Had my VBAC! ALL the details here!

StaceFace09 · May 2011

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- April 15th, 2011 -

Long story short:

12:30pm - bloody show

145- call doctor

230 dropped off our son at friend?s house

3 dr checked in doctor?s office - 3cm

Got Wendy's

4 setup in L&D room at the hospital - Still 3cm

5 broke water

6 intense contractions

705 epidural - 3cm

750 checked - 4cm

915 4cm

11 pitocin 2ml/hr started

12mid 7cm dilated

115 9cm dilated

2 full dilated

315 started pushing

5:40 ? vacuum assistance

5:45am ? baby boy born! HOORAY!

The LONG story:

At 12:30pm, I was bouncing on my exercise ball, when I felt like I needed to go to the bathroom. I wiped and realized I was experiencing the famous ?bloody show?. I was so excited, knowing that this meant labor would probably start in the next day or two. Little did I know that I?d be having full-blown, painful labor contractions within about an hour!

We decided to go ahead and pack our bags and call my mother-in-law and let her know that we?d probably need her to head our way soon (she lives 3.5 hours away) to take care of our son while we went to the doctor?s office and, hopefully, on to the hospital. We had originally planned to stay home as long as possible during labor, but things picked up so quickly that it was only an hour and a half before we knew we needed to get to the hospital soon. We called my doctor?s office and they wanted me to come in and be checked (the office is attached to our birthing hospital) to make sure I was in ?real? labor.

All I can tell you guys is, after weeks of ?false labor?, it was crystal clear that this was the real thing. The contractions were consistent, painful, and increasing in intensity. Before that, they had come and gone, and never really got worse.

After calling the doctor?s office and being told to come in asap, we dropped our son off at a friend?s house and called my MIL back to ask her to get here as soon as she could because we were headed into the doctor and we knew he?d admit me to the labor and delivery unit. It was obvious to US that I was definitely in labor.

The doctor checked me (2:30pm) and I was 3 cm dilated and 80% effaced. I had had a doctor?s appointment the day before, where I was dilated to 1.5cm and was 50% effaced. I was 41 weeks + 1 day. Our doctor was our of the office, but one of his partners checked me and said that I was definitely in labor and that he would go ahead and admit me to the hospital. He also decided that he needed to tell me that my chances of VBAC were ?not very good?, based on my ?history? (1 birth via c/s , due to water break, never going into labor on my own, being induced with tons of pitocin, and never dilating past 4 cm). My husband and I just looked at each other, stunned. Our doctor had always told us that I was a good candidate for VBAC and was very supportive. We couldn?t believe we?d now have to deal with this nay-sayer. I was very worried my chances of VBAC had just been shot, strictly based on the fact that this doctor would be the one delivering me. I just wanted to cry.

My husband and I decided that we?d better have a ?last meal? before heading back to be admitted to the hospital, so we went down to Wendy?s for a burger and fries. J We could hardy finish our meal before my contractions were so painful that I was begging my husband to rush me back to the hospital.

When they checked us into our room at L&D (4pm), they checked me and I was still 3cm dilated. I was disappointed that I hadn?t made any progress, but the doctor was surprisingly very encouraging and thought that if he broke my water bag (which was ?bulging?, apparently), it might help speed things along. We agreed to let him break my water, but I had little hope that it would do anything. My previous labor began with my water breaking, but then NOTHING happened and I never progressed into labor on my own, so I assumed that the water-breaking thing just didn?t work for me. The doctor checked me again 45 minutes after breaking my water (because things were getting SO painful and my contractions were no longer bearable) and I had dilated to 4cm. I was THRILLED! This was the furthest I had dilated in my 1^st labor after hours of mega-doses of pitocin.

It was at that point that I also definitively decided that, yes, I would be getting that epidural and I wanted it right away. J Within about 20 minutes, I received the epidural and the world was suddenly a wonderful place again. Relieved of my pain, I was able to rest, relax, and even get a little nap. I know that pain meds aren?t in everybody?s plans, but I can tell you that I was deeply thankful to have them! The doctor also thought that the epidural might help my body to relax and my cervix to dilate.

