Maya Sofia Born VBAC

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July 31, A Busy Day One Day Before Maya’s Arrival

It was a cloudy morning. Rain was expected. I felt weird.

My contractions were strong and frequent but we’d had a couple of false alarms in the last couple of weeks so Julian went to work, standing by his phone for the call.

With Julian gone and me feeling so strange, I quit work for the day and headed out to see my midwife. It was the day before our appointment but she said she was happy to see me and listen to the baby’s heart rate.

So Evelyn and I hopped in the car and started driving through a calm rain which quickly picked up into a torrent of hail.

“Maybe I should just go home and sleep it off,” I thought. But keeping busy was more appealing to me than seeking refuge from the hail.

So we drove slowly through the soggy streets cranking Marina and the Diamonds.

Nedra, my midwife, had penciled me in between a couple of clients. But because of the weather, I missed that spot. She said I could come by at the next slot so Evelyn and I stopped at the mall to kill time. We got some tea at Starbucks, walked around the mall, marvelled at the clarity of the new iPad screen, and headed back to the car.

I turned the key in the ignition. The engine was silent.

Stranded at the Mall

“Shit. We need a jump.”

I asked an old guy in the car next to me to give me a jump. He gladly complied with this very pregnant woman’s need. He hooked up the cables and I turned the key. Sparks flew and flames jumped up from the battery. I scrambled out of the car to grab Evelyn, seriously worried the car was going to explode. The old man assured me everything was fine and adjusted the cables. “Start the engine again,” he said.

More sparks, more flames. He left and I called Julian for help.

It was 4pm by then and we were 15 miles down the freeway against rush hour traffic. We were going to have a long wait.

Evelyn and I went back into the mall and walked and walked and sat and walked. I was hungry. We went to the food court and complained about the lack of food choices. And we walked and we sat. Back at the food court, we searched again, like when you open the door to your empty fridge over and over, hoping something new appears. And alas! There was a salad place we hadn’t noticed before! We ordered two simple salads with olive oil and lemon and sat down to eat.

Contractions and the Bloody Tooth

Evelyn takes her first bite and pop goes her front tooth. She sees her hands covered in blood and starts crying bloody murder.

“Excuse me,” I say to the ladies beside us, “Could you please watch our food for a minute?”

We run to the bathroom and, at 39 weeks pregnant, I pick up Evelyn right in the middle of a contraction, lifting her to the sink. She washes her mouth, hands, and face. She’s crying. I want to cry.

The blood washes away and the tooth is left dangling in her mouth. With the blood gone, it’s funny now, but she still won’t pull the tooth. I eat my salad while she stares at hers. When Julian arrives he works his magic on her and convinces her to pull out her own tooth. She eats and we leave.

By now it’s after 6pm and I still have to drive 45 minutes back home through traffic with distracting, strong contractions.

“Am I in early labor?” I ask myself. “Probably not. I always think I’m in labor.”

Long story short, now that I made you read all that, I had a long day and I was tired.

Active Labor, 10:30pm, July 31st

I finally lay down for the night at 9:30 but soon woke to the sound of myself moaning through a contraction and the feeling of something tearing down below.

Faster than you’ve ever seen a pregnant woman jump I hopped up from my mattress and sprinted to the bathroom. Bam! There goes my water, half all over the floor, half in the toilet.

Evelyn popped out of bed. “Mom? Is this it? We’re in labor? Okay okay, what do you need? This is so cool!” She exclaims in her tiny squeaky voice.

Very shortly I was having unmistakable active labor contractions. They were intense and I was excited. The baby was coming. Within an hour or so the contractions were very strong and required quite a bit of concentration. My mom and a friend came over, as did my midwife. They all started getting ready for the birth.

Nedra, my midwife, checked the baby’s heart rate. It was strong. I breathed a sigh of relief. The cord wasn’t wrapped as it had been with Evelyn. This birth wouldn’t turn out like my first. Wonderful.

