Janell's Story

The Birth Story of Ella Jane Mortensen

Warning: I have written this story so that those who are hoping for a VBAC can have the most information possible. I would suggest those people who are simply interested in knowing how I ended up having an unplanned home birth after two cesarians just read the yellow text under the "Birth" section.


Background


Like many birth stories, this one begins with the birth stories of my older children. Jonathan, my oldest was born via a c-section after more than 24 hours of labor, more than two hours of pushing, and back labor (despite the epidural). It literally felt like someone had lit my back on fire. His labor was induced 11 days after his due date. He was posterior and his head was asynclitic. When the doctor said to me, "We can always do a c/s (c-section)," I said, "YES!" I was convinced he was stuck and that he would never come out. The recovery was terrible. Many things happened and I was out of it for a long time. I didn't hold Jonathan until about 12 hours after the birth. I did not want to have another experience like that one. After learning more about birth, I was convinced the entire experience could have gone much differently if I had been more informed.

With Erik, I was determined to have a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarian). I even switched insurance at 38 weeks and went to the local German hospital knowing that they allowed things to happen much more naturally. Although it ended up in another c/s, I know that labor was much better than it would have been at Lanstuhl (the Army hospital) and the recovery was MUCH better than it had been with Jonathan. I believe I was given lower doses of drugs this time around and that made all the difference during the recovery. Erik's labor was also over 24 hours, and I was complete, but he rotated before he descended and his head was stuck on my pelvis. They tried unsuccessfully to get him to rotate by moving me around, but this was difficult to do since I had an epidural.

The Birth


This time I decided that in order to have a VBA2C (Vaginal Birth After 2 Cesarians), I was going to have to do it without any medication. I also knew that I would need labor support--someone who was familiar with my situation and someone who understood the birth process and believed in it. I went to the ICAN (International Cesarian Awareness Network) website and found a midwife, Salli Gonzalez, who had attended a lot of VBACs. She works at the San Antonio Birth Center and she also does home deliveries. I contemplated having Ella at the Birth Center, but they would not accept me since my last c/s was a single-layer suture. They considered it too high of a risk. I found an OB who would allow a VBA2C and whose practice was adjacent to the North Central Baptist Hospital which is just a few miles from our house.

The only problem with this practice was there was one OB (out of four) who would not do VBACs since she has children and did not want to spend the time at the hospital that is required for someone in my situation. To make matters more complicated, my OB was unable to deliver any babies since she recently had surgery on her hand. My plan was to labor for as long as possible at home so that even if Dr. Simpson was on-call, she would hopefully just deliver the baby. Needless to say, this created some anxiety for me, especially since my OB flat out told me that if I did come in when Simpson was on-call, she'd give me a c/s.

There were a lot of things that I prayed for during this time. Towards the end, I simply started asking for a good vaginal birth experience since it seemed like my list of requests was getting longer and longer. I know that the many prayers that were rendered were answered. The weekend Ella was born, Dr. Simpson was on-call. I thought to myself that if I didn't have the baby that day (Thursday) there was NO way I had better go into labor during the weekend. I really feel like the way the circumstances were surrounding the birth and with the final outcome, God showed forth his hand in my life. It was almost like an Abrahamic test (but not nearly as bad, of course). I felt as if the knife (scalpel) was being held high in the air and there seemed to be little to no chance of a good outcome. But the knife was stayed and the seemingly impossible situation worked out in the best way possible.

The morning of the 10th (Ella's due date) I had a 40 week OB appointment. I was NOT looking forward to this appointment and had hoped that Ella would be born before then. I knew that my OB would talk about having a scheduled c/s the very next week, and I didn't want to have that conversation. Of course it had to be discussed. Tears streamed down my face as we discussed the possibility of having a scheduled c-section. Although I managed to move the scheduled c/s to a later date, I was still upset by the conversation. I left the office not knowing what to think. I was dilated to 3 cm and about 60% effaced, but I had been this way for the past four weeks.*

That night I decided to make a practice run of the special RRLT (Red Raspberry Leaf Tea) concoction (yes, RRL Tea is Word of Wisdom approved) that I had read about. Making this special brew supposedly "takes away the pain of contractions, but not the pain of dilation" whatever that meant. I went downstairs and cut open seven tea bags. It still wasn't enough, but I was out of tea. I estimated how much I would need when labor started and planned to buy some more the very next day.

