Lilly’s Home Newborn Session
Lilly Kathleen Dickerson came into the world on June 19th, 2021 at 6:02 a.m. She arrived safe & sound after a successful VBAC birth! She weighed 7lb 2 oz and was 21 inches long.
When Brant and I were newly dating (about 16 years ago) he told me he had always loved the name Lilly and if he ever had a daughter that’s what he wanted to name her. I’m so happy I was able to give Brant the daughter he always hoped for. Her middle name is for Brant’s grandma Cathleen and my mom Karen.
My VBAC Birth Story-
Here’s the readers digest version of deliver day…
I know some of you may be interested in the VBAC experience so here ya go… Friday June 18th at 1pm I went in to get a foly bulb (balloon) to help me dilate past 1cm. It went very smooth even though my cervix was posterior or tilted towards back. I read this can be terribly painful, but it wasn’t too bad. Only a couple minutes after getting that, my water broke which was not the plan, but like I told my amazing doctor Dr. Robert Wood with Magnolia Women’s Health, our family likes to keep things interesting for him. So then I went to labor and delivery to get checked in instead of going home as we originally planned (luckily we had our bags). The foley bulb started labor and dilation. Since I already had a c-section with Elliot, this time I wanted vbac (vaginal birth after cesarean). Luckily my doctor and Miami Valley hospital staff were very supportive of this. I was at a slightly higher risk for uterine rupture (only like 1% though) Because this was a vbac they only gave me a very small amount of pitocin to help dilation.
Lots of back labor! My nurse, Cassie was awesome and totally went the extra mile by helping me in lots of different positions and did lots of coaching, which honestly most nurses don’t do. She was amazing and was exactly what I wanted for my labor experience. Since my back labor was so intense she helped put me in positions that would move baby if she was “sunny side up”… which she wasn’t in the end, Yay! Brant did great helping me too. Labor continued unmedicated, until I was about 6.5 cm, then the back labor got so intense, contractions were every 2 minutes and the body shakes came. So I decided to get the epidural. I was afraid I’d have no breaks in between contractions to sit still if I waited any longer.
I always planned on an epidural especially with vbac, if you end up needing an emergency c-section it makes things quicker for surgery if you have epidural in place. It also helps relax you, which it did and helped my dilation progress. Since I could rest after getting the epidural. Oh I forgot to mention during my labor there was golf ball size hail outside and tornado warnings going off… not added stress at all.
This first dose of epidural was still not taking the edge off the back pain, so they had to give me another dose. While resting after the 2nd dose of epidural I laid on my side and used the peanut ball. After this came relief and I was able to dilate to 10cm!
Originally, I didn’t plan on pushing on my back, but we started there with knees in, instead of out to help with opening pelvis and easier delivery. This worked so well we stuck with it. I only pushed for about 35 minutes (they say it’s normally 1-4hrs)! She arrived at 6:02 am Saturday June 19th.
Brant did great holding my hand through it all, helping give me counter pressure on my low back during contractions and even holding my leg during delivery. He has kept telling me how impressed he was and how tough I was during it all. Which make me feel even more proud of myself and like a rock star.
If anyone has any questions about the VBAC experience please leave a comment below. I’m an open book as far as my experience and would be happy to answer anything I can.
xoxo, Ashley
Jenny Haas Photography did our in home newborn session & I am seriously in LOVE!