I continued to labor, with very intense contractions (now that my water was broken, things got a lot more uncomfortable), until they checked me again at 6:00pm and I had not progressed beyond 4cm. My nurse mentioned at that time that, in her experience, the hardest dilation to get to is 5cm and that, most of the time, if a woman gets to 5, she can make it the rest of the way. Somehow I felt really empowered by that. I knew that I was only 1cm from this (albeit arbitrary) milestone and I believed I could at least make it to 5cm!

They came back a few hours later to check me again (9pm) and I was still 4cm dilated. The doctor talked with us at that time about giving me a small ?whiff? of pitocin, just to see if that would help things along. My actual doctor had told my husband and me months ago that he would never give me ANY pitocin, since I was attempting a VBAC, so it took a lot of convincing on the part of my delivering OB for me to agree to have even a tiny bit of pitocin. The truth is, after the last few hours, he had proven to my husband and I that he was smart, competent, trustworthy, and (surprisingly!) in favor of my VBAC and wanted to give me the best chance I could possibly have! We agreed to the ?whiff? of pitocin and he decided he would begin 2ml/hr at 11pm. Boy am I glad that we agreed to that!

By midnight (1 hour after the initiation of the whiff of pitocin), I had dilated to 7cm! 4 to 7 in ONE hour! Incredible! I was starting to think my dream of VBACing might just become a reality!

By 1:15am, I was 9cm and by 2am I was fully dilated and ready to push! MAN, pushing was HARD WORK! J I pushed from 3:15 until 5:40, when the doctor suggested that we try using a vacuum to just get the baby under my pubic bone. He was completely frank with us and told us that he didn?t think my baby was going to make it out vaginally unless we tried this last-ditch effort. We went for it, and exactly 5 minutes later, our precious baby boy was born! It was the must surreal and incredible moment ever! How awesome!

Unfortunately our guy had a touch of pneumonia (and thus, some trouble breathing), so he had to go off to the NICU, but he was fine by the next day, just requiring antibiotics. He had to stay in the hospital for a week to finish his course of antibiotics, but we were able to room in and it was a surprisingly pleasant experience. They think he might have aspirated a bit of miconium, but they?re not sure. At first I was so worried that my VBACing caused him to be sick, but now with hindsight on my side, I know that I made the very best decision for me and him, based on my previous experience, the research I did, and my knowledge. That is the best that any of us can do and, whether all of that leads to a repeat c-section, or a trial-of-labor, we must trust ourselves, as mothers, to be able to make that call for ourselves and for our children. I am still so thankful I choose a TOL and am SO incredibly happy to have gotten my VBAC.

I?ll be honest: the recover is not quite the bed of roses I envisioned. J It is just as painful as a c/s recover (in my experience), but just in a different location on your body. I will say that now (2 weeks past my birth), I?m 100% recovered, vs about 3 weeks with my c/s. It was also nice just to be able to stand up straight and walk around, which felt like it took a really long time with my c/s. I also appreciated not feeling as exhausted as I felt after my first L&D (after almost 2 days in labor overall).

Sorry it?s taken me a while to post this. I have been reminded just how BUSY life with a newborn is! J Please feel free to ask questions and I?ll do my best to jump on here and answer them asap! I feel that I benefited SO much from other posters? stories, so I hope this is helpful to some of you! And I pray you all get the VBAC and, most importantly, the healthy babies you?re all hoping for. Blessings to all of you!

Brownie_222 · May 2011

I'm so glad you you got your VBAC! I like that you and your DH stuck together as a team through the changes in your plan (like the OB you didn't expect to deliver you) and how everything worked out for you even though the reality differed slightly from what you originally envisioned. That's a good reminder for us all as we plan for our births and go with the flow on our baby's birthdays. Congrats!

It sounds like your son is all better now, too, which is great! Enjoy the little days.