We always knew we wanted more children, and were so excited to be expecting again a few months after Layla’s first birthday! I think one of the easiest things to forget in the second pregnancy is that it is its own experience and can be completely different from your first. Any mamas with three or more feel like that happened in subsequent pregnancies or did the second one teach you that lesson real quick?

That being said, Sophia’s pregnancy wasn’t wildly different than Layla’s, but the birth definitely was! If you’ve already read Layla’s birth story here then you know we had a scheduled c-section due to breech positioning through a midwifery practice that I absolutely adore! I continued through the same practice for my second pregnancy but we had moved towns, so where they were previously a little less than an hour away, it would now be about an hour and 15 minutes to the hospital. I went to my appointments every four weeks, two weeks, week and we hit a point in the third trimester where it was time to start thinking about my birth options and what I wanted my birth to look like after I had somewhat successfully been avoiding thinking about it for the last several months.

The question I got throughout my pregnancy time and time again was if I would want another scheduled c-section or if I wanted to attempt a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). I really wrestled with this decision – initially I was so devastated that I needed a c-section with my first birth and was “losing” the birth experience that I wanted. But now I had experienced the c-section, and actually had a really positive experience, and labor felt like this big scary unknown. Even though society says I wasn’t supposed to want the c-section, in a way it had become the devil that I knew and in a lot of ways just made sense for us. Jon would have very limited time away from work and we had no local family or caregivers for Layla while we would be in the hospital on top of me feeling at ease due to my own previous experience.

We scheduled the c-section for a Tuesday morning at 39 weeks and 1 day. BUT our story really begins a week before, on a Tuesday at 38 weeks and 1 day:

Tuesday: I had my 38 week appointment, and there was really nothing new – my c-section was scheduled, baby felt and sounded good and we were on track to meet her in just one short week! My sleep wasn’t great and I was getting some Braxton hicks but I was more focused on the massive list of things I wanted to get done over the weekend before she came! I had a hard time getting comfortable on the couch that night as the Braxton hicks really picked up in the evening, but didn’t think much of it because it had happened before and I knew some of these symptoms could feel more intense in subsequent pregnancies.

Wednesday: After a typical third trimester night of Braxton hicks and poor sleep, I woke up feeling totally normal. I had my weekly call with my boss where we reviewed my maternity plan and I even agreed to wrap up a few additional tasks before I went out the following week (ha! Who did I. think I was?). Early that afternoon I noticed that the Braxton hicks had come back again and they were pretty frequent in the evening and throughout the night. I chatted on the phone with Midwife Paula and she had confirmed that I seemed to have early/false labor or prodromal labor. She asked how far apart the contractions were and I hadn’t thought to track them so she suggested I start timing! I spent most of the evening in bed and slightly more uncomfortable than normal, but I would still consider it manageable as I timed contractions.

Prodromal Labor is a type of false labor contraction in the third trimester before fully active labor begins; although contractions can be consistent and intense like true labor, these contractions don’t cause cervical dilation or effacement.

Thursday: One big thing that Paula had mentioned that showed I was having prodromal labor and not real labor was that I was fine during the day and it seemed to pick up more at night, their own little “witching hours”. I woke up on Thursday a little worse for wear, but the contractions had subsided enough that I still met some friends for a stroller walk in the park and playground date. I was definitely uncomfortable and moved less than normal, and once we got home I was so tired that Layla and I had a princess movie day on the couch. I was at this weird point where I could talk myself into anything…was I just tired from the last few days of being a super pregnant lady in the summer? Was it more? Had the contractions started up again or did they never really go away today? Again, once Jon got home he took over and I took my big belly to bed. I was at the point where not only were the contractions uncomfortable, but they were waking me up in the night.

Friday: I woke up really worried about Jon going into work – not because I was worried about having the baby (because we had a c-section just 4 days away that we were going to make it to, duh) but because I really didn’t want to get out of bed and was worried how I would manage a toddler at home by myself! Jon brought her into our room and she thought she was getting an extra special treat: princess movie day 2.0 and in the big bed?! Today I didn’t get the daytime relief from the contractions as they continued on throughout the day, but was determined to save up my energy since I had purposely scheduled a hair cut and nail appointment before we went to the hospital on Tuesday! The haircut was a welcome distraction as I timed my contractions in her chair. By the time I got home I was miserable and went straight to bed, but not to sleep. Contractions were INTENSE and I found myself unable to stay in bed – changing positions seemed to help just briefly enough for another contraction to come. There were times when they were 3 minutes apart or once in a while I would get 30 minutes of relief, there was really no rhyme or reason.

