Brynn’s Birth Story

Forgive me if this is a bit long winded, but I know that I have really enjoyed looking back at Bella’s birth story over the years and figure I’ll want to do the same this time – especially since it was a totally different (VBAC!) experience.

At my 39 week doctor’s appointment, I was 2-3 cm dilated and very, very soft. Dr. G. spent a long time trying to sweep my membranes, hoping that it would send me into labor. It sort of did, as I had contractions less than 5 minutes apart for the better part of 10 hours. But eventually, when I finally fell asleep around 3 am they spaced out and eventually stopped.

Six days later on May 26th, at 39 weeks and 6 days, I went back to the doctor’s office, this time seeing Dr. K. who had done Bella’s emergency c-section. She excitedly proclaimed that I was a solid 4 cm and 80% effaced and swept my membranes again. She said my cervix felt like that of one that was in active labor, which made sense since I’d been having contractions on and off for a week, even though I wasn’t feeling them that afternoon. We scheduled my induction for June 1st, although she said she’d be very surprised if I made it that long.

While I was hoping for it, I definitely didn’t expect to go into real labor so quickly after this second membrane sweep. Lance had finished work early and accompanied me to the appointment. He left to go pick up Bella and I went home to tidy up and work on getting things ready just in case it did the trick this time. I felt crampy immediately upon leaving the doctor’s office (as I had the week before), and once again, the contractions started within 30 minutes. When Lance and Bella got home, I suggested we all go for a walk. It was almost 90 degrees out so not really what I wanted to do, but I was desperate to keep the contractions going. We walked around half a mile. Bella wanted us to bring her stroller, but wanted to walk, and around halfway, she decided that mommy and daddy should swing her by the arms as we walked. She would say “one, three, one, swing!” over and over again. Her giggles made me smile so big, although the extra energy expenditure was tough!

By the time we got home, the contractions were at a consistent three minutes apart. They were painful, but not unbearable. I told Lance that we needed to hurry up and eat dinner, put her to bed, and then leave as soon as she was down. I coordinated with two of my neighbors to come over as soon as she was down and Lance called his mom to see if they wanted to come tonight or the next morning. Of course, Bella had to make bedtime a challenge that evening, but by 7:30 she was down, our bags were packed, our neighbor had arrived, and we were out the door, praying that this was the real thing.

By the time we got to labor and delivery it was a little after 8. We were taken right into triage and I was hooked up. The nurses’s asked me some questions and hooked me up to the monitor. Unlike last time, when my water had broken and was gushing, this time there was some questions as to whether or not I’d be admitted. I was contracting frequently but the pain was manageable. A med student came in and asked a bajillion questions of which the answers were in my chart, and thankfully, a few minutes later, Dr. H., one of my favorite doctors in the practice (she did my emergency d&c over the summer and over subsequent appointments had said I could email her directly with questions), came in to check me. The question over whether I’d be admitted was answered quickly when she said I was 5-6 cm. Pretty good progress in about 4 hours! By 9 pm I’d been admitted and my penicillin was hooked up for the first dose. Dr. H. said that she wouldn’t be allowed to break my water until I got both doses of penicillin, which would take four hours.

Once the penicillin was in I was moved to my labor and delivery room. I was not expecting this but the penicillin was killing my arm! It hurt so bad. More than the contractions that were continuing every 4 minutes or so. I had an amazing labor and delivery nurse, Amanda, that quickly fixed it by diluting the penicillin. As soon as she did it the pain went away. She said she always dilutes it from the start and I’m wondering why every nurse doesn’t do this! I got on the ball to bounce for about 5 minutes when the anesthesia attending showed up and asked if I was ready for my epidural. Since it was one of the attendings that Lance likes, I decided to just go ahead and get it then since Lance had warned me if I waited to long he’d likely go to sleep and then the resident would be doing it instead. I was super nervous as they got me set up on the bed for the epidural but it wasn’t too bad. Just like the spinal I had with my c-section the nerves and set-up were worse than the actual procedure.

epidural in place

on my side for my whole labor!

