Brecken Cole's Birth Story

On Thursday I went to my 4:15 appt with Dr. Kells, Kyle was busy at work so I had Mr. Kayden with me which made it interesting. Dr. Kells checked me and I was 0cm dialated and very far posterior still with no effacement. I was sure this meant that I would be preggo forever. They did an NST test and baby must have been sleeping. They had me drink cold water and that didn't wake him up and then they zapped my belly and that woke the little guy up. Kayden was freaking out at this time because he didn't like me strapped to all the equipment, he was crying and telling them to take it off of me. The nurses brought him candy to try and calm him down...great idea, give a kiddo a sugar rush to calm him:) J/k, it worked pretty well. While on the monitors I was contracting about every 5-7 minutes but they didn't hurt at all, my belly would just get tight. The nurses kept saying I might have a baby before Halloween but since I couldn't feel them I thought they were crazy! So I left the appt scared I'd get to 41 weeks and be forced into another c-section.
Friday morning I woke up, started doing dishes and noticed that I was having contractions that I could time. They were 4 minutes apart and about 20 seconds long, but they didn't hurt. So I just assumed they were maybe progressing me a bit but I was sure that they weren't "go into labor and have a baby contractions". So I went for my normal walk and the contractions continued. I decided to not go to Christa's halloween party that day because I had a little hope that the baby might come and I wanted to clean. A couple people told me they thought I was going into labor and I told them they were crazy and way more optimistic than me! I called Kyle and told him I was having contractions and let my mom know. Kayden and I got home from our walk and I made us pancakes and eggs and as I was eating the contractions started getting stronger, now they were 3 minutes apart and about 35 seconds long at around 9:30am. I still thought it was nothing. I let my doula know though just in case. I drank some water, laid on my left side and they continued. Around 11am they started getting pretty painful and were every 2-3 minutes and 40 seconds long. I got in a warm shower because I thought that might make them go away or at least I'd know more if they were real. I envy the women that feel like a hot shower makes them feel better in labor b/c it did nothing for me! By this point I was in some real pain and Kayden was making it very difficult. He was trying to rub my belly with bubbles and giving me kisses and sitting on my lap. I was to the point where I didn't want anyone touching me. Around this time I also had bloody show, so by now I finally believed it *might* be real. I called Kyle and told him he better get home (I had avoided it b/c he was doing a bid that day for work and it was a very important day for him to be there....but baby had other plans!). I called Jaclyn and told her I needed her to get my monkey and let the doula know what was going on. Kyle and Jaclyn got there around the same time. By this point it was hard for me to talk and I had to walk through contractions, I couldn't sit or lay down during them it was way too painful. Kyle did the transfer with Kayden to Jaclyn and I was in so much pain I barely said goodbye to him. Shortly after Kayden left the doula arrived and listened to baby's heart tones which were good and then she checked me, at that point I was 4cm and she thought I was progressing pretty fast, so off we headed to the hospital. Mommy was SO sure baby would be late I hadn't even packed my hospital bag. Kyle and I threw some things in the bag and drove off.
The drive to the hospital was no fun, being stuck in a car and not being able to walk through my contractions was SO hard for me and the turning and jerking made me scream. At this point I decided I wanted an epidural as soon as I got to the hospital. I thought I'd let Sally (the doula) try and talk me out of it though. We got to Chandler Regional Hospital and the whole place was reconfigured for the swine flu precautions so we couldn't find the labor and delivery entrance. I couldn't sit in the car for one more contraction so I got out to walk and find it, Kyle and Sally were sure I was crazy at this point:)
We found the entrance and as Kyle was checking me in Dr. Kells midwife Janice came to meet me and held my hand while I waited for Kyle. After getting to triage the nurses started asking me when my scheduled c-section was, I told them I didn't have one that I was a VBAC and then they asked me why I had my 1st c-section, when I said the "big baby" and "failure to progress" I could tell they thought I was wasting my time trying for a VBAC. They asked what Dr. Kells was estimating this baby's birth weight to be and I said he hadn't said any amount. They insisted I lay down while they strapped me to the fetal monitors and they wouldn't let me up while I was contracting. This was torture. Laying in that bed on my back while I was contracting made my contractions feel 10x worse. I couldn't take it. I told them to let me up or get me an epidural now. They told me I had to lay down so they would start giving me the IV fluids necessary before I could get an epidural. They checked me and said I was 5cm. They sent me to my delivery room and I had to lay through contractions while the fluid was being sent through the IV. It felt like FOREVER until I could finally get my epidural (I'm sure it was more like 15 minutes but at the time I was sure they were trying to torture me!:). When I got my epidural I was 6cm (I had told Sally I was fine getting an epidural if I needed it between 6 and 8cm so I guess I had good timing!).
