Question for C-section moms

monica92603 · July 2012

geez! It took long enough! I was here yesterday (?...whenever the post first showed up) and thought, why is everyone being so nice? Why the F does this person care?

So yes, troll, please GTFO. I personally couldn't have cared less how I gave birth. After losing a baby at 41 weeks, I could have delivered my daughter out of my nose and would have been thrilled. But there are a LOT of women on here who were devestated b/c they couldn't have a vaginal birth and they don't need you dredging up bad feelings. It seems we may have driven you off b/c I haven't seen a comment in a while so BYE BYE!

bridein08 · July 2012

I am a nurse, so I know the risks/benefits for each- I had a planned cesarean for DS (first child) who was expected to be LGA. I will have a RCS for any future children- the surgery and recovery went fabulously, and I was up and about the next day. I barely had to take any pain medication at all once I arrived home, and TBH, I appreciated not having to deal with the things that you sometimes deal with post-vaginal delivery (i.e. hemorrhoids, vaginal tearing, burning, urinary incontinence, etc).

It is what works for my family, and that is all that matters.

rockychryslerb2010 · July 2012

lrw327:
Yes I was just curious. I will be honest, I actually came very close to just "opting" for a C-section, b/c DD was projected to be over 9 lbs at birth

Add over 3lbs to your prediction and you have my OBs prediction for how big E was going to be. 38w ultrasound predicted 12lbs 14oz. I was seeing midwives for my pregnancy and hired a doula to help my husband and I achieve a med-free vaginal birth. After being referred to an OB after hearing 12lb 14oz, we had a discussion about the risks and elected to have a c-section four days later. Sure, the prediction was off, E was only 11lbs 4oz, but was still a huge baby.

Before being faced with this decision, I had the view that my body wouldn't make a baby it couldn't handle, and maybe that was naive or maybe I could have been successful vagainally, who knows. But I was not willing to risk complications to E, an emergency c-section or even his life on 'maybe'. Sure, sometimes I am sad I didn't have a vaginal birth, but I had a very easy c-section and recovery.

I'm not sure if I'll even attempt a VBAC for my next birth. I will have to see the OBs and I know they have weight limits for even considering a VBAC, and I think DH and I will always make big babies. I also agree with pp that it is easy to say you would try VBAC, but the truth is, not everyone wants to or will be a VBAC candidate.

uncharch7 · July 2012

After 23 hours of labor, 2+ hours of pushing, heart rate issues (his HR dropped into the 60s during every contraction), back labor from hell, a hot spot in my epidural, then the epi wearing off... I had a c/s. The last thing I remember is trying to scream that I could feel them cutting and then I passed out. I don't remember my son being born. I was so out of it that I don't remember holding him for the first time. I don't remember breastfeeding for the first time. I don't remember about 8 hours worth of time. That breaks my heart, since we're likely one and done. I wanted a vaginal birth more than just about anything (besides a healthy baby). In a sense, my body failed me. My body also failed to produce milk until day 9. I still struggle with a low supply.

Had it not been for my c/s, my son would not be here. All I can say is thank God for modern medicine. And screw those who think that because they pushed a baby out that they're somehow better than those who had to have medical (and life-saving) intervention. Don't forget that a c/s is major surgery... I am very thankful that I had a fantastic recovery after a horrendous labor and delivery.

ateal2490 · July 2012

lrw327:
I did not have a C-section, I was able to have a vaginal birth.
I am just curious though, I am trying to understand, I know a lot of women have Emergency C sections their first birth (and others plan them for various reasons), but why do so many people get repeat C-sections instead of trying for VBACs?
I was very high risk and my OB kept telling me I was either going to need an induction or a C-section (or possibly both!). I put my foot down with him and told him that unless he showed me paperwork to PROVE that I needed one or the other or both, I was not doing that (now if it was life or death for my baby, that would have been different). I was borderline Pre-E and was warned it could turn into HELLP. I told him that unless it was ACTUAL Pre-E or ACTUAL HELLP then I did not want anything less than a vaginal birth. I lucked out in that my DD came on her own early (not induced) at exactly 37 wks so I guess my condition didn't really have much of a chance to get "worse" than it was b/c of her early arrival, so that all worked out. If I had had to have a C-Section though, I would in no way want a repeat, I would absolutely go for a VBAC!
Just curious, if you elected for a C-section, why? And if you didn't want a VBAC for your 2nd or subsequent birth, why?
I am so happy I was able to do it vaginally, but I know that isn't the case for everyone out there and there are a lot of women who can't.

Oh man, there is something wrong with you.

capulet · July 2012

Let me flip it around: what's so great about a vaginal birth?

