The Story of Malcolm's Arrival

If you aren't into birth stories, go ahead and skip this one (or skip to the bottom if you want to see the video take right after his birth where they clean him off and weigh him).  But I will tell you it isn't gross or crazy like some you might hear.  I didn't write Kaylee's birth story because I was so devastated that I had to have a c-section.  I knew that it wasn't a bad thing or any less than a vaginal birth, but my recovery was really painful even without complications.  Plus at the hospital I was treated like a wimp and I could only think it was because I had a c-section.  Which is ridiculous because it is MUCH harder to go through a c-section recovery.  Unless you have some very big complications otherwise.  This time, I want to share my story of Malcolm being born.  In preparation for his birth I read and studied Hypnobirthing suggested by my wonderful sister in law Britany who was able to have a completely pain med free birth with their son Cam.  I knew that trying to have a completely natural birth was my best chance on having a VBAC.  That being said here it is:

I started having contractions about 2 min apart at like 5:45am so we had breakfast and got everything together and headed for the hospital. Kevin's mom was already there so Kaylee stayed home with her. We weren't in triage very long when they decided to admit me.  My mom was already on her way to the airport and called me while in triage and when Kevin called her back that is when the nurse came in and gave us the news.  I was already 5cm when I got there. So I get to the room and eventually they let me walk. Later Dr. Nett broke my water and then the real contractions really set in but I was able to focus and handle them very well. But the monitors were constantly acting up so I couldn't use the birth ball like I wanted and even walking was hard to get a good reading. So I ended up back in bed, which wasn’t what I wanted but we did what we could. Kevin was really good at helping me remain calm and relaxed.  They then told me that he wasn't handling the contractions well and that the cord was probably around his neck. I then no longer could focus.  I was really worried about my baby and I wasn’t prepared for complications like that.  So the contractions were actually unbearable and I decided on getting the epidural.  The nurses said that I was in transition by that point and almost 8 cm.  Honestly at that point I knew that I was going to be having a c-section even though they hadn’t told me that.  Because his heart rate was going down with every contraction they had me on oxygen. My blood pressure went really low and there was a whole room full of nurses trying to get it back up.  My IV started leaking so the meds weren’t fully getting into my body so they had to re stick me a few times.  One time my vein blew.  Gross.  Finally Dr. Nett turned to me and told me what I already knew. We had to get him out. Off to the OR we went and Malcolm was here :-)

I was able to stay positive about everything throughout the process.  Once I knew that we were probably going to end up in the OR I started telling myself that it was ok and that this will make us both safe and healthy, basically reaffirming to myself that this is how it is meant to be.  My main concern was for a healthy baby, and of course he would love a healthy mommy.  I felt good about how far I made it before I asked for any drugs.  I am proud of myself.  The best thing (besides the baby of course) is that Kevin told me that I was brave and that he was proud of me.  That is all I wanted.  I wanted to hear those words.  Everyone was so helpful and encouraging to me and I was grateful for all the effort given to try for a natural VBAC.  I feel like I have gotten enough of that experience, I know what it is like to be in labor, that I am satisfied with my experience.  I will definitely just do a repeat c-section next time though.   And by next time I mean after both kids are potty trained and possibly Kaylee in school.  We will see.  

My recovery this time has been really good compared to last time.  For one the nurses at the hospital were really nice to me this time.  One thing that helped is that I never had to have staples.  She just put steri strips on my incision and that was it.  It freaked me out at first, but I'm pretty sure that is why I have felt so much better.  Those staples are a PAIN!  I also had been through this before so I knew that I NEEDED colace.  Haha I needed to be on top of taking my meds.  I knew that walking was a good thing and so is rest.  A good balance of the two helps.  The only thing that sucks is that I can't pick up Kaylee.  So luckily most days I have had help so far, but I have to use a chair and have her climb into her crib by herself and when I try to sit and sing to her before she has both times decided that hitting me in the face was the appropriate response.  So she ends up crawling in the crib and then she gets no songs.  Which just makes me sad because I love to sing to her and get Kaylee cuddles.  But hitting mom in the face is not a cuddle.  Anyway, thank you for reading!!



Above is the video taken by Kevin of Malcolm strait out of my belly.  Unlike his sister he cried a lot and didn't hold his breath.