My due date of December 1st came & went. I thought that perhaps this being my second baby that he would come early, but I think I should expect all our kids (if we have more, Lord willing) to be late...Ill explain later.
My goal for this birth was to have a v-bac, vaginal birth after ceserean, labor longer at home and go to the hospital around 5cm, not have any intervention, ie: pitocin or other drugs except my wonderful epidural, get an epidural after I reach 5cm, and never feel an oz of pain for the rest of my labor....Ok, so here is what really happened....
I had been having strong braxton hicks contractions, and ocassionally what felt like 'real' labor pains. Ones that I found similar to what I had with Kristin. All week long I was being pushed by Justin and my sister-in-law to get this baby out! We went on long walks to try and get my body going.
Finally Friday morning at 5:30am I KNEW I was having real labor contractions. I labored at home for a few hours, timing my contractions anywhere from 2-4 min apart. What I thought to be pretty painful contractions, or ok maybe lets go to the hospital contractions were most definitely NOT pretty painful as I found out later on that day.
We arrived at the hospital around 10:30am and they sent us to there observation room, or pre-check in room to see how I am progressing. One of the nurses told me they would not admit me till I am in 'active labor', 4cm at least. I was thinking since my contractions are pretty painful Im sure I am at least 3-4cm. To my horror I was only 2-2.5! I sobbed and sobbed because we were to be sent home, I just knew it! The nurse left to call the dr and discuss our situation with him and find out what he wanted to do. She came back and said for us to walk for an hour and see how I am progressing in an hour. So Justin and I walked in circles around the Labor and delivery ward again and again...and again and again...then to go get checked again to see how I progressed, and again to my horror I was only 3cm! I thought for sure now we are going to be sent home! I was horrified that these painful contractions were for only 3cm! I kept telling Justin, "I am such a wuss!" The nurse returned and said due to my prior c-section, and the fact I needed a few doses of medication before delivery they decided to keep me even though I was not yet at 4cm. I was relieved, thinking ok now things are going to get going and we're havin this baby today! My contractions continued to worsen, pain-wise, but they were not close enough together to make a REAL difference...my nurse checked me again in 3 hours and again to my horror I had not changed AT ALL! I was stuck at 3cm! I felt devistated, disapointed, and felt defeated...I was thinking there must be something wrong with my body, there is no reason why I should not have progressed somewhat within the last 3 hours! The nurse came in and told us what our dr was recommending, to begin pitocin. Its a drug used to mimic contractions, basically forcing your body to have them. I had pitocin my last labor and even though we dont know for sure if it contributed to my c-section, I really wanted to not have any medical interventions with my labor progression. At this point I am in pain and telling Justin, just give me a c-section, I just want a c-section and get this over with! We spent some time praying about what to do, talked with the dr and some family and prayed with some family as to what to do as well and when we told the nurse we would go ahead and do the pitocin even though we didnt want to she suggested breaking my water instead of pitocin. She was an excellent nurse! She delivered her child at home, naturally and is very pro-natural methods so she was able to give us her opinion on how breaking my water would be a better, more 'natural' way to set off my labor instead of using the pitocin. After our discussion with her we asked her to go back to the dr and discuss this option with him to see if he would do it. She agreed and left to go call him, but came back a few minutes later wanting to check me once more before she calls the dr...and praise be to God, I was at 4cm! After she left I decided to use the restroom, and labor standing up for a while when all of a sudden I felt a trickle running down my leg, I get back into bed and good thing I did because all of sudden my water broke on its own! I was so happy, God answered our prayers and I didnt need any intervention whatsoever, we just needed to give my body time to dialate. Within another 2 to 3 hours I reached 5cm and I got my epidural and was able to get some sleep, FINALLY! After reaching 10cm I pushed for about 40 minutes and at 3:39am Jacob Justin Roberts was born. I finally got the birth I wanted to have, they put him on my stomach and I got to hold him. Time after that just flew by, I just sat there watching the nurses take care of Jake, Justin taking pictures and was just walking on clouds. I was relieved it was over with, our son was finally here!
Looking back God's faithfulness and grace towards me was clearly seen...Im not one to always be patient in my decision making, I can imagine how different this birth could have been had we just made a snap decision to just give me the c-section I was begging for, in order to have the easy, pain-free delivery, but it would have been a buy now pay later situation, because looking at how life at home is now with two kids, recovering from a c-section would have been so much more difficult to bear. And if we had chosen the pitocin, how much worse my laboring could have been or what could have happened, perhaps leading to another c-section, we will never know, but I praise God for a husband who seeks His will, who when he doesnt know what to do goes to God asking what to do. Justin was an amazing coach through it all, he helped me focus, relax, see reality at times and just loved me the best ways he knew how. I am so blessed to have the husband I do. He pushed me beyond what I thought I could handle, he encouraged me to trust the Lord and to hold on to His promises and to not give up but stay hopeful.
Thanks for reading Jake's birth story, now here are the photos!
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