Saturday: Sometime in the middle of the night Friday night/Saturday morning I called Midwife Paula again almost in tears. I didn’t want to eat or move and was in a lot of pain. I could sometimes find temporary relief on my yoga ball or in as much of a Child’s pose as I could get to with a pillow under my hips. She had some at-home pain management suggestions like a warm bath and let me know that I could absolutely come in for a cervical check but there wasn’t really much else she could say without knowing for sure. I declined the cervical check because 1. I didn’t want to make the 75 minute drive to just be told to go drive 75 minutes back home and 2. I was worried of the chance that a cervical check could kick start real labor…because I still had that c-section coming up on Tuesday, remember? I tried taking a bath, which was about as comical as you could imagine in a small/standard sized tub where my belly and knees could never actually make it into the water since I was all crunched up, so I opted back to my sweats and yoga ball.

The contractions just weren’t stopping, but they were never consistent or if they were they were never close enough like all the books tell you they will be! God bless my nail tech, Steph the next morning. I remember walking into her suite and her looking at me and saying “oh $@!* you look bad, you’re in labor” and my stubborn self saying “no, no we have a c-section on Tuesday”. It took us three hours for our appointment as I stopped every 10-15 minutes to stand and lean over my chair or sway until it passed. That was the only thing that had me out of bed that day, and Jon was such a champ making sure my water was full, bringing food that I ultimately didn’t want to eat, and giving Layla lots of extra love. That night was the hardest of all. I was definitely yelling if I needed to yell or crawling on the floor if I needed to crawl and we were IN IT. Part of me was worried I would scare Layla (and Jon) but it was also too intense for me to care.

8:30am Sunday: I held off as long as I could but finally caved and called Midwife Paula for the third time. I cried as I told her that I just couldn’t do it at home any longer (again, still fully convinced I was going to make it to our c-section on Tuesday) before putting her on mute as politely as I could so she wouldn’t hear me having another contraction. That was something we definitely spent a lot of time joking about later, but she was serious when she told me to come in as soon as possible and asked what time she could expect me at the hospital. Her pause felt long and ominous when I told her 11:30 was the soonest I could be there and she asked if I was sure I couldn’t get there sooner. I immediately called my mom and she started her 1.5 hour drive to our house so she could watch Layla!

10:00am Sunday: My mom arrived and I was still slowly crawling around getting the last few things in our bag to get going! We said our goodbyes to Layla and hit the road. At this point contractions picked up and were only about 3-5 minutes apart and Jon focused on the road and I focused on my breathing. Looking back, I had all these grand plans of getting to take Layla for a special brunch date while it was still just us, and had all the supplies for cute little halloween baskets with thank you items for the nurses that I just never got a chance to bring with us or even think about in the moment.

11:30am Sunday: Since it was the weekend we entered through the Emergency entrance; Jon dropped me off as close to the door as possible so I wouldn’t have far to walk and as I got checked in at the desk he parked the truck. Admittedly, the person at the front desk had no idea what to do with someone in labor as I held onto her desk through another contraction and asked her to call the second floor for me and get a wheelchair because there was no way I could make the walk. I was immediately brought into triage where I met with Nurse Noelle and she helped get me changed and prepped and Midwife Paula came in to do a cervical check. Looking back I can’t believe how stubborn I was because I was genuinely shocked when she told me I was 7cm dilated, 100% effaced and at a 0 station. I immediately asked if I could still get the c-section, and I could, but being so far along Paula was definitely giving more encouragement to go for the VBAC. Jon was by my side the whole time and ready to do whatever I felt was right to get our baby into the world! I so appreciated his unconditional support, but at the same time in that moment I needed someone else to tell me what to do and I knew just who to call. In less than 60 seconds my mom was on the line and she told me “you get in there and push that baby out!” And just like that, we were off to the races.

