One year later and I’m finally getting around to posting our sweet Ava girls birth story! This was a tender experience, very dear to my heart. I have chosen to keep the most sacred details private for our family, but you will still get the whole juicy story here.
No one can prepare you for birth or describe it adequately for you unless you’ve been through it. Child birth is such a sacred experience and I’m so grateful I’ve been able to experience it twice, with two completely different birth stories. Basically they were completely opposite births! If you want to hear more about my first birth with Ivan you can read his birth story here. )
Lets start at the beginning.
Getting Pregnant
If you’ve been here for a while, you know I struggled with Hypothalamic Amenorrhea before getting pregnant with my first. So going into pregnancy number 2, I knew my hormones were more sensitive than most. I had to wait until I was completely weaned from breast feeding Ivan for my period to come back (17 months postpartum). I had cycles, but no ovulation at first. I was really grateful my period did come back, but my cycles were long and irregular. Then after 6 months of casually trying without success, I really started to track my cycle, taper down the intensity of my workouts, and made sure I was getting enough high quality calories. I started to notice my cycle getting shorter and more regular. I’m so grateful I’ve gained this trusting relationship with my body. I got pregnant after 2 cycles of really tracking. We were so so grateful! More info on HA read here
Prenatal Care & Birth Prep
I recently wrote a blog post on 7 tips for pregnancy & birth prep (what I wish I knew) that I think you’ll really enjoy. After my emergency C-section with my son, I knew I wanted a VBAC (Vaginal Birth after Cesarean). So the first thing I did was look for a good Dr. who was pro VBAC. I was recommended to Dr. CAP in Encinitas, and highly recommend his practice if you are in the area!
I also knew I wanted a Doula if I was going to have a successful vaginal birth. I started talking to my friend Nicole (labor & deliver nurse, and mom to 5) whenever I could, picking her brain about my pregnancy and my history with birth. She was so easy to talk to and I could just sense her passion for all things birth and it got me so excited. When I was looking for a doula, I thought why not hire someone I know and trust, and bonus points for someone who believes in God and shares my values in this spiritual experience of childbirth. So I asked her if she would want to be my doula and she was so sweet. She said yes! She came over multiple times before the birth. We talked about labor positions, breathing, relaxing techniques, affirmations, and she answered all my questions and concerns. She was so amazing.
I also knew I wanted my hips and body in the best alignment for a smooth VBAC. I started seeing Lauren at Thrive physical therapy for pelvic floor PT. She’s awesome. We started working with each other right when I got pregnant. She helped me re-align hips and ease sciatic pain. Closer to birth she helped me with relaxing my pelvic floor and learning how to properly breathe the baby down and out. She checked different positions to see if I was bearing down properly and efficiently. It was really so great to work with her! I highly recommend pelvic floor PT to every single Mom.
Another part of my team was my Prenatal Chiropractor, Kim at the Cap Wellness center. (her and her husband also own their own practice in Solana Beach). She was so amazing! She adjusted my sacrum, my low back, pubic bone, upper ribs, ankles, and closer to birth she did a round ligament release. It was amazing! I always felt so good after our appointments.
I treated myself to 3 prenatal massages throughout pregnancy which were amazing. Pregnancy is a time to slow down, and really focus on your health.
Mental & Physical Preparation:
I knew my best chance at a VBAC was to go with as little intervention as possible, so I started early on prepping for an unmedicated labor.
-I meditated daily
-practiced my relaxing breath, and J breathing
-wrote down birth affirmations and recited them daily
-listened to positive VBAC birth stories as frequently as I could
-watched Bridget Taylors YouTube channel almost daily (and she was also with my through labor). She has a birth course on her website here
-Signed up for MamaNaturals webinars & emails
-Purchased Mamastefit Prenatal fitness program to make sure I was doing the right things Physically, and really slowed down my exercising in the 3rd trimester and focused on loosening up and relaxing more so than strength.
-Practiced visualizations of how I wanted my birth to go daily
-Fell asleep often to hypnobirthing sleep mediations
-Birth ball exercise (hip openers, bouncing, sitting) (My 3rd trimester birth prep workout here)
-Daily inversions to get baby in proper positioning (Spinning Babies is a great resource for that)
-6 dates a day starting at 36 weeks to help soften the cervix
-Bone broth & collagen a few times a week
-Bubble baths with essential oils and meditations playing
Pregnancy:
I knew I was pregnant pretty early on because my boobs were so tender and my cervical mucus changed.