That was around 10 pm. The epidural kicked in pretty fast and soon I was only feeling my contractions in my bottom. The nurse said I was likely just feeling the baby moving down but it was painful! I wasn’t feeling any of the traditional contraction pain I’d been used to and only feeling pressure in my bottom. I also had to labor on my sides because any time they put me on my back, baby had scary decels. At one point, Lance was in a pretty big panic because as he told me after the fact, her heartbeat went all the way down to 50 bpm. So after that I was no longer allowed on my back. At midnight, Dr. H. came back to check me again and I was at 9 cm, 90% effaced, and 0 station. She also realized at this point that baby was sunny side up. So I was given the peanut pillow to put between my legs and nurse Amanda put me on “the rotisserie”, where they’d rotate my position every 20 minutes or so to try and get baby’s head to turn the right way.

Soon after, the anesthesia resident came in to check how I was doing. I was still feeling pretty intense pain in my bottom, and I was worried that this mean that the epidural wasn’t working low enough and that I’d feel everything when it came time to push. She asked if I wanted a bolus, and I said no out of that fear. About 15 minutes later, the pain got worse so we called her back in to do the bolus. That seemed to help.

At 1:30, Dr. H. returned and said that I was complete. Baby still wasn’t low enough, so they wanted me to do some practice pushes to help move her down. Dr. H. stayed in the room for the first few, which I was having trouble with as with my worry – we had done the bolus too close to pushing time. Again, Lance told me after the fact that the resident gave me more than twice the dose that he would have given. He said that the resident was probably worried about under-dosing an attending’s wife since that’d probably be worse than giving me too much. But oh well. So it was tough going pushing for a while. I felt like I wasn’t getting anywhere but maybe it was also because I was pushing from my side due to those earlier decels.

Dr. H. left for a little while we worked on getting baby down. I ended up a little too much on my back and she had another decel, so Dr. H. returned and stayed until the birth. They put oxygen on me which ironically made it harder for me to breathe. She finally got to the point where they could see her head, and I finally got the hang of pushing. The way I was crunching on my side was making me feel really sick with every push, and eventually I threw up. After that, things went much quicker.

It took a while with those final pushes, and she seemed to get stuck crowning, but thankfully one last contraction came and out came baby Brynn. Once her head was through I felt this huge relief. They immediately placed her on my chest and left her there while they delivered the placenta. The placenta came out with no issue thankfully. I did have a second degree tear but at that point things were wonderful and calm. The peds nurse came in and worked on Brynn while I was stitched up, and we all just chit chatted through that part. Eventually Brynn was put on my chest skin to skin and it just felt so amazing that we were able to do a successful VBAC relatively easily. I’m so thankful that Dr. H. was on and that she remained so calm through the decels, never trying to scare me into a c-section.

baby’s first selfie! i don’t remember this at all!

proud daddy cutting the cord!

Lance was trying the whole time to have them born at the same time (Brynn was born at 3:35 am and Bella at 3:48 am), but I was glad it didn’t take another 13 minutes.

all cleaned up

pure love

7 lbs 13 oz!

first picture with mommy and daddy

Just before 7 we were moved into our postpartum room. Our hospital stay was very uneventful. The first day I was in shock at how I couldn’t move around at all. I was having as much trouble getting out of bed as I did post c-section. We think it was from spending so long pushing and also possibly from some scar tissue from the previous c-section. But thankfully that passed after about 24 hours.  I’m still a little sore but overall feeling much better now.

On Friday the 29th around 10:30 am we were discharged from the hospital and eagerly returned home to begin life as a family of four!

 

 

The 39 week tease

I didn’t make my weekly post yesterday because I thought I was going to have a baby.

But I didn’t, and I’m not even in the hospital.

I had a late doctor’s appointment yesterday with Dr. G., the one who seemed to be the most on-board with making my VBAC happen. They were running so far behind, that it was almost 4:30 by the time she saw me. She checked me and said that I was 3-4 cm on the outside, 2-3 cm on the inside, and at -1 station. She was very happy with this because it already essentially made me eligible for a VBAC induction at 41 weeks although she didn’t think I’d get that far.