At about 10:30 P.M. the tea was done seeping and I drank it down...most of it anyway. It was DISGUSTING! I had my doubts about drinking it during labor. I sat down with Landon to watch a show and around 11:00 P.M. I started feeling sick to my stomach. I was getting nervous because I thought I might need to throw up. Minutes later, my body was ridding itself of the "special concoction." I was so worried that somehow such a strong brew was bad for the baby and prayed silently that she wouldn't be adversely affected by the tea. At this point, I was sure I wasn't going to take the tea during labor. The funny thing is, it put me into labor! RRLT is not supposed to start labor (although some people argue that it does). It is only supposed to strengthen and tone the uterus, make your contractions more effective, and supposedly take away the pain of contractions when taken correctly.


I told Landon that I was having contractions, but since I had been checked by my OB that morning, I thought I was just experiencing Braxton Hicks. I was especially unsure because the only real pain I felt was in the birth canal, and as I remembered it, that's not what real contractions felt like. Nevertheless, I decided to take a bath and have Landon time them just in case. I thought the bath would help me relax and that the contractions would peter out. To be on the safe side, we called Salli an hour after the contractions started. We wanted to let her know that I was possibly in labor since she lives an hour away. The water felt nice and I was starving, so Landon brought me some peaches.


At about 12:30 A.M., I decided to get out since the water was getting cool. Sitting up was the only real painful part. I decided to lay in bed remembering Salli's advice to rest if labor was during the night. Landon quickly fell asleep and I laid still for about another hour. It was after that hour that things started to change. Instead of just experiencing the pain in the birth canal (which was manageable), pain started to shoot up to my abdomen. At that point (about 1:30 A.M.), I decided to wake up Landon so that he could call Salli. I had to call his name three times before he woke up. When he did, he awoke with a start which shook the bed. I yelled at him to stop moving the bed because that really hurt! He called Salli, and she said she'd be on her way. I knew I just needed to get through one hour without her and I tried to stay calm.


The intensity increased a lot during this time and I had to make loud, low noises to make it through the powerful contractions. I remembered reading many birth stories where women described this and now I knew exactly what they were talking about. Somehow these noises made the contractions manageable. I knew it sounded strange, but I didn't care. It helped, and when I didn't do it, the contractions felt overwhelming. Shortly before Salli arrived, I had to go to the bathroom. My body had to clear itself of everything, including the peaches I had just eaten. I knew that throwing up was common for transition. I also knew that feeling like you cannot go on is an emotional sign post for transition which was what I was feeling at that time. Somehow, though, I could not believe that I was in transition since everything was happening so fast. I started saying, "I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do." That's about all I could communicate to Landon, but what was going through my mind was this: Should I go to the hospital without Salli? I don't want to go too soon. Dr. Simpson is on call in the morning. She doesn't do VBACs. How can I possibly get through this if this is only the beginning? Where is Salli? More than anything I just felt scared. I didn't know if I was capable of a vaginal birth and a natural one at that.


I asked Landon to call Salli again to see where she was and what was taking so long. She was almost to our house. She had passed our street and was turning around. When she finally arrived, I asked her to check me. I told her if I was only at 4 cm, I didn't know how I was going to go on. She checked me and announced that I was complete with bulging bag of waters. I looked at Salli and said, "It's too late for drugs, isn't it." She confirmed my fears. Of course I knew that it was too late for any medication and I also knew that drugs were not the best option for my situation. But the thought of pushing a baby out (and feeling it) scared me!


A few minutes later, the bag of waters literally exploded. Landon was quickly packing some last-minute items into the hospital bag. I looked at him and told him that I wasn't going anywhere. The thought of moving was unbearable. The contractions were strong and very close together. The thought of getting out of bed and going down the stairs and getting in the car and arranging for our kids to be taken care of was overwhelming to me. Salli reassured him that it was okay and that she had done this many times. It was about 3:00 A.M. and I started pushing. I was laying on my left side having read that this position was a good pushing position. Landon had one hand on my shoulder and another on my right leg. I didn't realize how much this helped ease the pain until he took his hands off of me. I quickly told him to put his hands back where they were.


I was in this position for an hour and a half and the whole time I wanted to stand up, but standing seemed impossible. Even asking for a drink of water which was on the nightstand and just inches from my face seemed difficult. I was just sooooo tired! I felt like I was running a marathon or climbing a mountain and I could barely catch my breath between the contractions.


