Pit induced (successful) VBAC

cwifekmom · September 2011

I wanted to share my experience with being induced with pitocin and going pain med free for my VBAC. I am extremely proud of my body for accomplishing it! My recovery was so easy. Here is my birth story, sorry, it's LONG.

On my appointment on August 5^th, my blood pressure was high; it was around 140/90. Dr C sent me home to be on bedrest and I had to go back on Wednesday to have it checked. Wednesday, it was the same. I had another appointment on Monday. On Monday, it was again the same, so he advised that we go ahead with an induction on Thursday the 18^th. I was nervous about this, as I really wanted to have as natural of a birth process this time as possible, but I worried that if I waited, my blood pressure would continue to rise and cause other problems. I agreed to the induction. He checked me and I was 1 cm, 50% effaced and he said Kylie was in a good position.

I came home and sent a text to my doula, Maria, who I knew was out of town until the 18^th. We talked about what to expect, and she called Tonya to see if she was available to come to me on Thursday if she did not make it back into town by the time I needed her. I continued to drink a lot of RRL tea and pray for peace for the induction.

I was really nervous about the induction, and spent a lot of time in prayer and reaching out to friends and family asking for prayer and support. I was writing down Bible verses that I thought would bring me peace and guidance during labor. Tonya also emailed me a list of wonderful verses that we could use as support during labor. Tonya also sent me names of some nurses to request that she had worked with in the past who were supportive of natural birth and VBAC.

On Thursday morning, DH and I woke up, got everything loaded in the car and headed to Denton. We stopped to grab some breakfast burritos for breakfast and I realized I forgot my purse at home, so we turned around, came back and then headed back to Denton. We arrived at the hospital at 7:30 and saw Dr C when we walked up to Labor and Delivery. We joked with him a bit and then were taken to Labor Room 10.

After I changed into my gown I told DH that I was upset that I forgot to ask for a specific nurse and that made me worried. I knew I would not be likely to request a new nurse if I didn?t like the nurse assigned to me, even though I know it is possible. By God?s sweet plan, the highest recommended nurse, Laura, walked in and introduced herself. As soon as she walked in, I knew it was her and I was so relieved. She and I talked a bit about the plan, how Dr C induces slowly, etc. She was thrilled that I was wanting a natural birth and very supportive of VBAC. She checked me and I had no change since Monday.

She talked about breathing techniques, how I could labor in different positions, etc. She started the IV and we waited on Dr C to get out of surgery to give her the orders for the pitocin. Around 11 he came in and checked me and they started the pitocin at a 3 around eleven thirty. The plan was to increase by 3 every half hour. I texted Maria and Tonya to update them, and found out Maria?s flight was delayed.

I was having pretty regular contractions that just felt like bad period cramps. Around 4:30 Dr C came in to check me again and I had made no real progress. Kylie had moved to a -2 position and he said she was a lot lower than before but no dilation yet. I was really discouraged by this and he asked how I felt about him breaking my water. That made me really nervous because I did not want to be on a clock or be at a greater risk of c section. He assured me that he would not put me on a time clock and that he really thought it would help move things along. I agreed that he could break my water. They said it had a small amount of meconium. At that same time, my arm started really hurting from the IV. The nurse said it was likely the penicillin and brought me a warm towel to wrap around it. I was in a lot of pain from that when suddenly the contractions really started picking up and were intense. DH called Tonya and I texted Maria to give them an update. Tonya said to let her know when we felt like we needed her to come. Dr C told the nurse to continue to up the pit by 3 until it was at 30.

The contractions were really painful and coming very fast. I took a lot of bathroom breaks to walk around and sat on the labor ball. The easiest position seemed to be for me to lean against the bed and have DH and my nurse squeeze my hips and rub my back. I was trying really hard to concentrate on breathing through the contractions but there was not much break at all between them so I was having a hard time staying on top of pain.

DH called Tonya to let her know that I was needing some extra support at about 5:30. Shortly after I remember going to the bathroom with him and telling him that there was no way I could keep doing this, that I really thought I should get the epidural. I had told myself if I had not made progress I was just going to break down and get it. Dr C came in and I told him to get this baby out. He checked me and I was around an 8. I was so excited when he counted 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8! He told me that I would be getting the baby out, he was just there to help.

Tonya arrived and was helping to rub my back and talk me through breathing through the contractions. I got on all fours on the bed and did some grunt pushing. I noticed they started getting the warming table turned on and Dr C was still in my room. Then Laura checked me again and said I just had a small lip left. I continued to push and try to breathe through the pain.

I started pushing around 6:50 and I wanted to turn back around to the traditional labor position to try to ease the pain in my back. She was born at 7:14. I only had minor tears and 3 stitches. They had to give me a shot of pitocin in my thigh because I was bleeding heavily. Kylie weighed 8lbs 1 ounce and was 20 inches long. She was quite a chubby little thing and latched on quickly and loved to nurse.

My husband was able to go get our daughter and she ran to my room once he told her Kylie was here. That was the biggest reason I wanted a VBAC, to have that moment with the four of us. It was perfect. She was so happy to see her much awaited and prayed for little sister. J

We brought the rest of the family in to meet her and visit and then DH went with Kylie to the nursery and Tonya went with me to the post partum room. We called Maria to let her know everything had gone well, and quick! Once in my room, they brought Kylie back to me and DH went to get me a cheeseburger. We enjoyed the rest of the night as our new family.

We were able to be discharged right at the 24 hour mark for Kylie, so at 7:14 we were headed home!