I started feeling nauseous around 8 weeks, and it stuck around until about 16 weeks. I didn’t have a strong food aversion like I did with Ivan, but just that constant nausea throughout the day. With Ivan it was so hard for me to eat meat and raw vegetables the first trimester, but this time around that seemed to be fine!
I was extremely tired in the first trimester! I could never get enough sleep. I would sleep all through the night, and then sleep for Ivan‘s entire 2-3 hour nap. I don’t know if I remember being that tired the first time around. Maybe chasing around a 2 1/2 year old all day made it worse.
I threw up once this pregnancy and it was pretty epic. I had done a work out in the morning and then went to Costco and I was really hungry. A pizza sounded like a good idea (at the time). Me and Ivan shared a piece of pizza. Then three minutes into walking around Costco I knew it wasn’t going to stay there. Luckily I found a garbage in the aisle and made it in there without making a mess. Felt much better afterwards! This baby said no way am I eating that greasy Costco Pizza!
I was convinced I was having another boy because my pregnancy felt pretty similar for the most part to Ivan‘s. But i was pleasantly surprised when we got to find out it was a girl! We were so surprised, but so grateful.
Second trimester was really great, I had a lot of energy and could eat pretty much anything I wanted!
I definitely wanted more fruity things than chocolatey. First trimester jolly ranchers and lemon drops tasted really good and I can’t remember the last time I had those! I didn’t want chocolate at all, which is definitely not like me.
I started showing that baby bump and feeling pubic pain a lot earlier this time around.
Third trimester slowed me down more than I remember it last time. I started feeling the toll of running around with a toddler. But pregnancy went by a lot faster this time! I guess toddlers make great distractions :)
I had Braxton Hicks for at least 10 days before birth pretty consistently, which was new to me. I never had that with Ivan. I maybe had 1 or 2, but nothing consistently.
Labor:
Tuesday November 30, 2021
I had been experiencing Braxton Hicks for about 2 weeks pretty consistently, so I felt like things were possibly moving along quicker than my first.
That morning we met up for a walk with friends. It was great but ended in some big hard emotions. I was DRAINED emotionally and physically. We went home for lunch and a nice long nap.
I woke Ivan up so we could go pick up Nana from the Airport. Perfect timing for Nana to come.
We went to dinner at Mendocino farms and I got the Drakes Salad that I’ve been craving all pregnancy. Then we did some shopping at Vuori (much needed postpartum lounge wear) while my mom played with Ivan around the shopping center. (He scored a whole handels ice cream cone, living his best life)
After shopping they dropped me off at my girls night at Salt N’ Straw. It was such a fun night with friends. The best group of friends, with conversations that ended in laughing and crying. I think it was just what I needed to start things off.
9-11 pm- I started feeling mild cramping during our girls night that I noticed were pretty consistent.
11:30 pm- finally got to bed and tried falling asleep with no luck. I was just laying with my eyes closed and trying to visualize the birth. An hour went by and I got hungry, so I got up to eat the rest of my perfect bar. Went back to bed and then Ivan came in. He had to go potty so I got up with him and put him back down. Then he got out again and I just had the strongest feeling to soak this in cause it may be the last night with just Ivan. So we rocked in the chair for a while and he just fell asleep in my arms. It was the sweetest. Last night as my only baby. I’m so glad I listened to that prompting to stay up with him.
Wednesday, December 1– due date!
2 -3 am- I kept trying to fall asleep but the cramps continued. Then one made me sit right up out of bed and required some breathing to get through. I started timing contractions, and I had about 4 that were 5 minutes apart. I rocked on the ball through them. Then Rich said he couldn’t sleep either and I said “Good! Because I think I’m in labor!” I turned on my Bridget Taylor Birth affirmation video and was diffusing the “calm” oil. The lights were low, and it was just so nice to be in this space like I had hoped for.
I Continued timing for an hour and they were every 4 minutes. Between contractions we had some good deep chats while we finished packing our bags and folded some laundry. I tried to get some last minute fuel in my system but the banana toast was starting to make me feel nauseous so I only got a couple of bites. Glad I had the bar when I did! The birth ball started getting uncomfortable and I needed to stand or bend over on the bed during contractions.
3:54am- I called Nicole and told her what was going on. She headed right over.
While she was on her way over I got into the bath. I put some lavender essential oil in there and it felt really good. I was on hands and knees with a towel and a little stool. Rich was pouring warm water on my back which felt really nice.
