Spinning Babies "attends" a VBAC
Yes, there is definitely a story behind my donation and I am glad to share some of it here with you:
My wonderful birth happened in December 2007. It was the birth of
my second son. It was a VBAC. My first son was born by ceasarean section a
couple years earlier due to face presentation. I was determined to try
and have my second baby vaginally.
So, for my second birth I consulted a
chiropractor and had a few spinal adjustments during my pregnancy.
And, I
found your site - SpinningBabies.com
and just loved it. I loved the little illustrations and I enjoyed
thinking and being able to tell in what position my baby was at any time
:) I had read all about your patterns of labour as well, and made some
short notes for myself so I can have them handy during my labour :)
My second labour started slowly. I had contractions on and off from
morning to evening that day. They didn't seem to have a regular pattern
and they were sometimes closer together and sometimes more intense than
others.
My midwife came to check me that evening around 8 pm and said
that I was only 1.5 cm dilated and that I should preserve my strength
because the labour would continue for a while.
Little did she know that I would be delivering my child minutes before midnight that day!
My
midwife went home and I thought to myself - resting doesn't make sense
to me yet my midwife said to rest. What made more sense to me is to
follow some of the exercises on your site to help turn the baby who I
thought was posterior. So I remember voicing this to my mom who was with
me and she said why don't we do both, we rest and we try some
exercises.
So, I sent my husband to find my spinningbabies notes and tell
me which of those exercises makes sense to do (I
felt that I had to concentrate on how I was feeling and didn't want to
be going through the notes myself). He ran down to the basement and
got my binder with notes and came back saying to try abdominal lift. I
already knew how to do that, so for the next 6 contractions I did
abdominal lift.
You are supposed to do it for 10 but after six I felt
that I needed to lie down, so I did that. When the next contraction came
I was lying on my side on my bed, and it was so strong that my water
broke.
Minutes later I was on the phone with my midwife who still
believed that I was in early labour despite the water breaking. But I
said, I think we should go to the hospital.
Good call - because the ride
to the hospital was funny. I was lying down in the back of our car and
trying to stop myself from pushing my son out - I had already started
pushing!
That was around 10 that evening, and he was born by midnight.
No epidural, no IV, no fetal monitors, nothing. It was
beautiful! We were such a great mommy and baby team!
Thank you for 'lifting the veil' off of labour!
Your site is so
simple and empowering.
It made me want to participate in the experience
instead of wanting it over with :)
Alex
Ontario, Canada
(I had to emphasize the last paragraph, it's so amazing! -gt)
