My pregnancy went fairly well with the complications of my history with 1 2 and 3 plus I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and later got a positive strep B test.
This time I had a new doctor and a new hospital. Both were "VBAC friendly" which is more difficult to find due to my history. I did get one key bit of information that I had never been told before. My new OB told me to get a Doula. "Hospitals don't take VBACs seriously without a Doula". It was like a key clicking into place, although my husband did not understand it. My Doula requires her clients to take Bradley birth classes, which my husband wasn't to happy about either. It became our weekly night-off from the kids and allowed the kids to get used to my parents putting them to bed. I learned a ton that I didn't realize I didn't know going into the class, with the exclusion of the breastfeeding class.. there I just tried to keep my answers short to be polite to the IBCLC guest speaker. 😉
Around 3am on a Thursday morning the contractions started. When they talk about how you can't sleep through them... they aren't kidding. I got no sleep once they started. They would wake me up and then by the time I would get my brain calmed to try and get back to sleep.. the next one would start.
At around 5am, I gave up and just got up. I tried to wait a bit but spent most of the morning clutching the couch through contractions. Then I texted my sister, who had herself done 40 hours completely natural. Laboring was a first for me.
I wasn't able to wait until 8:30 to call my Dad though.. only until 7:30 shortly after one of the kids sat on my head during a contraction... that was.. unpleasant. Unfortunately this did also set off my mom's worry. Around this same time I texted my Doula and one of the ladies from church to start the prayer chain, since I am high risk after all.
Soon after my father came and picked up the kids, followed by my sister's arrival. This allowed me to snack a little and get a shower. My contractions did calm down and space out a bit at this time. It was very nice to have her there as psychological support and she knew just what to say to keep me from worrying about everyone else.
I was able to get dressed before my doula got there. I kept hugging the couch during contractions until she suggested trying to sit upright on the ball, which did seem to intensify the contractions but they still hadn't got into a regular pattern. Our goal was to get me into a regular pattern and late stage labor before I went in to the hospital. Due to my history we knew that we would want to be at the hospital as soon as possible after my labor broke and for transition.
After laboring that way for a bit we went in my room and tried the peanut ball for over an hour, but because I had been awake so early, I kept yawning. The doula said that I should try and get a nap since I was obviously tired to be yawning during labor. 😝
After a short nap I joined everyone back in the living room and the contractions became much more regular. It was very obvious that the nap was needed. I did most of my contracting on the ball. We did try a bit of leaning on the ball and my doula did a bit of hip squeeze and hot rice pack, which was nice. Shortly around this time I went to the bathroom and saw a little blood which actually made us a bit excited (once I got over the shock and my doula assured me it was my "bloody show")
At one point I laid down on our loveseat to try to labor in that position for a bit.. and then my water broke. This one was very different from when my water broke with Lil'K which felt like a popping balloon and someone else peeing in my pants. This felt more like a snapping and spiking pain. The flow from it was much faster as well. At this point everyone went into hurried mode... except me. The pain greatly increased and I could only move at a snail pace. My doula worried about the couch, but thankfully when my mom re-upholstered it for me she had added a waterproof layer. Which is why I picked that couch to try and side-lay on. Once we were in the car my husband and I had to try and figure out where I had put the OB's number so we could call her and let her know we were on our way so she could meet us. I really didn't want any other OB to deliver me since I have had such poor experiences with OBs.
During the drive my pain steadily increased and never fully went away. Every contraction the pain level increased. I told my husband that this must be transition since it was so intense. I was clinging to my Boppy and trying to find the least painful position while staying in the seatbelt. It is also the first time I have tried to get my husband to drive faster. The pain was so intense that I told him I finally understood why someone would choose a c-section. Humming was the only thing I could do to temper the pain. This is when I started suspecting something wasn't right.
When we finally arrived at the hospital parking lot my Doula and sister both came to my door but I was in the middle of a contraction and could not move. I just clung to my sister for a minute until the contraction subsided and I could shuffle my way to the door.
