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VBAC
My belated vbac story
This was written last week, but with the electricity being out earlier this week and just transitioning to being home alone with 2 little ones, I haven?t been on the computer much. Without further ado, here is my birth story.
I started having more intense and more frequent BH type contractions on Sunday. By Monday, these contractions were time-able. I couldn't sleep a wink all Monday night thinking this could be the real deal. Tuesday morning rolled around and the contractions had all but stopped. What a bummer that was.
I did a lot of walking and moving around on Tuesday to see if I could get things rolling again, and boy did they ever. By lunch time on Tuesday, the contractions were back in full force. This time they were less BH-like and more like the real deal. There was more cramping feeling involved this go-around. By dinner time on Tuesday, they were getting more and more intense and closer and closer together.
At 8ish on Tuesday night, I called the answering service since my contractions were pretty intense and they were coming 5 minutes apart for 1 hour+. There was some problem with the phone service, because I didn?t get a call back from the doctor right away. Usually this is a non-issue. I didn?t panic because, if this labor was anything like the first started out to be, I knew that it was going to take a while. I didn?t mind laboring at home for a while. Finally, after some serious phone tag with the answering service, I finally was contacted by the doctor around 10 and told to head over to L&D to get checked out for dilation.
When we arrived at L&D, I was checked for dilation, etc. I was 4 cm dilated and the baby was still in position (head down). I asked them to check if he was posterior because that was the reason my first son had to be delivered via C-section. Sure enough, this little guy was posterior?.I panicked! I didn?t want to go through hours of labor just to have the same result. I was assured, however, that he had plenty of time and room to turn. I was skeptical. Nonetheless, I was admitted to a birthing suite.
I seriously debated having an epidural because the contractions were getting so intense. I thought to myself not having the epidural the first time didn?t seem to do any good as I ended up with a C-section anyway. I was weighing the pros and cons of the epi when I decided to go against it. Being bed-ridden sounded like it would surely hinder my body?s ability to progress properly. Walking around had gotten me where I was and I was sure that it would help me get to my final goal?VBAC.
Boy, was I happy I had made that decision. After 40 minutes of walking around through my contractions in the birthing suite, I had gone from 4 cm to 8 cm. At that point, my water was broken and boy did that bring on some serious contractions. 10 minutes later I was fully dilated and ready to push.
Contractions strengthened and I pushed for about 40 minutes. I felt like nothing was happening and that I had made a big mistake going the VBAC route. Then, they brought in a mirror to show me what was going on. Seeing him move with every push made my efforts skyrocket. My DH and the L&D nurse were so encouraging. I pushed for another 20 minutes or so. My OB was called in because it seemed like he was about to come out. I pushed harder than I ever thought I could and before I knew it Levi James shot out head, shoulders, knees and toes.
I did tear a bit, but the healing of that seems to pale in comparison to incision from my first delivery.
It was a challenge, but well worth the effort. 2 days postpartum I am feeling like I can do things that I couldn?t do well after my C-section.
Good luck ladies!
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Re: My belated vbac story
Congratulations! Thank you SO much for posting your story! I am hoping for a VBAC this time around, and I had a C-section with our daughter for the same reasons you had one too! This story gives me the confidence that I can do this and be successful! I'm not sure if I can go without an epidural at some point, but I am definitely going to try my hardest, since I feel that is one of the reasons why I ended up with a C-section in the first place!
Congrats again on your new addition!
DC#2 born silent at 22 weeks 1.11.11
Dc#3 born vbac 1/2012 <bra DC#4 born VBAC 3/2014