VBAC 4 days late

mrslandon · August 2011

I posted here a couple of times while pregnant and liked reading the success stories, so thought I would post mine.

Quick backstory: with my first son I started contractions the night after my due date, my water broke 24 hours later, I was admitted at 1 cm, started pitocin, only got as far as 4 cm before they did a c section saying my son was in distress and I wasn't progressing.

This time around I started contracting two mornings after my due date. By that evening they had been 4-5 min apart for several hours but I was sure they weren't doing much because they only lasted about 30-40 seconds and were not horribly painful. I got checked and had progressed to 1 cm and they stripped my membranes (from high tight and closed at my check the day before). I came home and took a tylenol pm and continued having contractions 4-5 min apart all night. We walked all morning and by noon I was exhausted and pained and ready to go back in. I was still 1 cm so they stripped my membranes again and told me to walk for 2 hours. By an hour and a half the contractions were 2-3 min apart and lasting almost a minute and horribly painful. I got checked, was at a 2 and was admitted (this was about 4pm). I immediately got an epidural so was able to rest thank god.

They inserted a foley bulb and it took about an hour to fall out, which progressed me to 4 cm. They also wanted to start pitocin right away but I spoke with the OB and declined to try to see what I could do without it. They agreed to wait but keep it as an option. After the bulb fell out I talked with the OB again and we decided a good option was to break my water. That progressed me to a 5, but a few hours later I was still at 5 cm. I finally agreed to pitocin, and within a couple of hours I was at 8 cm, then 10 cm with a small lip. She sat me up to wait "about 45 minutes" until I felt pressure, but within minutes I was ready and started pushing. The epidural completely wore off as I started pushing, so I was in a lot of pain but I think I probably was more effective at pushing since I could feel everything. My second son (we were team green) Graeme Edward was born about 30 minutes later, 7 lb 14 oz and 20 in at 3:30am (37 hours after they recorded me starting labor)

I ended up with a 3rd degree tear since he came out so fast, but recovery has been a walk in the park compared with my c section. We were allowed to go home the next day and all in all it has been a great experience compared with my first birth.

Good luck, ladies!