I'm 16 weeks today and starting to get my mini baby bump :) I get little kicks here and there from baby, which feels incredible, and pregnancy is going very well.
I'm giving a little update about a recent decision of ours, which I believe, is an experience worth blogging about. :) We have decided to attempt a Home Birth After Cesarean (HBAC). I know what most of you are thinking... "I'm crazy." BUT this was not a light-hearted decision. I've been doing so much research on VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) , reading, watching videos, talking with women that have had VBACs, talking with doulas that have witnessed VBACs, going to ICAN (International Cesarean Awareness Network?... that's close) meetings and after all that... have made this decision. I actually was sold before Josh.. and I had to wait for him to come around before making this decision cause there was no way in HEck- I was going to do this without his full support. So I practiced patience, which is not something I'm too good at, but I think I did pretty good.
We were nervous to tell the family what we were doing, but MUCH to our surprise, they are supporting us 100% and are excited with us. Praise God for that cause that doesn't happen very often that family supports home births in our culture and we consider ourselves blessed with the family we have.
I understand the risks....I've learned that it's NOT 2% risk of rupture with VBACs.. it's .5%!! Even more rare, AND the more natural you labor and deliver, the better the chance you have at a successful VBAC. What I have learned is when you induce, using interventions (breaking waters, pitocin, etc.), or use pain meds. that may slow down labor in order for certain interventions, essentially things that are making the uterus do what it's not truly ready for, the risks for rupture are greater. So.. my attempt to go strictly "all natural" is the result of this information learned. I'm not scared of the pain, cause labor is and always will be hard work, but any nerves I do have are normal, praying that nothing happens to baby. (and that's at home or in the hospital, mind you, all 3 hospitals are right around the corner from our house)
I've always toyed with the idea of a home birth but thought it was out of my reach, thinking that I could never do it. I didn't have confidence in myself or my body. When the c-section happened, I thought my chances of ever doing a home birth were none. But as I've been thrusted into this world of c-section knowledge and people, I've been able to learn so much, realizing there's a lot of women that purposely do HBAC in a better attempt to successfully carry out their VBAC. I thought... "well this is baking my cake and eating it too!"(and yes, I do believe that happens sometimes in life)
Now the trick, finding a midwife that does VBACs at home... I found one... yes, one. The other home birth midwives feel VBACing at home is a little too much of a risk, but this particular midwife, believes in women's abilities to give birth, by trial, where ever they see fit. (of course, there are certain terms that she won't do births at home, but I'm not one of them :) She's not extreme, she knows there's a time and a place for the hospital when it comes to complications or higher risk births, but she gives you the support, encouragement, and confidence it takes to deliver successfully at home if she really feels you are able. She has delivered many VBACs and I've talked to a few women who have VBACed with her.(I've talked with a woman who did a HBA2C with her) I'm confident she'll take good care of us.
The thing you have to remember and think about is that these home birth midwives.. because they are not at the hospital, are trained to notice complications early, probably earlier than an OB. (whose not even really present yet, until you start pushing) That's comforting to me.
I'm dreaming about this.. not being at the hospital idea...
I'm in my own clothes, in my own house, eating my own food (yes when I want to, even during labor), drinking whenever I want, being in my own big fluffy bed, being able to cuddle up to Josh whenever I want to, pushing my baby out sitting in a position that I want to, that might be against hospital policy, having my kids around to enjoy baby's arrival, holding my baby once he/she emerges from me, not having to give it up for exams that they could very well do on my chest, having a calm, warm home environment (vs. cold hospital), while nice hearty stew is going in the crockpot while I labor so it's done when I'm good and hungry after baby's born, no vitals constantly through day and night for the following couple days, no being woken from precious sleep except for my new baby's cry.... I'm lovin this idea the more I think about it.
Now, of course, Kailan prepares for the "in case"... it's in the back of my head that I may still end up in the hospital if something starts to go wrong... but I'll keep that in the back of my head, where it belongs cause after our 2 hour long conversation at our appt. this week with this midwife discussing her doing my home birth, she left me with...
"We are going to get through this in faith." -Sheryl Puderbaugh
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