VBAC

ninambutler

I know it's way early to start thinking about, but I want to know about any of your VBAC experiences. I had to have a c section after 2 failed inductions and no cervical progress. I don't feel upset about Ella's delivery but I mourn the loss of the experience of future natural deliveries. It's such a complicated set of emotions. I wanted to know about any of your VBAC experiences or failed attempts. Good and bad please! I just want to be able to think about my future deliveries without an automatic c section.

watermellens

I had one and had a great experience - you can read my birth story here: https://www.mamasaywhat.com/kierans-repeat-c-section-turned-vbac-arrival/

pm me if you have any questions or want to talk!

mnj05

I've been thinking about this since we left the hospital. DS got stuck so I ended up with the c/s and although I would like to try for a VBAC, it scares me.

MJL113

I had a successful VBAC this time. I was induced with DS1 due to being past due and progressed to 8 or 9cm before I asked for a csection. DS had a heart arrhythmia and I spiked a fever causing some additional irregularities. Like you there were many emotions, some I still can not explain. I had the easiest csection recovery so it was a difficult decision to give it a try. Ultimately, I decided I wanted baby to pick his birthdate, not me or the doc. I'm glad I did and felt oddly empowered that I successfully VBAC'd. Recovery was a little slower then with the csection, but I had a better starting point then with the c.

aprilsarahjune

I have had 2 c-sections.  Both were emergencies, but the second was only an emergency because my water broke a few weeks before my scheduled c-section.  I researched VBACs and discussed them extensively with my OB.  THe night I went into labor the l&d nurse even opened the door back up to the possibility.  I stuck with my planned c-section, but the whole point of this response is to say - my uterus started to tear while I was in labor.  By the time I got to the hospital and they set up for the c/s, there was a hole in my uterus (at the old incision site) through which they could see part of my son's head and hair.  Basically if my son's head had not been blocking the hole, there would have been serious consequences.  And if I had gone with a vaginal birth, the hole would have increased in size without us knowing what was going on until something bad happened.

That is just my story.  I know plenty of people who have had successful VBACs, though. 

keg

I had a pain med-free VBAC this time and it was amazing!  Even though I lost a lot of blood after delivery and needed a transfusion, I felt my recovery was much easier than that after my uncomplicated section.  If you are considering a VBAC, the most important thing is to have a truly supportive provider.  My OB is the VBAC king in our area so I felt safe with him.  Some say they are supportive but then throw in things like you have to deliver before your due date or they won't induce a VBAC or a bunch of other things.  I would definitely see if you have a local ICAN group because they are a great source of information and support.  Also, I had a doula that had a ton of experience with VBACs which was awesome. 

shibby00

I had a vbac! It was a wonderful experience and I'm so glad I did it. DS broke my tailbone when he came out and that was the most painful part. Even with the broken tailbone and second degree tear I was in much less pain and moving much quicker than my c/s with DD. I highly recommend it. It was the most empowering experience of my life, and healed a lot of emotional wounds left from DD's birth. GL!

mrs.jenRN

I had a VBAC and it was such an awesome experience. I am going to finally finish writing my daughter's birth story to help with the healing process. Having a VBAC has helped a lot, but I'm still not quite there yet.

Jack?s Birth Story

On March 11, 2013, I was having irregular contractions and a lot of pressure. I thought I may have been dehydrated, so I drank a lot of water and tried to go about my day. I had to go to the grocery store to pick up something we had forgotten that weekend, and to the post office to mail something for John. I was having a lot of pain at times, but I tried to ignore it and go about my business. Surely, I wasn?t in labor! It was way too early!

Zoe and I got home from running our errands and I felt the need to clean while she napped. I dusted in our bedroom and went through the stuff that needed to be put away in our room. I was finally going to start getting things ready for the baby?s arrival. Little did I know how soon that would be, and why I had this sudden urge to clean.

By the time John got home from work around 6, I wasn?t having as many contractions and the pain was better, so I figured I was just dehydrated. I went to the monthly ICAN meeting that I had been going to since I was about 14 weeks pregnant. The topic was CBAC?s. Not what I wanted to hear about being so close to my due date, but I always felt better after going to the meetings so I went anyway. I was joking that maybe I would go into labor soon since I was having a lot of pressure and contractions. Once again, little did I know what was in store for me about 6 hours later.

