour and a half at about 5:30 pm, I progressed from a 5 to an 8 and was starting to feel contractions and pressure through my epidural. Our nurse was so awesome and prepared. We knew it was starting to get real when she starting bring tables in and getting the babies stuff ready and turning bright lights on. 

They had me wait a little longer until I started to feel more pressure. I had to start breathing through my contractions so they upped my epidural a little more but I don't think it really helped. 

Then the pressure got way more intense about an hour later, and they checked me and it was time to start pushing! We did a few practice pushes first and I was already so out of energy since I had been at the hospital since 8 the night before and had nothing to eat except for Popsicles and ice since then either. 

As soon as I started pushing my midwife let me know that he's most likely not going to come flying out so it was going to take some work. They tried a few different techniques for me. One was playing tug of war with a blanket and a nurse. 

Another was holding on to some handles on the bed which was working the best for me. I was slowly running out of energy. I pushed about 3 times during each contraction. Each push he was getting closer but not close enough. I was really hoping this time I would only have to push a few times. But nope... Apparently my kids like to make me work when it comes to pushing them out. When his head started coming out I thought that was it. They had me reach down and feel his head and all his hair. I don't know if my epidural just wasn't strong enough or there was no way an epidural would be able to get rid of the pain I was feeling trying to push a 9 pound baby out of me but I felt like I was going to die. I could feel his head just sitting there and the pain wasn't going away. I kept asking how much longer. I had to push because I couldn't take the pain anymore. I felt like I couldn't breathe and was crying because of the pain and kept begging them to help me. I do remember grabbing onto Jordan's shirt begging him to help and begging everyone to just take him out because I couldn't take the pain anymore. I barely had enough energy to keep pushing but I had to because I couldn't take it anymore. Finally after about 3 or 4 more contractions they were cheering me on and told me he was coming out. 

Then I finally felt relief as they pulled him out and I reached down and grabbed him and pulled him onto my chest and cried! 

At 8:09 pm on July 3rd, Jonas Arlo Sheffer was born!

I cried because I was so happy and relieved and couldn't believe I finally did it. I achieved my VBAC and finally got to meet our little (big) guy!

Jordan cut his umbilical cord and then we just stared at his beautiful face for a while. I wanted to hold him for as long as I could before they weighed him or wiped him off and they told me to take my time. I never got to experience that moment with Jayven.

After spending a good amount of time with him and breastfeeding him for the first time, I realized I couldn't keep my eyes open. I couldn't tell if it was just pure exhaustion, but I started feeling really weak so I told them I needed them to take the baby because I felt like I was going to pass out. 

They took him away and weighed and measured him. A whopping 9lbs 2oz! And 19 inches. No wonder he almost took an hour to push out! 

While they were checking him out, I kept feeling really crappy and they realized my blood pressure had dropped really low. I felt like passing out and was really hot and couldn't stop shaking. My eyes wouldn't stay open and apparently I looked really pale. Everyone kept asking if I was okay and the most I could do was nod my head. So they worked on getting my blood pressure back up. In the process of all of this, they were trying to deliver my placenta but it was coming out. Even though I pushed out a big baby, I only got a tiny little tear. My midwife was worried about my placenta so she called  the dr in. I was so out of it at this point so a lot of it was such a blur but what I do remember is the dr came up to me and explained that it is possible that my placenta had attached to my uterus and it's possible that I might have to have my interus removed because of it. WHAT?!? I was barely awake at this point so I didn't have much of a reaction but inside I was freaking out. Like seriously!! What is going on here. So she literally reached inside of me with her hand to see if she could pull my placenta out herself. She dug around in there and luckily she was able to get it all out with only one somewhat major complication. As she was digging around she realized that my uterus had ruptured. This was the risk I was facing going for a VBAC but what I had read and been told the chances of it were very slim. I happened to be one of rhe lucky ones that this happened to. I Was informed that I will not be able to have a vaginal birth with any future kids because of the risks. So only c-sections for me. Im glad I got to experience this one since I won't be able to do it again. 

While daddy snuggled with Jonas and I began to finally open my eyes and process what was going on, they let me know that they would have to monitor me closely to make sure my bleeding wouldn't get out of control because of the rupture. But it wasn't bad enough for them to do anything about it so they plan on Letting it heal on it's own. I've come to the realization that I'm just not one of the lucky ones to have a peaceful and uncomplicated birth experience. Haha. I've had complications with each of my kids. But the outcome is so worth it and we are now blessed with another beautiful human being that we made together. 

Jonas is now a day old and luckily there have not been anymore complications. I'm feeling great with very minimal pain and am able to get around very easily. So far my uterus is healing great and Jonas is breastfeeding amazingly! Sister and brother haven't met him yet but we know they are going to be so in love. 

Welcome to the world Jonas!