scared of vbac and repeat c/s.... Any help?

soontobecapek

My dr. is not against vbac, actually thinks I should do it. I did too, but was very uneducated in the matter.... After reading about the risk of uterine rupture (which I am aware is about 1%) I have to say I am terrified of vbac, but am completely against another c/s.

First of all my backstory on the c/s, I must say it wasn't "my fault". I had my DS in October 2007 via normal vaginal delivery. February 2010 I went in to be induced with my daughter at 40 weeks 3 days because she had slowed eating, growth, my fluid level started to get high and I was still at 0cm dilated and 70%. All went well, I had a pill not pitocin. Sorry I can't recall the name. Anyway, when my water broke my dd was head down, but not down in the birth canal and flipped. About 20 minutes later I called nurses because something wasn't right, and labor was 3 hours from first contraction until her birth. Turned out when my water broke she flipped and the "odd feeling" I had was her foot coming out. Rushed me to the OR and put me under for a C/S.

Now I am 20 weeks pregnant, due 18 months 22 days after my daughter's birth. Any advice or websites y'all can give on making a decision? I've read several sites and can't shake the bad vibe or the fear of a super quick labor again.

CherryStarburst

The risk of uterine rupture is LESS then 1%. A good place to start would be to look at ICAN's website. No one would fault you if you didn't want to try but looking into it is a good idea before taking It off the table. My labor with DD2 was 3 hours start to finish and I didn't think it was super fast, or do you mean because they had to rush you to OR?

soontobecapek

CherryStarburst:

The risk of uterine rupture is LESS then 1%. A good place to start would be to look at ICAN's website. No one would fault you if you didn't want to try but looking into it is a good idea before taking It off the table. My labor with DD2 was 3 hours start to finish and I didn't think it was super fast, or do you mean because they had to rush you to OR?

 

I think it seemed super fast the way it happened. DS was 23 1/2 hour labor. With DD It was 3 hours total, but I was checked literally 2 minutes before my water broke and was at 5 so I went from there to 10 in 20 minutes... I think it wouldn't have seemed as fast if it was a more consistant dilation. Does that make sense? With this one I don't want to be at home until my water breaks or until I have had contractions for an hour consistantly and then not make it to the hospital if there is an issue... with DD I was already there...

cchill01

It's absolutely normal to be scared.  We all should have a healthy amount of fear about the process of giving birth - both ways involve some risk.  And then if you've had something go wrong, it makes perfect sense to be even more nervous.   The only 100% safe choice, is not to have children. 

I would work on educating yourself about VBAC.  But, if you still have a lot of fear, I would consider working with a counselor.

nosoup4u

The circumstances of your daughter's birth do sound frightening! It sounds like talking to a counselor of some sort might be a good idea - can you ask your doctor to refer you to someone? You have a better-than-average chance with VBAC, bc you've had a vaginal birth before. And I think breech isn't something that has a high chance of happening again. hth

lorryfach

Three hours is fast. I've honestly never before heard anyone say it wasn't before.

That said, you're in the best possible position! You've had a vaginal birth before, your cesarean was for a non-recurring issue, and you've got a year and a half between deliveries! There's no reason to think there will be any problems, even if labor is fast again.

But, I totally get being scared! I was scared too. I really had to spend a lot of time considering how crazy unlikely it was for the same thing to happen to me twice. I also got assurance that if things looked like they would go the same way again, we'd decide to go straight to the OR. In your case, perhaps the induction is why it was so different from your first (were you induced the first time?). They don't usually induce VBACs anyway, so it would be easy to agree to VBAC assuming there are no issues and you go into labor on your own by X date (however late you and your provider are comfortable with) and have an RCS otherwise, if there are issues that would normally call for induction.