Jordan and Paul welcomed their second baby, a sister for their son, on October 15, 2021! Penelope Wren made her mom’s dream come true by arriving in a VBAC! Every birth is special but there’s just something extra special about a VBAC. Jordan made a big decision at the beginning of this pregnancy. She switched providers to a group known for their support of VBACs, with a high midwife to OB ratio. This was a turning point and set the stage for a much better pregnancy and birth experience.

Jordan reached out to me around 1:40 am on October 14 with contractions. They were far apart but regular enough to get her attention. By 4:00 am she could no longer sleep through them and had to moan to cope. They moved closer by the morning and required more focus. The contractions were still sporadic but getting stronger. After about 12 hours in she hit a wall and doubted whether she could continue. So she got in the tub and it seemed to make her contractions even stronger and closer. Later Jordan would tell me when she had a contraction, her son would say, “Mommy have a traction.” He also brought her a box of frozen French toast stick for breakfast. What a helper!

Jordan felt like things were getting more intense and she had a steady feeling like she had to use the bathroom. So, I just asked her if she wanted to call the midwife and see about heading in. Jordan replied with, “Yeah, I’m ready.” And so she did. About 45 minutes later at 3:30 pm, they were at the hospital and had an exam that was music to Jordan’s ears! She was 7 cm dilated and 100% effaced! She didn’t progress beyond 6 cm with her son before the c-section, so this was a big deal! Her midwife proclaimed, “You’ve got your VBAC!” with all the confidence in the world.

The delivery cart was brought into the room and there was a strong feeling that Jordan would be pushing soon. She chose to get an epidural soon after arrival, knowing there was never a promise of an outcome, she wanted to be ready should things take a turn to the OR like last time.

Just before 5:00 pm Jordan was dilated 8-9 cm and it brought tears to our eyes as the reality was clearer and more real than ever that Jordan would get her VBAC, as her midwife said. She continued to move in various positions to continue her progress and baby’s descent. A nursery nurse came in to set up the warmer, which never happened in her first birth. Jordan tried to rest but she was nervous and excited at the same time. Her nurse and I used some interesting positioning techniques with the peanut ball to open the outlet of her pelvis and it brought her contractions closer.

By 7:44 pm, a check had Jordan still at 8 cm. The epidural had slowed things down, which is a typical result. Her midwife recommended breaking her water and beginning a little bit of Pitocin to continue the momentum she had worked so hard to achieve before arriving at the hospital. We had her sitting upright in the bed and in various other positions in the hopes it would work nicely to keep her moving.

Jordan began to moan through the pressure she felt with her contractions and by 9:45 that night she was 9 cm and her baby was low at 0/+1 station. She had more cervix on the right side so we helped Jordan rotate to her right to help melt that cervix away. She soon felt increased pain from the contractions and developed a big case of the labor shakes, and then threw up. A bolus in her epidural helped as she entertained our constant movements and position shifts.

By 11:00 that night, her baby had some deep decels that brought a team of nurses into the room to flip and flop her to get baby off the cord. She tried to push to see if the cervical lip would move aside, but it didn’t. So they put an internal fetal monitor on the baby to get a more precise read. And a few more rounds of pushes had Jordan fully dilated. She labored down since her baby’s heart rate continued to dip some. And they held off the Pitocin too. Things had gotten a bit riskier, so the OB was incorporated more closely and would attend the birth.

Jordan rotated to her hands and knees to push and her baby seemed good with it. (Go figure!) So she pushed for about 20 minutes that way and then pushed semi-reclined. Jordan focused her eyes on the mirror in front of her, catching a glimpse of her baby’s head as confirmation that her VBAC was happening. The doctor broke down the bed by 12:40 am, got herself dressed in the paper suit, and the room filled with people.

And Jordan pushed her baby out in 3 crowning pushes, welcoming Penelope Wren at 12:43! And she came out with her hand by her face which helps to explain the erratic nature of her labor! And Penelope growled her first cries, making sure everyone knew she was spunky and strong. Wren lifted her head off her mom’s chest shortly after birth and was latched at just over 30 minutes old. She spent most of the rest of that first hour nursing on one breast and then the other. She was born ready, as they say.

Penelope weighed 8 lb. 2.4 oz., nearly 10 ounces lighter than her brother, which helped her mom to birth her compound arm! Jordan’s VBAC journey was not an easy one, and her labor was confusing and challenging. Her midwife believed in the VBAC, but it took getting all the way to the very end for Jordan to truly believe it. That smile and those tears that crawled down Jordan’s face when she held Penelope in her arms all covered in birth, healed a hole she had felt from her last birth. She felt heard and respected. And that made an even bigger impact on her than the VBAC. But the VBAC was an amazing part of it too! ;)

Photo credit: sarawoodphotography.com — Photo credit: sarahwoodphotography.com

The Birth of Penelope Wren 10/15/21