Fast forward to my second pregnancy. We tried for months and found out in April 2008 we were pregnant again. I was young and worked in health care. I thought all doctors were there for your true health and wellness and best interest. I made it clear I wanted a natural delivery and to breastfeed. I was very nieve to how healthcare in this country actually worked though. I had a very healthy pregnancy with frequent ultrasounds since I had an unexplained miscarriage. I did have decreasing platelets though. A clotting factor of the blood. I went for all kinds of tests and to a high risk doctor for a second opinion. He said everything was great and just to possibly do a round of steroids before delivery. So a month before delivery my doctor said "we will do 10 days of steroids and then you have to be induced with an overnight induction". I thought well she knows best this is what I pay her to decide. (I found out later from the high risk doctor that there is no reason to induce after steroids... Furry) but I was due two days after Christmas and my doctor had plans to go on vacation. Oh the stupidity on my part looking back..
So I go in for the induction at 6pm. It is 10 pm before they start unt intervention. They start with cervidil to soften the cervix and then start the pitocin and tell me to get some rest... Yeah right. If only I knew 70 % of inductions END IN C SECTION. So I sit a good bit of the night on a birthing ball, wired up like a medical experiment while my hubby got a whole 8 hours in. By morning they check my platelets and it's in a safe range to get an epidural. Well since doc knows best and she said contractions were going to get worse and this was the only chance... Sure I will have one. It did help me get some great rest, but it also statistically raised my chance of having a Csection. I had no idea at this point my statistical odds of a cesarean were over 90%.
At any rate I contracted all day and finally was told to push around 6. I had no idea I was ready because I could Hardly feel a thing. The epidural worked so well I found or even hold my own legs up. My pushing was vastly ineffective so after 2 hours my doctor said you have to have a Csection. Because of your low platelets I can help you in any way. No forceps, no vacuum. So just after 10 we heard the delightful screams of baby girl scientist.
The recovery was awful. I couldn't eat for another day because they have this lovely rule no eating until your bowels are moving. So I was weak and tired and defeated. The pain lasted for weeks. Getting better each week but I wasn't completely back to par for months. All the while my friends who had vaginal delivers were grocery shopping days later.
Pregnancy number three. I was a bit wiser and switched doctors because of the miscommunication about the fact that I had to be induced. I found a wonderful Christian woman who I really feel listened to me. I had the platelet issue again but baby looked great. Then around 29 weeks we had a huge scare because I showed to have choleostasis. A problem with the liver filtering bile. With the power of prayer and dandelion root teA this miraculously went away. The started the gallbladder issues that were excurtiating. But I figured out if I didn't eat high cholesterol foods this went away also. I did Zumba up to my due date. And my doctor agreed to a vbac. I was nieve again and thought it would be sinple. The TRUTh is, unless you take classes and are extremely hard headed you can quickly be swayed to not have a delivery without intervention. My high risk doc put it so well.... " if we don't do a Csection then we can't say we tried everything and that's not good on our end".
So the day before my due date they check my platelets. Surprise, they are low 58000 low. The doctor calls that evening, during the first half of my husbands 48 hour shift, and says report to the hospital in the morning for a recheck and likely blood transfusion. . My mom and dad meet me there and my husband plans to come when I'm close to pushing. They check them and they are up, I did every natural remedy found. My doctor says head to the labor and delivery... I have to be induced. If only I again knew this meant my chances went up drastically of Csection. So they hook me up "before my platelets drop again" to pitocin, and epidural with no medication, and IV, and all the other jazz. My hubby arrives and is ready to get lunch and get the baby out healthy. He is very medical intervention minded. He is a fireman EMT and believes in medicine at this point. Well the unthinkable happens and I loose all my toughness for a natural delivery. The baby heart rate starts dropping within a few hours. My sweet doctor says you can slow the pic toxin and rest and then try again the next morning or have a Csection. My husband and mom decide Csection with the doctor. So that's it there's all chances of a natural delivery in my mind down the drain. She came out perfectly healthy with a high apgar of 9.
Another pretty rough recovery but I was back to normal in only about two months this time. The year before my tiny sister in law had no pitocin and an epidural and was walking around within a few hours and back to normal in a few days.
Little did I know in 2010 the American academy of obstetricians released new guidelines saying there was no necessary indication to prevent vbac because the only possible negative side effect was uterine rupture that only elicited a 0.4-1% chance.
On to pregnancy number 4. I had fibroids and a low GHC so they said the pregnancy probably wouldn't stick. Thank God she did. I asked the high risk doctor about a vbac and he said it was not safe for him. He said if I threatened with a home delivery he would rather I have it there but he would have to be there because no other doctor would do it. He said if it were his wife he would certainly do a Csection. So being dumb again and totally scared of a home birth by the medical community I planned my throw Csection. Let me just tell you the baby was and is healthy and I am so grateful for that but the aftermath was horrible. The pain will forever be etched in my memory. I couldn't stand or sit for weeks without feeling like I was being stabbed to death. I couldn't care for my kids on my own for weeks either. I remember finally having a friend over when my hubby worked a 24 and it allowed me to climb in bed with my 2 year old and fall asleep with her for the first time in over a month. I could hardly bend down by their beds to say prayers at night. This all created some strong feelings of hopelessness. I reached out for help often and God got me through it. But it was the first time in my life I felt depressed. I had four beautiful girls and I was hardly enjoying them. It was the worst feeling ever.
I would never suggest anyone do something they aren't comfortable with. I would suggest always looking in to things. Not through online searches but through medical facts and personal testimonies. There is a task in everything and no one has a better plan than God. I wish I would have realized that at number one. But at the end of the day I have four heLthy girls and pray I give up the regret of not being stronger and not believing in my bodies God given strength. This medical culture has convinced too many the body isn't strong enough and the statistics are better in intervention. The truth is there isn't as much money or malpractice safety in natural deliveries.
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