I felt really calm just welcoming each contraction and just so excited that this process was starting right as it needed to! Everything had lined up with my mom getting in, Ivan being asleep, and there was no stress, just peace.
4:33 am- Nicole arrived as I was getting out of the bath. Standing felt the best at this point with counter pressure to hips by Rich, and forward leaning over the bed.
4:45-ish Nicole gave me my first cervical exam -5-6cm/100% effaced/0 station. My water bag was at my cervix.
We had a little chat at this point and decided to leave for hospital. Things seemed to be moving quickly and I did not want to be driving in the car going through transition! So I put on my birthing moo moo and socks, gathered our bags, got a towel ready for the car, and Rich was prepping the back seat for the ride.
5:12 My mom was sleeping out in our living room and I got to say goodbyes. I was so grateful she was there so I was not worried at all about Ivan and I could just focus.
5:14- 5:30 The drive to the hospital was in some crazy dense fog. I was able to stay very focused with my eyes closed and my headphones on with my affirmations going. I was in the back seat up on my knees facing backwards with my forehead on the back seat. The 15 minute drive felt like 5 minutes to me.
Contractions were definitely increasing in intensity! We parked in the round about in front of hospital for a quick entrance. After we got our little covid tags and checked in the front, we were put into room 112. I was annoyed when they handed me the covid mask, but glad they never made me wear it during the whole process. I changed into the hospital gown. They asked me to Pee in a cup. I don’t think this nurse had any idea how far along I was because there was no way I was sitting down to pee right then. Then all of the check-in questions they have you go through seemed like the longest part of my labor!
In the mean time, poor Nicole moves the car, gets into it with the door guardians who try to say visiting hours are only from noon-6pm and that it’s only one visitor at a time so she can’t come in.
By 5:45 they apologized profusely that they were wrong and let her in (of course I found all of that part out after the fact LOL)
About 5:50- I finally got the nurse to give me my first exam at the hospital. She said I was 4.5cm/50%effaced/-1 station.
At that point I wanted the epidural because it was already feeling so exhausting and intense that I wasn’t sure I could make it through transition. I was starting to lose focus a bit.
(Nurse called Dr Cap. He wanted to wait to admit to make sure there was cervical change since we wanted a TOLAC (trial of labor after cesarean) to avoid admitting too early and to avoid possible need for augmentation with pitocin or breaking the water if labor stalled. He wanted to evaluate me himself, and he was planning to come in within the hour (or at 7am which is the start of the shift).
6:00 ish They let me take fetal monitor off, which was good timing because I really wanted to start trying different positions in the bed or standing, it was getting more & more intense now. I decided to move to the shower since the epidural was not available before being admitted. The shower felt really good. Rich sprayed it along my back while I breathed and tried to stay focused. Swaying back and forth helped as well.
6:20 - 6:35 am- I was still in the shower with hot water on my back, unable to sit for very long. I was starting to make transitional vocalizations, harder to maintain focus, and getting very uncomfortable. Positive words were helping a lot. I remember every time Rich or Nicole said “you’re doing so good!” that made such a difference!
6:35 ish- Had the first feeling of trickle while drying off, possibly amniotic fluid
6:40- Then it came. I felt the strongest urge to poop! I was like oh no is this pushing time already?! I went to go sit on the toilet. Nicole helped with knee pressure. There was a sudden increase in pressure and uncontrollable pushing urge. I felt like I needed to throw up from both ends, it was the craziest feeling. Rich got the puke bag and thought for sure I was going to puke all over him haha. The Mucus plug/bloody show came out. As I got up off the toilet I felt like something was bulging out of me so I reached down to feel it (had to check to make sure it wasn’t a head!) Nicole told me it was my bag of water! That was a shock it hadn’t broken yet.
6:50- The nurse was called back into the room, and Nicole requested for exam before shift change at 7 because my progress was very fast at this point. I had an urge to push coming every contraction and felt that I couldn’t wait for Dr Cap! The nurse left the room.
6:55 As I made my way back to the bed I just remember the strongest urge to primal yell with all my might during the contractions. They would peak right at the first and then taper off a bit as they ended.
7:00 Sarah came back to the room after hearing the intensity of the contractions from down the hall. She knew I was ready for the exam now. The hardest part was going from my hands and knees to down on my back with legs in butterfly position for the exam!! That was terrible.