My contractions were tolerable at first. They were intense and very strong but nothing that someone like me couldn’t handle. But within a few hours my lower back started to hurt like someone was stomping on it and each contraction just melted into the other. I had very few moments of rest.

The word pain wasn’t allowed in the house that night. I chose to view the contractions, no matter how strong, as something else, anything else – a tightening, a pushing, intensity, movement, waves, whatever. These were all good distractions for me at first but now, after 5 hours, I let the word come out.

But wait, I’m a badass!

“Nedra. I’m going to cry. I’ve not been in so much pain since, since, I don’t know if ever.”

It was unrelenting and had gone on for hours. Even though there were several loving people there, I felt alone on Planet Pain. I thought of all of the traumas I’d endured before. There was the dude that nearly beat me to death, the bicycle accident, the c-section with Evelyn which I refused pain medication for during recovery, snowboarding down the mountain to the clinic with an arm broken in two places, a fractured heel after jumping off a two story building barefoot, running a marathon with loose joints (before I found out I have celiac), and others.

I let my mind revisit these moments in hopes that it would soften the present.

What could I do to relieve the pain, I asked myself? Relaxation exercises. My visualization of the ocean waves. The birth pool was almost ready. Nedra suggested a shower. Breath.

Posterior Position

“Why does it hurt this bad?” I asked Nedra. She said the back pain and the contractions which seemed to have no break were due to the fact that the baby was occiput posterior, i.e. her back was against my back, her limbs against my belly. So, backwards. Her head was not in the right position to slip through the pelvis. We knew about this coming into the labor. I had been trying to turn her for weeks with no luck.

And so my labor hurt like hell and progressed very slowly. After a while we were concerned about a few things:

  • Would the baby make it out of my pelvis?
  • Had my cesarean scar ruptured?
  • Was I too fatigued to keep this up?

Another c-section seemed a real possibility – one I wanted to avoid at all costs. In light of so much pain, we ended up making the decision to go to the hospital.

I dilated slowly. Labor progressed slowly. After 20 hours in active labor and two and a half hours of pushing, little Maya Sofia was born vaginally at 7lbs, 10oz. She was placed on my belly until the cord drained and began nursing within 15 minutes. Julian and my midwife helped thwart many interventions such as the vacuum, the antibiotic ointment, Hep B and vitamin K shots.

It wasn’t a perfect birth experience but, for me, it was truly miraculous. I know what it feels like to push a baby out and, for me, that’s huge.

I bounced back super quick too and have been enjoying the last four weeks immensely.

Back home in 24 hours and chillin with my baby. Couldn’t do that with a cesarean!

9 days after Maya’s birth, at the Royal Gorge Park.

For those who are interested, another woman in the community also had a VBAC: The wellness Mama

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43 Comments

  1. I could not love this more. In nursing school, during my OB rotation, there were two mothers doing unmedicated VBACs at the same time. This was happening in a VERY intervention happy “birth center”*. They were the talk of the hospital. The entire staff was beside themselves with panic and mock concern; whispering conspiratorially and shaking their heads with every moan and groan. All the while I was silently rooting for them. The fact that this behind-the-scenes shenanigans even existed just goes to show you how far gone we are and how unsupported mothers really are. I am happy to report they both had unmedicated VBACs in the hospital despite the odds. I applaud those two women and you for standing against the “safe” recommendations and doing the right thing for yourself and your families. Bravo!

    *I think the idea behind calling it a birth center was to make it more attractive than saying “a wing of the hospital”, but this place could not have been more atrocious. Standing orders for Pitocin no matter the circumstance and a 40% C-section rate… no thank you!

    • Well that was certainly my intention and my midwife had performed many of them with no problem. It seems that VBACs are not as big of a deal as they are made out to be unless, of course, there was something actually wrong with the mother’s body which required the first cesarean to begin with. That’s not generally the case in our cesarean happy culture.

      Anyway, the posterior position was eventually more than I could handle. If I had kept going unmedicated I probably would have ended up with a c-section due to exhaustion, stress, or something else. Six hours was as far as I made it unmedicated. C’est la vie!

