Baby #3 - My Birth Story

Let me begin with saying that Grayson's birth was such an answer to prayer.  I'd say it was a supernatural childbirth for sure, especially after what I experienced when I had the twins, Joshua and Saray.

Just a little history:
When I went into the hospital to have Joshua and Saray at 37 weeks and 5 days, it was a scheduled induction.  We arrived at 7am in the morning on August 29th.   I had one pill put next to my cervix to help me dilate as I had not yet begun to dilate.  That was all it took and things were underway.We did lots of walking cause I really didn't want pitocin.  I opted for an epidural, as the idea of delivering two babies and two placentas was enough to make me say yes to as much of a pain-free delivery as possible.  I was so happy and quite relieved once the epidural was in place and the medication was flowing, especially after all those hard and long contractions.   Joshua was born vaginally at 10:50pm on August 29th, 2008 after a full day of hard labor, with contractions that were 1-3 minutes apart, and often times overlapping towards the end.  3 pushes and he was out.  He weighed 4lbs 13oz.  Then Saray arrived at 12:10am on August 30th, 2008 via an emergency C-section, due to her heart rate dropping into the danger zone, and she also went transverse and then breech.   She weighed in at 5lbs 7oz.   When I was rushed down to the OR for my emergency C-section, I asked to be put under as the epidural medication was wearing thin and I could feel the cutting.  I think that would make anyone say, "Please, enough!  I'll see my baby when I wake up."   I walked out of that experience feeling quite sore in all sorts of places.  I also walked away knowing what I wanted for my next birth. 

The whole pregnancy with Grayson was so easy, and quite different compared to having twins. One baby is so much easier, period.  I felt from the very beginning that I was being carried by God's grace and that I could walk out each day with confidence that this little one would be full-term, be in perfect health and that fear of death would have no place in my heart. (Having this confidence was so important, especially after experiencing 3 miscarriages, 1 at 16 weeks and 2 at 8 weeks.)

On May 10th, 2010 I had the sudden urge to finish cleaning my house (like shampooing the kids' bedroom carpet), pack the twins' bag, and packing our bag for the hospital. That night I even managed to make dinner.  With still no real signs of the "real deal", I continued on with my evening.  After putting the twins down for the night, Jer and I sat down for dinner and a movie; at that time I noticed that my contractions were a little more regular, but not painful, so, I started keeping track of my contractions via Contraction Master (super great tool.)  At 8pm my contractions were anywhere between 5-7 minutes apart.  But that wasn't good enough for me.  I thought to myself, "This can't be it.  I'm not ready yet."  Plus, I was still 8 days away from my due date; I thought for sure I would make it to my due date.  I decided to get up and take a shower, and finish packing our things.  My contractions continued!  At 10pm I monitored my contractions again; this time they were about 3-5 minutes apart.  I still couldn't believe that this was the real thing, it was too easy!  Finally at about 11:30pm I called my Mom to let her know that she may want to prepare herself to come over as I was pretty sure I was in labor.  We finally decided to head to the hospital at 2am, as my contractions were getting stronger, and were 2-3 minutes apart.

After settling in, Jer and I played the card game "Monopoly Deal" to help pass sometime while we waited to hear if I was actually in labor. We were smiling and laughing so I am sure the nurse thought that there was no way I was in active labor.  But sure enough, my contractions continued and I was dilating (thank goodness!).  At 2am I was at 3cm, at 5am I was at 5cm.  Still feeling good and feeling no real need for any medication.  However, since my last labor and delivery was hard I felt it was necessary to get an epidural lined up.   Little did I know that our baby Grayson would show up in just a few short hours and that I wouldn't have time for the epidural to really take effect.

By 6am my contractions were about a minute apart and they were often overlapping, so there wasn't much time to relax, there was only time to just breathe through each wave of contraction.   At that time the Anesthesiologist arrives, and wow was I glad to see him!  About the time he arrived, I was dilated to 6cm.  I had to sit up on the edge of the bed for the 30 minutes it took him to prep and place the epidural.  During this time my contractions were relentless!   My contractions were right on top of each other and towards the end of the 30 minutes I felt a ton of pressure and the desire to push, even though the epidural was not ready.  Finally, the epidural was placed and taped, and the initial doses of medication had been given.  Finally I was able to lay back down and I asked the nurse to check me because I had felt all that pressure.  She discovered I was now dilated to 9cm and went to go get Dr. Brewer.  Since things were progressing so fast the anesthesiologist decided not to administer the rest of the epidural medication since it takes a while to take effect and most likely the birth would be over by the time it really started to kick in.  Luckily the initial doses I had already received would be enough to take the edge off the worst of it.

Our Doctor arrived at 6:45am.  I was checked again and was fully dilated and ready to push.  3 good, hard pushes and our little baby Grayson made his journey into our arms. On Tuesday morning at 6:59am (May 11th, 2010) our little Grayson Carl Chapeau was born (via VBAC).  Immediately after Grayson being born he was placed upon my chest; what a perfect, beautiful baby!  He had lots of dark hair like the twins had when they were born.   He weighed 7lbs 2oz and was 20 1/4 inches long.  It all happened so fast!  I could hardly believe that that wait was over. 

What a moment!  How does one even put those feelings into words?  In that very moment of Grayson being born I felt a wave of such emotion, a jumbled mix of love, the need to protect and to nurture this little one, along with an overwhelming outflow of thankfulness to my Father God.  I couldn't stop thanking my Father God for such a wonderful, quick labor, delivery and healthy baby boy.  My tears were from a deep well of thanks to my Heavenly Father and love for my son.   I am sure that is exactly how our Heavenly Father God feels each time one of us is born into the Kingdom.  Wow, what a glimpse of His deep love for us.

I couldn't have done it without my wonderful husband. Jeremiah was so amazing, just him keeping his cool helped me keep calm.  He massaged my feet, let me squeeze the life out of his hand and he cheered me on every step of the way.  Thank you Jeremiah, you're the best! 

After having a VBAC I felt like a normal person.  Even a few hours after having Grayson, I didn't feel like the walking dead.  I felt quite awesome actually, compared to last time.  Being able to have a VBAC was such an answer to prayer.  Thanks everyone for praying with us.  The Lord is faithful.