My story goes back to two weeks before I gave birth. My midwife told me that she wouldn't be able to be my care provider anymore due to some of my health issues. I was disappointed, upset and had no idea where to turn. I failed the one-hour glucose test the second time I took it, and was refusing the three-hour glucose test so she told me that I needed to see an OB.

I knew the risks of having a VBAC so shortly after my Cesarean section 12 months earlier, but I really wanted to have one. I looked at the risks of both VBAC and a repeat Cesarean and decided that a VBAC was best for me and my family.

On November 7, I began to have contractions that were lasting on and off. At this point, I was still sort of seeing the midwife till I could get to the OB's office the next day when she would be in. As the night progressed, the contractions began to get closer together and were somewhat stronger.

Around midnight, I took a warm shower and they came to a halt. I woke up at 4 a.m. to some strong contractions on November 8, but didn't think too much of them. I tried to get some more sleep, but I just couldn't, so I stayed up for a couple of hours.

Around 8 a.m., contractions started to pick up a little, and soon after, the midwife called me to check up on me. She instructed me to go the OB's office to get checked out. I called the OB's office and they told me to come in around 12:30 p.m. I called my grandmother and she picked me and Chris up and we headed into the city. I also called Miriam (one of my doulas) to have her meet us at the OB's office. We got to the OB's office and the office manager told us to go straight to Labor and Delivery.

We got to the hospital but didn't go upstairs right away. I stayed downstairs and dealt with the contractions in the lobby until Miriam got there. In the meantime, I called my other doula, Erianna. We headed upstairs and I was admitted to triage upon arrival. I wasn't checked till we had been there a couple of hours and they picked up contractions for a couple of hours.

Upon arrival, the nurse wanted me to change into a gown, but I refused the gown and said, "No, I want to stay in my ICAN T-shirt." So then the whole "What if there's an emergency" argument started and I said, "So cut it off." Miriam said, "There won't be an emergency." I had to laugh at that.

The one resident was so pessimistic and must have told us the risks of a VBAC so many times, I wanted to kick him. When I was checked, it was about 2 p.m. I was 3 centimeters dilated. I was admitted. We got a room in Labor and Delivery and Dr. D (the OB) came in to check on me about an hour later. I was 3 to 4 centimeters dilated and so she decided to break my water. I was slightly hesitant about having my water broken; however, she did say that my bag was bulging and it would break at any moment so I agreed.

After my water was broken, contractions began to pick up and got a lot stronger. I think I was handling them very well. At 10 p.m., I was checked again and was only 4 or 5 centimeters, so Dr. D said that as much as she knew I wanted to avoid Pitocin, she just wanted to give me the minimum and see if that would help me progress, because I was taking a long time to progress.

Miriam and Erianna were a great support in all of my labor. I remember the most helpful thing that they did was the rice tube sock. I was dealing with a lot of back labor and it helped a lot. I found that swaying, the rocking chair and standing helped through a lot of my labor as well.

Around 3 a.m., it had felt like I had been in labor for days, and I felt like I needed some sleep, so I requested an epidural, not so much for the pain, but to make the pain disappear so I could get some rest. The anesthesiologist came in and I signed all the paperwork, and he did the epidural. It lasted an hour. I was right back to feeling the pain again; the epidural did not go in right.

I was begging at this point for another epidural or something because I needed some more sleep. Around 8 a.m., I got another epidural and Dr. D came in and checked me again. I was 5 or 6 centimeters. There were a few times I had doubt in my mind that I would get my VBAC, and I know I said at one point, "My grandmother did this eight times. I CAN do this!"

At this point, I didn't know what would happen since I had so little progress. She said I would be checked again around noon. I don't know how the time flew between 8 a.m. and noon. I did take a nice long nap though. I also had to fight with the nurses about not getting a catheter. I allowed them to put one in the first time, and it hurt so I begged to have it taken out. The nurse said she would only take it out if I could pee in the bedpan every so often, or it had to go back in.

They increased the Pitocin slightly after the epidural began to work. I must have really shocked the nurse, because she said to me at one point that not many people can go in a bedpan with an epidural in place. I told her that I wasn't many people. I just don't like the feeling of the catheter.

At around noon I started to feel a lot of pressure, so they got the resident in and he checked me. I was 8 centimeters with a lip! Woo hoo! That's where I "got stuck" last time. So instead of lying on my left side, I switched to my right for a little while to even out that "lip." The baby's heart rate dropped a couple of times, so they asked me to move back on my left.

It was like 12:30 p.m. or so when he checked me. At about 1:15 p.m. or so, I began to feel a ton of pressure, like I had to poop, so I told them to get a doctor in there now because this kid was coming out. I don't think anyone believed me, but I felt my baby trying to push his way out.

The resident checked me and said I was complete so they would call Dr. D. I had everyone yelling at me telling me not to push, but I couldn't hold back. I was giving little pushes because it hurt if I didn't push.

Dr. D came and was very encouraging. Yay! Now I could push! I don't know exactly how long I pushed for, but I got to see my baby's head crown! Matthew Alexander arrived into the world on November 9, 2005, weighing 6 pounds, 10.4 ounces and was 19.5 inches! His daddy got to cut the cord and his birth was witnessed by my mom, my doulas and my husband.

I was very glad that I ended up with Dr. D. She pulled a lot of strings to help me get my VBAC, whereas another OB would have given up on me. She had the belief that my body could do it and it did and I am very thankful to her. I did not get to meet Dr. D until I was in actual labor, but she turned out to be the best thing for me.