16. I kind of hoped baby #2 would arrive on January 13 but I had an all natural VBAC delivery on January 23, 2005. His birth was one of the most amazing moments of my life

Saturday morning started the same way most of the Saturdays towards the end of my pregnancy did- with a visit to my wonderful chiropractor followed by an hour long blissful full body massage. This adjustment felt different- I could feel a new sensation afterwards, it was like the baby’s head bumped all the way down into my cervix trying to make a bit of an escape. No real new changes occurred until around 11 pm that night. I started feeling mild contractions and of course the first thing that came to my mind was that if I was to go into full labor I was going to have my doula at my house every single iota of my floors needed to be spotless. So I proceeded to get on hands and knees to scrub everything I could get near. I chose lavendar as my relaxation scent and proceeded to light lavendar candles, oil burners, and tart warmers in every room. Dh then massaged my lower back for me using some oils I threw together based on their being contraction stimulators (rosemary and a few others) and I waited for things to pick up.

By 5 in the morning we called the Doula and after she spoke to me on the phone she thought it best to come within the next couple of hours. I was kept hydrated and peaceful as I slowly glided my way through labor in my glider. I was so happy to have our Doula- we really felt connected to her and dh was able to drop EbonyBoy at a friend’s house and get in a good nap while I labored. I kept myself in a calm trance and was able to nap between contractions in order to keep up my energy- the Doula kept time and made sure to try new positions if anythin slowed down (which thankfully didn’t happen). Labor continued to progress and I started needing to go pee more often and felt an increase of pressure but really didn’t think I could be too far along because my water hadn’t broken. My Doula started suggesting that perhaps we needed to go to the hospital- my husband agreed but I wasn’t convinced that I was more than 2 or 3 cm. I was absolutely determined to have a successful VBAC and really felt that the only chance I had was to not show up to the hospital too early.

Doula and Dh finally talked me into going to the hospital and I somehow managed to lay in the back of our minivan while EDad raced through to the hospital. We live around 30 minutes away but he made the trip in 15 minutes flat. We walked in and I was overjoyed to find that I was already 7 cm dillated. The nurses seemed almost relieved to see that I arrived with a Doula and pretty much let me labor as I pleased. They asked if I wanted my water broken and I refused- thinking that any sort of outside intervention might result in an immediate csection. They did attach the baby monitor to my waist but I was able to avoid even getting an IV by letting them put another type of open IV attachment(I think it was called an IVblock?) on my hand just in case it became needed later. I labored for 3 more hours wondering why I wasn’t furthering along when finally my Doula gently suggested that perhaps my water being broken wouldn’t be such a bad idea. It turns out I have what my Doula called “bag of steel” because the baby was sitting at +1 station but my water had not broken. Once they broke my water I was dillated to 10 cm within 10 minutes and prepared to push. I focused all of my energy on pushing the baby out and within 10 minutes of pushing my sweet EbonyBaby entered the world. All I could do was to say “I did it” over and over while they placed him on my chest so that he could get cleaned up and try to nurse. The moment of meeting him was a crowning achievement- I’ve never felt so much pure and overwhelming joy in my life as I finally got to experience the birth I’d always dreamed of having.

Happy Birthday EbonyBaby- you truely are my little angel.