Many of you knew I was struggling internally with the circumstances surrounding my repeat c-section. I felt under duress from both sides of the gammit, from the hospital "umbrella ban" on v-bac's (regardless of individual risk factors) to well-intentioned members of the natural parenting community who were pressuring me to "fight" for a v-bac ... as my duedate rolled closer (and then passed), I found myself a wreck. I finally gave it back to God and said, "please insure the delivery that You know is best for this baby as only You would know."
When I had an episode of prodromal labor and began dilating at 37 weeks, I began to wonder if He was going to force the quick v-bac I'd been half-anticipating. Then it seemed that fizzled out so I resigned myself to another surgery (though I was grateful for the extra prep time).
Initially the whole check-in and pre-op process were uneventful ... until the nurses struggled to get DD2's heartbeat. Although it was blatantly obvious she was active, she kept evading the sensor and it took them a good half-hour to get her vitals. In the process, one nurse looked at me with a startled expression and asked, "Don't you feel that?" Apparently I was having regular and rather intense contractions, but was oblivious. This is where it got interesting: she expressed with some concern that the baby's heartrate would dip with every contraction. Not enough to cause serious concern (since they were going to be taking her in 45 minutes anyways), but enough to take note of.
Again, the rest of the process was "textbook" until I heard my OB say, "Oh, there you are," followed by one of the nurses say, "oh dear - it's around her neck." It turns out the umbillical cord was not only wrapped around Rose's neck, but twice and much tighter than they generally see it before the baby exits the birth canal. Essentially, if I'd delivered her naturally, it would likely have cut off her circulation before she'd even crowned. Of course, no one had any way of knowing this - except, of course, the One who'd answered my prayers.
In retrospect, I am incredibly grateful that circumstances dictated the c-section.
All that being said ... the fact that I already was in labor had prepped her beautifully to enter the world! She screamed bloody murder for a solid 20 minutes and scored 9 and 10 on her Apgar (upon which I got a quiet aside from my OB that "these East German nurses never give out 10's!")
When I had an episode of prodromal labor and began dilating at 37 weeks, I began to wonder if He was going to force the quick v-bac I'd been half-anticipating. Then it seemed that fizzled out so I resigned myself to another surgery (though I was grateful for the extra prep time).
Initially the whole check-in and pre-op process were uneventful ... until the nurses struggled to get DD2's heartbeat. Although it was blatantly obvious she was active, she kept evading the sensor and it took them a good half-hour to get her vitals. In the process, one nurse looked at me with a startled expression and asked, "Don't you feel that?" Apparently I was having regular and rather intense contractions, but was oblivious. This is where it got interesting: she expressed with some concern that the baby's heartrate would dip with every contraction. Not enough to cause serious concern (since they were going to be taking her in 45 minutes anyways), but enough to take note of.
Again, the rest of the process was "textbook" until I heard my OB say, "Oh, there you are," followed by one of the nurses say, "oh dear - it's around her neck." It turns out the umbillical cord was not only wrapped around Rose's neck, but twice and much tighter than they generally see it before the baby exits the birth canal. Essentially, if I'd delivered her naturally, it would likely have cut off her circulation before she'd even crowned. Of course, no one had any way of knowing this - except, of course, the One who'd answered my prayers.
In retrospect, I am incredibly grateful that circumstances dictated the c-section.All that being said ... the fact that I already was in labor had prepped her beautifully to enter the world! She screamed bloody murder for a solid 20 minutes and scored 9 and 10 on her Apgar (upon which I got a quiet aside from my OB that "these East German nurses never give out 10's!")
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