“Whatever happens, I just want it to be peaceful, and I want to be present.”

Kerri is a labor and delivery nurse born and raised in Kentucky. The only thing on her first birth plan was not to have a C-section, yet it became her reality. We know many of you can relate.

She had a medically necessary induction at 36 weeks due to preeclampsia. Kerri describes her experience with getting magnesium, aka a “flu in a bag”, seeing double and going in for a C-section. Her surgery was straightforward, but Kerri felt very out of it and disconnected. 

Kerri was very intentional about her plans for a VBAC. Her birth team was on board and supported her requests. Throughout her pregnancy, Kerri’s greatest desire was to feel present for the moment of birth no matter the outcome. 

When labor stalled and baby had a hard time engaging, Kerri felt peaceful about requesting a second C-section. With things happening on her terms, Kerri’s birth was the peaceful and healing experience she hoped it would be.

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Full Transcript under Episode Details 

Meagan: Hello, Women of Strength. We have a CBAC story coming your way today. If you did not know what CBAC means, that is Cesarean Birth After Cesarean. This is a topic that a lot of people avoid. I don’t know, tell me, Kerri, who is sharing her story today. Do you feel like CBAC stories are sometimes avoided when you are preparing for a VBAC?

Kerri: I think so. I know I avoided that as I prepared for my own attempted VBAC. 

Meagan: Yeah. 

Kerri: Yeah. I think that CBAC is something that we try to avoid because we all hope for that VBAC. 

Meagan: Yeah. We overlook it and it actually breaks my heart. I encourage everyone to listen, especially if they are wanting to VBAC, every VBAC story, but as well as every CBAC story for a lot of reasons. One, understanding maybe what led to another CBAC and two, the healing and the fact that it can be a peaceful experience. It’s not the end. There are so many things to CBAC, I think, that are missed. 

It’s the same thing with uterine rupture stories or things like that. I’m not wanting that, so I don’t want to listen to that. Now, I don’t want to shame anyone if they skip over a CBAC story, but I really encourage everybody to listen to all of these stories because they are empowering. They are uplifting, and they are going to help you grow in ways that you may not even know. 

Before we get into cute Kerri’s episode, I wanted to share a review. This was actually left a little bit ago too, actually. It was in 2022. No, 2021. It says, “Going for my VBAC after two C-section in 2022”. It says, “Thank you so much for this valuable resource. I have been listening to your podcast since early in my second pregnancy. I found out I was expecting again 9 months after my CBAC, and I was immediately and depressed that I would be going through all of that all over again very soon. I am now 14 weeks, and I’m drawing strength every day from the stories you share. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I have hope this time that it will be different.” 

Now, that’s another good note to have. Even if you do have a CBAC, that doesn’t mean that’s the end. That also may mean you find healing in that, and you want future CBACs, right? You want to schedule that CBAC. I love that note about healing and strength. That’s what all of these episodes are doing. 

Okay, Kerri. I am so happy that you are here. You are in Kentucky.

Kerri: Yes. 

Meagan: Okay, were you in Kentucky for both of your births? Are you from Kentucky?

Kerri: I have lived in the same small town my whole life. I live just outside of Lexington. It’s a little bit bigger than it used to be, but it’s still a small town to me. 

Meagan: Okay. 

Kerri: I have lived in Lexington my whole life. I gave birth at the same hospital where I was born. 

Meagan: Yeah, me too. I would say I’m boring. I’m boring. I haven’t been anywhere, but I don’t think it’s boring, actually. I love Utah. I’ve been born and raised here. I actually gave birth at the same hospital for my C-sections and with the same provider who gave birth to me. 

Kerri: Oh, that’s so funny. That’s wild. 

Meagan: Kind of crazy, huh. Well, thank you so much for being here today and sharing your beautiful stories. I’d love to turn the time over to you. 

Kerri: Yeah. I’m so excited to share. I’ve listened to this podcast quite a bit since my first C-section, so I’m really excited to be on today.

Meagan: Well, thank you for being here. 

Kerri: My first pregnancy was already a surprise pregnancy. Me and my husband had just gotten married, and a month and a half later found out we were pregnant. It was already quite a bit of a surprise being pregnant. You know, pregnancy went well. The first trimester went well. 

Around 28 weeks, I had gotten COVID. This was November of ‘21. COVID was still fresh. I had gotten COVID, and I made it through that. I thought everything was going well, but from that point on, I just was feeling more and more sick. I had been a nurse for a while, but I was a new nurse to labor and delivery. I was working night shifts, so I just really attributed the way I felt to working nights. I’m just pregnant. I’m working the night shifts. This is probably what’s wrong with me. 

Around 35 weeks, I just started feeling miserable. I had an appointment with a provider who wasn’t my provider, but he was a provider I had worked with. At that appointment, my blood pressure was elevated. He said, “Let’s just get a preeclampsia panel, and do a 24-hour urine just to be safe and see what’s going on.”

I did that, and I turned in my 24-hour urine. I went to work that night. That shift was miserable. I don’t know how I made it through that shift, but I did. I got off that morning, and the provider called me that morning. He was like, “You have preeclampsia. You cannot work anymore. You’re on light duty at home, and you’re being induced at 37 weeks.” 

That was already quite a bit of a shock. I had been around birth just enough as a labor and delivery nurse. I had just already in my head pictured this beautiful birth experience that you see on Instagram, and I’m like, “This is already not happening for me.” 

He tells me that. I’m home for a few days, and I’m just feeling more miserable as I’m home. After that phone call a few days later, I checked my blood pressure, and it’s severe at home. It’s over 160/110. Being the nurse I am, they say nurses make the worst patients. I was just like, “I’m going to ignore this for a little bit, and we’ll just see if this gets any better.” 

I check it again later that afternoon, and it’s still super high. I called my husband, and we decided to go to the hospital. We get there, and my blood pressure was high, but it was not severe enough to do anything about it. 

They were like, “Let’s just keep you overnight and see what you do.” Over the 24-hour period of being there for observation, my blood pressures just went up and up. I had some more severe, and they were like, “You know, it’s time to have a baby.” I was just shy of 36 weeks at this point. 

They started a magnesium infusion to help with the preeclampsia.

Meagan: Blood pressure. Ugh, did it make you feel yucky?

Kerri: Oh, yes. Magnesium is awful. I feel for anybody who has to be on that. It was awful. We call it flu in a bag, and it truly is that. 

Meagan: Flu in a bag. Okay. I’ve never heard of that, but I can understand that based off of the way I’ve seen my clients feel. 

Kerri: Yeah, that’s exactly how you feel. Flu in a bag. It just makes you feel yucky. 

We started that, and we started the induction process. We started with the Foley bulb. We put that in. That was in until the next morning, and it comes out. When it came out, I think I was 3 centimeters, but not very effaced. It was just an artificial 3, a Foley bulb 3. They were like, “You know, your cervix isn’t very favorable. Let’s do some Cytotec.”

We did a few doses of Cytotec. They rechecked me after that. It was still no