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VBAC
My story
I woke up at 1:30 Tuesday morning to use the bathroom, and before I could fall back to sleep, I felt a painful contraction. I kind of brushed it off, as I have been having irregular contractions for months. I tried to go back to sleep, but the contractions just kept coming. They were about 10-15 minutes apart, until 4:30 AM, when they got much closer together, 3-5 minutes. I decided to continue timing them until 8 AM, which is when my Dr's office opened. My labor with DD took so long, I was comfortable waiting that long.
Once I called, the triage nurse wanted me to come in right away for a labor check. DH and I threw all our things in the car and waited for my mom to come get DD. We got there, and the dr. was running behind. By this time, the contractions were getting a lot more painful, like the worst UTI pain I had ever felt, so I was not happy about having to wait.
The OB was running so far behind that I ended up seeing a midwife for my labor check, which I was much more comfortable with anyway. I could tell that she didn't really think I was in labor, by the way she was talking but after asking about my discharge and fluid she said, 'Well, let's give your cervix a check anyway." She about fell off her stool and told me I was at 5-6! I about fell off the table then too, because I stalled at a 5 for 24 hours with DD and couldn't get any further than that without Pit. So the MW walked me over to L&D and got me all set up.
My nurse was wonderful. She was so open to everything, and had told me about her three homebirths. She told me that she'd encourage me to labor in all different positions and I could push any way that felt comfortable. So I labored on the ball, in the shower, and just walked and walked around the room. The MW checked me at 2, and I was at a 7. I was kind of discouraged, but DH reminded me that this was so much farther than I got with DD, and I was able to keep going.
At 6, I was checked again, and I was at a 9, but DS's head hadn't descended at all. The MW decided to break my water and give me 2 hours to make some more progress. Once my water was broken, the contractions got so intense. I would have three contractions on top of another, then a short break. I was trying to stay focused, but was having a really hard time. DH was so great helping me focus and keeping me encouraged. I was checked again at 8, and there had been no progress whatsoever. At that point I completely lost it and the MW suggested we go for the RCS. DH made me really think it through, but at that point his head wasn't descended in my pelvis and I was still at 9. I decided to go ahead with the c/s.
The experience was so much better than with DD, even though it wasn't what I wanted. I was able to see and hold DS right away and he never left my sight. DH brought the camera into the OR and we have pictures of DS like we never had with DD. Caleb Jeffery was born on March 29 at 8:41 PM weighing 9 lbs 10 oz and measuring 20 inches long.
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Re: My story
Congrats on your new baby! I'm glad to hear that this birth went a lot better than your first c/s. It's great that you got to hold him right away!
Thanks for sharing your story with us.
I was relatively new at the practice I was with due to moving out of state and had never even met the MW attending my labor or the OB who did the surgery. When the MW brought up c/s, she asked me if there was anything I needed and that's when I asked her if it would be possible.
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Congratulations! I'm so glad your experience was better.
It's nice to hear you were able to hold LO right away. I'm undecided if I will try to VBAC next time (which will be a long time from now!), but one of the main reasons I want to try is because I didn't get to see or hold DD until hours after she was born. We both had fevers and she needed to be evaluated. I really really wish I'd been able to have her placed on my chest or to have held her right away. Good to know that even if I do RCS holding LO right away could be a possibility.