  2. I had a home birth and loved it, but this post reeks of bragging and could leave a vulnerable mom with a medicated or c-section birth feeling judged. Congrats on your experience, but for all other experiences – way to go mamas! Good luck with your Super Mom issues.

    • Bragging? Ha! That was meant to be a joke right? I’m not sure what I could possibly be bragging about here. The fact that I didn’t have a home birth maybe? That I ended up in a hospital, the place I am always so ready to criticize? The fact that I had a long and painful labor maybe? Or maybe I could brag about the fact that I was so tired and in so much pain that when the doctor asked if I wanted the vacuum I said yes. What I could brag about is the fact that Julian stopped the doctor and encouraged me to finish the job myself. That’s worth bragging about. He rocks. And who said it wasn’t medicated. Shit, it was either medication or jump off a cliff with so many hours of no sleep, no food, and excruciating pain. 

      I have nothing to brag about, just a story to tell.  

      In case you didn’t notice, I’ve had a c-section before. Who might I be judging exactly?

      I think you’re the one with issues.

      • Hmmm. I have so much to say, but unlike you I don’t have a soap box – I meant blog. Keep on bragging while thinking you’re keeping it real.

        • Samantha, every mother I know has their own birth story that they love to share. Sometimes because it went right, sometimes because it went wrong or maybe just because it was unique to them. I detect no bragging here.

        • I have no clue where you’re getting the idea she was bragging. I (and everyone but you) seemed to not get that impression at all. I’ve been so excited to hear about her birth story, and it sounds like she went through hell. I’m not sure where your deep seeded resentment stems from. Peggy is a strong, powerful, confident woman who is just trying to share her experiences. Right after pregnancy the last thing I would want to deal with is a negative, critical, abrasive person as you seem to coming off as.

          • And I’d like to ask you consider why it took me four weeks to post this. Could it be because I didn’t want to? Because admitting to failure is tough? Soap box this blog is definitely not. I cringe at posting many of the things I post, but I do it because I know it means a lot to a lot of people.

        • Apparently the internet is lost on you… let me help…

          This is a “blog” which is short for “web log”. Blogs are places where people can keep logs of things that are on their mind. It’s similar to keeping a diary or journal. The biggest difference is that with a blog, everyone who is on the internet is able to read it (assuming access is granted). This is a great way for people to share personal stories, anecdotes about things they’ve discovered, research they learned and wish to share, etc.

          The BEST part is that no one has to read it if they don’t want to which is lucky since there are literally MILLIONS of blogs out there.

          I hope this has been helpful, Samantha. Perhaps there are other blogs that you’d be more interested in.

        • You’re a troll.

        • What a horrible thing to say to someone who just had a rough experience delivering their baby! Peggy did not get her ideal birth, but she is having a great attitude about what she did achieve.

      • What kind of medication did you end up going for?

        • Thank you Heather.

          I was given two options at the hospital as I recall. They were morphine or epidural. My midwife told me that, knowing my personality I would hate the morphine because it would make me high and out of it. She said that while the epidural would suck too at least I’d be present in the moment. So I went with that. In the end, I’m glad I did. There’s no way I could have endured another 14 hours of pain like that. I mean truly, if I were an ancient Primal woman I would have committed suicide, or just passed out I guess like torture victims eventually do. Who know.

          For some reason that none of us could explain the epidural ran out towards the end and nobody noticed. By the beginning of the pushing phase I was starting to feel again and, by the middle, 100% of the numbness was gone. While it hurt like hell, again I was thrilled that I actually got to feel the pushing and the movement. I got to feel the amazing empty sensation as her body slid out. I was so thankful for that, albeit a little pissed off at the time. ;)

          • You mention that no one could explain why the epidural ran out towards the end. Well, I don’t know for sure, but I had a spinal block, which is effectively an epidural, when I had my (elective) c-section. It was supposed to last an hour or so, but it actually started fading about 45 minutes in, when they were stitching me up.
            They said that it was pretty fast, but that it was likely that I metabolised it faster than usual. It’s possible that this happened to you, your body just worked through it quickly!

