Colette's Birth Story

I admit this is one story lingering on in my head, and I am finally bringing myself to write it. Every once in awhile I think about how things turned out, but it is becoming less emotional for me as time goes on. 

For those who know, I had an emergency C-section with Johnathan. He was coming face presentation, and I could not push him out. You can read more about his story here: http://brittstale.blogspot.com/2015/06/one-heck-of-birth-story.html

It was always in the plans since having Johnathan I would do a VBAC with our next child. We found a great team of Midwives who deliver at the St Luke’s Baptist Hospital in San Antonio. I really liked a few of them the best because they truly had my best interest at heart and were completely supportive throughout my entire pregnancy.

Well, the clock was ticking and our little baby would be coming soon. Everything about my cervix and the baby’s position was ready to go. All I needed to really do was actually start some contractions. My due date was past and still no baby. I went in for an appointment at 40 ½ weeks. Luckily, I met with Lauren, who was my favorite midwife. She kept telling me how great a VBAC candidate I was and even pushed it a bit, so I could wait to have a scheduled C-section for one more week. I felt at peace with that and felt my body would go into labor on its own before then. 

People/friends have asked me about being induced in my circumstance. This is one of the opinions and feelings I am going to try and not get into right now. However, with that on the mind, Lauren said to go ahead and bring our hospital bag to our next appointment in a couple days.

Those next couple days were discouraging. I am not going to even get into all the things I did to try and bring on labor. haha. Let’s just say I believe no matter what you do and all those silly list, there is no way you can induce your own labor.

Thursday morning came, and we loaded our hospital bag into the car and dropped Johnathan off at Grandma and Grandpa’s house (my parents). That morning I started to feel some very mild contractions as well. We got to my appointment and had a sonogram and a non-stress test. Everything was great, except that baby’s amniotic fluid had dropped to a 2 and they prefer it to be at a minimum of 5. I will try and be positive here, but I cannot guarantee that. My least favorite midwife met with us and with no further discussion or talk, it was decided for me that I was going to be having a C-section that day. At this moment I wished I could talk to Lauren, the midwife I seemed to click with the best. We walked out of the office and into the hospital to get things set up for my C-section. My contractions are also increasing. I admit, I spent a good portion of my morning with tears in my eyes and the feeling that nobody even cares what I think or what I feel we should do.

I sat in a hospital bed with monitors on me for five hours wishing they would just let me see where these contractions would lead. Part of me wishes I could sit here and write with no regrets or wishes of what we should have done. I wish we did not feel pressured or pushed at that moment and that we asked more questions before to see if it was absolutely necessary. We can’t go back and change it, so I am trying to move on. I will admit it is a bit hard to see a lot of friends having babies right now and not get a little jealous of their vaginal deliveries.

A little after 3:00 p.m. they took us to the O.R. to prep for the C-Section. Glenn waited outside the room while they put the spinal block in me and a few other preps. Glenn came in, and though this was not our ideal birth experience, we were anxious to meet our little girl. The experience was different than when we had Johnathan. They dropped the curtain as soon as they pulled Colette out, and I got to see her. When Johnathan was born, I barely got to see him before they took him to check his oxygen, and I did not see him for two hours. Colette came out healthy and well. They gave her to me to hold a few minutes later. I will say that was the best part. I never got that with Johnathan until he was two hours old. It was so fun and memorable to hold her during her first moments outside the womb.

Once I was stitched back up, we were taken to recovery and stayed there for about four hours. I guess it was a busy baby day at the hospital and so rooms were not readily available. We got to bond and spend time with Colette. We called my mom, so we could talk to Johnathan before he went to bed. He was excited to meet his baby sister.

The next day, my parents brought Johnathan to the hospital. He was most concerned that Colette did not have any socks or shoes on. Other than that, he did not want to hold her. He did go over to her every once in a while to pat her head and look at her toes

Now two weeks later, we are doing really well. Johnathan still will not hold Colette, but he loves telling people about the baby and sitting next to her.

Welcome to the world little Colette.