planned c/s vs. vaginal birth

valerieanne9015 · January 2012

I gave birth via c/s 9 weeks ago and am not even remotely planning on being preggers again anytime soon, but just thinking ahead a little. I attempted a vaginal birth, complete with episiotomy and vacuum, but fetal distress lead to emergency c/s in the end. At my 6 wk pp appt, my doc said that next time it will be my choice if I want to attempt a vaginal birth or have a scheduled c/s at 39 wks.

If you had the choice, did you try a vaginal birth and it was successful? Or did it end in c/s?

Was your recovery from a planned c/s easier than from an emergency one since you didn't ahve to go through full labor?

I've talked to one friend who had emer c/s, vaginal birth, and planned c/s and got her opinion on what to do, now I want a few more perspectives on it!

I'm very curious since when the time comes it will be a big decision to make! Thanks for any help!

magdalina.h · January 2012

Both of my c/s were "easy" recoveries. My first was an emergency and it was an easy recovery because he was in the NICU then followed by not having a baby to take care of. My repeat was a little harder since I actually had to take care of a baby, but it was still easy.

pepomntpat · January 2012

I know there will be lots of ladies with RCS stories here. There is also a VBAC board if you haven't been there yet where you may get to hear more of the other side.

valerieanne9015 · January 2012

Thanks, I already posted the same question over there. I definitely want all points of view!

Daisy22 · January 2012

I have had 2 c/s and will another in june. My 2c/s have been very easy. The 1st was after my water broke at home with mecinum and after 9 hours couldn't get past 1cm. DS1 wouldn't even drop so dh and I decided on the c/s. The 2nd was planned. I had no desire to do a vbac due to personal reasons.It's a very personal decisions and everyone has their feelings about vbac and rcs.

melismarie · January 2012

I'm in the same boat as you are. I had a horrible birthing experience ( wanted a natural birth, labored for 24 hrs naturally before c/s due to many different complications) and now I don't know what I want to do next time. I'm 3 weeks pp and my recovery has been just plain sucky. The only reason why I would want to do a VBAC is to redeem what I feel like I was robbed from. And if I choose to do a c/s it would be because I would be too afraid to go through a long labor just to end up with a c/s again. My MW says to wait 18 months before trying again so i'm going to take that time to really think about what I would want to do.

skio · January 2012

valerieanne9015:

I've talked to one friend who had emer c/s, vaginal birth, and planned c/s and got her opinion on what to do, now I want a few more perspectives on it!

I'm interested to know what this friend had to say, if you're willing to share?

I went into labor spontaneously, labored for 23 hours, dilated fully, pushed for 3.5 hours, and ended up in c/s because DD would not descend through the pelvic inlet at all and was having decels. I had a slow recovery and didn't feel like myself until about 9m pp.

I plan to try for a VBAC next time, but that is a long time away and will depend on many factors yet to be known.

valerieanne9015 · January 2012

skio:
valerieanne9015:

I've talked to one friend who had emer c/s, vaginal birth, and planned c/s and got her opinion on what to do, now I want a few more perspectives on it!

I'm interested to know what this friend had to say, if you're willing to share?

I went into labor spontaneously, labored for 23 hours, dilated fully, pushed for 3.5 hours, and ended up in c/s because DD would not descend through the pelvic inlet at all and was having decels. I had a slow recovery and didn't feel like myself until about 9m pp.

I plan to try for a VBAC next time, but that is a long time away and will depend on many factors yet to be known.

My friend said she would go the the planned c-section if she was having another one. She said the recovery was so much better than when she labored and ended in c/s. But when she had her one vaginal birth, she had a lot of tearing and ended up being put under to repair it. So I know that made her vagnial delivery a bad experience.

manderdoll · January 2012

I attempted a vaginal birth with DS, I didn't want any drugs, blah, blah, blah, after 30 hours of labour, 1 1/2 hours of pushing, being able to touch DS's head, but he just wouldn't come out, he had turned into the posterior position during labour, heart decels, I developed a fever, etc, I ended in an emergency c-section.

This time I will be having a planned section and I too started thinking about what I would do next time, pretty much the day I had DS and it didn't go as I expected. I don't feel like I was ripped off, I never missed out on a connection with DS, other than the actual delivering of the baby I got to experience the whole thing (minus the tearing), and the thought of trying for a VBAC and ending up in the same position as last time scares me to death, because this time not only do I have a baby to take care of I will also have a toddler at home.

I have spoken to a few friends and read some other posts of people who had emergency sections the first time and scheduled sections the next time and not one person has told me (or said in their post) that their recovery was as hard or worse with the planned section, I'm not saying there aren't people out there with a different view or story, but it has helped make me feel at peace with my decision.

Jessa1807 · January 2012

I had an emergency c/s and then a vbac. My recovery from my vbac was infinitely easier. My hospital stay was shorter and I had little to no pain just a few day later. I would highly rec trying for a vbac.

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