The birth of Lark Evangeline (and a little of Jade's birth story)

The background

Well, I guess I will start with Jade's birth since that influenced many of my birth decisions with Lark.

I was living in Vail,CO and decided to use a Certified Nurse Midwife that was covered under my insurance. Dennis and I signed up for the Bradley classes that were offered through the hospital and thought we were headed for a natural childbirth. I started having contractions at 32 weeks, and was given terbutaline shots and fluids in the hospital in order to stop my labor. Later that night, contractions started up again so I was given more shots and was sent home on bed rest with terbutaline pills that I had to take every 3 hours.
My midwife immediately transferred my care to her backup doctor and I was heavily monitored. Twice a week (Monday and Friday) I would go into the clinic for an ultrasound to check my fluid levels. I would also undergo a non-stress test to see how the baby was doing. This went on for 4 weeks. At my final appointment (on a Friday) my OB decided that he hadn't seen enough growth between my Monday appointment and my Friday appointment. Jade was breech and my fluid levels were iffy so he said that Jade was "safer out than in at this point" and told me to head straight in to the hospital to be ready for a C-section the following morning. Well, if my baby was safer out than in then I wanted her out so Dennis and I headed in to the hospital.

My mom drove all night long from Dallas to Vail and made it just in time for my C-section. She had had C-sections with all three of us kids (for legitimate medical reasons) and 2 of her 3 sisters had had C-sections with all of their kids. There was no question from us that if your doctor says it's necessary then you have a C-section.

Jade was born at 36 weeks. She spent 3 days in the hospital on oxygen, and came home with supplemental oxygen and a bili blanket for jaundice. My recovery was easy other than the first day of puking from the anesthesia. Jade didn't get to nurse until much later that night, but she latched on right away and everything was fine. We went about our lives of attachment parenting just fine and didn't really give too much thought to how Jade arrived. I wasn't happy about the C-section, but I didn't really feel guilt or depression about the whole thing.

When I joined DAM I was surprised to read about so many mamas that had homebirthed. I also didn't realize there was a difference in Certified Nurse Midwives and Certified Professional Midwives. As I did more research, I realized that I generally thought along the same lines as a CPM (although this DOES vary based on the individual midwife of course), and decided that that was the route that I would choose when I was pregnant again.

Lark's Birth

After many interviews, Dennis and I chose Molly Germash as our care provider for this pregnancy. We felt confident in her statistics for successful VBACs and liked her take-charge attitude. She was full of tons of information and just really inspired confidence in her care and in my ability to accomplish a Homebirth after Caesarean.

I fully expected to have another early baby. I was born 3 months premature and my brother and sister were both early. Jade had tried to be born at 32 weeks and I just did not think I would carry full term. Molly kept telling me that I would most likely make it to my due date and maybe even farther than that. I didn't want to believe her. :)

Tuesday the 19th I had an appointment with Molly. My cervix was dilated 1 cm, but was still pretty thick and not soft. Molly made my appointment for the following Tuesday and told me that she fully expected me to keep that appoinment, but that it would likely be my last.

I had been pretty hopeful that I would go into labor on my brother's birthday of August 7th (the day the ultrasound predicted) or on my dad's birthday of August 20th (my official due date based on charting). Well, when I woke up on August 20th I had decided that nothing was likely to happen. We had birthday cake with my dad late that night, and he kept asking when the baby was going to be born. I was sick and tired of being pregnant and was pretty sure that it was never going to happen. I had one hard contraction at my parent's house, but had had Braxton Hicks contractions throughout the entire pregnancy and thought nothing of it.

We went home and got ready for bed. Dennis and Jade went to sleep and I stayed up to do some housework. I started having contractions around 12:30, but still didn't think they were actual labor contractions because they weren't painful at all. Eventually, I realized that they were coming pretty regularly so I started timing them. They were about 7 minutes apart and lasting a minute to a minute and a half. I kept cleaning and then took a shower before I woke Dennis up around 2:00. After a little while, we called Molly to let her know that things were starting. She lives over an hour away from me so she asked me if I was ready for her to come. I didn't feel like I needed her quite yet, but figured I would probably want to be checked in an hour so I told her to come on over. This is where I lost track of time.

