Tough Ones Come

So yeah, the title is Tough Ones Come. But I'm not speaking about tough in the sense that the labor and birth was exactly strenuous. Because honestly it was the most comfortable home I've been to lately. The mother was laboring beautifully, so beautifully you wouldn't have even realized she was truly having a contraction. Vitals were checked and she was asked if she would like to have her cervix checked. Like most curious mothers, she did. And we were very pleased to find she was at a 6, probably closer to a 7. Everything was lining up nicely. As time went on we decided to move ourselves upstairs so that the mother and father could have some quiet time and progress together without feeling like they were being watched by three women. It was great. Perfect for all of us as it was past 2am and we were desperately seeking some rest. We checked vitals and on baby via Doppler every hour, discovering she's probably a true 8 now. Everything was sounding great. Except mom's contractions have started to slow down and spread out. Not to worrisome at this point as she is a VBAC mom and it was still fairly early in labor. She's rechecked and we find out she's a 4. We ask her to walk a bit outside and this seems to jumpstart the contractions a little bit, though not very much.

Thinking this might have something to do we leave for a couple hours so that she can nap with her husband and hopefully it will be the rest she needs to restart labor. When we come back labor has picked up with a considerable amount of vengeance though there is never any cervical progress. After a while it is decided we will all live. Nothing happens over the next night and into today. Labor keeps starting and stopping. Baby is doing amazingly well, but mom isn't getting any satisfaction. They make the decision to go to the hospital on their own.

Labor wasn't hard. It wasn't a lot of work, but it was hard in the emotional sense. We really all wanted this mom to have her successful VBAC. Her labor was amazingly successful. She was in charge of all decisions during her pregnancy and during labor. She really achieved a lot out of this pregnancy. But it leaves so many open questions. What caused her labor to just not be efficient? There was not obvious reasons, none on the ultrasound that they chose to get earlier today either. There was not emotional roadblocks.

Sometimes the hardest labors and births are the ones we just cannot understand. This one weighs heavy on my mind and heart.

**Edit**
This mama ended up not having a repeat cesarean, but a VBAC! After their decision to transfer and receive some interventions on their terms, they totally rocked a VBAC in the hospital! This is what it looks like when moms/families know their bodies, options and demand the care that they want!