She then worked for a full 5 minutes on a membrane sweep. However, apparently my cervix was so soft and squishy that she was having trouble doing the sweep. I felt sort of crampy immediately, and after picking up Bella from daycare, the contractions started and were quickly 3 minutes apart. However, I could talk through them, so I called the nurse line just to see what they thought since they were very close together but not long enough or strong enough. She said to go about my evening and call back once they were stronger.

So since it was ladies night with my group of friends, I decided to keep those plans as a distraction. All through the drive there and dinner the contractions continued 3-5 minutes apart and were strong enough that I had trouble talking through some of them. I was pretty confident this was it and my one friend at ladies night who works in anesthesia with Lance even texted the OB anesthesia attending who was at the hospital to see which OB was working. Since it was one of the OBs that I don’t know well, and I knew Dr. G would be starting a 24 hour shift at 8 am, all the girls agreed (and we all go to the same practice) that the best strategy was to try and make it until 4-5 am so that I’d be close to Dr. G.’s shift starting.

Well I got home and things continued. They were strong but when I laid down they slowed way down. So I got back up and Lance and I sat and watched Letterman’s final show. Sitting back up made the frequency go back to every 5 minutes. When the Late Show ended, Lance went to bed and I decided to try and lay down as well to see if they would continue or stop. This time they continued so I laid in bed for about 30 minutes and then dozed off for 30 minutes. I woke up to two more strong contractions that got me out of bed and moving back around.

At this point I wish I would have just gone into the hospital. But I had that 3-4 am goal and it was only 2:30 am. So I laid back down, fell asleep, and they just stopped. I got up a few times to try and get them going again but once it seemed like they were really done, I decided it was just in my best interest to sleep.

So when Lance’s alarm went off at 7 I told him to just go to work and I got up and took Bella to daycare and came into work myself. I sent Dr. G. a message this morning asking if that was just false labor and she said its possible or they may start up again. She is at the hospital until 8 am tomorrow and said to come in and get checked if they pick back up at all.

I’m just so bummed. I thought for sure that was it and if I wasn’t trying to VBAC or a doctor I knew better had been working, I’m sure I would have gone in earlier because there would have been less fear of being pushed to a c-section.

So at this point I’m just praying my water breaks and I get that definitive sign to go in. Last night was just a cruel tease and has left me exhausted and dejected. Come on baby girl! We are ready!

38 weeks

I’m really hoping that this is the last one of these that I write. Somehow I doubt it, but one can hope!

Size of Baby: Baby is the size of a winter squash. She is estimated around 7 lbs and 19+ inches.

Weight: Up to +35. In the past four days or so I’ve really noticed the edema kicking in around my feet and hands, so guessing that is contributing.

Sleep: Two nights this week I’ve been woken by contractions. Friday they were strong and regular enough that I thought labor was starting. But it didn’t and they eventually died down. The nights that I haven’t had contractions I’ve actually slept pretty well!

Best Moment of the Week: Loved our perfect Mother’s Day celebrations with Bella, my mom, and Lance’s mom. We enjoyed a wonderful homemade breakfast and then we all went out to dinner that evening.

Movement:  Noticing more lower down movement but the doctor confirmed that she is definitely head down now and that she is actually pretty low.

Symptoms: Other than the contractions, the main symptom at this point is the back pain. New this week is the increased swelling but 80+ degree temperatures surely aren’t helping there.

Food Cravings/Aversions: Lance made a lovely looking fritatta for Mother’s Day but I couldn’t even try and eat it. The egg aversion has lasted for this entire pregnancy!

Belly Button: Not out.

What I Miss: Fitting into my clothes. I CANNOT WAIT to be able to wear normal clothing again. My maternity wardrobe was not built for these high temperatures! I’m starting to feel big and gross and I’m really looking forward to losing this weight. I have a few store gift cards that I plan on using for some cute new clothes as soon as I drop some pounds.

