VBAC : Is it Safe?

The Forgotten History of Hospital Birth

Taking a look back at the history of birth in hospitals, is not a pleasant picture for many, but it is something little people in our society know about today, because when looking for information, pictures, and research during this disgustingly abusive time in history, it seems as though most of it has been erased, hid, or destroyed. There are very few pictures of what was actually done to women from twilight sleep, to restraining women, all the way to the twilight sleep cribs that laboring mothers would be put in. I look back at his as a modern, empowered, mother and feminist, and I wonder how any women, especially the feminists of this time would allow these type of mistreatment of women. Many connected the pain of labor to the sins of Eve during this period of time, so many of the feminists basically said, anything that could take away the pain of birth is what I need, not knowing that the drugs that would be used would also take away their self control, and memory of the event.
While the births of my two children were not the most wonderful experiences, considering they were both major abdominal surgery I had no desire to have, I still as a mother want the memory of their joining out family.

I just cannot see how anyone in the medical community can look back at these pictures, and the way Obstetrics has practiced over the past century and say much positive about it. These pictures are a huge piece of evidence that there were mass amounts of not only abuse but misogynist activity taking place. But it is still happening today, just in a slightly more humane way. So we don't blindfold women, tie them to beds, or let them lay in their own poop and pee for long amounts of time, we just "treat" them with unnecessary medical intervention after medical intervention until all the interventions add up and they land in the operating room for the biggest medical intervention at all.
Choices in Childbirth released the cesarean section rates for some of the New York City hospitals recently, and MORE than a few have c-section rates that reach, and exceed 50%. When we know HALF of the 31.8% of cesarean section births taking place in our country are completely unnecessary.
I am sure there is a huge link between lack of access to VBAC in this area also, and the common misconceptions and flat out lies women are being told about VBAC which discourages them from even considering it as an option, when in reality it is the safest option.

I seem to have got a little off topic, but back to my point. How can we say that hospitals are these shining safe places which all women should be birthing in, when they have such a dark and abusive past?

Proof Is In the Numbers

Well after Dr. Amy's sad attempt at turning the rising cesarean section, and labor induction rates into a debate about home birth in Colorado..... (Kinda like the price of tea in China) I figured I would further aid to my debate with some simple numbers.

This is exactly what tells us that there is a problem in the United States Maternity Care...

2008 Cesarean Birth Rate = 31.8%
1970 Cesarean Birth Rate = 5.5%

Maternal Mortality Rate per 100,000 live births in the United States
1970 - 21.5 (5.5% Cesarean Section Rate) *2.2% VBAC Rate
1975 - 12.8 (10.4% Cesarean Section Rate) *2% VBAC Rate
1980 - 9.2 (16.5% Cesarean Section Rate) *3.4% VBAC Rate
1985 - 7.8 (22.7% Cesarean Section Rate) *6.6% VBAC Rate
1989 - 7.9 (22.8% Cesarean Section Rate) *18.9% VBAC Rate
1990 - 8.2 (22.7% Cesarean Section Rate) *19.9% VBAC Rate
1991 - 7.9 (22.6% Cesarean Section Rate) *21.3% VBAC Rate
1992 - 7.8 (22.3% Cesarean Section Rate) *22.6% VBAC Rate
1993 - 7.5 (21.8% Cesarean Section Rate) *24.3% VBAC Rate
1994 - 8.3 (21.2% Cesarean Section Rate) *26.3% VBAC Rate
1995 - 7.1 (20.8% Cesarean Section Rate) *27.5% VBAC Rate
1996 - 7.6 (20.7% Cesarean Section Rate) *28.3% VBAC Rate
1997 - 8.4 (20.8% Cesarean Section Rate) *27.4% VBAC Rate
1998 - 7.1 (21.2% Cesarean Section Rate) *26.3% VBAC Rate
1999 - 9.9 (22.0% Cesarean Section Rate) *23.4% VBAC Rate
2000 - 9.8 (22.9% Cesarean Section Rate) *20.7% VBAC Rate
2001 - 9.9 (24.4% Cesarean Section Rate) *16.4% VBAC Rate
2002 - 8.9 (26.1% Cesarean Section Rate) *12.6% VBAC Rate
2003 - 12.1 (27.6% Cesarean Section Rate) *10.6% VBAC Rate

Now, I am no expert in analyzing statistics or numbers, but you can see a clear trend starting around 1980, though the cesarean section rate increases, so does the number of VBAC's. While VBAC's continue to increase the maternal death rate goes down.
Lets move to the year of the peak VBAC numbers which is 1996. We see a low maternal mortality rate, which starts to increase as the number of VBAC's and an increase in cesarean sections continues.
We get to 2003, which has a 27.6% cesarean section rate, a LOW 10.6% VBAC rate and a high maternal mortality rate.
It is not rocket science to know that the increase in cesarean sections and decrease in VBAC's are aiding this issue.