            Incidentally, as they can’t give you another one they had to knock me out to finish stitching me up, but I was only out for about 30 minutes; I woke up, baby went on the boob and all was well!

            Regarding that comment above, I don’t get any ‘bragging’ in your post! It’s great you are prepared to admit that the pain was dreadful, and that you found it difficult. I really hope you don’t feel that you have failed in any way; there is NOTHING wrong with intervention if it’s needed, or choosing to have medical help. The point of childbirth is to deliver a baby, how it happens is incidental.
            I’m pretty evangelical on the subject, because being tokophobic I chose a c-section, and I can’t bear the snotty/pitying/superior/condescending attitude of some women who think that if you don’t push it out and feel every second then you are a failure.

            Your blog post is terrific, honest (and not too gory), and to hell with whether or not you had drugs, or if it actually hurt rather than being a mystical transcendental experience sprinkled with pixie dust, you should be congratulated for delivering a beautiful baby, period.

          • Hi Peggy,
            Thanks for sharing. Don’t feel bad, births usually don’t go as planned! With my second I fully intended on getting the epidural. Though my water broke at home, I had to wait for my husband to get back from work and get me and my oldest to the hospital which is 30 minutes away (we live in a rural area) in morning traffic. It was awful. I was screaming with blood and water gushing out with each contraction in active labor in the car. We got there and I was already at an 8 and panicking from the pain. Then the umbibical cord actually FELL OUT (baby boy’s head wasn’t engaged yet in my wide open birth canal). I was facing an emergency c-section if I didn’t push him out in like 2 minutes. They used the vacuum to help me get him out as fast as possible. Only a few truly primal and panicked pushes and less than twenty minutes after racing in to the hospital entrance he came out blue and lifeless. It was awful. They gave him oxygen to resuscitate him. Thank goodness he was just fine. He was alert and quiet for hours. He nursed like a champ. I got novacaine shots ‘down there’ to numb it for the inevitable stitches. It was a pretty bad experience- terrified for his safety and in agonizing pain. For my most recent birth I opted for an epidural. That didn’t go so well either. ;) I ended up having to get two doses of adrenaline after my heart rate/blood pressure rapidly dropped. I demanded they just shut the drip off. Though I had a wonderfully relaxed labor and the numbness was just wearing off as she came into the world. No tearing either! The nurses said I ‘laughed her out’. I have never had a long labor, thankfully. More like a short sprint. If I have another baby I believe I will go natural and just cope with the pain. It is just hard, there is no way around it.

  3. Congrats on the baby! Glad you are both doing well! I ended up getting an epidural with baby # 1 and am hoping to skip it with baby # 2 due in February. I’m determined, but you just never know how things will play out. Mine wore off in the end too (you could push a button to get more but I didn’t). It actually was great to feel things & be able to move my legs! And, to be honest, having the epidural in full effect for the few hours before I pushed was kind of nice. We had not slept in almost 48 hours so my husband & I both took naps before the real fun started!

    • Good luck with number 2! Often second vaginal births are shorter and easier so you’ve got a good chance.

  4. Hi , quick question- why did you refuse the antibiotic cream or vit. shots? No judgement, I just didn’t realise newborns are given these, I was just wondering what are the pros and cons. Thanks and well done on giving birth!!! Yay for awesome midwives !!

    • Check out the link the Jenn passed on. The pros and cons are listed there.

  5. Both of my boys were facing that way too. It HURT! With my first, I thought I might throw up with the pain of it. I got into the shower, and it was like someone laid magical healing hands on me, and the pain melted away. It was glorious. With my second child, all my pain was in my back, I didn’t even notice any contractions. Again, the shower was like magic, and I stayed in the sower up until one minute before I felt the urge to push. I wont tell you it was all that hard the second time around. It was pretty easy. I remember my midwife coming in and telling me that I wasn’t in enough pain. I let her break my water, and that’s when the pain revved up. It only lasted an hour and a half though. They were both pretty quick labors. I can’t imagine being in such exhausting pain for so long. Some people in my family call me Grace Athena Warrior, but I think it truly does take a warrior to endure that pain for so long. Ya, I know it hurt, but I’m also pretty sure I had it easy. My Husband and I are trying right now, and I hope my last child proves no more difficult than the first two. I’ve had to be a warrior enough times in my life. Maya is so beautiful – and chunky. :) Good work Mama.

