Monkey Bear's Miraculous VBAC: A Homebirth, Part 2

This is part 2 of my birth story of Monkey Bear, my homebirth after a c-section, from one year ago today! Here is part 1.

I hated the birth tub, which was really disappointing because at this point I was in a lot of pain & was looking forward to the relief I thought the tub would bring. I got so upset that I threw a loud fit, saying I couldn't do this anymore. My fit woke my sweet son who was sleeping in the adjacent room. He ran out of the bedroom, really scared, and kept saying "Nighty! Nighty!!" while pointing to the bedroom, as if to say, "Mom & Dad, why are you in that big pool of water? It's the middle of the night, and we're supposed to be in bed, sleeping!" Roy got out of the tub, went into the bedroom with Bear, and got him resettled. My midwife gave me a pep talk at this point (Roy says she took my face in her hands to focus me). But honestly, I wasn't at all thinking, "Take me to the hospital for pain relief/c-section." I was fairly positive that hospital/epidural would equal pushing on back/stuck baby/c-section (as it did with Bear), and I wasn't remotely interested in a repeat performance; I wanted a VBAC. I was thinking, "I am so tired, I barely slept last night, it's 1 AM. Can we make this stop for a second so I can take a nap?" My midwife checked my progress and I was "thinned out & very open". She didn't share centimeters dilated, and I didn't want to know. During Bear's birth, hearing my "progress" every few hours, or lack thereof in the case of his labor, was very discouraging, so I had decided ahead of time I didn't want to know centimeters. I decided to move to the bathroom for some reason, I think because it was further away from the bedroom. This is kind of amusing because my bathroom is really, really small, especially for 3 people!

I kept at it, with Roy & my midwife cheering me on. My friend Jess arrived around 2:30 or so. My midwife broke my water around 3 or a little before (during a contraction, not the most comfortable feeling!), and I pushed for about 2 hours. I was started to feel a bit discouraged because I really wanted to get this baby out before Bear woke up, which he typically did at 7 or 7:30. I spent the last few contractions pushing in a sitting position (though at the time I didn't know they were the last ones), which seemed to really open me up. The head was partially out, so the midwife had her hand on it, and said, "Brenna, if you want to stay where you are, you're going to have to listen to me during the next contraction, or you will deliver the baby right here." (I was in a rather awkward position.) I knew I would be vocalizing and not able to listen, so I stood up. Roy had gotten into the shower at this point because the bathroom is so small, there was nowhere else for him to stand. The midwife was in front of me, and on the next contraction, as I screamed due to the ring of fire, Monkey Bear made his appearance! He was born at 4:58 AM.

I sat down and looked at him in disbelief. I did it! I pushed out a baby the old-fashioned way! At some point, I looked down to see if he was really a boy :) I was bleeding a lot. The midwife said she thought the placenta was already detached, that she needed to get it out of me, and I needed to go lie down so she could see what was going on down there. So the placenta came out painlessly, and I was moved to the other room. I tore (between a 2nd & 3rd degree), and the midwife stitched me up while Jess went to get me some food (I hadn't eaten in a long, long time). Bear woke up around 5:30 or 6, and Jess went in to resettle him. I took a couple bites of the eggs Jess made me, put the plate down, and the dog ate them :) I did something to my arms during labor and I had little control over them. I lifted my arm at the midwife's request, and it dropped and fell on my face! My arm pain lasted for close to 3 months (next time, if I do this again, I'm lifting weights!). I eventually turned over on my side to try & nurse the baby and rest. When we weighed Monkey Bear, he was 8 lbs 2 oz. He seemed so tiny compared to Bear, who was 10 lbs 7 oz at birth!

Happy birthday miracle Monkey Bear!