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VBAC
Week by Week

Benjamin Easton Avram

Well, I have just returned to work after being out since April 14th. I was taken out on disability because I had high blood pressure toward the end of my pregnancy. What a blessing in disguise! I had almost 6 weeks of disability off before the baby was born, and the blood pressure was kept under check and never got any worse. All I needed was a lot of rest!

Anyway, my estimated due date was May 14th (Mother's Day this year!). It came and went with no signs that I was anywhere near ready to give birth. My cervix had not ripened a bit and I wasn't dilated at all. When my condition had not changed by the end of the week, the midwife suggested prostaglandin gel applications the following Monday if I hadn't made any progress by then. To make a long story short, I had three prostaglandin gel applications on Monday and Tuesday, May 22nd and 23rd. The gel was successful in ripening my cervix, but it did not bring on labor and I was on a "fingertip" dilated. So, since I was over a week late at that point, the midwife, after consulting with a doctor in the group, wanted to induce labor the following week. Since it was Memorial Day weekend and their office would be closed for three days, I was going to have to go to the hospital over the weekend so the baby could be monitored.

Thankfully, I didn't have to go through any of that. On Thursday, May 27th, my water broke at around 12:45 a.m. after I came back to bed after going to the bathroom. I had been having some mild contractions while I was watching T.V. that night but didn't think anything of it. My water was meconium stained, so I called the midwife. She instructed me to get to the hospital right away. Well, right away turned out to be almost 2 hours later, because we were not fully packed and ready to go. As late as the baby was, we still weren't ready!

By the time we were on the way to the hospital, the contractions were coming about every 5 minutes apart. I didn't actually time them since I had to go to the hospital no matter what. All I do remember is that they did not start out far apart. They weren't too strong right away, but they were always very close together. When I got to the hospital, they hooked me up to the monitor for close to an hour to monitor the baby. The baby was fine and continued to be so.

So, I started to walk and rock in the chair during the early stages of labor. It didn't take long for the contractions to become stronger. They were 3-5 minutes apart and were pretty intense, or so I thought. The nurse made a comment that they were nothing compared to what I was in for. I tried to use the breathing techniques I learned in our childbirth class, but they weren't working very well. The contractions were close together and steadily building in intensity. Add to that the fact that I was nauseous and was getting sick to my stomach.

Around 6:00 - 7:00 in the morning one of the doctors from my midwife's group came in to examine me since my midwife hadn't gotten to the hospital yet to see how far along I was. She said that I was 4 cm. and 90% effaced. By that time, I was in pain. The contractions were coming very close together, about every 3 minutes and were very strong. The midwife told the nurses to tell me that I could either go in the tub or have a shot of Nubain. Because I was still nauseous and sick to my stomach, I didn't want to leave the room so I opted for the shot of Nubain.

The shot turned out to be a good choice. At the hospital I delivered in, they also mix the Nubain with something that keeps you from getting sick. After I had the shot, I was able to rest/sleep between contractions. The shot in no way took away the pain of the contractions. I still felt them as much as I did before.

I don't really remember specific times from that point on because I was dozing between the contractions. I remember that the midwife arrived and so did my mother, father, sister and sister-in-law. They were all in the room with me while I was in labor. The midwife examined me and announced that I was around 8 cm. dilated! I don't know the exact times, but all I do know is that I went from 4cm. to 8 cm. in about an hour and a half. It must have been around 9:45 or so that I started to get the urge to push. The midwife examined me and said that I was 9 cm. dilated. She did not, however, discourage me from pushing. In fact, she encouraged me to push when I felt the urge. I stayed at 9 cm. for only a short period of time. When she examined me again, she said there was still a little lip on the cervix so she wanted me to push through the next couple of contractions, which I did. All through this pushing, I was not in the position of giving birth. She just encouraged me to push however I was lying ( I think I was laying on my side).

Close to 10:30 she really had me start pushing. After only eighteen minutes of pushing, Benjamin Easton Avram was born. It was the most amazing feeling! Even though I had had that shot of Nubain, my senses were in no way dulled. I was awake and aware of everything that was going on. I saw his head being born, and felt and saw the rest of his body being born. She put him on my stomach very briefly because he had to be checked immediately by a neonatologist because my water had been meconium stained.

To make a long story short (I could go on all day about the delivery and what happened afterward) he was very healthy. He didn't swallow any of the meconium. He weighed in at a very halthy 9lbs. even and he was 21 1/4 inches long. And, he had a full head of dark hair.

I must say that I was extremely surprised and happy at how easy my labor and delivery was (this was my first baby). The experience was wonderful, and my midwife was wonderful. I hope things go as well when we decide to have another baby.

Terri Rivkin
Mom to Benjamin (5/25/95)