Thank you to everyone for all the well wishes on our new baby girl! We are over the moon excited to be a family of four, and still surprised that we have a girl! As most of you know, I had to have a c-section with Hudson because he was breech. I had my c-section scheduled for my exact due date at 11am….and my water broke on it’s own that day at 4am and I had him at 7am (so it’s safe to say if I had him vaginally he still would have been born on his due date). And Sadie was born on her due date too….so yeah, that has to be some kind of record right? Two babies born on their due dates?
Thankfully my mom and Jon came back and shortly after that and my doctor checked me again and said it was go time! They broke down the bed and got prepped….everything happened so fast. Side note: For the past few weeks my mom and I have been talking about if she should be in the room while I push or not. She doesn’t do patient care any more but has spent the majority of her career as a labor and delivery nurse. So she’s seen it all. When it was time to push I told her I wanted her to stay….and I’m so glad I did. Having her and Jon there to help motivate me really helped and comforted me.
So around 10 am I started pushing. And man, it was hard. My epidural was amazing so I didn’t feel any pain but could feel when contractions were coming….so I think that really helped me push. The big fear for women having a VBAC is that their uterus will rupture during labor. And the main sign of uterine rupture is a drop in baby’s heart rate….I had to stop pushing a few times so they could make sure Sadie’s heartbeat stabilized…..but the whole time I felt safe knowing that my mom, my doctor, my nurse, and my mom’s friend Becky (who is also a nurse) were all watching out for me and my baby. After less than an hour of pushing Sadie Mae was born at 10:57 a.m.! My doctor placed her on my chest right away and told Jon to tell me what it was….when he said “it’s a girl!” I think we were both in shock. Not only did I just push a baby out of my body but it was a girl baby! I am SO glad we waited to find out the gender. It was such a fun and thrilling surprise!
I couldn’t stop staring at her and was just in awe of what happened. Sadie got cleaned up a little bit while on my chest and then immediately started rooting around and wanting to breastfeed. She’s a breastfeeding champ, just like her brother! After an hour or so they weighed and measured her and we were all shocked again that she was 9 lbs 1 oz and 21 inches long. Holy cow! I pushed a 9 pound baby out of my body. Let me say that again. I PUSHED A 9 POUND BABY OUT OF MY BODY. Dang, I still can’t believe it….but I have the second degree tear on my lady parts to prove it.
Of course, everyone wanted to know what her name was….and I said “I don’t know!” Jon pulled out our list of 5 girl names and 7 boy names and we just started crossing some off…..she just looked like a Sadie to me and Jon agreed! Picking her name in that moment was so much easier than narrowing our list down to 5 names!
I am so glad I decided to have a VBAC! My recovery this time around has been so much easier and we were able to go home after just one night in the hospital. I know a lot of you have VBAC questions so I’m planning a post dedicated to my experience with a c-section vs. a VBAC just for you, so stay tuned!
You and Jon did such a great job working together through your labor. I am thankful that I was able to share the experience. There is nothing more touching than watching your daughter become a mother from the birth and each moment afterwards. I am so proud of the mother you are to Sadie and Hudson and so happy to be able to watch you grow as a family. Love you!
Congratulations!! I LOVE the name Sadie! It's one of my favorite girl names. I cringed a bit when you mentioned the word Stadol because I also received it before my epidural, and I reacted horribly. It made me very dramatic and intensified my pain. Ouch! So glad you had a great VBAC experience. Enjoy every bit of those newborn snuggles! I can't wait to have another little one. 🙂
Congrats again! Beautiful story! And welcome to the 9 lb baby club! 😉
Congratulations! She really is beautiful! How great for you to have a successful (and relatively short) VBACC!
Congratulations again!!! I'm so happy you got the birth you wanted! 🙂
Yay for successful vbac! Mabel had a heart rate drop that resulted in an internal monitor too. That was pretty scary! She only recently lost the scab on the back of her head from it. I also had a second degree tear- fun times :p
She's perfect! So happy for you
CONGRATS again lady – I am so so proud of you! I cannot wait to hear all about the VBAC questions – hoping it gives me the strength to do it one day x
For the record, YOU PUSHED A 9 POUND BABY OUT OF YOUR BODY!!! Way to go, Mama! That's amazing. Congratulations on your sweet little Sadie 🙂
Congratulations! She's beautiful. I love birth stories. I love that you picked out a name when you met her. I don't think I could handle the unknown that way ha. But I love that she looked like a Sadie to you guys.
Congrats again!!! So happy that you got the birth you wanted!
Yay! Such a great story and so glad you were able to have a VBAC! 9 pound babies definitely make you say OMG. 🙂
I love that you were able to have a vbac and that everything went well! So happy for you all – she is just the sweetest thing!
Yup – just teared up reading this! Love you guys and can't wait to meet her this weekend! 🙂
I love everything about this…congrats again!!!
My goodness! What an amazing story. I have the chills!!!!
This seriously brought me to tears! I'm so excited for you and your family. Way to go pushing a 9 pound baby out of your body after a c section! Wow! Enjoy wveey moment with Sadie! She's beautiful just like Her name 🙂 (And can't wait for the follow up post c-section vs vbac)
Carly Sapp
YAY!! 🙂 I just love birth stories, and I'm so excited about your baby girl!!! She's so precious!
Such a beautiful story – congrats!!!!
SO so amazing Julie! You are a true rockstar…I'm so glad you got to experience a VBAC! And what an amazing surprise to find out you had a girl in there all along! So happy for you and your family! Congratulations!! xx
Congratulations!! So glad you were able to do the VBAC! So sweet!
What an incredible story, I love how you felt not knowing the gender. That's what we plan to do in the future :)!
What an awesome story!! Thank you so much for sharing. You are amazing and she is perfect in every way!! Can't wait for the follow up post on vbac vs csec.
Congrats mama! My 2nd was 8.6ounces and 3 weeks early and I swear there was no way I could have pushed anything bigger out so props!!!
So happy for you and your positive VBAC experience! I hope for the same someday!
Congrats! She is such a doll! I have loved your pics of her on Instagram!
This has me all kinds of choked up! Congratulations!! Sooo exciting- she is beautiful& I love her name!! (& this reminds me I never posted Jack's birth story! Ah!!)
Congrats, she's precious!
Congratulations! I just love birth stories so much! Both of my daughters were over 9 pounds (GO US!), and it just amazes me what our bodies can do. For some reason, this post also inspired me to maybe possibly let the next one (if there is, God willing) a surprise 🙂
Thank you for sharing your story. Love reading birth stories. As a c section mama myself I would love to hear all about your VBAC after a c section. So happy it worked out for you!