Here is my story of the birth of my little miracle baby boy, Jacob. I will go back a little ways to give you some background information.

I had my little girl, Lauren, on January 28, 2002. I had no complications with that pregnancy and was induced at 9 a.m. She was born at 6:52 p.m. that night, so I only labored for just under 10 hours.

She was a vaginal birth, but I tore very badly, what my doctor classified as an excessive fourth degree tear. It took me about a year to fully recover from that, but I did, and my husband and I decided we wanted to try to have another baby when she was a year old.

Lo and behold, I became pregnant two months after that in March 2003. We were very excited that it had happened so quickly, but the excitement was short lived, as I miscarried only a week and a day after finding out I was pregnant.

We kept trying and after eight frustrating months, I became pregnant again around Christmas 2003. Once again we were thrilled, and once again a week later I miscarried. We decided to wait a little bit again before trying to get pregnant. At that time, I did pursue some blood tests to see if anything came back to give an indication as to why I miscarried again. Everything came back negative – normal. Pregnancy kind of went on the backburner then.

Around June 6, 2004, I found myself to be extremely moody and picking fights with my husband over dumb little things, which I never do, and also realized I was just exhausted. I also realized at that time that I was having the oddest and longest period ever – it was going on two weeks. So I thought my hormones are going crazy – either I am pregnant or I am having another miscarriage.

So I bought another pregnancy test and sure enough it was positive. Of course it was a Sunday, so I had to wait until Monday to go in to the office so they could once again do the blood tests to determine if I was pregnant and if I was miscarrying yet a third time. Unfortunately, the results came back that I had miscarried for the third straight time in a year and two months.

After that, I went to see a specialist on July 7, 2004, who ran more tests and did a more thorough exam of my uterus, and he stated that there wasn't anything he could find wrong. The only thing he could find was that in my "normal" cycle of 28 days or 29 days, my problem was that I ovulated too late, around day 21, which didn't give my body enough time to produce the correct amount of progesterone. So the plan was for me to take Clomid during my next cycle, since it was already too late to start it.

I remember feeling relieved that he had found something "wrong." Well, I guess that is all I needed, because once again I got pregnant that month, before ever making it to my next cycle, so I never took the Clomid. I didn't even need progesterone supplements.

I found out on July 27, 2004, that I was pregnant. I was seen by my specialist several times and everything was going so smoothly that he referred me back to my regular OB. The pregnancy itself was not complicated, although I did have false labor quite a few times from week 34 on.

However, because my daughter was big for my size (I am 4 feet, 11 inches), they wanted to try to ward off a big baby for me this time to try to reduce my risk of tearing as badly as I had with Lauren, so I was induced on March 28, 2005 – a week before my due date.

The induction started off just as it had with my first induction. I was already dilated 2 centimeters when it began. They started the Pitocin drip at 9:30 a.m. Some minor cramping started but nothing major to begin with.

At 10:30 a.m., they broke my water. Then within the next half hour, my contractions really intensified. The charge nurse was my nurse that day, and at 11 she asked me how my labor had gone with Lauren; when I told her how fast I dilated with her (in less than three hours from 4 centimeters to 10 centimeters), she told me I better think of getting that epidural soon, since I was wanting it again. So I did request it at that point. I had my epidural in place by 11:30 a.m. and felt much better.

I was examined at noon and found to be 3 centimeters. My charge nurse had gone to lunch, so a different nurse was in monitoring me.

My doctor came in to see me around 12:15 p.m. and we talked a little bit, and I told her that I was feeling pain still, not just pressure, but pain in the vaginal area, even though I had my epidural – I felt nothing in my stomach. She thought that was odd and examined me again, and said I was around 4 centimeters. So I had dilated 1 centimeter in about 20 minutes.

Shortly after that, maybe around 12:30, I could feel this pressure in my abdomen, almost as if Jacob had flipped in my stomach or kicked me, although the epidural was strong enough that I wouldn't have felt that. I didn't think a lot of it at the time.

Around 12:45 p.m., my charge nurse came rushing in saying she had lost Jacob's heartbeat on the monitor, and they had my doctor come right back in, as she had just stepped out of my room. Initially, I was OK, and they had me move from side to side to try to get the heartbeat back, but to no avail, so they used an internal monitor on his scalp, which gave no response.

By this time, I could feel myself starting to fade, and I told the doctor that I thought I was going to be sick. I don't even remember now if I did get sick. My husband, mom and sister were in the room, and my sister told my mom at that point, "Look at her; she has lost all color in her face."