12:15pm-ish Sunday: I remember as soon as I said I would go for the VBAC my very next question was to make sure I hadn’t missed the window for the epidural. In all my previous birth plans I always stated that I wanted to labor naturally as long as possible but I was open to pain management and wanted to be sure I was “warned” before that window closed. After laboring more or less since Tuesday, my body was exhausted. I continued to labor around the room – mostly in a modified Child’s pose leaning on the ball – while we waited for the epidural. In a way that I can only describe as being quiet, calm, and perfectly Jon, he held the back of my open gown together and got a towel to put under my knees for cushion and did everything he could think of to keep me comfortable.

1:00pm Sunday: The anesthesiologist arrived and I was given the epidural. I definitely felt it more strongly on my right side at first, and Noelle and Paula helped me move in various positions to remain comfortable and allow the epidural to do its thing! The only part of my experience that I can say I didn’t like (at no one’s fault) is that I was actually too far along to get a catheter after the epidural because Sophia was already so far down, it was just bumping into her head! It was definitely awkward to just have a pee pad and towel under me and let it go, but at that point I don’t think any of us really cared. We were able to finally relax – I remember joking with our team about how I would have drank the tea and eaten the dates and made my L&D playlist if I had even considered this possibility. I remember Jon asking what kind of music I wanted – something relaxing? But I told him I needed something more upbeat! Again, without having time to prepare, I just put on a playlist of music I used in the car that was full of songs I liked but that Layla could also listen to, affectionately named “Baby Mama”. My body was able to relax and I could joke and rest and sing along to some music we put on.

3:00pm Sunday: I probably jumped the gun a couple times letting Noelle know that I think I was getting close because I felt like I needed to use the bathroom (I’ll leave out what I was actually saying but IYKYK). Her and Paula came in and it was finally time. I was able to take the lead in pushing – letting them know when I was ready, in a position that felt right, and holding the push/breathing/etc. the way that I wanted to. When they were able to see the top of her head they asked if I would like a mirror and I said yes! I definitely think if you have the opportunity to get a mirror down there so you can see what’s going on, you should! But ultimately I ended up closing my eyes during most of the actual pushing to keep my focus – she had the brightest blonde hair and I was just so distracted!! Jon held my hand (and a leg) and continued to offer me water between pushes. Since we had waited until baby girl was truly ready and worked with my body’s cues, pushing felt very natural.

3:33pm Sunday: When I hit the ring of fire, there wasn’t any pain per say, but rather than resting briefly between pushes, I let Paula know that I wanted to just keep pushing until she was out because at least while I was pushing I wasn’t noticing the pressure or skin stretch feeling! One more push and at 3:33pm on a random Sunday, as Bye Bye Bye by NSYNC played from a random playlist, baby Sophia was placed in my arms! Jon and I had no tears, I think it was more this deep feeling of relief and my first words to her were “happy birthday!”. I completely missed delivering the placenta and getting cleaned up because we were just in new baby heaven! We were able to get the golden hour of uninterrupted skin to skin time and we couldn’t have been happier.

6:30pm Sunday: Once I had gotten a solid baby snuggle sesh and I was comfortable enough in my ability to stand and walk, we were able to push baby Sophia to our recovery room, and past the nurse desk while everyone cheered me on like I had just won an ultramarathon. We settled in for more snuggles and continued to focus on skin to skin and let her try and eat as often as she wanted. Breastfeeding was such a struggle with Layla that I wanted things to be different this time around and really just focused on getting those early feeds going! We had dinner and I got a shower, and the rest of the night continued on with nurse rounds and baby feedings as we found our little groove.

Monday: Because things went so well with L&D and my recovery so far, we had the option to leave the hospital after 24 hours, which felt so crazy after staying nearly 4 days with our first baby! We stayed long enough to chat with lactation again and get the go ahead from the pediatrician; the hospital also provided us a yummy celebration meal. We weren’t sprinting out the door, and ended up heading out later that evening to go home to the rest of our little family. Layla was already asleep in her bed when we got home and we relaxed in the quiet peacefulness of our own home!

Tuesday: Instead of waking up for an 8:00am scheduled c-section, we were snuggled up at home with our new babe

Reading this back over now that I finally have it all out, it sounds so intense and a little scary – but when I think back on my experience, I don’t feel that way about it at all. In reality I got the birth experience I always wanted: to be able to labor at home as long as possible, unmedicated as long as possible, with a team that I trust and being able to fully give my body over to the process (minus the extended laboring process with the prodromal labor, ha!). Sophia knew I needed a little nudge to ultimately have the VBAC of my dreams and get my baby girl in my arms!