Yes, I know, that’s a strange subject after all the Christmas crafts and now, the health kick that I’m on. I sat down to write a post on fussy babies and I ended up telling you about my traumatic birth experience. I decided you needed a little background information before I get into the fussy baby post.
On June 29, 2011, I gave birth to my 6th child. It was the scariest birth that I’ve ever had. Birth is normally an exciting and satisfying experience, but when I found out that the doctor wanted to induce me because of my ever rising blood pressure and what he was calling pre-eclampsia, I was terrified! I knew that being induced greatly increased your chances of a C-section. I did not want to be induced AT ALL. I consider myself to be a natural birther. I had an epidural with my 1st baby and an intrathecal with my 2nd. I didn’t like the way I felt after both of them, so I decided that if I ever birthed again, I’d be going all natural with no pain meds whatsoever. And that’s what I did. My 3rd baby was a water birth at home and 4th and 5th were uncomplicated, unmedicated, vaginal, hospital deliveries. So when baby #6 had to be induced, I wanted to run for the hills. In fact, I really quizzed my doctor on how necessary this was. Then my husband went back up to his office when he got off work and quizzed him some more. I talked to a midwife acquaintance of mine to see what she thought. I researched it on the internet, trying to get someone to tell me that I shouldn’t be induced. My doctor usually lets me do whatever I want within reason, so I knew he had to feel pretty sure that’s the way it should be. After much prayer and discussion, my husband and I decided to allow the induction to happen.
The night before I was to be induced, I decided to take some castor oil to hopefully put me into labor (it had worked in a previous birth). My contractions were as close as one minute apart but they were never painful and really did nothing to get me going in the right direction. I felt like something was off. They induced and had the pitocin cranked all the way up. Contractions happened, but they were never painful. My blood pressure remained high. They broke my water. Then things got painful…but still the baby would not get low enough to come. Finally, when I had all that I could take, we decided to try an epidural to see if it would help me relax, but the baby’s heart rate started dipping so much that the OB/surgeon came and insisted we have a C-section right then. She said we were getting to the dangerous zone. I couldn’t believe my ears. I, the natural birthing woman was doing everything wrong! Pitocin. Break my Water. Now a C-section?! This is not the plan I had in mind, but I was so happy to know I’d be getting some relief.
They had me into the operating room within minutes and soon after, my little precious baby boy was pulled and yanked from my body in the most unnatural way. It was definitely not my dream birth, but it was my reality. He was healthy as can be. The doctor said in all of his years of assisting births, he’d never seen an umbilical cord so short. It all made sense now. The baby couldn’t descend because he was attached to such a short cord. They sent the placenta off to pathology and they noted the short cord as well. I still sometimes find myself doubting that I really needed that C-section. Maybe, if I hadn’t let them induce me, the baby would’ve come on his own. I will never really know for sure, but I do believe that I was in the right place at the right time and God had His hand of protection over us. I am so thankful that we are both OK. Yes, recovery was way worse than ever before. No, I NEVER want to be cut open again. I don’t recommend a C-section to anyone, unless of course you need it!
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| Right before we went home from the hospital |
That brings me to another point. If you consider yourself “crunchy” and/or a natural birther, please realize that this could happen to you. You may think that you would never allow an induction or that you would not have pre-eclampsia, etc., but as I found out, it CAN happen, even if you think it won’t. Be prepared for anything and don’t beat yourself up if it doesn’t go as planned. Spend some time thinking about what you would do if something went wrong and how you will handle it. Be aware that EVERY birth can be so completely different and sometimes you can have no control over it, even if you think that you do. Most of all, rest in knowing that God has a specific plan for your life, He even cares about the minuscule details of a baby’s birth.
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