C-Section due to anterior lip common?

knottie3345ef14c41f9d4a

First time mom here, when I went into my birth I didn't know what to expect. I didn't have a specific birth plan and thought I would be happy with whatever got baby here safe and healthy. My water broke on my due date and contractions began very soon afterwards, about an hour after rupture they were 1-2 minutes apart and full force. When we got to the hospital I was only 2 cm but the way I was contracting it felt like I should have been more. Anyway, I got an epidural at 5 cm, 4 hours into labor (midnight), and after 6 more hours (6 am) I was 9-9.5 cm dilated (10 hours of labor total to get to that point). Everything seemed to me moving along as it should. That is where my progression stopped. I was checked again 4 hours later (10am) and was still at a 9-9.5 with an anterior lip and swollen cervix. The first method they used to try to eliminate this was a peanut ball on my side, switching between sides. 2 hours later (12 pm)I was still at that same spot so the OB had me do a trial of pushing on my back to try and eliminate the lip. After an hour of this she decided a c-section was the best route, stating that she thought baby was too big for me. Baby ended up being 9.5lbs. At the time I was sad and exhausted about going through 18 hours of labor just to end up with a c-section but also remember feeling a huge sense of relief. Now that I am over a month pp I am mourning my birth, could more have been done to eliminate the lip? Would it have been successful? So my question is have others had a c-section for this reason and is it a good reason to have a c-section done or was my doctor just rushing me to a decision? All things I could not think about or consider in the moment.

I think what makes these feelings worse is that my hospital does not participate in VBACs so it is accompanied by knowing that I will never get to experience the surprise/mystery of going into labor, the timing, how it will happen, etc. or experiencing delivering a baby vaginally. They told me this in the OR and again, I remember feeling such relief that the next time would justt be a scheduled c-section but now, to my surprise, I am sad about it.

knottie3f5e2cefcc2ec51b

[health]

taknpgmnn

Most often the doctors recommend a c section because it’s the most safe for baby and mom. If there are possibilities of waiting a little longer before going into c section, they usually offer that option. 

My experience: I labored for 30+hours and then ended up in a c section for my first pregnancy due to not progressing beyond 7cm for 8+ hrs. I contemplated vbac for my second, but chose not to because if my body struggled the first time with a small baby (6lbs 12 oz), I anticipated that my body would struggle again. I am quite petite. They did gave me an option to wait another hour before going into surgery, but I was so exhausted and wasn’t feeling confident that I would progress, so I made the decision to go for the c sections. Sometimes I think about the “what if” I would have waited longer, would I have progressed? But then I remind myself that in that moment, I was feeling a particular way that led me to that decision and ultimately I need to trust how I was feeling in those moments. If you do choose to have a second, you could always explore the option of vbac (even if it means a different hospital) if it’s something still on your mind at that point.