Fearnow Family : Lela's Birth Story

Lela's birth story is much less complicated than Brady's, however, interesting to say the least. I'm going to start her birth story with decisions that I made that would determine how I would deliver her.
After having a c-section with Brady, actually the day he was born, I said "I'm having a VBAC if I ever get pregnant again". A VBAC for those of you that aren't familiar is a vaginal birth after cesarean. So, when the time came to talk to my doctor (different doctor now since our insurance changed to Kaiser) about having a VBAC, he told me I was a great candidate. They mentioned that since Brady was the reason for the c-section and not my body, then I should be able to VBAC. I got to 36 weeks pregnant and Chad accepted a new job...changing our insurance...this time not with Kaiser. Now, I was in the search of a new doctor. I didn't want to go back to the doctor's office that I went to with Brady because they only delivered at Northside Cherokee, and after that experience, I didn't want to go there again. During my search I posted a status on Facebook that asked if anyone could recommend a great doctor. I talked to the PA, that I went to for years, about having a VBAC. She told me some pretty frightening stories that had me wondering if I still wanted to go through with it. I was torn now whether to do a VBAC or just have a repeat c-section. I decided to go North Atlanta Women's Specialists. Many women recommended them and a close friend had known one of the doctors practically her whole life. Long story short, he would not do a VBAC. He was totally against it and talked to me about why he did not believe in them. After many tears and prayers...I decided that I was going to have a repeat c-section and the date was set for October 2nd, at 39 weeks.

Taken 9 days before Lela was born

It was October 1st... Chad called me on his way home from work to tell me that his truck broke down and he needed me to come pick him up. Great! This was not how I wanted to spend the last night as a family of three. After I picked him up, we drove to auto zone to get the parts he needed to fix his truck. We realized quickly that Brady was not going to be patient enough to sit in the car while Chad worked on his truck. My dad ended up helping Chad, while I went home with Brady. A few hours later, I hear Chad walk in the door. I run downstairs to talk to him, excited about the next day as he washes the grease off his hands and arms. Seconds later, I feel a gush of water come out of me and hit the floor. WHAT! That was not supposed to be happening. I tell Chad I think my water just broke, this was around 7:30 pm. I went to the bathroom and more fluid came pouring out of me. I soon realized that Lela, much like Brady, had decided to come on her own time and was not going to come "as planned". I called my doctor's office and told them what happened, they said a doctor "on call" would return my call shortly. Chad decided to take a quick shower and instead of waiting for the phone call we went ahead and left for the hospital. I asked Chad what he thought I could do about riding in the van with all the fluid coming out of me and he said he would put some towels down. He also suggested to wear one of Brady's diapers..so that's what I did. Hey, whatever works! When we arrived at the hospital, the doctor calls. He suggested that I head towards the hospital (we were already in the parking deck at this point) and they would monitor my progress. They would either do the c-section that night or wait till the morning when my doctor could do it. My contractions had started on the way to the hospital, so I didn't see me making it till the morning. I got admitted to the hospital, my parents and Marenda got there, and I was being monitored. The nurse said I was only about 2-3 cm dilated and it could take me hours to actually progress. This was not cool, I was having to labor...just to end up having the planned c-section. The fluid continued to gush out of me and the contractions were steady. I tried to lay in bed and watch "Friends" but the contractions got to a point where all I could do was scream. Thank God the nurse's shift was up and a new nurse came into the room. She could tell I was in pain and let the doctor know that it was time to get this c-section rolling. I didn't know how to breath because I wasn't planning on having to labor, it was horrible. The nurse checked me and said I was at 6 cm. Little miss Lela was coming whether we were going to be ready or not. At this point I wished they would have just let me VBAC because I know Lela and I could have done it, even though there was still the 1% chance my uterus could have ruptured from the previous c-section. I finally got the epidural and could relax.

After getting the epidural

The doctor came into the room and introduced himself and talked about the procedure. I got wheeled to the operating room, anticipating meeting this little girl of ours. The doctor started working on me and at 1:13 am on October 2nd our sweet baby girl was born. They held her over the drape and I got a glimpse of her beautiful face. I remember thinking about how pretty she already was to have just been born and how blessed we were that she was here and healthy.