Birth Story from Sara Bobo

This birth story is from Sara Bobo. Though Sara had a scare, she still had a truly spiritual birth experience. Thanks for sharing your stories.

I have had three children and three very different birth experiences. All were spiritual experiences. Two included epidural.

I would like to share the story of the birth of my second child.
During a very difficult pregnancy, my water broke at 33 weeks. I did not know what to expect with a 33 weeker. All I knew was that our goal was to get to at least 34 weeks and we weren't there yet. I was scared of the unknown and what might happen to my baby.

I headed to the hospital. My water broke at noon, I arrived at the hospital at about 130pm. I was soaked in amniotic fluid but the nurses didn't believe at first that my water had broken. They tested it and, as I knew, without a doubt, my membranes had ruptured. I thought for sure that the baby would have to be delivered in the next 24 hours as I had always been told that's what had to happen once someones water had broken. I found out that in the case of a preemie they will keep you on hospital bedrest up to 34 weeks if there were no signs of stress to the baby or infection.

When my water broke I was not in active labor but I was dilated 3 cms and 80% effaced. When my doctor came to see me at about 5:30 pm, he decided to give me a blood pressure lowering medication to keep me from going into labor. I received the medication at about 6pm. About half an hour after I received the medication I went into active labor and was in horrible pain and bleeding terribly. It was decided that if the first dose of meds did not work there was probably a reason why my water broke and why my baby was trying to come at that time.

As I went into active labor, we knew something was very wrong. The heavy bleeding and constant pain, and not just pain with contractions, was very concerning. It was decided that I likely had a partial placental abruption. I had really wanted to avoid an epidural. I was pushed into one with my first child and was not happy with the experience. I was very scared for my health and the health of my baby at that time though.

The decision to have an epidural did not come lightly or easily. My husband knew that I really wanted to avoid an epidural and was very supportive. I was in constant pain and then each contraction made the pain worse. I couldn't focus, I couldn't just concentrate on one contraction at a time because the pain was constant. I was not allowed to move around because my baby's heart rate kept dropping, not just with contractions, but randomly. My baby was obviously in distress. If I moved around, we could not keep the monitor on my baby I asked the nurse if it would be better for me to get the epidural so I could sit still. Her answer surprised me, in a good way. She told me that she was not going to tell me to get an epidural no matter what. I had made it clear that I did not want an epidural and I was never offered one. I asked for an epidural after being in so much pain. The nurse knew that I really didn't want one so she left my husband and I to figure out what I really wanted and needed. I felt desperate at that time. I did not want to make the decision feeling desperate. I prayed and prayed to know the right thing to do. I was afraid that my baby or I may not be ok. After a short time I felt at peace and knew that no matter what, everything would end up ok. It was an overwhelming peaceful feeling. It was the Spirit of the Lord comforting me in a time of fear and pain. I also felt very strongly that it was not right or wrong for me to get the epidural, I just felt that it was up to me to make that decision and I was be protected in whatever decision I made.

My decision was to get the epidural. I got the epidural and had small amount of relief for about 10-15 minutes when my blood pressure crashed. I remember it getting down to 40/28 and then after that, I don't remember anything. I know that my blood pressure was not registering on the machine at one point and the crash cart was ready to go. They gave me epinephrine and stopped the epidural and fortunately, that did the trick and I was ok. The nurses were rushing around and the anesthesiologist was in there when I came around. I could tell that everyone had been scared about what was happening but were trying not to show it. The combination of the blood pressure medication, losing so much blood, having an epidural and laying on my back, was a very bad one.

I had not been checked since right about the time I went into active labor and when I came to, I felt a ton of pressure and really felt like I needed to push. The nurse checked me and was amazed to find that about an hour and a half since the last time she checked, I had gone from still being 3 cms dilated to complete.

At that point they called my doctor. While we were waiting for him to get to the hospital, I was moved to the Operating Room. I was moved to the OR because it was connected to the NICU and my baby was exactly 7 weeks early.

By the time my doctor arrived the epidural had completely worn off and I really needed to push! He ran in ready to deliver my sweet little baby. Two pushes later my precious little girl, Taylor Ailine was born. She was 4 lbs 9 oz and screamed and screamed upon her arrival into this world! I cannot even explain the love I felt for her and the relief I felt. The gratitude to my Heavenly Father at that time was also more than I can explain. I know He helped me and my daughter through a very scary experience.

When Taylor was born, the placental abruption was confirmed. My placenta was also very worn and wouldn't have supported a baby for much longer. I know that it was not a coincidence that my water broke and my baby came just 8 hours later and a little less than two hours after active labor started. Heavenly Father was looking out for us through it all.

The doctor's believe it was a good thing that I decided to go with the epidural because it likely helped me to progress more quickly. This was important as my daughter was under a lot of stress the entire time. She needed to come quickly. I am sure that for whatever reason things went so quickly, the Lord's hand was guiding the process. I very literally felt Him there with me constantly, from the time my water broke until she came home from the hospital three weeks later. I felt his love and guidance through the entire journey and I know that I would not have been able to get through it all without the peace and strength I felt from Him.