Birthing Colin

Colin came into the world on July 27th at 2:46am. His debut was quite different from his brother. To really understand the decisions made for this labor and the reaction that we had to it, you have to know a little bit about the first time I gave birth.


(Warning:This is REALLY long.)



Jack's birth story was dramatic. If you want, you can read about it here. The short story of it is this~ I was in labor for 24+ hrs with Jack. Any complication that you could have, I did. I went drug free to 9cm and was forced to have an epidural to make sure my uterus was not riping. (I was having a lot of pain in between contractions) It didn't work. I had to have another epidural. I pushed for 2 hours. I had a vacuum. None of this worked. I had a c-section. Due to the pushing and vacuum, I had a double recovery. Full vaginal, full c-section surgery recovery. NOT fun. I was a good 3 weeks into recovery before I felt semi-human. ( I also had stupid complications after birth) When people would tell me about the ease of labor, the joy of giving birth or the speed of their delivery, I could not understand a bit of it. It didn't make any sense to me.



When I found out that I was pregnant for Colin I was surprised, happy and then apprehensive about giving birth again. 3 days later I found out my OB doctor had retired. I panicked. I had no idea where to go, who to see and I REALLY wanted to have my same midwife who knew what I went through the first time. Looking back, I realized that I started to have anxiety about Colin's birth pretty much right away.



I ended up finding a good practice that was recommended by a friend and who had the highest percentages of VBACs ( Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) in the state. I would be at a small catholic hospital that had a midwifery center attached to it. Touring the hospital gave me an instant peace and we felt we were in the right place.



I had a really great pregnancy. Mild nausea in the first trimester and that was the only problem. I moved and painted a whole house when I began my 3rd trimester. No big deal. I felt good and the baby was doing well. The only issue that we had was whether I was going to schedule a c-section or attempt a VBAC. There were pros and cons to both situations. If I was to have a VBAC, I could have as many children as I wanted and I would not have a surgery recovery. I would be able to pick Jack up sooner than 6 weeks and be able to move around better. If I was to have a C-section, it could be planned and there was no surprise variable about the labor. I would be limited to 3 c-sections only, thus limiting us to 3 kids only. We are not even sure if we want more than 3 kids, but having that option taken away bothered me for some reason.

So I stressed about this. By 35 weeks I began to freak out a bit. I wanted the decision to be clear to us, one way or the other. After going through my labor and surgery notes, the practice had a good idea of what went wrong with Jack and a large percentage of the problems was his position. He was posterior and slightly to the side, meaning he was facing the wrong way and off to the side. If Colin was in that same position, than I would for sure need another C-section. I did everything I could to flip this kid around. 3 out of the last 4 weeks of my pregnancy Colin was in the wrong position.


Anxious to have some sort of answers I went into my 39wk appointment. I had been having some contractions at this point. I was ready to have some decisions made. Colin was in the wrong position and up pretty high. I was dialated to a 1, barely. I wanted to cry. I was sent home with instructions on how to flip him, evening prim rose oil to help me soften and dialate and a follow-up appointment on Monday. I was to have a nonstress test done, as I would have been a day past my due date.


I started to have some good contractions Thursday night and most of Friday. I was pumped. I figured this baby was coming that weekend. Friday night they stopped. Completely. Saturday and Sunday nothing happened. I wanted to scream. My mom was in town for only 2 weeks and I needed her help after I had to baby, not before! Ryan and I talked and if we went into our Monday appointment and Colin was still high and in the posterior position, than we would schedule a c-section that day if possible, if not for sure on Tuesday. I finally felt some relief. I would have a baby by Tuesday. I would have a c-section and the scar of labor would not happen.


Monday morning I woke up at 5am with contractions. They came every 5 minutes but they did not hurt that much. They did keep me awake though and by 10am they had stopped. What in the world was going on with my body? I made Ryan pack up the car for the hospital and off we went to the dr. I was ready to schedule my c-section and be done with this.


Everything went fine with the nonstress test and I was having contractions every 30 minutes or so. Nothing to get excited about. My doctor went to check me and to check the position of the baby. I was dilated to a 4. What?! 4cm?! I was in full active labor with Jack when I went into the hospital at a 4. I was not having contractions and yet, I was at a 4 almost 5?! The baby was in a good position and had dropped more. What?! So, now our plans for a c-section changed again. The doctor stripped my membranes and scheduled an early morning induction for the next day. Since I was so far along, she thought that if I just had a bit of pitocin to trigger some contractions, I would go into labor right away. So, back home we went.


