My third baby was an emergency Cesarean due to the cord being wrapped so tightly around her neck, she was slipping into pretty severe distress. It did not disappoint me a bit. My only concern was for her. I loved the long luxurious recovery and was secretly hoping my next baby could be a C-section as well. Of course, I was given that option, but knowing it would be summer and my kids would be on the go, I felt I couldn't afford another long recovery unless necessary.

Scheduled for induction 10 days early, my husband and I farmed out the rest of the kids and proceeded to the hospital. I was already 3 centimeters when I was hooked up to Pitocin at 9:30 a.m. My doctor broke my water shortly thereafter and I began to feel the pain an hour or so later.

At 6 centimeters, I went for the epidural but told them to take their time because I was really doing OK. When my epidural was in place, to my dismay, it was only working on one side. When I notified the anesthesiologist, he didn't believe me -- I was talking through contractions and appeared fine. I asked him if I screamed through contractions, would he then believe me? He told me that wouldn't be necessary and agreed to redo it. I guess I have a pretty high pain threshold. When he reappeared 10 minutes later, I gave him the thumbs up and my husband and I watched Rosie O'Donnell. I remember her being really really funny that day. As soon as Rosie was over at 4 p.m., the epidural began to wear off and the pain began to kick in . big time!

When my doctor walked in 30 minutes later, I was mean to him. I told him that he needed to top off this epidural right away, that I was having really painful contractions right on top of each other and I felt like I had to throw up and go to the bathroom. And he said with a big smile, Great! I guess he was psyched he would make it home in time for dinner. Sure enough, when he checked me he told me that all I had to do was sneeze and I'd have a baby. He challenged me to get her out with only three contractions and I almost made it! With four contractions, the newest addition to our family was snuggled up in my arms looking at me probably wishing I would tell her what was going on.

Looking back four months later, I know the VBAC was the right thing to do. The delivery was just so easy. But I felt robbed of my recovery. At least with a C-section, there is no question. You HAVE to take the time to recover. But this time, the kids were out of school for the summer and we were on the go! The day I got home from the hospital I did six loads of laundry and my husband is no slouch either. There is just so much to get done all the time! Maybe if there's a next baby in our future, we can at least time it for when the bigger kids are in school. But who do I think I'm kidding? I'll still have the little ones at home. And then there's always the homework, and packing lunches, and getting everyone up at 6:30 a.m., and sports, and scouts, and piano lessons. Wow. But that's OK with me -- all I ever wanted to be was a mom. And here I am!