One cesarean, two cesarean, NO MORE. A VBA2C story. | Tampa Bay Home Birth

"Before I tell you about my amazing VBA2C at home I feel like I need to revisit the birth of my first two children first. Since having my daughter Chloe at home I now feel healed enough to revisit the birth of my two amazing little boys.

I was 20 years old when I went to the ER for fainting and severe side pain. I had no idea what was going on and upon evaluation I found out that I was pregnant. The doctor on call could not see where the embryo implanted. Since I was having severe side pain I had to wait two weeks for them to rule out a possible ectopic pregnancy, which is what the doctors thought may be wrong. You can imagine how those two weeks felt. Two weeks came and went and I found out everything was fine. The rest of my pregnancy was pretty uneventful. June 28th 2009 I started having strong contractions in the morning and I went straight to the hospital. I was 38 weeks and when they checked me I was 3cm dilated so I was admitted. This is where it all went downhill. I then got pitocin which led to an epidural. At 5 cm my OB broke my water and I will never forget the words he said to me. Whoops that's not a head! Everett was breech. He immediately said c section. I was so unprepared. I didn't know what my options were. I never in a millions years thought I would have to have a cesarean. Everett was born 7lbs. 4 oz and healthy. Breastfeeding did not go well for us. I was very depressed after having him and felt like my body was broken. I did not want another baby for a long time because I did not want to experience that.

9 months later I found out I was pregnant with baby number two. I balled my eyes out when I took the test and it was positive. Not because I didn’t want more kids but because I was seriously scarred from Everett's birth. I did not like being strapped down and feeling helpless. I had no idea how I could make it through another c section and remain sane. I came to the conclusion that it just wasn’t going to happen again. I found a midwife and continued my prenatal care with her. The entire time I had to fight friends and family who were ill informed. A few even went as far as to tell me that I was going to kill my baby for attempting a vaginal birth.I also had a huge fear of Wyatt being breech like Everett. I could feel he was positioned the same way. My midwife and husband both agreed  when feeling him that he was for sure head down. I demanded an ultrasound at 37 weeks. While at TGH the head nurse came in and felt my belly. She said this baby is 100% head down. I did not believe her. Finally the ultrasound tech came and they were all shocked. He was breech! Trust YOUR body! I was devastated when they told me they would not attempt an ECV because of my prior c section.  I went home and planned to labor at home and hope he turned. I went into labor on Thanksgiving, Nov. 26 2010. I was 38 weeks and a few days. I decided I was tos scared to risk delivering him breech without a skilled breech midwife (which is illegal in FL) so I went to the hospital. This is where it gets bad. I had known in the back of my head I would probably have another c section since Wyatt was breech also. I was shocked when they told me that they needed to put me under general anesthesia for my section. After being so traumatized before, I thought it might be better than being awake. I was sooooo wrong! The only way I can describe how I felt is to imagine you are feeling your baby inside you one minute, go to sleep and wake up with him outside of you without any recollection  of how it happened. My son was born into a cold operating room with me unconscious and my husband not allowed in. I have no idea what happened after his birth. Luckily we bonded through breastfeeding and that helped heal me somewhat. I still felt broken. After these two experiences, both of which were extremely painful for me, I said I was done with having children.

November 4, 2012 I found out I was pregnant with baby number three. It was a shock but I was determined that this was not going to happen to me this time. I went back to my same midwife and started seeing a chiropractor, Dr. Alexa with Totally Chiropractic, to try and encourage this baby to be head down. Early in my pregnancy I ended up with severe pyelonephritis that I felt was not handled appropriately by my current midwife. I needed a new midwife, someone I didn't have with the boys. I found Lakeland Midwifery Care. I fell in love with Charlie and Marianne. I loved the way the treated me. They told me that if I wanted to go to the hospital to birth because I felt safer there that they would come with me as labor support. They really wanted me to have a chance at my VBAC this time. I still was having doubts about having a VBAC at all, not to mention planning a homebirth - but I knew that this was my last baby. I had to have the birth I wanted this time. On August 9th  started having prodromal labor. Contractions would come and go but they never became consistent. On August 11th 2013 I decided to go to my friend Christina's house and walk the track with her. I wanted to meet my little girl! We walked around 8 plus times and the contractions got stronger so I decided to head home. Once I got home I told my husband they were getting stronger but that I needed to cook dinner. My husband must have known something was up because he called Alexa who was also my doula/chiro and Charlie to give them a heads up. Charlie was in Lakeland but decided to head over and Alexa lived close enough that she waited for Alex to call again. I finally decided to tell my mom to come get the boys. I did not want everyone to come just yet because I was not convinced I was in labor. I had had so much prodromal labor that I didn't want to get my hopes up. My midwives and doula arrived and immediately started comforting me. My husband put on Pitch Perfect to try and distract me from contractions. The pressure got way worse and I finally asked Charlie to check me. I told her that if I wasn't at least a four centimeters I had no idea how I would handle stronger contractions! I was 8 cm! I was so happy! They asked if I wanted to go to the hospital and I contemplated it for a bit. Honestly I didn't think I could handle the contractions in the car so I said no. I was 10 cm not too long after my first check. I tried laboring on my back but it didn't feel right. I know this sounds crazy but in the back of my mind I was still fearing a uterine rupture. I thought if I pushed too hard I would rupture my uterus and kill us both. Charlie was amazing! She knew what I needed to hear. She told me I know you're scared but you have to push past that point to meet your baby. I was squatting on the side of the bed and with my next push she came out. The feeling of her sliding out of me was amazing! She was born en caul and started breastfeeding right away.

I had one small tear but no stitches. It was the most amazing experience of my life! I felt so strong and powerful! I am truly healed from my first two experiences with birth.  I urge anyone who faces the choice between repeat c-section and VBAC to truly do your research! C sections are not without risk! God Bless you and may you have the birth of your dreams! "