What I Am Looking Forward To: Ok this probably isn’t going to change from here on out – but baby girl’s arrival. 38 weeks and I’m ready! Other than that, I guess I’ll say our little neighborhood block party this Saturday. Bella adores her friends from the neighborhood and I know the plan is to have some fun outdoor games and water activities for them to do together while the adults (hopefully) relax!

37 weeks!

Size of Baby: Baby is the size of a honeydew melon. She is likely over 6 and a quarter pounds and 19 inches long. i.e. She is a full size baby now!

Weight: Right around +33. Hoping to stay around the +35 range although that’ll likely depend on when she decides to make her appearance.

Sleep: Not great but not horrible. It is definitely getting tougher and tougher to roll over and get in and out of bed. I didn’t eat my 9 pm bowl of cereal the other day and it had me awake and starving by 6 am! Lesson learned.

Best Moment of the Week: Hitting full term today! So exciting to know that she could literally arrive at any time now. I don’t think that she will, but her arrival is getting super close now!

Movement:  I think the movement is continuing to slow down. We can feel her knees pretty distinctly now on my right side. Dr. N. seemed to indicate yesterday that she is in prime position (other than that she hasn’t dropped) with head down, back and butt on my left and feet and knees and feet on my upper right.

Symptoms: The back pain is getting rough! It comes on now after only 5-10 minutes of standing. No idea how people with physical jobs continue to work at this point. I’m still having contractions that are occasionally painful but nothing near timeable yet. So other than the back pains and contractions, I’m feeling really good. My energy level is great for this point of pregnancy  and nothing else is making me too uncomfortable.

Food Cravings/Aversions: None really this week. I’m still really wanting sweets all the time but no specific cravings. I am, however, already starting to think about my post-delivery meal and it may have to be sushi!

Belly Button: Continuing to get flatter but still in.

What I Miss: It’d be nice to not feel overheated all the time. In the house, at work, outside (it has been in the low 80s all week)….yeah, pretty much everywhere I go I’m hot!

What I Am Looking Forward To: Both of our mothers are coming to visit tomorrow and staying with us through Mother’s Day. It’ll be so much fun to celebrate Sunday with three generations. We also have some other fun stuff going on this weekend. We’re taking one last date night on Friday with our neighbors across the street. We’ve actually never been able to hang out without kids so this will be a fun double date. Then Saturday morning we’ll go to a birthday party at a local museum with some good friends and Bella will get to ride her first choo choo train! She is so aware of the sound of a train now that when we are driving she often notices it and says “choo choo train” before I hear it!

36 weeks

Gosh. I can’t believe we are at this point. I had a very quick doctor’s appointment today and she had a big smile on her face congratulating me for getting to this point (this was another appointment with Dr. H., who did my emergency D&C back in July and my miscarriage follow-up appointments…so she gets it). It’s both exciting and surreal. It’s also nice to just be able to relax at this point with all worries of a pre-term birth gone!

Size of Baby: Baby is the size of a ripe papaya. She is 5 and 3/4 pounds and nearing 19 inches!

Weight: Up to +32, or another 3 lbs in the past 2 weeks. Still hoping that I can stay in the +35 range which was around what I gained with Bella. Will likely depend on how much longer I go until she arrives!

Sleep: For this late in the game, I’d say its been pretty darn good. The past few nights I’ve only woken up twice. I’ve actually been a little less tired during the days as well!

Best Moment of the Week: Watching Bella play with all of her little friends. She gets so excited running around with other kids now and it is just so sweet. My friend Jen’s 15 month old slept in the baby’s room and Bella kept wanting to break in to “see baby”. I’ve decided that its a sweet gesture as long as she doesn’t actually succeed in breaking in!

Movement:  Still lots of it, but in the past few days it seems like it has gotten a little lower. Yesterday she was kicking my liver which just hurts! Doctor said today that she still felt head down, and hopefully at this point its too late for that to change!

Symptoms: Nothing really new to report. I guess I should also start including labor signs here, but I haven’t really had any! I think I’m actually having fewer braxton hicks now than I was a few months ago! I did confirm what I thought I read at my last appointment that I was 50% effaced when I got checked at 32 weeks, so I’m taking that as a good sign!