John and I went to bed around 12 or 12:30am. The pain and pressure still hadn?t returned to the full extent that is had that afternoon, so I wasn?t even concerned about it. However, I woke up at 2:30am with contractions and I couldn?t fall back asleep. I started timing them and they were every 6-8 minutes! Plenty of time, I thought. I woke John up and told him what was going on, but that we could go back to sleep. I still couldn?t fall back to sleep, so I got some water and a light snack. I tried to fall back to sleep again, but the contractions started getting closer together, and they were stronger. I told John that he needed to wake up because I was in labor. Of course we had nothing ready for the baby, so we started packing the hospital bag. I was trying to get some baby laundry together but I could barely do anything because the contractions were coming pretty frequently. I decided to take a shower, then call my doctor to tell him what was going on. I called him around 4am and he told me to wait an hour and then go to the hospital if I was still having contractions. I told John that there was no way I could wait an hour because the contractions were every 2 minutes by that point. We continued to pack and John helped me through the contractions. I found the birthing ball and kneeling on the floor over the birthing ball most comfortable. At times I would hold on to the kitchen counter for support, and I would get on all fours if I wasn?t near the birthing ball and that seemed to help.

We had no one to watch Zoe in the middle of the night, so we packed her up and brought her to the car, half asleep in her favorite owl jammies. As John was loading her in the car seat, I began throwing up. I told him we really needed to hurry because I was getting close to having the baby. The car ride was difficult, but thankfully the hospital is only 10-15 minutes away. It felt like it was longer on this night, though! John later confessed that he wasn?t speeding to get there because he didn?t want to delay getting there even more by getting pulled over. It?s probably a good thing I didn?t realize how fast he was going because I would?ve been screaming at him to hurry up! When we got off the Crosstown exit, I told him to just run all the red lights because there were no cars on the road. Thankfully, he didn?t listen to me.

We pulled up to the Emergency Room valet and I practically leapt out of the car as soon as we stopped. I couldn?t wait to get up and move around again. Everything felt like it was taking forever. We unloaded the car and the valet went and parked it. I was leaning on the giant concrete post during a contraction and John came over to help me through it. I snapped at him and said, ?Don?t touch me!? Things were getting pretty intense. I felt like I hardly had a break in between contractions. The security guard wheeled me up to Labor and Delivery, and John and Zoe followed.

Because of Zoe?s age, she and John weren?t allowed back with me until security got the OK from my nurse. I saw my coworkers sitting in triage and they all came and rushed over to me. I am sure they saw how uncomfortable I was so things moved pretty fast. The nurse checked me and had a hard time figuring out my exam because my bag of waters was bulging. The USF resident on call came and checked me and he said I was 8 cm but couldn?t tell how effaced I was or how high up the baby was. Since I was 8cm, obviously I was admitted right away. The contractions kept coming one after the other. I was starting to get pretty loud during them. My coworker said to me, ?I thought you said you wanted to come in pushing, Jen.? She was right, I said those exact words. I told her I was only half serious about that. I never thought it would happen. All I was really hoping for was to be at least 5 cm with contractions every 4-5 minutes or so. I did not expect to arrive in L&D about to have a baby!

They wheeled me to my room in a stretcher because walking had become really difficult for me. My doctor still had not arrived yet (I think it was around 5:30am by this point). John and Zoe were allowed back with me. I was one of those crazy women in labor, screaming and thrashing in bed. I was out of control! The only comfortable position I could find was on my right side. The IV in my hand wasn?t working well, so they started another one on my right forearm. My wonderful coworkers took Zoe out of the room and watched her until I got the epidural. She was so happy and loved hanging out with them. I later heard that she had gotten really attached to one of my coworkers who was also pregnant. So adorable!

At 6am my doctor finally arrived. He broke my water and said that I was 8cm dilated, completely effaced, and the baby was at -1 station. He also told me that, despite the fact that I had gone into labor 4 weeks early (according to my first ultrasound ? I figured I was more like 37 weeks), he suddenly thought my pelvis was too small and he didn?t think I would be able to push the baby out. He said he would give me 2 hours to progress and if I didn?t, he was taking me back for a c section.