The risking cesarean section rates are killing mothers.
More so than Midwives in Colorado.

Things More Likely to Occur than Uterine Rupture

I came across this post years ago, and I love it. I thought I would share this with everyone.

Written by Eileen Sullivan, with assistance from her husband, Patrick.

After checking, it seems I was a bit off on the frequency of deadly lightning strikes... you are more likely to suffer a rupture than to be struck and killed by lightning, by about thirty times. Then again, how many people do you know who HAVE been struck and killed by lightning?

Ruptures are also more common than dying in a plane crash. Henci Goer's review of the literature on VBACs found 46 ruptures in 15,154 labors. This equates to a 0.3% rate... or 1 in 333, if you prefer. Your annual risk of dying in a plane crash is 1 in 4000, according to one source, and 1 in 700,000 according to another. I can't explain the massive discrepancy between the two figures, except to quote Mark Twain about "lies, damn lies, and statistics."

Since you asked, here are some more probability statistics for you:

Your risk of dying in a car accident, over the course of your lifetime, is between 1 in 42 and 1 in 75. This is roughly 4 to 5 times greater than the risk of uterine rupture.

You're about twice as likely to have your car stolen (that's an annual risk) than to experience a uterine rupture.

Your odds of being murdered are 1 in 140 over the course of your lifetime. That's 2 times more likely than the risk of rupture.

The annual risk of having a heart attack is 1 in 160, 2 times more likely than rupture. Your risk of dying from heart disease is roughly 1 in 6, or 55 times greater than your risk of rupture.

The annual risk of having a heart attack is 1 in 160, 2 times more likely than rupture. Your risk of dying from heart disease is roughly 1 in 6, or 55 times greater than your risk of rupture.

If you're a smoker, your risk of dying from lung cancer is 1 and a half times more likely than a VBAC mom rupturing during her labor.

You're about 17 times more likely to contract an STD this year than you are to have a uterine rupture; more likely to contract gonorrhea than to rupture, as well.

You're 13 times more likely to get food poisoning than to rupture.

You're more likely to have twins than a uterine rupture. Odds of twins: 1 in 90. That's about 3 1/2 times the likelihood of rupture.

If you ride horseback, you're 3 times more likely to die in a riding accident than you are to experience a uterine rupture.

If you ride a bike on the street, you are 4 times more likely to die in an accident (annual risk) than you are to suffer a rupture.

Having a serious fire in your home during the next year is twice as likely as experiencing a rupture.

You're ten times as likely to win at roulette as you are to have a uterine rupture.

If you flip a coin, you'll be more likely to get heads (or tails) 8 times in a row than to rupture.

The risk of cord prolapse is 1 in 37 (2.7%), or nearly ten times more likely than that of rupture.

And a final irony (heads up, those of you who want a doc to give his/her opinion on your likelihood of rupture next pregnancy!)...

You're 6 times more likely to have a doctor who is an impostor than you are to suffer a rupture. Two percent of docs are phonies (1 in 50), according to several sources I found.

So instead of worrying about rupture, why not take a few minutes to check up on your doctor's credentials? ;) It'd be a more profitable use of your time, and a substantially more likely cause for alarm.

Get On Track, With a Successful VBAC!

By VBAC Mom, Sally H.

Get On Track, With a Successful VBAC

When I was approached to write a blog about my experience with a VBAC, I have to admit that I was little reluctant. I mean who wants to hear another story about VBACs? But when I starting to tell other women about my VBAC experience they encouraged me to share my story. You see, like me they wanted to try to have one, but unlike me, they were told they couldn’t. I couldn’t believe this. Even though the success rate of having a VBAC is 75%, many women are denied this either because her doctor does not want to risk the liability or her doctor or even her spouse is afraid of the possibility of her uterus rupturing. Sure, there are many risks with pregnancies and many risks with birth. In fact, death is a risk for both mother and baby any time when giving birth. In fact, according to ICAN, “the risk of fetal death among the 13,115 women attempting VBAC was 0.038 percent (5/13,115). Thus the risk of a baby dying in association with VBAC was 12 times lower than the risk of a baby dying from non-rupture-related causes.” So how do we change the tide and encourage our doctors, spouses and even the hospitals that VBACs are safe and they are worth the attempt?