My mom came over to help out in case Jade woke up. I think Molly, peggy, and Lydia made it to my house around 4:30 or 5:00. Molly checked me and I was dilated 5 cm. She thought my labor was going to progress relatively rapidly so she decided to call my friend and birth photographer, Lynsey Stone. I have no idea when Lynsey got there, but it was still pretty early in the morning. I was feeling great and having a good time. At some point shortly afterwards, my labor got a little harder and I started feeling a lot of back pain.

Molly decided to check me because it didn't seem like I was making any progress. Sure enough, I was at 6 cm and Lark had changed positions. I think she had rotated posterior but I have to check that with Molly. She had turned her head into a strange position that was stopping her from descending and making us worried that her heart tones were going to start getting scary. Molly suggested some crazy things to try to get Lark to move back up a little so that she could then turn and straighten her head. Meanwhile, I was having some mean back labor and nothing but hot rice socks and full body pressure on my lower back could help.

First, Molly did a little thing that she called "rock and roll" or something like that. During a contraction, I would lay on my side while she violently shook my shoulder and my hip in opposite directions. This actually felt good. We did this for a while with Molly, Peggy, Lydia, and Dennis all taking turns shaking me up. Then, Molly decided to try something else. She had me lay on my belly on the bed. She put a long shawl underneath me and she stood over me. She would rock the shawl back and forth and would give it a good tug on one side in order to shift the baby. We did this with me on my back also and that eventually shifted Lark enough for her to straighten out her head. The midwives kept checking Lark's heart tones and there had been some talk about transferring to the hospital. Thank God all of the crazy maneuvers did what they were supposed to. Molly made a comment about how I would have already been given a C-section in a hospital because they wouldn't have taken the time to move the baby. I was pretty thankful for my midwives.

My back labor continued and I spent a LOT of time in the hot shower. I had to have super hard pressure on my lower back during a contraction. I was doing a lot of moaning in an effort to cope, but I was still getting pretty worn out. The midwives were wonderful and extremely supportive. Dennis and my mom were wonderful and supportive. At one point, Molly made me walk the floor through my contractions. I wanted to kill her, but I did what she said.

FINALLY, I felt pushy and Molly checked me. I was 9 1/2 cm dilated, but I had a cervical lip that needed to get out of the way. Molly put me on the birth stool (that isn't a toilet in the slideshow :) ) and she tried to move the cervix back. She kept giving me cohosh and arnica. She suggested breaking my water (which was STILL intact!) and I really didn't want her to. Finally, I agreed and she got the hook out. Before she could break my water, it broke on its own. :)

I hated that birth stool and wanted off of it so I went back into the shower. I was so happy that it was time to push because I had read that some women liked the labor part and some women liked the pushing part. I had had a pretty tough time with the labor so I was SURE I would like the pushing part. Well, I hated pushing. I was so mad that I hated it, and so tired that I decided that I just wasn't going to do it. My mom told me that I said," I changed my mind. I don't want to do this."

I breathed through several contractions and just was refusing to do anything. Molly got stern with me and tried to convince me to push. I wouldn't. Lynsey poked her head in the shower and told me that I could do it. Dennis kept trying to convince me that I could do it. I finally made up my mind that I just wanted it all to be over even though I was pretty sure that I could NOT do it. I grabbed onto the towel rack in the shower and just pushed. Once we could feel Lark's head, Molly wanted me on the bed. Walking to the bed with a baby head between my legs was no easy task. Dennis held my hands and talked me into pushing some more. Then, my mom took over so I could break her hands while Dennis caught Lark. Lydia said that once I decided to push, I only pushed 5 times before Lark was out. I was careful to listen to Molly and move slowly so I wouldn't have any tearing.

After the birth, I climbed into a hot herbal bath. My dad brought home a big fat steak from the restaurant and Molly served it to me while I was in the bath. Lark joined me later on, and then I put my pjs on and climbed into bed with my new family. The midwives helped clean up and then they left. There weren't any nurses to check on me all throughout the night. It was wonderful!

Lark's birth was the hardest thing I have ever done, but I am so happy that I was able to do it at home. I was surrounded by people that loved me and that I loved right back. It was so amazing to get to be right there as Lark was weighed, measured, and checked out. She didn't have any bright lights in her face or rough hands rubbing her down. Her Papa was right there helping with the newborn exam. Everyone was smiling and happy. No one was in a rush to get to another room or another laboring mother. The difference between the births of my girls was immense. I still don't feel guilty about how Jade was born, but I feel a completely different satisfaction in Lark's birth. The amount of love in my bedroom made all of the difference in the world and I hope to have the same kind of birth for any future children.