    • Wow. I wish I would have heard your story before labor! I did take a shower in the very beginning to clean up after my water breaking but, as I mentioned, the pain was so overwhelming that it was hard to even think about moving from one position to another. I was just kind of stuck on my knees for a long long time. Oh well!

  6. I think this is a wonderful birth story. It’s comforting to know that even if you are the healthiest, fittest pregnant woman on the planet, sometimes things just don’t go to plan and you end up having to compromise your original birth plan. I am dealing with those thoughts now- knowing that I want a specific birth experience, but wondering if it’s going to play out like that and wondering what I would do if it didn’t. This was an honest account of your struggle, your pain, and the choices you made. Anyone who reads this blog will know that it must have been tough for you to agree to go to the hospital, get pain meds, even saying yes to the vacuum! Bravo for letting your guard down and giving us the chance to see how labour affected you.

  7. Thank you for sharing your story. Congratulations – and you have a beautiful daughter!

  8. Thank you for sharing your story Peggy! I am 3 months along, due the end of February, with my first child. Also as someone who others also tend to consider “badass”- strong, fit, healthy, ready for an adventure, and not easily dismayed by discomfort and pain- it’s good to hear these “keeping labor and delivery real” stories that it can be agony even for those of us who consider ourselves ready for the difficulties. Frankly it’s scary and humbling. Each of us can only hope to create one of those fast and easy delivery stories you hear about, where labor is only 2 hours!

    I am planning a home birth, though the practice I chose (due to being in network with my insurance, which actually covers home birth) has a high hospital transport rate of 30-40% with first time Moms. That freaked me out at first, but they reassured me they don’t go unless there is a problem or unless labor is not progressing well (usually at least 10 hours of labor first) and that their goals are a healthy baby and Mom and a vaginal delivery. And after hearing stories like yours, it’s good to know that the relief a hospital can offer is available when really needed, and that a happy vaginal birth can happen at a hospital, even when one loathes hospitals!

    • Congratulations Jenn! Honestly, your birth may be even easier with those options in place. I had to deal with two issues in my decision to go to the hospital. One, I don’t have insurance. I knew I was making a 13,000 dollar decision. That’s a tough call to make. Two, we had NEVER talked at all about going to the hospital. Both Julian and I couldn’t even conceive of the possibility. When it came time, Julian couldn’t accept it. He knew me to be strong beyond measure. It took him a while to believe that my walls had truly fallen. It was hard for both of us. Labor and delivery are so amazing. We both learned so much more about ourselves and each other in that one day and we became so much closer too.

  9. As someone who tried for a vaginal birth, TWICE, and did not succeed I find reading this birth story reassuring. After my oldest’s birth I had a lot of trouble reading other’s birth stories. I felt like a failure as a woman. I did everything I was supposed to yet still a doctor I had never met had to cut my son out of me. My second c-section was no easier to swallow. Now on my third pregnancy I find reading stories of other women who struggled or failed, like me, brings honesty and openness back to the childbearing experience. It’s much like the experience I had losing my first two pregnancies. I felt a failure and alone until I discovered so many strong, amazing women had similar experiences. Hearing their stories helped me heal and move on to successful pregnancies. The only way I can see this beautiful story as bragging is if one looks at birth and parenting as a competition rather than a journey to be shared.

    Congrats Peggy! Your family is amazing. Thank you for sharing so much of yourself.