During this time, I could feel Ella slowly descending and ascending. I knew this was normal and good. Salli reassured me as much. But there were a few times that she retracted so far back that it was discouraging to me. After all, this was the point I was at with Jonathan and he never made it out before I gave into the suggestion of having a c/s. I knew that I was going to have to stand up. Finally, between the powerful contractions, I was able to stand up with the help of Landon and Salli. I probably needed more help than the average laboring woman since the SPD (Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction) made it more difficult for me to get off the bed.

I leaned my head into Landon's chest and held onto his arms. I didn't know it at the time, but I was pushing him back with a lot of force and he really had to brace himself so that he didn't fall back on to our nightstand. At this point I just wanted her out and I did not care anymore if I tore. I could feel part of her head was out and I could also tell what still needed to come out, and I was a little scared. Finally she crowned and I felt the ring of fire. It was exactly as someone had described it. It's kind of like opening your mouth as wide as you can and then pulling it open wider with your fingers. It's the basically the same sensation.

I remember asking Salli how I was going to get through the ring of fire before it happened. She told me that it's short compared to everything else and that I could get through it. When it happened, I was very motivated to get past it, so I set my fear aside and pushed. Ella's head came out and she gave a little cry. (I actually don't remember this, but that's what Landon and Salli told me.) The rest of her body came out easily and Salli told me to pull her up, which I did. She was born at 5:00 A.M. Only six hours from start to finish with two of those hours for pushing. I'd have to say that the RRLT definitely worked.

I laid back down on the bed and admired my baby girl. I was so happy that we had done it! For the first time, I didn't need to be separated from my family for two hours for the anesthesia to wear off. That is always such a long, lonely wait.

At 7:30 the boys woke up and came in to see their baby sister. They had slept through the whole thing. I am so happy that they did. Jonathan was very interested to see his baby sister. Erik was curious, but after he visited for a few minutes he said, "Can I play Batman game?" Apparently that is the most interesting thing in his life right now. :0)

After the Birth

I was surprised how much it stung after the birth was over. This lasted for about two hours. I had two 2nd degree tears which probably contributed to the stinging as well as the fact that her head had been asynclitic. Sally gave me a few shots of lidocaine before suturing up the tears. I didn't even feel the shots.

We waited for the cord to stop pulsating (20 to 30 minutes) before Salli clamped it and Landon cut it.
When the placenta came out, it hurt a little, but it was nothing compared to the birth.

Landon made scrambled eggs for the three of us. Salli encouraged me to eat, but I didn't feel hungry. After a while, she encouraged me to use the bathroom. I felt a little weak and after using the bathroom, I felt like I might pass out. I laid down and tried to sleep, but I had too much adrenaline to sleep. Suddenly I was very hungry and ate all of the eggs and some toast as well. When it was time to get up again I felt light-headed and nauseous. Salli said I probably felt that was since everything dropped so fast and that if I held my stomach in that it would go away. As soon as I tried that it worked. I was amazed at the difference. We wrapped up my abdomen with an ace bandage and when I stood up I felt much better.

Since Salli was not planning on a home birth, she did not bring all of her equipment. She made a call to another midwife, Joi, who lives only a few miles from us so that we could weigh and measure Ella. She weighed 7 lbs 5 ounces and was 21 inches long.

The Recovery


I honestly think the most difficult part of the recovery was nursing. I had several sore muscles from holding Ella in the same nursing position for hours and had fallen asleep and kinked my neck too. Then there is all of the jack knife pains in your chest along with contractions to help the uterus shrink. Yes, this was definitely the worst part!

As far as the birth was concerned, it took one and a half to two weeks to fully recover. It stung some and was itchy and irritating at times. Laying down and taking a bath really help soothe those sensations.
I probably stood up and sat down too much, but I couldn't help it. I thought that it was great that I could do so much so quickly. I even helped my Dad put together Ella's dresser just five days after the birth. I definitely felt better overall, and more quickly than after the c/s.

Recommendations for VBAC

1) Believe that God created your body to give birth. Pray a lot!
2) Hire labor support!
3) Take EPO. (Research the best time to start taking this.)
4) Drink RRLT during the last month of pregnancy.
5) Read a lot of birth stories and learn as much as you can about birth.
6) Find a GOOD chiropractor who works with pregnant women.
7) Exercise--you're in for the workout of your life!


* I started taking EPO (Evening Primrose Oil) before I was checked for dilation. I was surprised to learn that I was 1.5 cm dilated at 36 weeks since I usually don't dilate until I am in labor. I also hadn't felt any strong contractions so I was amazed! My OB was able to stretch me to 3 cm that same day. It could have been the EPO; of course, I was also praying that I would dilate before my due date.