I was so looking forward to the pain relief from the epidural. And then it only worked on the right side again (just like with Kayden). Having contractions on just one side is no fun. So they rolled me onto my left and hoped it would make the medicine go to that side. But unfortunately that didn't happen. My left side was still in alot of pain but my right side was numb. After being on my left side for a few minutes I felt a pop and water gushed out. My water had spontaneously ruptured (yeah!! w/ Kayden they broke it for me, I was so happy it happened on it's own when it was ready to break!). When my water ruptured there was blood in it, this freaked everyone out. And then the baby's heart rate decelerated, so people rushed into the room, put a fetal scalp monitor on baby and oxygen on me. It reminded me so much of Kayden's birth...after that stuff happened I was in surgery awhile later. I thought that my fate was sealed at this point and I'd be wheeled off to surgery soon. But Baby's heart rate stabilized and my blood pressure never waivered. So they don't know why there was blood in my fluid but as time went on it got more mucousy and less bloody so they think it was just my cervix bleeding from the rapid dialation. During this time my epidural was still only working on the right side. This scared me a little b/c contractions feel normal when they are across your whole lower belly, but when you just feel them on one side when your a VBAC it can be scary. I thought there might be a reason why I was only having pain on one side. But Sally assured me that since the pain was only during contractions it was normal, had I felt pain when not contracting she would have been more worried it could be a rupture. So the anestheseologist came in and "pulled out my epidural catheter a little and put more medicine in". This seemed to work some. My left leg was way more numb but I could still feel dull contractions on the left side, but they were way less intense than before. Kyle ran to grab food for he and Sally (In-N-Out Burgers was your daddy's last meal as a father of 1:). He made it back JUST in time! I progressed very fast to 9cm.
Dr. Kells came and checked me and I was 9cm and he said my baby's head was RIGHT THERE! He told me he thought my chances for a c-section were ZERO. That was one of the best things I have ever heard in my life. To hear I was going to actually get to do what I had been preparing for since Kayden's birth was so amazing. I think I started researching VBACs the week after I got home with Kayden. I timed my pregnancy with Brecken to give me the best chances possible for a VBAC, I had interviewed doctor's to find one that would support a VBAC, I'd hired a doula that was the ICAN chapter leader and had 50% VBAC births with a 100% success rate for VBACs, I'd made Kyle go to 2 FULL days of childbirth classes on Football Saturdays, I'd spent hours upon hours researching how to have a successful VBAC and educating myself on birth and NOW IT WAS ALL HAPPENING!! Even with all of my preparation part of me still doubted myself so much. Since Kayden's birth had been such a cascade of scary things happening I didn't trust my body at all that it could birth my babies the "normal way". I planned and prepared but in the back of my head I had prepared myself for the repeat c-section. So hearing that I was WRONG and this baby was coming out the right way was music to my ears!
Kyle got back shortly after Dr. Kells checked me and was thankful he hadn't gotten stuck in a long line getting food b/c I was moving that fast. At 5:30 I was 9cm and at 5:45 they said I was ready to push. Dr. Kells asked me if I was ready for "2 hours of pushing" and I told him to "Shut up!" this made everyone laugh but I was serious, there was NO Way I thought I could push for 2 hours! I was very scared to push. I never got to that point with Kayden. I was sure I wouldn't know how to do it. And the epidural had been turned down but because they had given me more medicine when it only worked on one side, I could only really feel the left side by the time baby was ready to come out. Kyle and Sally helped me hold my legs up and I followed the doctor's and nurses directions to push when I felt contractions. After about 3 pushing contractions Dr. Kells said he thought I needed an episiotomy. He said "Kaisha I never do episiotomy's but I think you are going to need one". I didn't know what to say, in our appts all we'd ever talked about regarding episiotomy's is that he didn't do them because tearing if necessary was better. So I said I didnt' know what to do. He said to try some baby pushes and we'd see what he thought after a couple more contractions. Well one baby pushing contraction later and the baby was out! I only had to push for 16 minutes! I was amazed I knew "How to push a baby out!". When Baby boy arrived he was screaming and Dr. Kells said "wow Kaisha you had alot of baby hiding in there, I'm guessing he is 8.5-9 pounds!" He told me how impressed he was with my fast delivery and I asked him what is normal and he said for a first time vagi birth with an epidural 2 hours is typical......I am SOOOOO happy I didn't have to do that for 2 hours, it was ALOT of work!
Brecken was placed on my chest right away. Having him there and being able to move and remember the entire birth was such a perfect moment. You think you love a baby when they are in your belly, and you do. But when you see and touch them for the first time that love overflows and reaches a higher level than you thought possible. I instantly was head over heals in love with my new little man. He was perfect in every way and having a good birth experience made those first moments so precious. I cried and smiled and felt so many emotions in those moments. After I got to soak him in for awhile they took him to clean him up, weigh him etc while I delivered the placenta (which to Kyle's dismay I had Dr. Kells show me when he asked if I wanted to see it...I figured why not, I'd never seen a placenta before:).
He was put back on me to nurse within the first hour. He wasn't all that interested at first but we kept trying and he did get a few good latches and sucks before they gave him his first bath and let me get up to walk for the first time. Shortly after we were wheeled up to post partum and settled into our room.
Of course Kyle and I snuggled Brecken all night while we were on the phone with everyone and recounting the birth with eachother. I was in total shock that he arrived early (38 weeks 6 days) and that my "active labor" was only from 11am until 6:05 when he was born!! That night he started nursing like a champ and was a sleepy head but Kyle and I were too excited to sleep (I remember that with Kayden too...). And I was in total amazement at how much better I felt after having a vaginal birth compared to a c-section, it was night and day!

Brecken Cole Hingst weighed 8 pounds, 3 ounces, was 21 inches long had a 13 inch head circum and 13.5 inch chest.

Welcome to the world Brecken Cole!! You are a perfect little gift from God and we are so blessed to have you with us! You made mommy's dreams come true the day you were born and you will forever be apart of me no matter where you are or where you go! We love you so much!