failed VBAC. repost
The plan was a natural VBAC. The plan was to breast feed or at least give BM by pump. Plans change.
On the night of January 10th, I went to a going away party for a friend of mine. The standing joke among our friends now is that the party put me into labor.. that or the incredibly loud DJ at the place we all went. I started with some random cntrx around 10pm. By 11:30pm they became regular, about 5 minutes apart. I started to speed up fast, we expected me to be at 5-1-1- for a few hours. Instead, by 1:30am I was down to 2 minutes apart. Crazy how I sped up right?
So The 2-1-1 cntrx intensified by 2am and we said, "uh oh" and a friend came over to watch our toddler until my mom got there. My mother lived a few hours away, and was already coming, but it was TIME to go.
I was in intense labor at 2-1-1 in the hospital for a loooong time. So intense, the nurses kept wondering why I wasnt dilating, or asking for the epi. I was determined ya know? But after standing in a shower for an hour with cntrx so intense I was crying, still 2 min apart, I finally said yes! give me the epidural. I just couldnt deal with it anymore.... That was at 6am ish. They checked me first, the staff really hoped that after all that work, my body would have done what it was supposed to.... NOPE. 3cm dilation. Hours of intense active labor basically wasted in my mind.
My hospital was great, they let DH stay with me for the epi, he held me in place actually. After the epi started kicking in, they put the fetal monitors back on. The nurses noticed that Vanessa's HR dropped to about 90 with every cntrx. When it was obviously a pattern, not a random thing, they got the doctor. Also, the feeling is that this had been happening for a while, not caused in any way by the epidural.
When the Dr told me they had to stop the cntrx to give LO a rest to see if she stablized, I knew the VBAC was over. The terbutaline did its job, the cntrx stopped. LO got herself stable and the Dr suggested I rest a bit. We all wanted to see if I would start back up contractions on my own once the med wore off. I took a nap, the cntrx never returned.
Since I was a VBAC, pitocen was out of the question, especially since my body was obviously great at strong cntrx without help. When I woke from my nap, i told them to do the RCS. Vanessa was born on Jan 11th, 2012 at 11:36am. Exactly 3 years, 2 days and 2 minutes after her older sister.
She has a cleft lip and palate, severe. and spent a week in NICU learning to eat. But thats another story.
Re: failed VBAC. repost
first CS was emergency for basically the same reason... My oldest daughters HR dropped to 70 and would not recover at all, not even between contractions. Difference was with her:: Turned out the my placenta was at the top of my uterus, and the cord was around her neck so when she started to drop down into a lower engagment she was essencially hanging herself.
No regrets for either CS. Vanessa is home, figuring out how to eat and is already seeing Dr's for her future surgerys to fix the CLCP.
We as a family will be setting up an ongoing blog about our experiences during the CLCP process... Something that will take years. The Dr's say she will have at least 3 surgerys, the third, and hopefully final one not occuring until she is 8 or 9 YEARS old. wow.... Still absorbing this.
Thanks for sharing. It's good to hear that you are at peace with the outcome. I think that's the most important part. If I have a chance to VBAC and it doesn't work out, I think I'll feel better about the first CS too.
Good luck withe CLCP journey. I'm sure it will be difficult to watch your baby go through the surgeries.
It sounds like you gave the vbac attempt everything you had. You should be proud of that!
My son was also born with a CLCP (only a partial cleft palate). We knew ahead of time, it sounds like this was a surprise at birth? I'm so sorry if that's the case. Trust it will be okay. Trust.
My son is now nearly 2 and his repair (first repair---he will have 6-8 more surgeries) is close to flawless. I have a ton of pictures in my blog and documented his first surgery pretty thoroughly.
:::hugs:::::
Enjoy your sweet new baby girl!
It sounds like the right decision was made and everyone is home safe and happy!
I look forward to reading your blog- it sounds like it will be an interesting journey.
Congrats on your baby girl! I'm sorry the VBAC didn't work out but I'm glad you were able to make the decision to have a RCS. I am definitely interested in reading your blog and I wish you and Vanessa the best with treating her cleft lip/palate.
Thank you for sharing your story.
First off, congrats! I'm sorry the VBAC didn't work out, though.
Good luck with your DD's CLCP - that has to be a shock if you didn't know beforehand. Kids and medical issues are the hardest thing about parenting, no doubt. I'll be thinking of you guys, and keep us updated on her progress
.
And most importantly, enjoy your new baby!!
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)