Here (http://www.dfwbirthphotographer.com/Lark.html) is the link to the birth slideshow from Lynsey. :D

That was beautiful, and I love the pictures, too!
Congratulations again!

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing. I :love the slideshow. Your daughters are beautiful.

Oh man! I think that was one of my favorite slideshows to date. Great job Mama! You have a beautiful family.

What a beautiful, beautiful story. You have a lovely family. Thanks for sharing.

man both of those are GREAT stories, just beautiful little angels you have- congratulations!! :)

btw-SO jealous of that big fat steak from your dad's restaurant, I need to get back in there!!

I wanna be Lynsey when I grow up! :love

What a beautiful tale of perseverance and strength. Congratulations again Angelica!

that was just beautiful!

Two beautiful birth stories, beautiful family and beautiful video! Congratulations!

that was a great story. :congrats

:love the pictures!

beautiful! congrats again!

what a great story!

TFS Lark's wonderful birth story. The slideshow is beautiful.

I am SO happy for you. Your story (from your c-section to your VBAC) is so much like mine. Your slideshow made me cry and makes me want to have another baby N-O-W!!! Congratulations, Angelica. You did it!

What an inspiring story. :love Thanks for sharing that and your wonderful pictures.

Beautiful story!

What a beautiful birth and gorgeous photos to document the big day. Congratulations :love

That brought back so many memories. :love The apprentice that was at your birth was apprenticing during Cohen's pregnancy and I believe may have been at his birth, too...yeah, I'm pretty sure she was. You know, I just loved the apprentice midwives as much as I loved my midwife, I remember going in for my post partum check up and I took Cohen with me and they just took him and passed him all around and everybody ooohed and ahhhed over him...it was totally different than my OBs office. Makes me want to consider having one more little guy (yes, I say little guy because I just know there are no girls in my future!).

I loved hearing BOTH stories and like everyone before me said....the slideshow was amazing. I am so proud of you, Angelica. What an inspiration!!

Thanks, everybody! It just kept getting longer and longer. :) That's what happens when Jade is watching Toy Story and Lark is sleeping.

Beautiful birth story and beautiful photos! You did awesome! Congrats!

Beautiful stories (both of them), and beautiful girls! Congratulations Angelica!

A truly beautiful story & the pictures... wow!

Just beautiful :love I am SO happy for you. And Lynsey truly captured it. :thumbup

What an inspirational story! Congrats! :)

what a beautiful slideshow! Congrats!

So sweet!

How wonderful. :love
congratulations!
what a beautiful family you have.

What a lovely story!!!

Wow, what a fantastic birth story! You are an inspiration:D

I'm so glad to hear that you had a great experience even though it was hard work. Know that your story is inspiring and encouraging. Thanks SO MUCH for sharing it with me.

That was just beautiful! The story, the slide show...all of it. Jade looks like an angel in all of those pictures. The ones where she is looking at Lark....oh man! Incredible family you have there.

Great story thanks for sharing....I'm off to look at the photos :)

Congrats! Just beautiful!!! I'm so happy for you. Good job!!

So beautiful! :joy

I read you story and saw your pics last night. Your family is beautiful. I thought all night about your story. I just have to say WOW!

:cry That was just beautiful! :clap I can't wait to meet little Larky :love

Stunning shots! My favorites are of you and your big girl by the tub and the one of Lark in the tub looking up. You are so fortunate to have these to remember it.

Congratualtions on your VBAC! Your photos are absolutely beautiful ~ you must be so proud. :)

Amber

Great story! Your girls are so beautiful and I loved the slideshow.

I never saw this thread until today...Wow. Thank you for sharing. I just watched the slide slow. I was so touched. The pictures are beautiful and the song made me tear up. Audrey watched it with me. She said "I love the song" when it was over. :love What strength you have. Amazing.

Congratulations! Great stories and beautiful pictures! and I LOVE LOVE LOVE her name!

* * I also just realized this was an old thread, but that's ok :) * *