Food Cravings/Aversions: The milkshake craving is back. Why can’t I crave healthy things?

Belly Button: It seems like it is getting flatter.

What I Miss: Being able to stand without assistance. It has gotten nearly impossible to stand up from the floor without having a helping hand or something sturdy to lean on.

What I Am Looking Forward To: The nursery is just about done! It needs a few final decorative touches and then I’m going to declare it good to go.

One Month to Go!

Can you believe it? Our little girl is due one month from today! Hopefully she comes a little earlier than then though. I think because Bella was born at 39 weeks I’m really hoping that this little girl comes around the same time, but I’m also trying to prepare myself that every baby is different and this one may want to stick around a while longer.

I’m sort of starting to feel prepared. The nursery is all done minus hanging some artwork. Clothes have been washed and put away. Bottles and pump parts have been sterilized. Baby gear is all ready to be moved into position (swing, pack and play, tummy time mat). Quilt is half finished and just needs to be sewn up. Now just need to pack a hospital bag and install the infant car seat and we’ll be ready to go!

Crazy that if all goes well we’ll be meeting our baby girl in the next month!

35 weeks

Gosh, it really seems like time is flying now. I have a feeling that I’ll be feeling very differently as we get to 38-39 weeks and I start to get impatient, but for now I’m happy to be trucking along without complication or difficulty. This is actually the week that I was taken off of bedrest with Bella, and as my doctor said last week, the milestone at which there is no mandatory NICU stay at our hospital – so WOOHOO! Keep growing baby girl! We’ll be meeting you soon!

Size of Baby: Baby is the size of a honeydew. She is 5 and a quarter pounds and nearing her full term length.

Weight: No update this week since its my last week without a doctor’s appointment. Crazy that starting next week I’ll be in the doctor’s office weekly!

Sleep: Overall pretty good. I had a terrible night of sleep on Friday (on our babymoon of course…more on that later) but every other night has been typical.

Best Moment of the Week: Two-fold – we had a great time visiting with Lance’s mom and stepdad and Bella was thrilled to have their company. She is definitely getting to the point where she LOVES grandparent visits. And we love both seeing those relationships develop and having a few moments to ourselves while she plays with them! And the second part that goes along with the first part was the fantastic surprise “babymoon” that Lance planned for me. I’ll have more on that in a separate post!

Movement:  I think I’m finally starting to feel a little less movement now that she is running out of space. I still feel her wiggling around but not the big kicks or whatever I was feeling previously.

Symptoms: Much better this week! The SPD has returned to a more “normal” pain now that I’m avoiding super long walks. Now its mainly just when I get up from sitting or laying that its at its worst. I’m having some braxton hicks that are getting a little more uncomfortable but haven’t had any more episodes where they are regular. Other than that, just the typical lots of peeing, back pain, and occasional shortness of breath.

Food Cravings/Aversions: Still none really. Tonight is my ladies night at the local fondue restaurant. They do cheese and chocolate for $9 a person and its always a ton of fun. Of course I love cheese and chocolate whether I’m pregnant or not!

Belly Button: Still kind of weird looking. Don’t think its gonna pop.

What I Miss: Can’t say anything this week. Feeling very thankful to have made it to this point! .

What I Am Looking Forward To: My best friend Jen and her family are visiting this weekend and I’m looking forward to some relaxing, showing them around the area, and just letting the kiddos have some play time! Maybe having other kids stay in our house will help get Bella ready for baby’s arrival!

34 weeks

34 weeks is a big milestone! With Bella, this is when I was placed onto modified bedrest instead of strict bedrest, and today my doctor told me that at this point I wouldn’t even get steroid shots if I went into labor. So no more panicking on whether or not I should go into the hospital if I have a bunch of contractions. At this point there is no need to unless I’m actually in no-doubt-about-it labor! This is also the last week of mandatory NICU admission at our hospital. At 35 weeks she would only have to go if medically necessary.

