Inducing a VBAC

mom2b_09

I am looking for some encouragement.  I am at my doctor's deadline date and still pregnant.  The induction is scheduled for tomorrow morning.  Thankfully I can just have my water broken, but I am still worried about being induced.  Any mommas here have a successful induced VBAC?  If you have a birth story regarding this please let me know, I would love to read it and learn from you!

 

 

babyike

Will they try a foley catheter first?  I would much rather try to get my cervix opened up a bit before breaking my water... FWIW, I had my membranes swept at my 41w appt.  Labor started 14 hours later.  I delivered at 41w2d.  Remind your OB that the "average" onset of labor is 41w1d.  Can you ask them to sweep your membranes first??  GL!!!

mom2b_09

I did get her to sweep my membranes yesterday...still the same contractions that have not amounted to anything.  I am 2 centimeters dilated, should I still try to talk her into the foley bulb tomorrow morning?  She might make me sign a waiver or something though.  She is really hesitant on using the foley because of the raise in UR.  I had to sign a waiver yesterday to get my membranes swept because of being group B strep positive!  I just do not want to take too many chances or go too far, but I also want to try everything I can before getting pit.  The treadmill is on my agenda today!  

MsMom1

Have you tried pumping? GL I'm right behind you, except I have to go into labor by 40 weeks because of a "big" baby and high fluid levels.

MAprincess

They can definitely do a foley at 2 cm.  They tried it on me but it didn't work.  I was induced with pit and had a successful VBAC.  Good luck!

chicsub

I would ask about the foley and do some pumping at home, otherwise I'd have no problem doing the AROM.  I don't remember hearing about the foley increasing UR though, does anybody have any info on that?  It is just a balloon that opens up your cervix, no medication involved and it doesn't do anything to your uterus. 

mom2b_09

I thought the same thing about the foley, it sounds like new studies to me.  It does not make sense really.  We will see what she says in the morning.  And, I have been pumping for 2 weeks now!  This baby is just holding on like crazy!

chicsub

Maybe give them a call and ask for studies before getting there and being told that "new studies' exist saying foley is a risk.  Otherwise if you show up and they say no b/c of these "studies" what are you realistically going to do?  Or at least show up with some of your own.  I can look for some if you want.

cwifekmom

I had a pit induction at 39 weeks due to high bp and had a successful pain med free VBAC.  I do have a birth story about it-  It's long but here it is: 

 

On my appointment on August 5^th, my blood pressure was high; it was around 140/90.  Dr Cummings 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, my husband 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 Cummings 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 Cory 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 penacilin 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.  Cory 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. 

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 Cory 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. 

Cory 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.  Dr C came in and I told him that I wanted this baby out.  He checked me and I was around an 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 Kaycie 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.  Kaycie was so happy to see her much awaited and prayed for little sister.  J

angelina477

I was induced at 41 weeks. I had to pressure them into "allowing" me to wait the extra week, even though they said it was safe to wait that long. 

I was given the foley catheter to open my cervix and I went from 1-2 to 4-5 in one hour. Every nurse that was on staff that worked with me raved about that procedure and its high success rate.

 I did get an epi before the procedure. I started on pitocin at 4pm and pushed baby out at 12:30 am after 20 minutes of pushing. 

Had  a great VBAC experience!!  

BlinkingLight1

I was induced at 42.5 weeks. My birth story is here: https://taviaredburn.blogspot.com/2011/09/chase-daniels-vbac-birth-story.html

I would definitely see if they'll let you start out with pumping/foley cath like I did. Are you dilated or effaced at all?

My story may not be the MOST encouraging (especially considering I was hoping for a natural birth) but I did have a VBAC!  

maplehearts

I was induced with a foley and it was awesome! Went so smoothly. I did have to have some pitocin after the bulb fell out to keep contractions going. I forget how long labor was total but it was under 24 hours. I also had a epidural about halfway in and internal monitors. I did post my story a while back if you would like to read

https://community.thebump.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/60237902.aspx

 

Good Luck!!