When I was pregnant with my second child in 2005 I knew that I wanted a VBAC. My first delivery was a nightmare and my doctor explained that the need for the ‘emergency C-section” was eminent. I did not want to go through with the pain of another C-section again. I certainly did not want to miss the opportunity of giving birth naturally. I had read enough to know that I was not in the high risk group, however my biggest obstacle was getting my doctor to be in agreement with me. More importantly, I had to get my husband to be in agreement as well. We barely fight, but we fought over this for weeks. This is a serious decision to make. If there is not the support from your doctor or midwife, nor your spouse, then I suggest you get them to agree with you or find another doctor or hospital. I guess you cannot go out and find another husband, but there is so much supported evidence as to why VBAC are safer than repeat C-sections that he may oblige.

VBACs are safer for both mother and baby. VBAC is not major surgery, repeat C-sections are and who wants more surgery?

So, you have to get them to be in agreement with you. I was fortunate that I had my doctor’s approval. There were other doctors in this practice who were not with me and my VBAC but I explained that this is what I really wanted. They all agreed for me to go into labor naturally and when the time came to be in a birthing room next to the ER, you know just in case. I had my plan and the hospital made me sign a consent form which basically said that I knew of my risks of attempting a VBAC, but I am willing to take it anyway. It is so funny how even at the last minute the head nurses and the hospital were still asking me if this is what I wanted. I remember looking at them and saying through my grunts of labor, “don’t you think this is what my baby wants?” My first one was poked in the eye in utero, was drugged from the anesthesia and I did not get to hold nor see her for three hours after birth. I was not going to go through this again. Again, I had the support of my doctor and my doula who helped me through the worst part of my second child’s labor. I had to push through the old scary memories of the first birthing process and move through the second, natural one. To have everyone in that birthing room to be in agreement with me and to be on the right track, was part of my success. It all came down to that moment when I pushed her out and heard her cry. To be able to be there for the whole process was surreal and beautiful. I encourage anyone who is thinking about VBAC to go for it, but please make sure everyone supports your decision. Now, if I can only encourage my husband to go for a third, but this story I will keep for another day.

After a Cesarean

Thank you to ICAN for making this amazing brochure to help women all across the world. For those who are unable or have not seen the brochure at this point, I took the time to type out most of the information on it.

Make an informed choice about the risks of repeat cesareans Vs. VBAC.

Cesarean sections are major abdominal surgery, and like all surgery, carry the risks of complications. These can include dense adhesion's, excessive scar tissue growth that connects the uterus to surrounding tissues and organs. Adhesion's can increase the risk of longer operation times and injury to adjacent organs. The risk of hysterectomy, or the surgical removal of the uterus, also rises. Undergoing repeated cesareans make it more likely a woman will experience placenta accreta, in which the placenta grows into the middle layer of the uterus, possibly causing hemorrhage and requiring a hysterectomy.

A woman who has repeat cesareans can also be more likely to experience thromboebolisms (blood clots that break lose and block vessels), or experience blood loss. And while uterine rupture (a rare but potentially catastrophic event during pregnancy or childbirth in which the uterine wall splits open) remains a concern after one or more cesareans, the risk of uterine rupture is small, and it decreases further with each additional VBAC.

Lets Look at the numbers....

1st Cesarean
Risk of Hysterectomy : 0.65% (1 in 154)
Risk of Blood Transfusion : 4.05% (1 in 25)
Risk of Placenta Accreta : 0.24% (1 in 417)

1st VBAC
Chance of Successful VBAC : 63.3% (2 in 3)
Risk of Uterine Rupture : 0.87% (1 in 115)
Risk of Hysterectomy : 0.23% (1 in 435)
Risk of Blood Transfusion : 1.89% (1 in 53)

2nd Cesarean
Risk of Hysterectomy : 0.42% (1 in 238)
Risk of Blood Transfusion : 1.53% (1 in 65)
Risk of Placenta Accreta : 0.31% (1 in 325)
Risk of Major Complications : 4.3% (1 in 23)
Risk of Dense Adhesion's : 21.6% (1 in 5)

2nd VBAC
Chance of Successful VBAC : 87.6% (9 in 10)
Risk of Uterine Rupture : 0.45% (1 in 222)
Risk of Hysterectomy : 0.17% (1 in 588)
Risk of Blood Transfusion : 1.24% (1 in 81)