7:05 The vaginal exam read 6cm/80%/-1 station. This surprised me because I had such a strong urge to push! They called Dr Cap for orders to admit. They finally got all the paperwork and consents signed, IV set up, and delivery table set up by another person.
Around 7:15 fetal monitors were reapplied and they were unable to find the heart rate easily, and it sounded very low. They were searching for a while, but I was completely in my zone.
I was having a really hard time finding a good position for contractions with everything that was going on. On my back Rich and Nicole did counter pressure to my knees which felt better. Then side lying they applied pressure to my top knee and foot.
I had to keep being reminded at this time to inhale big and breath out slowly. I kept having the urge to just hyperventilate and scream, but Nicole was really good at calming me down.
At one point I just said to them “tell me positive things!”
7:18 The nurse attempted the IV in left hand, but the vein blew and had to be removed. The nurse called in more help. My bag of water was bulging through now. And that didn’t feel great.
7:19 I was turned to the left side so they could check heart rate, and it was still low
(All of this was all a blur to me by the way, if it weren’t for Nicole taking notes I would have no idea this was all going on!)
7:20 FSE was applied to Ava by another nurse (internal monitor on her head) to confirm heart rate is still in the 60’s-70’s. Another vaginal check read 10cm/100%effaced/-1 station. The on call doctor comes and gowns up, and announces the plan to move to OR for an emergency C-section due to the diving heart rate for a few minutes. The NICU team came in to set up the baby warmer anticipating possible resuscitation.
I was pretty out of it as far as knowing how many people were coming in and out of the room. Nicole was really good at calming me down and telling me I was doing great. I remember just wanting to squeeze Rich’s hand. I couldn’t see him but I could tell I was holding his hand.
*A note on the bulging water bag. Apparently A bulging bag can make it tricky and you might have two back to back exams that don’t match because maybe it was pushing through on one exam like right at the end of a contraction where it was relaxed during the next exam not stretching the cervix open more.
It was bulging the whole time but probably only when there was pressure on it initially like during contractions. However, Nicole told me after that it only came out of the vagina at the end when I was in the bed. It was bulging through the cervix when the cervix was all the way dilated. It had room to live through the vagina until it starting coming through. Just imagine a big water balloon with a baby inside it! If you squeeze it it’s going to move to fill the empty space.
7:21 I tried pushing. The IV was now in place in right arm. They were getting it secured while I was pushing. The heart rate remained low but made an attempt to return to normal in between contractions now.
7:23 Dr Cap came into the room. He Gowned up, reviewed heart rate tracing, feels for baby’s descent and makes decision to apply vacuum, which would be the fastest way out at this point. Rich told me after that it was really cool to witness his confidence in the situation. Coming in and assessing the room and knowing exactly what to do.
By 7:25 amniotic sac has been cleared away and the vacuum was applied and brought to pressure, and had traction with the next push. I remember Dr. Caps voice telling me “Ok Britt, we’re going to do this together, I need you to push with everything you got. We gotta get this baby out now.” And Nicole was in my ear saying “this is your chance. This is your chance for a VBAC. You can do this”.
Ava was brought down under pubic bone to vaginal opening, with one smooth meneuver with the vacuum.
7:27 Nicole was telling me to push out of my bum, don’t let the breath out of my mouth but push it down and out my bum. I pushed as hard as I could and heard them say there’s the head out!” I felt the intense burning ring of fire sensation. It was so wild. I was so relieved. Then they all told me one more push, get her out, everything you got. So I pushed with everything and felt such a relief after. There was no vacuum assistance with the last two pushes.
7:30 She’s here! Gentle entry, and onto mommy’s tummy to be dried. After 15-30 seconds with no muscle tone or respiratory effort, the cord was clamped and cut and Ava is moved to the warmer for assistance breathing.
The after math
When I felt her on me I was terrified. She looked so purple and lifeless. I put my hand on her back and just felt a limp squishy body. The worst scenarios ran through my head and I was so scared. I started crying and saying please breathe, please breathe. I was so amazed with what I just accomplished, but at the same time so worried about my baby. It was a very confusing state to be in. I wanted to enjoy the birth I just went through but couldn’t feel that relief yet. The 6 minutes of no sound was so hard!!