  10. I thought the post was fantastic for many reasons. For one, my daughter is also called Maia Sofia. Another, being stuck at the mall and dealing with a bloody, hanging tooth on first child. Horrible in the moment, but, definitely real, and hilarious “oh no!” reading. And for the two haters talking about bragging: puleez. If you’ve had kids you know that you can wish for the most angelic birth but shit goes down. You try to keep it as close to your plan as possible, if you have one. We women know that childbirth is amazing and crazy and sometimes traumatic. But each woman’s experience is real and should be respected. I guess y’all were hoping for an awful story where she ended up with a c-section.

  11. Hi Peggy,
    First off, congrats! You both look like you are doing very well :). And thanks for sharing your story (I’m afraid I also didn’t find any sign of bragging in there…)

    My due date is on Sunday (first baby) and I’m curious about your reasons for skipping the Vit K, Hep B, and antibiotic ointment. I’ll be giving birth in Switzerland, where the hospitals are much more mother-friendly, with low c-section rates, high Vbac rates, and where they don’t push medication unless they feel it’s truly needed. I’ve already requested that the cord be left until it stops pulsing, which my doctor seemed happy with, saying that it is standard to cut it after one minute, but they are comfortable if someone requests to delay cutting (and perhaps personally believe its better to let it pulse). I don’t actually know what their policy is regarding the injections, but I’d like to hear your reasons for not finding them necessary.

    I also just found out that I was tested positive for Group B Strep earlier in the pregnancy and am awaiting the results of the re-test. If it’s positive they did recommend that I take antibiotics during labor to prevent the baby from picking up the bacteria in its lungs. I’m not a fan of antibiotics, but I don’t think I would feel comfortable with the risk that the baby could become very sick and have to take strong antibiotics if I didn’t take them…

    Again, thanks for your story and all the best for your growing family :)
    -Gwyn

    P.S. our babies will be sharing a middle name!

    • This blog has a good explanation for skipping the vitamin K and eye ointment: http://onefitmom.ca/2011/07/15/decisions-routine-newborn-procedures/

      Also the book “Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering” has good info on Group B strep.

      • Thanks for the link! Actually, I don’t think that those are standard procedures in Switzerland, but I will have to ask.
        And the good news is that my latest strep B test came back negative, so no need for antibiotics during labor!

  12. Many congrats Peggy! Thank you for sharing your birth story.

    BTW, our babies were born at the exact same weight. :)

  13. Congratulations Peggy! That was a great birth story. So the birth wasn’t exactly how you’d planned it, well, how many things are in life? You succeeded in the most important things: birthing vaginally and having a healthy baby. And you rebounded very quickly. I’d say that’s pretty damn well a success! Congrats again, and pay no mind to the troll.

  14. Peggy, thanks for sharing your story. I’ve been checking my reader regularly for it! :)

    I can really relate to your birthing experience. The pain–I had so much pain with my son I thought breaking my leg would be more bearable. I chose an epidural, too, because I was afraid I wouldn’t have the energy to push when the time came. I wish mine had run out though! I couldn’t feel anything when I pushed and I feel partially robbed of knowing what it’s like to give birth because of that (though enormously grateful I had a vaginal birth).

    Sorry you didn’t get a home birth, but it sounds like you made some wise decisions there. Your story is encouraging to me. I have just recently found out that I am a candidate for home birth when I thought I wasn’t (not pregnant yet, but hopefully soon). But I know there’s always a chance of having to head to the hospital. If that happens, I’ll probably be thinking of you, and reminding myself it’s okay to go to the hospital when that’s what the situation calls for.

    By the way, you look amazing. I’m so jealous haha. ;)

  15. I loved your birth story! Congratulations! My birth experience with my first baby was eerily similar to yours. I initially wanted a drug free birth but due to the fact that my daughter was sunny side up and I had already been in labor for 20 hours, I said OK to the epidural. Three hours later it was time to push but by then the epidural had worn off and I felt every detail of the birth. I pushed for three hours and she finally arrived, all 9 pounds 2 ounces of her. I feel your pain, but they’re so worth it :) My son was 5 ounces bigger and I was able to birth him unmedicated after a successful version (he was breech) at 42 weeks! My kids don’t like to conform to the rules I guess :) Congrats again!

