VBAC

My VBAC/Hypnobirth Story

Water breaking/Foley bulb catheter
My water broke at 2:30AM on 11/6 and some contractions started, but then stopped.  I had a few more when I got up in the morning, but then those stopped, too.  I'm a VBAC mommy, so my midwife suggested castor oil to try to get things started, so we could try to avoid pitocin and another c-section.  I had a few more contractions on my way to the hospital after taking that.  I continued to have a few while they hooked me up for an NST.  My cervix was very soft and I was 50% effaced, but only dilated about 1 cm.  It?s hard to tell how quickly I would have progressed on my own at that point or if I was truly in labor.  My midwife suggested inserting  a Foley bulb catheter  that fills with water to dilate my cervix to try to get things moving without medicine.  It was uncomfortable for a little while and I had to stay in bed for about a half hour.  I continued to have contractions.  I was told that when it came out (up to 12 hrs later), I would be 3-4 cm dilated and if labor wasn't continuing on its own, she would want to start Pitocin.  The thought of Pitocin definitely made me nervous.  I spent a lot of time rocking in a chair because being in bed or sitting on the exercise ball were both too uncomfortable. 

Labor Progressing

DH and I started an episode of Modern Family, which was nice for a little while, until sitting in the chair got to be uncomfortable, too.  I was just feeling way too much pressure down low and found myself pushing up on the arms of the chair with my arms during contractions, which I know was making my body tense up (even though I kept my hands from making fists or squeezing anything).  By around 9 or 10, I was getting impatient for the bulb to fall out because I had hoped I would have progressed further by then.  They checked my vitals every 2 hours and every time they came to check, I was surprised another two hours had gone by.   Contractions started to come pretty close together and some seemed to last for quite a long time.  I was exhausted (partially due to almost no sleep the night before) and desperately wanted to lay in bed to try to sleep in-between contractions, but laying in bed was really uncomfortable.  I began to doubt myself and wondered if I would be able to make it through without any medication.  I had visions of being in labor until sometime the next day.  My midwife asked if I wanted Morphine or something to help me sleep.  She seemed to think we had a long night ahead of us.  I said that I didn?t want anything because I know of two people who took Ambien to help them sleep and it totally back-fired on them.  I didn?t want to deliver my baby while on any drugs, not to mention that I didn?t want him to get anything.  I ended up laying in bed and dozed a bit. 


Pushing
Around 11 or so, I suddenly felt the urge to push and out came the bubble, so it was assumed that I was now 3-4 cm dilated.  VERY shortly after that (maybe 2-3 contractions??), I was feeling the urge to push again.  I couldn't understand why, so she checked me and said I was about 7cm and 100% effaced.  Everything after that started to happen so quickly.  I had contraction after contraction with almost no break in-between and kept feeling the urge to push.  Finally, I think she did something to help push my cervix aside and then said I could start pushing.   At one point after I started pushing, she held up her hand to show me how much of the head she could see.  I couldn?t believe it was only about the size of a silver dollar, yet she sounded so happy!  They set up the mirror so that I could watch my progress.  I had really hoped I would only need to push a few times, but that didn?t happen.   I pushed for about an hour and seriously wondered if I would have the energy to keep going.  It was HARD work.  I was exhausted.  Seeing her getting everything ready was so encouraging though!  I was surprised to hear her say that the next time I felt the urge to push, she might have me push and then blow through one of the urges because she didn?t want him to come out too quickly.  I couldn?t believe it when he actually came out on my next push. 

After the birth
They put him right on my belly (where we saw for ourselves that he was a boy!) and then I was able to hold him close for hours before they took him away from me.  He had a hard time latching on to nurse, but I think it was because I had to lay on my back as they stitched me up.  Stitching my tears after it was all over was AWFUL.  I had second degree tears (I sometimes wish I hadn?t tried so hard to push him out, but I was worried that I was getting too exhausted and wouldn?t be able to get him out) and a sulcus tear, which is a tear that goes into the vagina.  They thought that was from his elbow on his way out.  Trust me ? it is not easy for them to access a tear on the INSIDE of your body without causing considerable discomfort.  I could not wait for it all to be over with and was so glad that I was holding my little boy through the whole thing.  After he was born, DH made a comment about avoiding a c-section.  It suddenly hit me then that I actually got the drug-free VBAC that I wanted!  I was so proud of myself and DH told me he was really impressed with how I did.  So, Jonathan Cameron was born at 1:11 AM (only about 2 hours after I was only 3-4 cm dilated!) on 11/7/11, weighing 7 lbs. 14 oz and measuring 20 ? inches.

image
Baby Boy #1 born on 3/21/08 
BFP 8/2/10 (3w5d); No more heartbeat on 8/30/10 (7w4d); D&C on 9/2/10 (8w) - Baby Boy with Triploidy
BFP 12/3/10 (4w2d); Natural miscarriage 12/12/10 (5w4d) - Unknown cause
Diagnosed with Compound Heterozygous MTHFR
BFP 3/9/11; Baby Boy #2 born on 11/7/11
Currently TTC Baby #3

Re: My VBAC/Hypnobirth Story

  • What an inspiring story! Congratulations! May I ask what the reason for your c-section was?
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  • What a wonderful story!  Thanks for sharing.  I love the picture of your two boys together - very sweet.  Congrats!  Hope your recovery goes well.
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  • Thanks so much for sharing! Your boys are adorable!
    image
                               
        DS1 9.24.2010      DS2 4.18.2012        DS3 12.15.2013

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  • Congrats!  And thank you for sharing.

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  • Congrats! I love hearing success stories. Thanks for sharing.
                                                                             
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  • imageMsMom1:
    What an inspiring story! Congratulations! May I ask what the reason for your c-section was?

    I had placenta previa with my first son.

    Baby Boy #1 born on 3/21/08 
    BFP 8/2/10 (3w5d); No more heartbeat on 8/30/10 (7w4d); D&C on 9/2/10 (8w) - Baby Boy with Triploidy
    BFP 12/3/10 (4w2d); Natural miscarriage 12/12/10 (5w4d) - Unknown cause
    Diagnosed with Compound Heterozygous MTHFR
    BFP 3/9/11; Baby Boy #2 born on 11/7/11
    Currently TTC Baby #3

  • Love the story, congrats!  And LOVE the picture of your boys!
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  • Congratulations! What beautiful little boys you have :-)
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  • So inspiring! Thanks for sharing and enjoy your sweet new baby;)
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  • Sounds rough... and I still want to try.. I am proud of you and glad it worked out!
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