Dean Alphonse entered this world on the morning of Tuesday, December 10, 2013 at Magnolia Birth Center, in Houston, TX.
This was my third pregnancy, and was thankfully un-eventful.
Our first son was born via "emergency" c-section in January, 2008, due to a failed induction for "big baby" at three days past his due date. In the year following his birth, I discovered ICAN, and decided that any future children I bore would be born vaginally, baring a TRUE medical necessity.
Three years later, we discovered we were expecting our second child, and my search for a VBAC provider began in earnest. Due to insurance restrictions (darn HMOs!), I was forced to find an OB and hospital that would allow me to give birth vaginally after a c-section. I was fortunate to give birth to our second son via hospital VBAC in September, 2011.
While I will always appreciate the fact I was able to give birth vaginally, I felt extreme anxiety and intimidation in the hospital setting. While most of the nurses were supportive of my choices, some were very unsupportive of my decision. The on-call OB was one I knew to be anti-VBAC, as well, though fortunately she did not try to force me into a repeat section. My OB approved birth plan was laughed at, so the experience was far more stressful than I had hoped for. I swore I would not have another hospital birth, if at all possible.
Within months of my hospital VBAC birth, a new birth center opened up on my side of town, and they allowed VBAC births in the center! I attended their grand opening, and decided that this was where I would give birth, if we were blessed with a third child.
It didn't take long to take that opportunity... My VBAC son was 19 months old when we discovered baby number three was on his way! I contacted Magnolia Birth Center, and began making plans to give birth there. I felt immediately at ease with Aly, Patty and their support team!
My due date was set as December 17th, 2013, though I knew in my heart this baby would arrive about a week early. As the weeks passed, and we reached "term," I patiently waited for any sign of impending labor. At 37 weeks, I began having regular Braxton Hicks "practice" contractions throughout the day, every day.
On Monday, December 9th, I took a hot shower before bed, and my bag of waters broke, causing a trickle with mild contractions. I woke Ari up at midnight to let him know that my water had broken, and he called his parents to come over and stay with the boys while we made our way to the birth center. I called my doula, Sarah, and Patty at the birth center to let them know labor had begun. Patty asked me to come in so she could check my progress, and make sure my water had broken.
We arrived at about 1:30am, and my water started gushing as soon as I sat on the exam table; there was no doubt that my water bag had broken, and thankfully it was clear of meconium. I was only dilated to 1.5 cm, though, and at 2:00 am, I was sent home to eat, rest and labor through the night.
By the time we returned home, my clothes were soaked, so I returned to the shower once again. I labored in the bathroom for the rest of the night, drinking water and coconut water, but unable to eat food. Suddenly, labor became more intense, and my body started pushing with contractions. I had Ari call Patty and Sarah to tell them I was going back to the birth center at 5:00am, and we left the house once again.
We arrived at the birth center by 5:30, and I was still involuntarily pushing through contractions. Patty started filling the birth tub, and had me get onto the bed for a cervical check. I was 7-8cm dilated, and unable to stop my body from pushing with each contraction.
Around 6:30am, there was enough water filled, I was helped into the birth tub, and within three contractions, my son started crowning. I don't remember how many total pushes it took, nor do I have a concept of "how long" I pushed, but I know it didn't take long before his head was out. I had to flip onto "all fours" to get his shoulders out, but it did not take long to push the rest of him out once I was in the right position. **Weeks after writing this down, I discovered that Ari had videotaped the water birth. The pushing phase was under 10 minutes long.
Dean completed his journey at 6:55am, and was placed on my chest. I couldn't believe how quickly and peacefully he arrived! We were assisted to the bed, where we snuggled for a while, and let his cord return his much needed blood to his body. Ari cut the cord, and followed Aly as she performed his newborn assessment. Much to our surprise, Dean weighed in at 10lbs 3oz, and 22" long - our biggest baby, by far!
Patty and Sarah accompanied me, as I desperately wanted to shower. Once I cleaned up, I made my way to the area where Aly was finishing up the newborn assessment. Everyone laughed, and said they had not had a mother come out before to see part of the newborn assessment!
A little after 9:15, we began packing our bags to return home, so our two big boys could meet their baby brother.
I couldn't have asked for a better beginning to our new family of five!
-Angela
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