3rd Cesarean
Risk of Hysterectomy : 0.9% (1 in 111)
Risk of Blood Transfusion : 2.26% (1 in 44)
Risk of Placenta Accreta : 0.57% (1 in 165)
Risk of Major Complications : 7.5% (1 in 13)
Risk of Dense Adhesion's : 32.2% (1 in 3)

3rd VBAC
Chance of Successful VBAC : 90.9% (9 in 10)
Risk of Uterine Rupture : 0.38% (1 in 263)
Risk of Hysterectomy : 0.06% (1 in 1667)
Risk of Blood Transfusion : 0.99% (1 in 101)

4th Cesarean
Risk of Hysterectomy : 2.41% (1 in 41)
Risk of Blood Transfusion : 3.65% (1 in 27)
Risk of Placenta Accreta : 2.13% (1 in 47)
Risk of Major Complications : 12.5% (1 in 8)
Risk of Dense Adhesion's : 42.2% (2 in 5)

Note : "Major complications" include one of more of the following : uterine rupture, hysterectomy, additional surgery due to hemorrhage, injury to the bladder or bowel, thromboembolism, and/or excessive blood loss.

Sources : Mercer, B. M., & Gilbert, S. et al. Labor Outcomes with increasing number or prior vaginal births after a cesarean delivery. Obstetrics & Gynocology 2008; 111: 285-291.

Silver, R.M, & Landom M. B., et al. Maternal morbidity associated with multiple repeat cesarean deliveres. Obstetrics & Gynocology. 2006; 107: 1226-1232.

Nisenblat, V., Barak, S., & Griness, O.B., et al. Maternal complications associated with multiple cesarean deliveres. Obstetrics & Gynecology 2006; 108: 21-6

All VBAC statistics for this are taken from the Mercer & Gilbert study in which includes induced and augmented labors. Additional studies have shown lower uterine rupture rates (especially with spontaneous labors) and higher VBAC success rates.

Elective Repeat Cesareans May Put Your Baby At Risk

According to a new study out by The University of Colorado Hospital, having a repeat cesarean section electively, may but your baby at an increased risk than having a VBAC (Vaginal Birth after Cesarean) would. For the full text of this article, visit this link.

The babies of women who have an elective repeat Cesarean delivery are twice as likely to be admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit than babies of women who have a vaginal birth after Cesarean (VBAC). That’s according to a new study from the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine.

The study shows babies born to women who have elective repeat Cesarean deliveries also continue to need oxygen in the neonatal intensive care unit.

Which in turn is creating a huge cost for not only the mother who had the elective surgery which often is twice the price of an actual VBAC, but then you are adding the NICU costs to the mix which can be absorbent.

Kamath and researchers from UC Denver, Colorado School of Public Health and The Children’s Hospital looked at the records of 672 women who gave birth at University of Colorado Hospital. Each of the women had one prior Cesarean delivery. Three-hundred-forty- three decided to have another Cesarean while 329 planned a vaginal birth.

Beautiful Birth Story... Unassisted Birth after Cesarean

Things started the exact same way this time as they did with my first son, only difference being it was a couple weeks earlier in pregnancy. My water broke on Tuesday morning. I woke up around 3am and felt a bit damp, but figured it was just sweat since our place is hideously hot. Around 4:30am, my husband came to bed. We talked for a few minutes and I thought I felt something. I thought maybe I was losing my plug, so I went to the washroom and realized that I was getting gushes of fluid. I really hadn't expected things to start this way and had been taking vitamin c for most of the pregnancy to try to avoid it, but was hopeful that labour would start in a few hours.

During the day on Tuesday, I would get an occasional contraction, but never more than about 1 an hour, sometimes I wouldn't get one for several hours. Wednesday was more of the same, although I was getting one almost every hour. There were even a few that were closer together than that. I kind of lost it on Wednesday night. Between the leaking and the fear that I was looking at a repeat cesarean because labour would never start (which I know was completely irrational, but I was tired and desperate for it to start). I lost it so bad I seriously considered going to the hospital. My husband very bluntly asked me would I rather leak or be cut open again? That quickly brought me back down.

About 10pm on Thursday, I went to take a shower (aka hiding out from my mom phoning to find out what was going on). While I was in there, I also scrubbed the tub a bit, since it had been driving me nuts for days. Near the end of my shower or just after I got out, labour suddenly kicked into high gear. From every twenty minutes or so (we weren't really timing, except for one or two contractions occasionally), contractions moved to 15 minutes, then 7, then 2, in less than a couple of hours.

