Jess’s Birth Story
My name is Jess and I think I'm the only women in history that went into the hospital expecting a C section and walked out with a Vaginal birth. Let me explain. I have suffered from chronic pelvic pain for most of my 20s and had already recovered from 7 pelvic surgeries, muscle spasms, hours of physio, painful memories, anxiety and severe scar tissue. I had chosen to give birth through C section with my first son, Levi because my pelvic surgeon at the time didn't want to disturb the good progress, I had made...and to be honest, neither did I. The thought of more stitches and tearing didn't sit well with me. Been there, Done that. No thanks. Fast forward about 4 years and here I am again with this big decision to make. I had a fairly easy recovery the first time with no complications BUT there was always a part of me that wanted a vaginal birth. After all, I work in prenatal fitness and train women for labor ALL THE TIME. I met with many professionals that might help me make this decision. After going back and forth, I decided that I would go ahead with the scheduled C section. The anxiety of making my pain symptoms worse was ultimately too much to handle. But I always kept the VBAC option open in the back of my mind just in case I wanted to change my mind.
Fast forward again to July 22nd. I woke up at 2:30am on Monday morning - I instantly knew that something was up. I had been in pre-labor the whole week (Braxton Hicks contractions anywhere between 20-40min Apart) but these ones had changed and were painful...like really painful and didn’t go away.
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We called Dan’s sister over to watch Levi (she lives in our building) and called an Uber - in a matter of moments the pain had transformed from manageable to ‘HOLY SHIT! I’m on my hands and knees in the hallway because I can’t stand up any more’ kinda painful. ⠀I was in VERY ACTIVE LABOR. I had experienced labor pains with Levi and thought they were bad. Looking back.... they were not that bad.
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We get to the hospital in about 7 min and I’m already 5cm dilated - I'm on the floor of Prenatal triage and the doctor on call comes in to chat about my birth plan. She doesn't understand why I want a C section. The baby is in position and I'm progressing rapidly so it didn't make sense to her. So now I'm tasked with explaining through my contractions about my physical and emotional scars left over years of pelvic pain and surgeries. Then my water breaks all over the floor. Really dramatic like in the movies. I know that never happens but this time it did. My contractions are now minutes apart and I can barely stand due to the intensity of the pain. It’s amazing what your body can endure. :-)⠀
The doctor checks me again and in the time, it took to have this brief conversation, I was now 10cm dilated. It was questionable whether I’d even hold out for them to prepare for a c section delivery at that point. ⠀I had always said that if the circumstances were right and I felt comfortable, I would make the decision to go with a vaginal birth - this baby was coming fast and everything was lining up. I was scared to make the call because it felt like such an epic decision. It was all happening so fast so I literally said 'Fuck it.... Let’s do it!" So, I went for the VBAC.
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About 20 min after that, I was able to get an epidural which allowed me enough time to catch my breath and prepare to push. It was only partial successful but it was enough to take the edge off and for my eyes to roll out of my head. It only took about 5 or 6 contractions for me to get the baby’s head down. The doctor said that it might be a while until I would be ready to push, maybe about 20-30min and left the room. My nurse suggested we practice pushing to see if I could move him down myself. This is where all my training my with CORE ENGAGEMENT, PELVIC FLOOR and BREATHING comes in. I was able to push hard and relax my pelvic floor at the same time so in a matter of minutes the nurse was calling the doctor back in for the delivery. Just a few more pushes and Micah Sennet had arrived.
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It truly was the most intense 3 hours of my life and I'll never forget it. I was able to do something I never thought I would be able to do. I'm proud of myself for pushing forward even though it was scary. I had minimal tearing and I'm happy report no complications at all.
I truly believe all mothers will rise to the challenge of giving birth. Even those who are terrified. July 22 was just my time to shine. By 5:30am our lives had changed forever. It is amazing what the human body can do if you just believe in yourself. Anything is possible.