This is a wonderful time of year while much of the world has been celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. I love to think of that miraculous birth and the hope it brings for all people.
Our own birth stories have a similar affect on me, filling me with wonder and gratitude. I’ve written about 8 of our birth stories in previous posts; Birth Stories, Birth Stories Part 2, and A C-section.
Just to sum up, 7 of our babies were born vaginally, all with their own unique story, followed by a c-section for a breech baby. Then I thought we were done, but, surprise! We weren’t done yet. 😆
Now it’s time for the last two birth stories – the vbacs. Vbac stands for vaginal delivery after ceasarian section. No wonder they shorten it!
Birth Story #9
I still clearly remember about 6 years ago when we found out we were going to have a ninth baby. My period was late, but it hadn’t been regular, so I didn’t think much about it until it had been a couple months since I’d had one. I thought I should do a pregnancy test just to rule out that option and get onto what else might be going on. I was pretty shocked when it came out positive.
I was the one who had to sit down when I told my husband we were expecting again. He sweetly asked me how I felt about that. “A little bit overwhelmed, and a little bit blessed, and very surprised!” was my reply. He chuckled. I asked how he felt about it and he said he was up for whatever. 🥰
So we began that pregnancy with figuring out what baby stuff we needed to replace, and asking our neice for our crib back, since she wasn’t needing it yet. 😬 (Just a note about our crib: it was a hand-me-down from a mother of one, and we used it for all ten of our kids! When #10 was too big for a crib, Hubby turned it into a toddler bed for her. What a blessing it was for our family!)
As we neared the birth date, I was worried about delivery because I didn’t want to have to go through another c-section recovery, but I didn’t know if I would be allowed to deliver vaginally after my last one had been a c-section.
We had changed healthcare providers because our doctor retired, but this new office was a good fit for us. I made a point to ask them about a vbac. They told me that having a vbac would depend on the reasons for the c-section. It if was something that only had to do with that pregnancy, like an emergency during labor or a breech baby, the chances of me getting through a vbac safely were very good. If it was something off with my body that would still be an issue with another pregnancy, they would encourage me to have another c-section. That was good news for me, since our reason was a breech baby. I signed the papers that I accepted the risks.
So we got to 40 weeks, and then 41, and I was so ready to be done. They said there would be limits to what they could do to induce labor for a vbac, but it wouldn’t be impossible, so I said let’s do it. I remember pretty clearly the day he was born. It was 9 days past our due date. We were watching General Conference, a church meeting that’s broadcasted across the world twice a year. I was so uncomfortable and couldn’t sit down, so I was standing and swaying behind the couch. It was strange – I kept feeling like he was getting into position in the birth canal, and then going back higher in my uterus. It was confusing.
The hospital called us early in the afternoon to say that they had room for our induction, so off we went. They used a balloon type thing to stretch my cervix open, which proved pretty effective. They let me bounce on a birthing ball, which I enjoyed. They gave me a low dose of pitocin, and pretty soon contractions were feeling like the end was coming.
Then it got tricky. I was fully dilated, and felt like it was time to push, but then it felt like he went back higher in my uterus. It was very confusing and frustrating. For 2 hours it went back and forth like that. The midwife was very patient, having me try new positions to get comfortable and move things forward. I was aware of her and a couple nurses and my husband close by, but I could hardly pay attention to what was going on around me because I was trying to figure out what was going on inside me. I couldn’t tell if my efforts to push were doing any good.
When I was exhausted and almost ready to tell them to just cut me open and get him out, Hubby said, “I can see his head!” That gave me the courage to finish the job! With a few final pushes we had a brand new baby boy, 8lb 13oz, our biggest baby. 💙💙💙 They snuggled him up to my skin and covered him with my hospital gown. My sweet husband fed me something because I was too worn out to feed myself. The next thing I was aware of was noticing that our new bundle of joy had pooped all over me and himself. Compared to the ordeal we’d just been threw, that only made me laugh. 😆
Birth Story #10
Believe it or not, when our baby #9 was about a year and a half, we got baby hungry again. We really wanted one more baby girl. And it was interesting that several of our kids also talked about having another baby sister. So we started praying and working. After about 6 months, I was more nauseous than ever and we got a positive pregnancy test. Hurray!
That pregnancy went by like a blur with our family so busy. One of my favorite memories from it was going shopping for baby clothes with my little sister who was also expecting a girl. 🥰
Our due date came and went, again. We did ask to be induced, but I hoped I would go into labor by myself. They scheduled us with the hospital for October 31st – when she’d be 11 days over due. That last week was long. There were a few times that contractions started getting more hard and more regular, and I’d start preparing mentally to go through that intense experience of birthing a baby one more time. After a few hours the contractions would slow down again, and I’d feel mentally and physically exhausted.
We decided to have a little Halloween celebration with our little ones the night before since we were planning on being induced the day of. We had fun with our spooky dinner and trick-or-treating to bedroom doors.
In the middle of the night, I started having those hard, regular contractions again. “Not again!” was my attitude. Something was different that time, though. While the contractions didn’t feel harder or closer together, they did make me feel like I had to bend in half, which to me was a sign that it was time to go.
I remember crying on the way to the hospital, just feeling so exhausted, and not really being sure I was in labor because those contractions were still 8 minutes apart! My husband gently suggested that even though I’d found satisfaction in not having epidurals for half our babies, it would be ok if I decided to get one. I had also been thinking about that, and I agreed with him. I was relieved at the hospital when they checked my cervix and said I was dilated to a 6, so they’d keep me there. Whew!
I did get an epidural. When they turned it on, my hubby and I took a long nap. 😴 That felt nice! When I woke up I was like, “Let’s do this thing!” I couldn’t feel very well, except for one hip that kept getting contractions in it! Ugh! But I got on my hands and knees, and pushed out our beautiful baby girl! Baby #10 was born! To let me see her right away, they laid her in the bed beneath me. 💗💗💗 Then they moved her and helped me turn over, since my leg that hadn’t felt contractions was completely numb! Once I got turned over, they laid her on my tummy, and Daddy and I treasured those first precious moments with our new baby girl.
That concludes our birth stories. What precious, precious moments I cherish in my heart from the births of our 10 babies! What precious people we cherish in our family as our 10 children! Taking care of them has been our greatest challenge and our greatest joy! To read about what our big family is like, see I Bring the Party With Me.
Thanks for reading my blog. I hope you’re enjoying your adventure.