Over the next 6 minutes she was dried and stimulated and given artificial breaths using positive pressure ventilation (ppv) and a monitor was applied that senses the heart rate and oxygen saturation. The first heart rate that was called out shortly afterward was 158, a normal rate. Ava was pink and had good color now that oxygen was entering her lungs. Deep suctioning of fluid and mucous secretions from her airways. They were using blended oxygen and quickly O2 sats were normal and oxygen blended down all the way to room air. Ava was taking some spontaneous breaths and some breaths with ppv. Use of CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) in between breaths to keep lungs open and decrease the work of breathing. Some retracting (where the accessory muscles of breathing around your ribs, belly, and collar bones suck in showing a lot of effort or work to breathe) noticed, but that can be common with any newborn transitioning to breathing on their own for the first time. It was transient and didn’t last long. Some small weak cries hard for the first time. At 7:41 Rich was invited over to the warmer to see her.
While Ava was at the warmer Dr Cap stitched me up. I had a minor perineum tear, and a 1.5 degree tear on the right side of the vaginal wall. Not bad for having to use a vacuum. After the stitches are in place the placenta gushes and shows it’s releasing and with a little gentle traction on the cord from Dr Cap it delivers completely with no problem. The uterus does it’s thing and gets nice and hard and tight to stop the bleeding and everything looks really good and normal. Light bleeding. I then got cleaned up, given an ice pad in bed.
I thought it was really cool to see the placenta because I never got to see it with Ivan! Nicole showed it to me so I could get a good look at it.
7:43 Finally Ava is pink and breathing spontaneously on room air and is brought over to my chest for some skin to skin for a short time. I was so grateful to see her pink and opening her eyes up at me. Her little lip was quivering and it seemed like she wanted to cry but was just whimpering. I just kept saying “come on baby, come on”.
We were still awaiting results of cord gas that was ordered by Dr. Cap right at delivery. This test can show the carbon dioxide level, oxygen level, acid level (pH), and base excess (when there’s acid in the body the kidneys release sodium bicarbonate which is a base with a higher pH to attempt to buffer and neutralize the acid (too much CO2) which can be damaging to tissues (why we exhale it as a waste product)). They knew at this time that she would need observation in the NICU no matter what the cord gas says because her 1 and 5 minute APGAR scores were low and because she needed help with breathing.
During skin to skin we got some good cuddles and pictures together as a family and I felt peace but still a lot of uncertainty. I was so sad I couldn’t just hold her forever and breastfeed her. I just wanted to enjoy that magic hour after birth in peace, but I’m glad they got her to the NICU as quickly as they did for the most positive outcome possible.
We got the results back and her pH levels were just under acceptable. There was no obvious cause for the heart rate that was identified (like an occluded umbilical cord caused by wrapping or knotting or being compressed by the head or stretched too tight from being short or being too thin). The placenta was also examined to look for abruption where it pulls away from the uterine lining prematurely and none was noted.
Dr Cap also inspected the c-section scar to check for uterine rupture both with his fingers inside and with an ultrasound and no evidence of rupture was found. His best guess was that the decrease in heart rate was due to rapid progress of labor and more specifically rapid gain in station (rapid descent, she came down hard and fast into the bony pelvis and her neck was likely kinked sideways judging by the mark from where the vacuum was applied).
I was so relieved that there was nothing wrong with my C-Section scar. That was a huge relief. I had a successful, unmedicated VBAC! They checked all my vitals and bleeding and monitored pain, everything was normal. It was so crazy to feel my squishy belly afterwards. It was amazing not being knocked out with drugs right after and to really just feel everything. Such a difference from throwing up and passing out after Ivans birth. I was fully there and present. I was surprised with how normal my body felt after the crazy experience it just went through. My tailbone felt very sore, and it was hard to sit up in the bed. I was much better to lay down flat with pillows under my legs.
Our bodies are just absolutely incredible!!
The week following her birth was spend going back and forth between home and the NICU. Ava handled everything amazing. All the nurses gave us really positive feedback on her, which was very reassuring.
She was on a cooling bed for 72 hours. They warmed her back up for 8 hours. Then we finally got to hold her and feed her my milk for the first time on that fourth day. On day 5 they did an MRI to make sure there was no damage to the brain. Everything came back perfectly normal. There were so many happy tears that week. They kept her in there for a full week just to make sure feeding and everything off of the monitors was going smoothly. We were able to bring her home on day 7. There were so many blessings along the way. The nurses were all so amazing, seriously earthly angels.
We’re so grateful our little Ava girl is with us. She is so lively and full of personality. She is the happiest baby, and you can’t help but smile when she’s around.
Ava Roo we love you!