My labor with DD was hell. The only good part was when I got the spinal for my emergency c/s and was numbed from the worst pain in my entire life. When my friends who have experienced natural childbirth describe their birth, there's this magic moment some of them talk about when they push out the baby and all the pain is worth it, but all I hear is PAIN PAIN PAIN RING OF FIRE PAIN OWW PAIN and at the end there's a baby, and since I got a baby at the end of my c-sections (and without all the intense pain the second time around), what is the problem with that? I mean, I wouldn't have chosen a c/s the first time when the risks of a vaginal birth were lower, but once it was a choice between a VBAC and an RCS and the risks of either were roughly equal, just of a different nature, I wasn't eager to choose something that I had already experienced as hell on the 50/50 chance or so that I would succeed at VBACing and what was, for me, the much lower chance that I would have whatever feeling of birthing unicorns and rainbows out my vagina it is that moms who have had vaginal births have had that I don't feel like I've missed out on. I have two healthy, beautiful kids, I bonded well with both of them, and that's what's important to me. How they came out of me is not so much. Some moms really cherish their birth experiences, and I respect that, it's just not something I value as much in the whole mothering shebang.

Also, if I had a baby at 37 weeks after a high risk pregnancy, I would consider myself "lucky" if that baby had no complications from being born early, not because it would allow me to have a vaginal birth that my doctors, who have presumably observed more pregnancies and births than I have, thought would be a bad idea. Doctors aren't always right, but sometimes they have the kind of perspective that moms who are dead set on a certain kind of birth don't necessarily have. If you are high risk, your health and your baby's health come first, not your birth experience. I am choosing to think you asked your question innocently enough, but the way you posed it betrays more pride in your vaginal birth than gratitude that you and your baby both emerged safely from it.

bunny731 · July 2012

lrw327:

I did not have a C-section, I was able to have a vaginal birth.

I am just curious though, I am trying to understand, I know a lot of women have Emergency C sections their first birth (and others plan them for various reasons), but why do so many people get repeat C-sections instead of trying for VBACs?

I was very high risk and my OB kept telling me I was either going to need an induction or a C-section (or possibly both!). I put my foot down with him and told him that unless he showed me paperwork to PROVE that I needed one or the other or both, I was not doing that (now if it was life or death for my baby, that would have been different). I was borderline Pre-E and was warned it could turn into HELLP. I told him that unless it was ACTUAL Pre-E or ACTUAL HELLP then I did not want anything less than a vaginal birth. I lucked out in that my DD came on her own early (not induced) at exactly 37 wks so I guess my condition didn't really have much of a chance to get "worse" than it was b/c of her early arrival, so that all worked out. If I had had to have a C-Section though, I would in no way want a repeat, I would absolutely go for a VBAC!

Just curious, if you elected for a C-section, why? And if you didn't want a VBAC for your 2nd or subsequent birth, why?

I am so happy I was able to do it vaginally, but I know that isn't the case for everyone out there and there are a lot of women who can't.

1st preg: Baby A was breech, B transverse=C-Section at 39.5 weeks

2nd Preg: At 41w1d I started bleeding out (0 dilated, 0 effaced, membranes could not be stripped prior) and there is nothing like sitting in the shower freaking out that you went too far and you compromised your child's or your own health waiting on a VBAC. The moment I heard DS#2's heartbeat at the hospital on the monitor--was the moment my doctor and I said f*ck the VBAC.

I had two absolutely wonderful deliveries and recoveries, I run marathons, my children are healthy. Life is good.

MSUMamaof2 · July 2012

You would never be able to pick your children out from mine and say, "Oh wow, THOSE babies were born vaginally!" So, congrats on your vaginal birth and all that jazz. Here's an e-cookie for you. You rock as a mother.

Let me give you a piece of advice. The next time you start a sentence with "not trying to judge, I'm just genuinely curious," stop, shut mouth, and eat words. You most certainly are looking to pass judgement and in this case, it's beyond unwarranted.

As a severe pre-e and HELLP Syndrome survivor, I personally think you're bullsh!t for making your doctor "show you the paperwork." In a situation of life and death matters, it's best to trust those who actually, you know, went to medical school. Or perhaps you would have been better off catching your own kid in your bathtub at home because, you know, you rock as a mother???

CanadianMomma · July 2012

I had a c section because my water had been brokem 36 hrs, i had a fever from infection(they shouldnt have let my water be broken so long in the first place), had been in hard labour for those 36hrs and only dilated 4cm, and then my son was in distress. I hate how people look down on c sections. It saved my baby's life. And i will do it again because my body just isnt equipped to deliver naturally.