Sometime around 3/4am on Friday, I started getting pain in my back, too. Until this point, all the contractions had been in a band extremely low down in my belly. Once they started hurting in my back too, I just couldn't take anymore and decided to try sitting in the tub and using the sprayer during contractions. Unfortunately, we only had one and it didn't stretch very far, so either my back or my belly got sprayed, and it was very difficult to get my back without standing up, which I didn't want to do. My husband put a pillow in the tub with me and I alternated between sitting up and leaning back. Sometimes one seemed to work, then the next time it would make it hurt worse.

I finally got my husband to put the plug in (I couldn't reach and didn't really have room to move) and let the tub fill while I used the sprayer. Once there was enough water, my husband started using a cup to pour it over my back during contractions while I sprayed my belly. The pouring didn't really do anything to lessen the pain, but it did give me something that briefly distracted from it, which was nice.

By around 7 or a bit later, I'd been out of the tub for while and the only way I could endure the contractions was to push during them. I don't know if I was fully dilated or not and I didn't feel what I would call an "urge", but the pain was manageable when I was pushing and excruciating when I wasn't.

Sometime after this, my husband checked me and said it felt like the baby's head was jammed against my bones. I think the baby must have been stuck for awhile, because on several pushes my husband and I noticed that my stomach was bulging out, which it didn't do when I pushed later, after he was unstuck. I spent several contractions on my hands and knees, no idea how long, but when husband checked again, he said it seemed like the baby was even more stuck and had moved back. I decided to try lying on my back for awhile to see if that made any difference.

I don't remember if I did it because I remembered someone mentioning it, because it felt better or because husband had written to the ICAN list and a couple people mentioned it to him, but I started arching my back during the contractions, occasionally alternating with sitting up and leaning forward, which seemed to also make it hurt a bit less.

The arching seemed to be working, but I couldn't really do it very well due to the problems with sciatica I'd been having for months (I was going to be going to the chiropractor that week, but never went because of the leaking). I had some pillows and a cushion under my head, so I got rid of the pillows, which helped me arch a bit better and I heard a slight sound kind of like bone on bone.

I knew then that the arching was probably making a difference and I wanted to be able to do more of an arch, so I left my cushion where it was and slid so that my head was on the floor (our bed was just a mattress on the floor). I then planted my feet on the bed and used the cushion to help me get a bit more arch. After a few times of this, there was a loud, several second long, sound of bone on bone. I didn't feel anything, but I must have noticed something, because I don't recall doing much, if any, arching after this point.

During all this, my husband and son were in and out of the room and shortly after my husband came and lay down on the bed next to me. I seemed to be getting a bit of a break between contractions at this point, though they were still extremely painful. My husband was so wiped, he fell asleep for several contractions. At some point, they must have eased off enough that I was able to sleep briefly, too. I have no idea how long we slept, my husband seems to think he only slept about 20 minutes, but he actually fell asleep twice, once was when I was asleep too, so it was probably longer than that. I woke up and dealt with a few contractions before they got bad enough that my moaning woke my husband up.

I continued labouring in the bedroom for awhile. My friend, J, called around 12:30 to see how things were going. We had planned for her to come watch our son if needed and maybe offer some reassurance to husband (since she had had a VBAC herself), but our son was doing really well and my husband had been coping pretty well, too, until it seemed like things were dragging on forever. She managed to reassure my husband some. Around 1pm, my son fell asleep on the couch in the living room, so my husband no longer had to go back and forth between us.

By this point, I was just thinking about the next break between contractions, they hurt so much. When I was between them, I just enjoyed the relief and didn't worry about the next one, didn't think about anything. There were several points, and this was one of them, when I really, really wanted my husband to just call the ambulance and let them make the pain stop. I really didn't believe I could take it anymore, but I did. [The first time I felt like that was when I was in the bath and started pushing the first time. I also felt like I couldn't take it anymore around when I was arching my back, especially before I figured out that doing that would help.] Changing positions didn't seem to help at all, but I kept trying anyway. I alternated lying down on my back, my sides, kneeling against a pile of cushions, sitting on the toilet, leaning against the wall and hanging onto my husband.

I decided to try the tub again for awhile. I don't know exactly what time that was, probably about 2:30 or 3. I think it helped a bit. I started pushing some again while I was in the tub, but I couldn't really get comfortable in there and had to keep moving around.

