Birth Story for Vivian “Vivi” Elizabeth Massey

Here I am finally!!! It has taken me a good 3 1/2 weeks to find the time to sit and write all of my thoughts on sweet Vivi’s birth down.  It was an amazing experience, and I never want to forget it.

I’m going to back up for a minute and just talk briefly about my other 3 births.  Olivia was my first and your typical birth- she came 4 days early, I had an epidural, and it was all blissful.  I LOVED my experience so much that I remember crying after my 6 week postpartum checkup because I was going to miss my doctor.  Charlie’s birth went the same way except he was 3 days late.  My doctor stripped my membranes at 2 days past my due date, and he was here the next day.  Again- I loved my birth with him and replayed it over and over in my mind.  So when sweet Hayes came along, he really threw me for a loop.  At my 39 week checkup, I was told we needed to induce due to my having a high amniotic fluid level.  I had never induced so this was all very new to me.  Once I received my epidural, they broke my water which apparently is standard protocol for induction.  It didn’t go too well for me though.  I had SO much fluid, which resulted in cord prolapse once my water was broken.  Since the baby’s head wasn’t engaged, when they broke my water, the umbilical cord came out with it.  This resulted in an emergency c-section for me since the baby would have cut off his own oxygen supply if he had come through the birth canal and put pressure on the cord.  

When we found out we were pregnant 9 months after Hayes was born, I was thinking that I would be an automatic c-section.  Don’t  get me wrong- having a section wasn’t the worst thing ever, but it was very hard for me to take care of all of my littles and recover at the same time.   My doctor said the opposite.  He was very supportive of a VBAC and saw no reason that I wouldn’t be a good candidate for one.  Around 20 weeks into my pregnancy, I approached my husband about hiring a doula and attempting a completely all-natural childbirth.  He was extremely supportive, and we began meeting with our doula for the education part of things.  

Fast forward to my actual due date of October 8.  The day came and went with no baby, and I was starting to get pretty discouraged.  My doctor told me he would only let me go a week over before we started talking about a gentle induction. October 9, I woke up with a full list of errands and the kids and I set out for town.  Our day ended at a birthday party for Olivia’s friends.  Olivia and I got home around 7 pm, ate supper, and Brad and I put the kids to bed.  Around 10 pm, I started to have some really mild contractions. At 11 pm, I texted our doula and she told me to do the Spinning Babies yoga routine and to go to bed after.  I did exactly that and went to sleep around midnight.  I woke up a little over an hour later as my contractions were getting worse.  I got up, ate some cereal and tried to lay back down.  Around 2 am, I texted our doula again because I was questionable as to whether my water had broken or not.  She told me she thought I was ok and to continue to try to rest.  I did lay back down, but just couldn’t get comfortable so I woke Brad up to time contractions.  They started in my lower abdomen, but within the hour started in my back as well.  I had never experienced back contractions before so this was new for me.  Finally at 4 Brad called our doula and asked that she come over.  I got up and started to walk during contractions just to get a little relief and a change of scenery from the bed.  

Our doula, Whitney, arrived at our house around 5:30 am and began by helping me use the exercise ball followed by laboring by sitting upright on the toilet.  I went between this and my bed for an hour.  My friend came to pick up our other 3 kids around 6:30 am.  By 7:30 I can remember laying on our couch in the living room, and my contractions had changed again.  Now, they were starting at the top of my abdomen and going down in a wave to my lower abdomen.  It was so intense that I told Whitney that I needed to go to the hospital and get an epidural.  Her reply was that she would take me to the hospital to push out a baby, but not to get an epidural (which I can totally laugh about now, and I thanked her for this later).  I made it through about 3 more contractions before she had me stand up to use the restroom.  This is when I felt pressure like I would need to push soon.  This is also when I told her I thought I needed to go to the hospital.  I was getting zero breaks in between contractions, and the pressure was getting worse.  I walked slowly down our stairs and made it to our van, but once I got there I didn’t feel like I could get in.  I literally was not sure I was going to make it to the hospital.  Brad helped me into the van and Whitney followed us in her car.  I can remember Brad driving with one hand and reaching back to hold my hand with the other.  He was driving as fast as he could since we live 30 minutes from the hospital on a good day.  My contractions finally got to the point where I told him even if the stoplight was red- DO NOT STOP.  

We got to the entrance of the hospital at 8 am.  Brad helped me get into the wheelchair and pushed me inside.  Once inside, we had to sign papers at the nurse’s desk.   I was literally leaning back in my wheelchair because the urge to push was so bad I couldn’t sit upright.  We finally got into a room and the nurse gave me a gown and asked me to give a urine sample.  When I tried to sit and give the sample, I stood back up so quickly and told her I needed to push and that I couldn’t give a sample.  The nurse and Whitney helped me to the bed and Brad helped me change into my gown.  At this point, I wanted to know what the baby’s heart rate was so the nurse was trying to find it on the monitors.  When it took her a few minutes, I started to get nervous, but she found it and assured me baby girl was ok.  I kept telling them that I needed to push, but they kept telling me to wait and just breathe.  I was breathing through and trying to keep my body from pushing, but it was happening anyway regardless of my efforts.  Then, a nurse walked up to me and told me that baby’s heart rate was in the 80’s so I needed to either push and get her out or roll up on my left side.  I was so relieved to push even though my doctor was not even in the room yet.  One good push and her head was out, another one and she was completely out.  Our nurse was so good and did a wonderful job catching our sweet girl.

This part is hard for me to understand because it happened so fast, but she was not crying when she came out, the cord was around her neck, and she was blue.  They immediately cut the cord and took her over to the other side of the room to try to stimulate her and make sure she was ok.  My doctor walked in shocked that we had already delivered the baby.  He asked me when he came in when I had gone into labor and said that he rushed straight over and didn’t even tell his nurse he was leaving.  I do love my doctor, but at this point I was really worried about Vivi. I was praying and praying for her just like I had from the minute I found out we were pregnant.  He began stitching me up as I had a small tear that required 2 stitches, and told me that it is common for babies that have been in birth canal a while to need some medical attention when they come out. As he was finishing up, I heard my sweet girl crying, and I have never been so relieved in my life.  I am forever thankful for this experience, for this baby girl, and for the way our Heavenly Father goes before us and lovingly watches out for us.  I got to hold baby Vivi and nurse her right away, and my life felt so complete.