Ryan was a bit freaked out. He was afraid that I would have a few good strong contractions and have that baby at home! We were home for a total of an hour and a half before we went back to the hospital. My contractions had jumped to every 4 minutes apart and they hurt. A lot. My midwife informed me I failed the Group Strep B test and I needed to come in to get 4 hours worth of antibiotics in. Great. Someone forgot to inform me of this.


We checked into the hospital at 6pm. They wanted me to get an epidural right away to slow my labor down and get the 4 full hours of antibiotics. Since I was a VBAC I had 2 monitors attached to my stomach, as well as 2 different IVs and a heart rate monitor on my finger. I could not move there were so many cords coming off of me. All of my natural child birthing techniques went out the window at that point. The epidural was much welcomed at 8:30pm.



Once the epidural set in, it was like a whole new experience. I was not in pain and I was happy and relaxed. I even sent Ryan out of the hospital to get some food. Poor Ryan never left my side for a minute with Jack's labor. I just rested and tried to get some sleep while the epidural did its work. It was like a walk in the park! No stress, no pain, no intense concentration. While I felt like a big wimp for getting an epidural at only 6cm, the ease and peace of this labor was like a breathe of fresh air. The only weird thing that happened was that the epidural made me itch really bad. It was slightly annoying, but I will take itching over pain any day!



We had worship music playing and we just rested. By 10pm I was almost done with my antibiotics and my midwife broke my water. She told me she would come back at midnight to check me again. Ryan and I figured I would be at 7cm by then and would probably have the baby around 6am the next morning.



At midnight the nurse checked me and I was fully dialated! I was not feeling an urge to push, so the nurse left us and said that baby would let her know by the monitors when he was ready to come. 20 minutes later she came back and told me the baby was telling her to get pushing. I began to shake.



I had uncontrollable shakes for the rest of the labor. Ryan wanted to get me a blanket because he thought I looked cold. I wasn't. I was hot. My body just reacted by shaking. A lot. They told me this was normal. When I had read about shaking during transition, I didn't think it would be as bad as it was with me!



I started pushing around 12:45. Colin was not coming down as much as he should have. Things got intense as his heart rate started to drop while I was having contractions. I needed to get this baby out soon. My midwife said that if I did not push him out soon, they would have to do a vacuum. I flipped out.



All of the fear of my last labor flooded me. I had a vacuum with Jack. It didn't work. I could not go through another full labor and have a c-section again. I could not do a double recovery with a toddler. We started praying and I kept pushing.



Around 2 am the doctor came in and started getting me ready for the vacuum. They knew my past experience and they were positive. I had pushed him farther down than they thought. I was determined. I had Ryan turn up the worship music. I relaxed, prayed and pushed. In one contractions they got a good grasp with the vacuum. The second contraction they pulled him to crowning. By the third contraction he was out!



Waves of emotion hit me as I saw him come out. It was over. He was safe. I did not have to have surgery. I cried. Ryan cried. Colin was crying. The little man had the cord wrapped around his neck twice, just like his brother. That was what was causing his distress and dropping his heart rate. Fortunately his apgar tests were great.



I didn't realize the amount of stress and anxiety that I had till he came out. It was like 9 months of pressure leaving. We made it through and we had our baby. If I would have had the c-section, I would have been just as relieved. It was over.



My recovery has been much better this time around. I am amazed at how quickly I was moving around. My one and only complaint was that the nurse forgot to give me any pain medicine after I gave birth. I finally asked for some Tylenol 5 hours after giving birth. I went to my room during a shift change and it got missed. It was a miserable few hours for me. I was wishing for some of that morphine from my c-section! Once the edge was taken off, I felt great.




Colin Edward Fedell weighed in at 7lbs 12 0z and was 20 3/4 inches long. We named him Colin because we loved the name and we loved that is meant Victor. Edward is after Ryan's father and means provider.



Colin is a sweet little guy and we are so excited to see his little personality come out and get to know him. The Lord surprised us with Colin and we are excited to see God's plan for his life. His birth was a beautiful experience for us and it renewed my faith that God really does take care of his children.



I know this was long, but I wanted to record this for my own personal sake. I don't want to forget what happened and I want to remember to thank the Lord for his care and provisions over both of my children and both of their births.