My appointment today was with Dr. H., one of the younger doctors in the practice that did my emergency d&c back in July. She has been super nice ever since Lance fast-tracked us into an OR in the middle of the night back then, even telling me that I can email her directly rather than going through the online portal. So it was great to see her today and I know she is one I can count on for legit information. Her take on VBACs from within their practice. All of the doctors are comfortable with a membrane sweep around 39 weeks to try and get things going. All of the doctors are good with breaking my water if my cervix is favorable. All but 3 of the doctors (and she told me which ones) are ok with a gentle pitocin induction if my cervix is favorable. She also thinks that with the number of contractions I’ve been having and with the fact that my water broke at 39 weeks with Bella, that I’ll go into labor on my own.

So all of that makes me feel even better about VBAC than I did after my last appointment. It sounds like more doctors than not favor a gentle induction if needed and two of the three that don’t only work part-time – so odds of them being there that week are lower.

Phew – that was a long recap. But things are getting interesting now that we are getting closer! Oh, and I also thought I saw that when the medical assistant was entering in my blood pressure that I was 50% effaced at my last cervical check. Hoping that is true as it’d probably be a good sign for some natural labor. I should have asked the doctor but didn’t have the guts. Maybe next time.

Size of Baby: Baby is the size of a cantaloupe. She is nearing 5 lbs and 18 inches long. My belly is measuring a week behind but she may just be on the shorter side like Bella was.

Weight: Ugh their scale said I gained 2 lbs in the past 9 days, even though according to my home scale I haven’t gained anything! Maybe it was because my appointment was right after lunch?

Sleep: I can’t wait until I don’t wake up to pee 2-3 times a night. Of course then I’ll be waking up for a crying baby instead.

Best Moment of the Week: Big girl bed success! After some difficulty with rolling out of bed the first two nights, things have *knock on wood* been going well since. No falling out and only an episode or two of brief crying. Still sleeping all night and needing to be woken up in the mornings. Glad to get the crib into baby’s room and starting to feel like we are at least close to ready for baby girl’s arrival!

Movement:  Lots of kicking in the upper right of my uterus and its very visible from the outside now. Love it!

Symptoms: So walking 2+ miles at Walk MS on Saturday was definitely not a good idea. A few hours later I developed horrendous pelvic pain called SPD. I had some of this with Bella but a little later on. It is at its worst when I try to get up from sitting or laying. It has tapered off since Saturday but still pretty horrible sometimes and tylenol does nothing. Mentioned it to the doctor today but since it doesn’t effect baby at all the best thing they can recommend is to get one of those support belts. I think I’m just going to avoid walking more than a mile at a time :-).

Food Cravings/Aversions: None really! I think as we get closer I’m just going to start anticipating the sushi, wine, and beer!

Belly Button: Feeling flatter but still looks like an innie.

What I Miss: Sleeping in! I usually wake up from a combination of hunger or having to pee. I think this weekend I’m going to eat a big snack before bed so that I can sleep until 8.

What I Am Looking Forward To: Baby girl’s arrival! Now that I’m 34 weeks everything becomes a lot less scary. And her nursery is almost starting to look like a nursery so that is something. We took out the bottles and pump parts last night and started sterilizing them and I washed and put away all of Bella’s newborn clothes. Still need to buy a few things for the nursery but the room is definitely coming along!

33 weeks

Size of Baby: Baby is the size of a pineapple. She should be over 4 lbs by now and 17 inches long. At this point she is really just adding fat to her frame.

Weight: Woohoo, finally had my weight increase right on track, so up to +29. If I can keep it up with just a pound a week I’ll be right around the +35 mark.

Sleep:  I’ve been sleeping much better lately! Waking around two times a night but I generally fall back asleep very quickly.

Best Moment of the Week: Visiting with our family and friends in Pennsylvania. It was so great to see everyone and Bella loved playing with her “friends” (i.e. cousins).

Movement:  Still tons of movement. If she is running out of room it doesn’t seem like it has happened quite yet!