 I hadn?t gotten my epidural yet and was only thinking about all the pain I was in, so it took a few minutes to process what he had just said to me. I was livid. First of all, this was the first I had heard AT ALL about having a ?small pelvis.? Secondly, I had shown up at the hospital in active labor at 8 freaking centimeters. I was having STRONG contractions every 1.5-2 minutes at that point. I was pushing that baby out. After he left the room, I couldn?t believe how quiet it had gotten. My coworkers were throwing their hands up in the air, I think shocked and angry at what he had just told me.

 I brushed what he had said aside and focused on getting my epidural. The CRNA was trying multiple times and finally got it in after about 5 or 6 attempts. I was in too much pain to care what he was doing back there, but I was getting annoyed at how long it was taking because I know how fast they can be inserted. I was holding onto John for dear life during the contractions so I wouldn?t move while he was jamming the needle in my back. He was such a trooper about it, even though he had a sore back the next day. The nurse was also helping me stay focused and calm and I was breathing very hard in her face. I hope my breath wasn?t too bad!

Once I got the epidural, I was so happy. Zoe was back in the room at this point, perfectly content to be playing on my iPhone. My contractions slowed down and my new day shift nurse reluctantly started me on a low dose of Pitocin, as my doctor had ordered. I was mad when he had mentioned it earlier, but I had the epidural now so I knew it wouldn?t be painful. The baby?s heart rate started dipping down into the 80?s periodically (I was having variables) so I was repositioned and possibly bolused with fluid (that is the protocol). I was still having them so she turned the pitocin off and called the doctor. I was freaking out because I knew that my doctor would use any excuse to take me to the OR. It was about 8 or 8:15am at that point and my 2 hour time limit was up anyway.

The doctor came around 8:30 and I was completely dilated, effaced, and the baby had moved down to a +2 station. I was ready to push!! My doctor was shocked I had gotten that far. I wasn?t though! He told the nurse to start pushing with me and said he was going to get a cup of coffee. I asked the nurse to turn off the epidural because with Zoe I felt like I couldn?t tell when I had to push. She turned it off and I started pushing.  After the first couple of tries the nurse said, ?Yes, there?s the head!? John looked while I was pushing and said, ?Jen, Zoe?s head never came out this far!? I couldn?t believe it! My VBAC was really going to happen! As soon as he said those words to me, I was so excited. I pushed with everything I had. I wasn?t exhausted like I had been with Zoe. I knew when I had to push. I had the support of my husband and coworkers. I knew I could do it! It was amazing! The tech asked if I wanted a mirror and I said yes. I pushed for a couple more minutes and all of a sudden, I felt the baby come out more. The nurse said, ?Wait, stop pushing!? She called for the doctor to come because the baby was definitely coming. She held him to make sure she stayed in. I don?t remember this, but at some point John had leaned over after she told me not to push and said, ?Push, Jen! Push!? I really did try not to push, but the baby came out and the nurse guided him onto the bed. The tech had just arrived with the mirror, so I didn?t get to see him come out. The doctor was still nowhere to be found. The nurses cut the cord and put him right on my chest/stomach so I could do immediate skin to skin. I was crying and saying, ?I?m not broken!? I don?t think I can put into words the emotions I was feeling at that moment. It was beautiful. I was happy, relieved, tired, amazed, shocked?so many other feelings. Zoe was still on the couch, and who knows how much she saw at this point. John and I were a little preoccupied at that time. J I just couldn?t believe what had just happened. Jack Owen was born at 8:42am on March 12, 2013.

mrs.jenRN

keg:

I had a pain med-free VBAC this time and it was amazing!  Even though I lost a lot of blood after delivery and needed a transfusion, I felt my recovery was much easier than that after my uncomplicated section.  If you are considering a VBAC, the most important thing is to have a truly supportive provider.  My OB is the VBAC king in our area so I felt safe with him.  Some say they are supportive but then throw in things like you have to deliver before your due date or they won't induce a VBAC or a bunch of other things.  I would definitely see if you have a local ICAN group because they are a great source of information and support.  Also, I had a doula that had a ton of experience with VBACs which was awesome. 

 

yes, this exactly!