I had a very difficult pregnancy... progesterone shots (with the viscosity of honey, administered in the buttocks by nurse Patrick every week), restricted activity, contractions from the 2nd trimester, gestational diabetes...ugh...difficult.
After I got past the danger zone, and we felt more confident that the pregnancy was going to be successful, a decision loomed over my head every day: repeat c section or VBAC??? I SO wanted to avoid another surgery and there are benefits for the baby going through the birth canal....but there is a risk, ever so slight, that the uterus could rupture at the site of the old scar during labor, leaving the doc only minutes to get the baby out before both mom and baby bleed to death.
Well, I went back and forth on this many times and prayed A LOT about it. I prayed that Patrick would have a peace about which way we should go. He felt the VBAC was just too risky...So, we scheduled the repeat c section for 39 weeks. As much as I dreaded recovering from another cesarean, this time with another child to care for, it felt good to have that decision made.
Sean had arrived a month early and, with all the contractions, we never thought I'd actually make it to 39 weeks. I started the pregnancy praying every day to make it to 24 weeks... then 28... then 30... 37 weeks was the goal. Well, thanks to God and all the precautions and shots, the days continued to tick by and my belly grew so big I was sure it would rip open any minute. (Probably through one of the massive fissures, aka stretch marks). It's amazing how quickly all those prayers turned into nightly hopes that I would wake up in labor or a pool of water. The contractions continued to build, along with my misery, but no baby. I was so huge and uncomfortable that I even considered castor oil!
Well, I made it to the scheduled day...bags packed, Sean at his Aunt Meg's, and stomach empty. I was excited- and ready to be free of the enormous belly- but also a little scared. I held it together well in pre-op until all of a sudden I began feeling very hot and trapped in the IV and all of the monitors. The nurse combined the belly monitors into one strap which helped a little, but I was seriously considering ripping off all the straps and cords and running out of the hospital! Then the shaking began...Luckily it wasn't too long after this that my doc and all the surgical people arrived so I could head back to the OR. The anesthesiologist saw my state, and my hot shaking feet, and asked what meds I had been given. Turns out I had a very rare reaction to the anti-nausea med they routinely give before surgery. They reassured Patrick that his wife wasn't weird, it was the result of the medicine...Was I acting that out of my skin??
Well, I won't go into getting the spinal and the rest of prep...just know that it SUCKS!!! As I'm laying there with Patrick by my side and the sheet up in front of my face, the docs are having conversations about vacation plans and various topics (of which I was hanging onto every word so I wouldn't concentrate on the sounds and smells- I think they do this on purpose). I did hear them pause a second and knew they noticed something while they were cutting, but I was distracted by the glorious sound of my baby boy's first cries just minutes later. Shayde Ryan Turner was born weighing 8 lbs and 21 inches long! Patrick took pictures of the entire process (yep, even the surgery)...He was SO proud! I'll never forget the glistening look in his eyes when Sean and then Shayde was born and he brought them over for me to see for the first time. He was grinning ear to ear behind the surgical mask. He held Shayde's head to my head and kept talking to me while the docs closed up the body that had just successfully given us our second son.
In recovery, Dr. Robert told us that my first c section scar on my uterus had stretched into a "window". She said it wasn't thin enough to see through yet, but had I attempted a VBAC the results would have been "dramatically different" and that I should NEVER attempt a vaginal birth because my uterus will rupture. I couldn't get that out of my head for the first few days after his birth. What a miracle that he made it into this world! Thank you Jesus for giving my husband unrest about a VBAC and thank you, thank you for our little Shayde!!!