    • Wow Heather you are a tough mama! The PCOS is likely responsible for the large babies as insulin resistance is at the bottom of both. I started out doing low carb Paleo to manage my PCOS too but I found I didn’t have to stay that way.

      I am actually loving the heat! June and July were soooooo miserable for me while I was pregnant. I now have a chance to actually enjoy the end of summer. I’ve been hiking and swimming and just hoping that it stays warm for a little while longer. Plus, how do you deal with infants in the cold here? Evelyn was a California girl…

  16. P.S. I’m also PCOS and I manage it with low carb/Paleo eating – I’m still learning though. I was a vegetarian for years so this way of eating is difficult for me at times. But I was told that the PCOS was why my kids were so huge – large babies don’t run in either of our families. I’m in Denver too. I can’t wait for fall, how about you? It’s been so dry and hot! Really enjoy your blog, thanks for everything you do!

  17. Hi Peggy,
    I’ve been following your blog for a long time from Hungary, and thought it would be just time to say hi and congratulations! So congrats on your beautiful newborn baby, your persistance throughout such difficult July 31, your VBAC success story, your wonderful older daughter (Evelyn, who exclaims “WE” are in labor…), your choice for the birth team (Julian and Nedra), your blog and so many other things (homeschooling, etc.). I learn a lot from you and your experiences and am grateful for you sharing all that knowledge.
    Hugs:
    Bogyó

  18. Hi Peggy, Congratulations on the baby – she is just so beautiful ! Makes me want to have another one.
    Only people who have had back contractions would know how much worser than normal front contractions they are..I had back contractions with my son and since it was my first, I thought they are supposed to hurt that bad. Going in I knew I would take epidural but then a 15 min procedure took the doctor 1.5 hours – some oddity with my spine did’nt allow the catheter to go all the way. I progressed from 4 to 8+ cms within that 90 mins and my gynae broke my water in between which made the pain skyrocket….I was begging for pain relief and the anesthesiologist wanted to give one last try( which fortunately worked ) otherwise I would have had to go natural…I don’t think I could have so am grateful that I got the pain med…
    Eventually my son did come facing up inspite of the doctors trying to turn his head around…
    I am sorry your birth plan didn’t go as you had hoped for but a VBAC is still really so awesome.

  19. Thank you for having the courage to write this post! Congratulations on a beautiful baby!!

    It is incredibly comforting for me to hear these kinds of stories. I deliveried my son via csection and the snide comments still sting even though I know they are bullshit. A “friend” told me she was woman enough to deliver an 11lb baby immediately after I told her about my csection.

    I love your blog.

    • What a horrible thing to say! Wow. Some people are really full of themselves eh? As many of the women have pointed out, you’ve done a great job no matter how it turned out. We all have our strengths and weaknesses. While that woman may be as tough as a soldier she’s clearly mean and thoughtless. So much for her strength!

  20. Apparently breastfeeding for over 2 years doesn’t count in her world.

    I went primal 9 months ago and ate a mostly vegetarian (read grain-filled) diet while pregnant. I gained 60lbs.

    Im very curious to know how your recovery has been in detail. From the picture, you look like a million bucks! We are getting ready to ttc now that my weight, arthritis, and diet are under control.

    Ps- I’m DYING to read your book. February is too far away.

  21. I do still take Metformin but only 850 mg right now. I’m scared to totally go off of it, although I’ve lost 20 pounds since venturing into Paleo eating and have about 10 more to be at my ideal weight. It is getting cooler thankfully, we’ve been doing a lot of hiking too. I’ll definitely miss that this time next month! I don’t know…my daughter was born in December and I’ll be honest that I didn’t leave the house with her until she was about 3 weeks old. It was Christmas time and it was cold and I was afraid of the germs. We just would bundle her up whenever we went out and we spent lots of time at indoor play areas and the mall to kill time :) Take care and enjoy the last few weeks of fall!

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