Vanessa's birth story

Vanessa was born on January 11, 2012. I wanted to have a natural birth, but that didn't happen. I am o.k. with that, I tried and that was the important part. The attempt at "VBAC" was for me. I didn't have a pleasant experience with my first daughters birth, so I wanted to let my body go through the hormonal and physical changes that occur with a natural birth. My hope was to stave off Post Partum Depression this time if possible.

I won't go into major detail regarding Vanessa's birth, but here are the highlights...

I had major active labor for close to 6 hours with no progress. Meaning I didn't dilate or change in real prep for the push phase. I was 2 minutes apart with intense contractions for a very long time, which usually causes some very good progress. After deciding to get the epidural, they put the fetal monitors back on, only to discover that Vanessa's heart rate was dropping with every contraction.

She was in distress, so the choice was made to stop the contractions. Both to stabilize her and to give me a much needed rest. I knew when they gave me the Terbutaline that I was going to end up having a repeat C-Section. The team at our hospital was exceptional. Professional, genuinely concerned , calm and friendly throughout everything.

After she was born, the Pediatrician suggested she go to the NICU since she was obviously going to have trouble eating. Better to work on this problem now, than to have her loose to much weight and end up there later. We agreed and she spent about 1 week there with the staff teaching us a good angle and monitoring her progress.

Reality check, Vanessa doesn't have a simple CLCP. It is considered severe. She also has a deviated septum, and the angles of the inside of her mouth are rather steep. She is fortunate in that the CLCP is only one side, but it is about 1.5 cm wide and almost centered so it is not easy for her to eat.