Amelia Jane's Birth Story Part 1

*WARNING: This may be contain graphic details you don't want to see or read, but this is our story and is meant to help others make educated birth choices.

When I first found out I was pregnant with Julia and Owen I wanted a natural delivery with no drugs. I knew this. I would go as long as I could and have those babies naturally. Then we lost Owen. Once that happened I had to start seeing my Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor more frequently and Julia had to come at 37 weeks. Many people ask why, and the simple answer is because my doctor believes that we had a placental abruption with Owen and that put us at a higher risk of having one with Julia. The longer she was in utero the more likely it became for her placenta to do the same thing. So at 37 weeks and 2 days she was born via caesarean section because my cervix was not dilating or effacing.

When we found out we were pregnant with Amelia we immediately started seeing our Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor and were told that she needed to come by 39 weeks because after losing one child to a placental abruption we were more likely to have a still birth if we went past my due date.

At first, I thought I would just have a repeat caesarean. I honestly was scared to try for a VBAC after talking to my doctor about it. I mean there are really scary statistics. However, the more I researched the more I realized that having a child is scary and you really shouldn't do it if you are afraid of any of the risks out there. I mean there are risks to anything that comes with childbirth. It doesn't matter how that baby comes out there is a risk to it. Once I realized that I just started praying that Amelia would come on her own by 39 weeks.

I also found a great childbirth education class to take. Julie came to our house, and as we went through our classes we decided to have Julie be our doula. She's pretty phenomenal!  She had me ask some pretty serious questions of both of my doctors...the most important being if I could wait until my due date for Miss Amelia. My MFM doctor agreed as long as I was seen by her or my OB twice a week. We agreed to that, and I started seeing a chiropractor and an acupuncturist to help get my body ready for delivery. These two things were the BEST things I've ever done. (I'm a firm believer in trying natural remedies and oriental medicine to help your body. That's a post for a different day though.)

Come back for Part 2!