The Birth I wanted

Every woman has a vision of what she wants her birth to be like, but most women realize things usually don't go as planned.  I had that vision with Willa and was thankful to have a healthy baby even though it ended with a c-section. 

The birth of Leo was my take two and it was wonderful.  In the heat of the moment I would have never used wonderful to describe my contractions.  Probably not best to say the words I used to describe the pain.  But now that it's over I couldn't be happier with the way it went.  

I had been psyching myself up for the day for a while.  Reading online articles and tips on having a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) and surrounding myself with the best support team to make it happen.  I also had planned for an all natural birth with no pain medication.  But I was keeping an open mind about everything.

I started having contractions on Wednesday morning (April 27).  Willa picked out her outfit that day and I'm not joking...she picked out her sister shirt.  

After that I was pretty convinced I would have a baby by the end of the day.  Since the contractions where mild and random Seth went into work that morning to tie things up.  By that afternoon nothing had progressed.  I was pretty anxious and actually ended up just being pretty bored that afternoon.  I tried to rest but that wasn't happening.  The contractions picked up that evening but then by bed time they had slowed down again and were about 9-10 minutes apart.  So I was sleeping in between them.  Until around 2am I felt a small little pop and felt like I was going to wet the bed.  I was surprised that my water actually broke!  I had planned to labor at home for a while but since my water broke I had to go in.  So we headed to the hospital.

Even though you try to prepare and imagine what it's going to be like you really have no idea what the pain is like until you feel it.  It was the longest 8 plus hours of my life.  But I'm thankful for my great friends and husband who got me through.  I couldn't have done it without my wonderful doula, Jordan.  

I was silent through the process and didn't want anyone touching me.  During each contraction I would close my eyes and do my yoga breathing.  In my mind I just kept telling myself "my body was made for this".  Eventually my thoughts turned to curse words and I think it's time for pain meds.  But when I came to that point Seth & Jordan easily talked me into trying a few other strategies and then it ended up being so close to the end...so that was just the crazy transition talk coming from me.

I started pushing around 11:30 and seriously thought that I wouldn't be able to push him out.  In my head I was like "I'm going to push for two hours then they'll have to cut me off and cut him out".  But obviously I figured it out and he was born with one final push at 11:59.  Just like Willa always predicted he "slid right out".  

It was truly the most amazing thing.  Seth's first response was that we got gypped with Willa since we didn't get to experience her birth like that.  At the time I kinda wanted to slap him.  But when I felt great about an hour later and was up out of bed I couldn't agree more.  The healing process was so much better this time around, of course.

I'm very thankful that my good friend Cindy was there to capture the entire thing for me!  I will cherish these photos because this is something I never want to forget.