My husband was completely exhausted and in agony, so when he talked to J again, and she offered to come over, he was very willing to have her. She had to get someone to watch the kids and then she got stuck in traffic, so she didn't make it here until about 5, at which point I was back in the bedroom and I'd been pushing again. Just before she got here, husband checked me again and the top of the baby's head was only about a knuckle in.

I can't tell you how relieved I was that I was actually making progress this time. I couldn't feel him moving down at all, but obviously this time the pushing was working and he hadn't gotten stuck again.

When J got here, my son woke up and my husband stayed with him for a bit while J came to support me. I was pushing on the toilet when she got here and didn't really want to move, but I also didn't want to have the baby there, so eventually I moved back to the bedroom.

I alternated pushing in kneeling, hands and knees and reclining positions. I couldn't get enough leverage in either of the first two positions and it was taking forever. Knowing I was so close, I really wanted to get it over with.

When the head was visible and not really sliding back anymore, I switched to a mostly sitting position, with a huge pile of pillows behind me. J told my husband she didn't think it would be very much longer, so my husband and son came into the bedroom, too. We had promised our son that he could watch the baby be born, but he didn't want to be around the rest of the time.

J suggested that I plant my feet on the bed against the bed to try to get a bit more leverage. I did this for quite awhile and the baby was very slowly moving down more, but I still felt like I wasn't getting anywhere. J then suggested that I try holding my husband's hands, since I kept grabbing at my arms to try to use my whole self to push. Holding my husband's hands really helped with the pushing, since I really yanked on him and I actually started feeling like I was making progress.

I reached down to feel the baby's head and there was quite a bit out. I couldn't understand why it was taking so long to get his head out, but after he was born I realized that what felt like it must have been all of his head above the eyes was actually only about the top half of his head, it had moulded so much.

I kept pushing and I started screaming with every push. I'm not entirely sure why, since it didn't hurt that much, it just felt like the right thing to do. Really surprised we didn't have anyone coming to check on things here (apartment). I was determined not to tear, so I regularly paused between pushes to have time to stretch. It was uncomfortable, but I figured it was better than recovering from a tear, especially since I had no one to sew one.

It was really weird how I was thinking rationally, but I wasn't able to articulate anything while I was labouring.

I finally felt his head come out and knew that one or two more pushes and I'd be done. The cord was around his neck loosely, but I just couldn't handle having anyone's hands there long enough to unloop it, so I just pushed the rest of him out into my husband's hands and J unlooped the cord. Then I got to hold my new little boy! He let out a little whimper and pinked up right away. We didn't suction him at all since he obviously was breathing fine on his own.

I found out later that he had come out facing my right hip and he hadn't rotated at all after his head was out, he just came straight out the next time I pushed.

My husband got a towel to cover him and I sat there and held my new son for quite awhile, at least an hour. J left right away, since she had only planned to come over for a little bit to give my husband a break and she had to get back to her kids.

Eventually my tailbone started really hurting from the way I was sitting, so I got my husband to come tie the cord. He tied it off with a couple of shoelaces that had been boiled and then cut it with a pair of scissors that had also been boiled.

The placenta still hadn't come out, so I got my husband to tie the cord again closer to my body and cut it short so I didn't have to have it dragging around until the placenta decided to come out. My husband took our new little boy and I went to have a shower. I was a bit woozy, though, so I sat down in the tub and used the sprayer to wash myself.

Eventually we had some nuked chilli for a very late supper, around about 9:30. After that, I went to get ready for bed. I went to the washroom and the placenta came out, about 4 hours after the birth. It really stung coming out because it was huge. We were all too exhausted to deal with it, so we put it in the fridge overnight, and then froze it. Eventually, we'll be getting a tree and planting it at my mom's place.
We weren't expecting the baby quite so soon, I have no idea why, when I'd been leaking for days, but we had no diapers. We just kept the baby wrapped up in a towel until the next day, when my husband went and bought some diapers. We didn't dress him or bathe him until Monday morning, when I gave him a quick sponge bath to get rid of the little bit of blood that was still on him. Except for a tiny bit in the creases, all the vernix got rubbed into his skin, like it's supposed to be.

We weighed him by putting him in a sling and hanging it on a fish scale the day after he was born and he was 8lbs 8oz. His head was 35cm and he was about 19 1/2 inches long. Really hard to measure, though, since he was so curled up and not at all happy about me trying to straighten him a bit. :) It turned out that the fish scale was off by quite some way, since when I took him to the health nurse at 10 days old, he was only 6lb 12oz.