Symptoms: I’ve felt really good lately. Still very hungry all the time so I’ve been having a small bowl of cereal in the evenings. After going a while with way fewer braxton hicks, they seem to be picking back up again. I also lost part of my mucus plug last week, although my cervix is still long and closed. Hopefully between the increasing braxton hicks and starting to lose some plug its a good sign that my body will be able to go into labor on its own and I’ll get to VBAC!

Food Cravings/Aversions: Got my milkshake last week. Haven’t really had any cravings since then. We did make a crockpot chicken recipe overnight that made my stomach turn from the smell this morning, so hopefully I’ll be able to eat it tonight.

Belly Button: No change.

What I Miss: Not the cold temps! This week has been gorgeous with temperartures in the 70s every day. Only crappy part is being stuck in the office when I want to be out enjoying the sunshine.

What I Am Looking Forward To: Nursery progress! With Bella making the big switcheroo to her big girl bed last night (more on that another time) and us picking up a few key things from IKEA on our trip, we can finally start putting together the baby’s room. There is a ton to do still but I’m excited for it to start coming together!

The VBAC Talk

Today was the doctor’s appointment that Lance and I had earmarked for having a VBAC discussion. 1) We were meeting with one of the doctor’s that we knew was very natural birth/VBAC friendly and that wouldn’t rush us through our questions, and 2) Lance had the day off of work so he could accompany me and help me ask questions/ hear her replies.

So after waiting over 45 minutes for the doctor to come in, which is just crazy for a 9:45 am appointment, thankfully, the first thing she really asked us was whether we’d given thought to a VBAC. It was frustrating that she was running so behind for a morning appointment (I purposely schedule morning appointments when possible just to help minimize odds of delays), but we could hear some very loud patients in the room next to us while we waited so there was obviously some sort of drama going on that I’m sure was not her fault!

Anyway, the talk with this doctor was very positive. Like all of the other OBs in the practice, she said I was a great candidate for a VBAC. She said that there are online calculators of success rate and for someone like me it’d probably be in the 70% range. She said that all of the doctors in their practice are pro-VBAC, with the main differences being how comfortable some of them are with helping you to progress if you stall.

While Dr. K. had told me that I’d have to go into labor on my own to VBAC, Dr. G today said that as long as my cervix was showing signs of readiness, she’d allow me to come in and break my water at the hospital between 40-41 weeks and see what happened. She indicated no matter what they’d probably schedule a c-section at my 37 week appointment for 41 weeks, but that we could work with her call schedule to at least give a go with induction just prior to then. I thought this was great news and takes away at least SOME of the pressure on having to go into labor on my own (although still some pressure because even she won’t try and induce me if my cervix is still high and totally closed).

The main difference at first between me as a VBAC patient and someone else is that I’d need some extra monitoring. She said she is still ok with intermittent monitoring (until I get my epidural) but it really sounds like it is going to be luck of the draw with which doctor is at the hospital when I go into labor. They’d also prefer me to have an epidural but she said she personally won’t push for one early.

I told her that while I definitely want a VBAC, I’m not going to hold so strongly to one that I risk the health of our baby and myself.  So really at this point we are just going to have to wait and see what happens. What I don’t want, is to make it to 41 weeks and then need a c-section, knowing that if I just opted for a repeat c-section from the beginning, I could have my baby in my arms by May 20th. But we’ll try and not think about that and hope that my patience isn’t super tested towards the end.

The other piece of good news was that she did check on baby’s position and felt pretty confident that she is head down. I read today that only 3% of babies are breech at term, so hopefully I’m not  on the wrong end of that statistic twice!

So now I’m finally going to get on track with my appointments going forward (today was my 32 week appointment but I’m 32 weeks and 5 days) and my next appointment will be with Dr. H (who performed my emergency D&C in July) at 34 weeks. I’ll then see Dr. H again at 36 weeks and move into the weekly appointments at that point! Crazy that I’m already scheduled up until 37 weeks.

The weather is supposed to be gorgeous all week and we have a lot of fun planned for April, so I’m hoping this makes the wait for baby girl’s arrival an easy one!