My daughter Maya was a c-section in 2006 because she was breech and they thought I had low amniotic fluid. I never went into labor because they took her at 37 weeks. At that time I was told by my OB that my local hospital has a "once a c-section always a c-section" policy. When my husband and I began thinking about having another baby, I began to mourn the loss of my birth experience with my daughter. I was scared to go through the surgery, recovery, PPD, difficulty breastfeeding and bonding, etc. that I mostly blamed on the cesarean. Ever since I had helped a friend through her labor in college, I had wanted to experience labor and delivery of my own child. I felt that God had created me capable of birthing babies, and I wanted to feel that power through my body.
Miraculously, right around the time I became pregnant, I connected with strong birth advocates on Facebook through my Aunt Robin. These women pointed me towards International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN) and told me that hospital policy didn't have to stop me from having the birth I desired. My husband and I contacted local midwives Laurie and Dzhan and told them our desire to have a VBAC and to do what it took to make it happen. They told us they had just helped another local woman do the same thing in Seattle and they seemed thrilled by our choice and excited to help us. We were so encouraged to encounter so many supportive people.
It was a slightly bumpy journey trying to find a provider due to insurance issues and my location and circumstances. I had decided I wanted a hospital birth with a midwife but I and my midwife here had difficulty getting people to call me back. Finally, my awesome Facebook friends (Megan Miles and Alyson Davis) recommended homebirth midwives in the Seattle area. By that time I had read enough about having a VBAC that I was fully convinced I would have better odds at a good outcome having an out of hospital homebirth. The first midwife I contacted agreed to meet with my husband and I on a Saturday night at 5 pm. She spent almost two hours with us discussing our plans and her philosophies. She would open up her home to us for a homebirth. At 30 weeks we were finally set with a VBAC plan!
Easter Sunday I relocated to my Aunt Robin’s (also my Doula) home in Arlington, about a week and a half before my due date. It was really difficult leaving my family but both my husband and I felt like we were doing the right thing for our family.
Thursday, April 15 at about 2 a.m. I thought my water had broken. I called my husband and he drove over the pass right away. My mom stayed with my kids in Wenatchee and then her and my dad drove them over Thursday morning. We spent all day Thursday trying to kick start labor with no luck. By Friday with no progress I began having visions of having to go to the hospital and have another c-section. I went and saw my midwife and she determined that my water had not broken, I was just having a lot of pre-labor signs. (And no, i didn't just wet my pants!)
Saturday April 17 I began to feel hopeless and thought that I was going to have to say goodbye to my family AGAIN without a baby. I desperately missed my home and my kids and I began to feel guilty about the sacrifices everyone was having to make. I had a really good cry at about 5:30 pm and at 6:10 I had a big contraction. I decided to just sit by myself, watch TV and notice if I had anymore. I was tired of all the fuss about every contraction and I was sick of being a watched pot. After an hour, I had had about 8 contractions and they seemed to be getting closer together. I told my Aunt and my husband and we started walking outside to see if they kept coming. They did and they began getting more intense. My three big labor goals were to stay active, keep my sense of humor and relax my entire body through each contraction (inspired through the birth stories I read in Ina May Gaskin’s Guide to Childbirth). My husband held me through each one and reminded me to relax. Just saying that word helped me remember not to tense my body, but to relax everything. I could actually feel my body opening up as I rode each wave. I kept reminding myself that movement through labor would shorten my labor and I just kept repeating "relax and open" to myself. They were perfect mantras to get me through the pain.
One of my midwives came to my aunt’s house to listen to the baby and watch my contractions. My husband told her that I was anxious about the drive to Seattle and that he thought I would like to leave sooner rather than later. She listened to him and my husband and I got in the car and took off. My midwife told me my contractions would probably slow down on the car ride and I would have to get back in the groove once I got to the house, but she was wrong! I think because I kept accepting every contraction, rather than fighting them or tensing up against the pain, they just kept right on trucking through my body. During the car ride, I actually felt the baby’s head move further down into my pelvis. I was so relieved when we arrived at the midwives house and I still had the baby inside of me! We had made the 50 minute trip in about 40. It was 10 pm, so there was no traffic.
I immediately stripped off my clothes and got in the birth tub. It felt good to hang myself over the side. By this time I was pretty oblivious to time and activity around me, although I could hear everything. At one point I made some joke and someone joked back "she’s still got a sense of humor she must only be at a 4!!" and then I think I started swearing.
My birth team was incredible! They kept telling me I was a Rockstar and telling me how great I was doing. Their encouragement kept me going. My mom came around midnight. I had decided that I really wanted her to be there with me. She had originally thought that she wouldn’t be able to handle it because she gets queasy at the sight of blood and always said she couldn’t even watch her own children be born. But she came and became apart of the birth team! My husband was awesome, he stayed with me almost the whole time and looking back at pictures, he always has a smile on his face. He kept kissing me and followed every direction I gave him!
At one point I said "I can’t" and then remembered that I didn’t want any negative thoughts and immediately began saying "I can do this."
Once I started to feel like I wanted to push, my midwife checked me and said I was complete. I pushed for a little bit in the tub but didn’t like it very much. I pushed on the toilet for a while and liked that a whole lot better. I could feel the baby moving down through me – it was incredible! Then I moved to the bed and laid on my side to push. They told me the tub was ready again because I had thought I wanted to have a waterbirth. But by that time I could feel my baby’s head coming and I didn’t want to move again. I pushed a few more times and out he came straight into my husbands hands at 2:20 am on April 18 after 8 hours of labor! My Aunt/Doula was holding my hand, my mom was holding my leg and my midwives made sure I didn’t tear!
My son was placed right onto my chest. It is the best feeling knowing that my husband and I were the first to touch him and hold him.
Several hours later he weighed in at 9 lbs 12 oz, 14 ½ in head and 21 in long! My mom went back to the hotel and my dad came to visit. We celebrated with champagne at 5 a.m. Then later in the morning they brought our kids to meet their new baby brother!
We are so thrilled to have Luca Thomas Scanlon as the newest member of our family and so grateful for all of the support and encouragement we received from family, friends, and our birth team. We feel that God had his hand on this whole process and orchestrated every detail according to his plan. We have been blessed beyond belief.
