My Wonderful/Crazy Adventure of Bringing Nolan into the World!! (Part 2)

Nolan's Birth Story!
(The very detailed version)

It was the weekend of August 13th and I began to wonder when Baby Spiers #2 (still no name) was going to make his grand appearance. I really thought I was going to go late, but he had other plans. Plans that were perfect, plans designed by God. My doctor stated that if I went to Friday, August 19th (My guess date was Saturday, August 20th) that she wanted to start discussing the idea of induction. No thank you! I am a firm believer in that babies come when they are ready and mom's don't need to be induced unless medically necessary. She also wanted to recheck my scar tissue to make sure she was comfortable letting me labor. God knew my heart and how I really didn't want to go to that Friday appointment.

So I started having irregular contractions over the weekend and didn't think much of it except that I was ready to meet this baby. I made plans for the week anticipating I would still be pregnant. I had to cancel the plans and was by all means okay with doing so. Regular contractions started Monday night and awoke me from my sleep. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep that night. Ben went to work as usual leaving me and Alivia to play, but I didn't feel much like playing. I was dealing with these contractions that I didn't experience when pregnant with Alivia. My mom, who has an odd work schedule (which I am beyond grateful for) came over to play with Alivia, while I worked on dealing with the contractions. I slept/rested (sort of) on and off all day. Ben came home around 7:15 and we ate dinner, which somehow I mustered up enough strength to make. It was an easy dish though, pasta, so I'm not going to take much credit. Ben started to track my contractions on his cool I-phone app and it seemed to be that I was progressing as my contractions were getting closer and longer. My mom left to go home and get some items to stay the night. We put Alivia down for bed and talked about how this could be the last night of just the three of us. Around 10:00 p.m. my mom returned and we left for the hospital wondering if we were going too early or if it was just the right time to go in.

At the hospital, I found that I was indeed in early labor and was dilated at a 4cm. The nurse told me that I needed to walk the halls for an hour to see if I would progress before being admitted to the hospital. So, that's what I did. I walked up and down those halls and felt those contractions increase in intensity and length. I did not enjoy walking in those bright lit hall-ways with random people looking my way. I was completely vulnerable and it was not the highlight of my birthing process. After an hour at about 11:30ish, I was rechecked and progressed to a 5cm. I was admitted after that into a room where I had to be monitored the entire time since I was trying for a VBAC. I hated being attached to the machines for the rest of my laboring process. It made it hard to find positions that worked for me. Luckily, I found a few positions and I was able to get into the zone as much as I could. My goal was to have a natural birth.

Things turned for me once I was admitted to the hospital. I progressed to a 6-6 1/2cm and stalled. My contractions were getting stronger and longer and harder. I felt that my progress was in full swing but when I would get checked to see if I had progressed, I was at the same dilation. It was frustrating and hard. My doctor suggested that she brake my bag of waters to get things going. Ben and I discussed this and decided to wait to see if it would happen naturally. My doctor didn't really agree with our decision, but we decided to give it an hour and then return to the subject. After she left, I went to the bathroom and prayed to God for guidance on what to do. I just didn't know, trust the doctor or trust our instincts. God helped us out; I had a really intense contraction and my water broke on its own after midnight sometime. We were excited that this happened and thankful for the quick answered prayer. What an amazing thing to experience. I was sure this was going to send me into active labor.

After being stalled at a 6-6 1/2cm for over 7 hours, we found out that baby Spiers was posterior.  I was experiencing some really intense back labor. It was so hard for me to relax! With every contraction, instead of relaxing, I would tense my entire body. I was not focused on getting through each contraction, my mind was focused on the pain. I tried so hard to get back in the zone, but my contractions were coming intense and close. If baby Spiers wasn't posterior, I would have probably been advanced and close to push. I was having contractions that were off the chart without much break time. After about 30 hours of laboring and being up for that long, I started debating an epidural. I kept saying to Ben, "I'm sorry, I can't do it" and "I feel like such a failure" but Ben supported me. At first, he tried his best to make me re-think the decision, but he finally realized that I was not in the best shape to keep laboring naturally. I was not relaxed, I was stalled and could not progress, I was tired. I had the best nurse ever who helped me get through the final hour of laboring before I finally decided to get the epidural. I decide that I was headed down the road to having another c-section if I didn't progress and I needed to relax in order to progress and have baby Spiers turn to the correct position.

I decided to get the epidural at around 10:00ish a.m. on Wednesday morning. I must say I am still an advocate for natural birth, but I felt it was necessary for me to get an epidural in order to achieve my ultimate goal; a VBAC. After receiving an epidural, both Ben and I took a nap. It is amazing to me that I was able to take a nap during the most intense part of labor. My doctor suggested a small amount of pitocin in order to advance to full dilation. I agreed as long as it was not a huge amount as I knew that too many interventions decreases the odds of having a successful VBAC and false contractions can increase the odds of a uterine rupture. They ended up only having to give me 1 drop of pitocin for 2 hours, which is a very low amount. I was fully dilated and ready to push by 3:00ish p.m. And, baby Spiers turned to the correct position. Baby Spiers gave us a few worries as his heart rate would dip with my contractions. At two different times, I had several nurses in our room and the doctor on the phone. One time, his heart rate dipped for over 9 minutes, another was 6 minutes. Each time I saw the worried look on the nurses faces, and I prayed with all my heart that this baby was okay and I could have a chance for a vaginal birth. Both times, right as there was decision to be made, his heart rate would go back to normal. So thankful!!

My doctor was doing clinic hours and didn't get to the hospital until 5:00ish p.m. At that time, I was ready to go. I had been fully dilated and ready to push for a couple of hours at that point (poor little man). I felt the urge to push for quite some time and was super excited to see my doctor. I pushed for about 30 minutes. My doctor completed an episoitomy on me because she was worried about baby Spiers and wanted to get him out fast. I was pushing great and probably could have done it without the episoitomy (at least I think so), but I trust her reasoning. She told me it was her first episoitomy in five years and in that case I know she really had a good reason in doing it. My final push was a thrill and to have him laying on my belly was such a beautiful feeling. I was so happy and amazed in the childbirth experience and so thankful that Baby Spiers was healthy! He was born at 5:28 p.m. weighing in at 6 pounds, 14 inches and a good 19 1/2 inches long.

I am so very thankful for the opportunity to experience a VBAC. I am thankful to my friends and family for the prayers throughout my pregnancy and laboring time. I am blessed by God for his answer to this prayer. We decided after a long, long discussion (over many months) to name our little man Nolan Ethan Spiers. Nolan means champion and Ethan means strength. He is our strong champion and made it through the hard work of birth. And, we know he will be a strong champion in whatever he does as he gets older throughout life. :) We are looking forward to being his parents and experiencing the love of having a son. God is so good!!