At 1 p.m., I was rushed for an emergency Cesarean section. Thankfully the epidural was still strong, so I felt nothing. They did the first incision at 1:05 p.m. and Jacob was born at 1:07 p.m. I was not completely coherent though, and did not realize he was born.

A little later, I asked if he was out yet, and they said yes – but I have no idea what time that was. All I knew was that I wanted to go to sleep and I did not hear him crying. Jacob was not breathing when he was born. His Apgars were only 1 and 4. He was taken to the NICU before I had a chance to see him.

Once he was born and they went to deliver the placenta, that is when they found out what had caused all the trouble. My uterus had exploded, essentially (which is probably the pressure I had felt earlier when I thought Jacob had either flipped in my stomach or kicked me). I remember my doctor saying, "Oh my gosh, there is a hole in the top of her uterus."

I wanted to close my eyes and sleep, but didn't know if it was safe to, until the anesthesiologist finally told me it was OK to if I needed to. So I just lay there and listened to what was happening around me. My husband was able to be in with me the whole time, thankfully.

Anyway, after finding what had happened, the doctors spent the next hour trying save my uterus, but it was like threading wet tissue paper and couldn't hold a stitch, so they had to get permission from my husband to do a hysterectomy. In my mind I was telling them, just take it! But I couldn't speak, and even if I could have told them, I wasn't coherent, so they could not have taken my word. So my husband gave them permission and they took my uterus and part of the cervix. My doctor later told me that at that time, I had already dilated to 6 centimeters – so it was definitely NOT your typical hysterectomy.

I then had lost so much blood that while all of this was going on I had to have a blood transfusion – I received four units on that Monday. I was in surgery for three hours. I remember getting sick several times afterwards, from medications that they gave me. I am told that I looked horrible – my whole body was swollen and yellowish. I still couldn't talk very well.

My blood pressure had dropped down to somewhere around 92/44, my pulse was racing and my body temperature was down to around 92.7. It took about three to four days for my blood pressure and body temperature to return to normal.

They kept me in the high-risk labor and delivery area the rest of the night, and about every 45 minutes I was pricked for more blood tests. I was closely monitored all night. I still hadn't seen my new baby yet either. Luckily, the NICU had a digital camera and took a picture of him for me, since I wasn't allowed to go to see him, so my husband brought the picture for me to see.

I was told Tuesday morning that I needed to have two more units of blood (which would total six that I received) before I could even sit up in bed. Once sitting up in bed for an hour without feeling sick or dizzy, then they would have me get up and sit in a wheelchair. Once sitting in the wheelchair for an hour, I would be taken to the NICU to see my new son.

Finally at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday I was able to go see him. All the pain of getting up was totally worth it! As we were approaching him, I didn't know which baby it was, but he was the only one fussing, because he was hungry. So I got to hold him and feed him. I spent only an hour with him, and I was exhausted, but it was so wonderful holding that bundle of joy for the first time, that I had gone through so much to get.

He really turned around quickly and only had to remain in the NICU until Wednesday afternoon. On Thursday they found a blood clot in the wall of my abdomen, which resolved itself over about a four-week period. We both were able to go home on Friday, April 1.

I am so thankful for my doctors and my nurses and the wonderful care they gave. I was told that if it had been 10 more minutes, we would have lost Jacob. And if I had gone into labor at home, this still would have happened (judging by the shape of my connective tissues in my uterus) and both of our lives would have been lost!

It has taken some time to recover, but it was all worth it. I think of both of my children as miracle children. They both are doing so well, and so far Jacob has not had any delays in development, which we were told was a possibility; as a matter of fact, he has been ahead of the game in many areas.

The doctors never could have predicted this would happen with me. I had not had any prior C-sections or prior abdominal surgeries in my whole life. I did see a rheumatologist a couple months later at my OB's urging, to have my connective tissues evaluated, and at present they are normal. My rheumatologist did say that it was totally possible I had had a pregnancy-induced connective tissue disorder, given the type and degree of tear I had with my daughter, and then of course, with the shape my uterus was in when they tried to save it.

I do hope this also gives anyone considering a VBAC an indication as to what could possibly go wrong. My situation is extremely rare, since I had never had a C-section or abdominal surgery before, but it is certainly a possibility for anyone who has had a prior C-section. Just be sure you are well educated before making any final decisions.

I know this story has been long, but it has helped me with my healing process even a year later, so thanks for taking the time to read it.