I was asked if I needed a wheelchair and quickly accepted. Shortly before or after that I had another contraction and clung onto my sister, which is where my Doula suspected I was rupturing. After I got in the chair I clutched my Boppy in front of me and was pushed into the L&D department, I think my husband was pushing me but I am not sure. I vaguely remember my Doula explaining my case to the nurses. I do remember seeing my OB's face and being very releaved to see her there. I was taken in the room but could not move much. I could only stand to be on all fours. The nurses had to put my monitors on with me in this position. At this point I was clinging to the hope that all the pain was my cervix opening since I had never experienced it before. 
My OB did have me turn over to check my cervix, all of us hoping that I was just having intense transition but all of us suspecting that I wasn't. At this point I was thinking clearly but unable to speak due to the intense pain. When she checked I was only 4cm and at every contraction his heart rate would dip to 50. The three of us all knew that I needed the c-section but being unable to speak I consented to the section via sign language. Which ended up simplifying to a thumbs up because everyone else's sign language needs work. 😜
Signing the consent form was probably the worst signiture I have ever written.
Shortly after my bed was pushed down the hall leaving my Doula, sister and husband behind, this was the first time in our 10 years together that he was afraid for my life. All I was thinking was for them to hurry and knock me out, just knock me out.
When in the OR I had to transfer to the operating table. The anisesheologust at my head putting the mask on me telling me to breathe slowly. I am trying to breathe deeply because I want to be out quickly. My OB was at my side and there was a fury of movement around the OR.
When I woke back in the room 3 hours later I asked my sister if I still had my overies, because I was worried about going into menopause. Baby C was on my chest trying to snuggle and nurse.
But there were some complications and it took a few days to piece together what had happened.
Apparently after Baby K's scheduled section my bladder had adheared to my uterus. During the pregnancy it had slowly stretched along with my uterus to the point that it was underneath my belly button. I suspect the rupture began when my water broke and continued to expand with each contraction. In the OR I had the classic "double bump" of a rupture. Once she opened me up she had to pause for a second to try and figure out what she was seeing. My uterus and bladder had split so much that Baby C was in my bladder up to his shoulders. She cut the other side of my bladder and pulled Baby C all the way through. He was checked and brought to my husband. Which was the second time he has ever been afraid for my life. The nurses said Baby C was the most vigorous section baby they had ever seen. 
Around this time they called the urology surgeon from surgery at another local hospital. They had to pause that surgery and he came over to put me back together. He said he had never seen anything like it.
I had to use a cath bag for 2 weeks to allow my bladder to heal. Unfortunately the clots from the healing clogged it up a few times and had to be irrigated. The spasms that accompanied the clots were almost as painful as the rupture. This did require an extra speeding run to the hospital where we left Baby C behind and my mom followed with him. I ended up "walking" into the ER crying for help when the clot suddenly broke loose and I just broke down crying. They had to flush out the clots and sent me home. The clots and accompanying spasms were as painful as the rupture. I am very glad to be rid of it.
Although I went through all of that, I would do it again. This has been the first time I have not required PPD meds. I only had a slight "baby blues" and had the meds "just in case" in my medicine cabinet. I think the laboring truly made the difference. We do know that the laboring did save our lives. The contractions woke him up and put him near the surface. Either way my bladder would have been cut open but I likely would have bled more, had a full bladder and they would have had to find/get to my womb beneath/around my bladder. Surprisingly I didn't really hemorage and only lost the same amount of blood as a normal section. They did expect me to lose more so had the fluids wide open, which made my feet really swollen and that took a few weeks to go down to normal. Of all of my deliveries, it was the least psychologically traumatic, which should say something about the previous two. This time I was the decision maker, not someone to be "handled" or talked down to. I was treated as an intelligent respected adult by my OB. The way she treated me has made all the difference in my emotional state post delivery. Shouldn't that be how it is?
