VBAC
Joy+BabyNumber3
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How are you preparing for a vaginal delivery?
Joy+BabyNumber3
member
in VBAC
I want to give my body the best odds I can. My OB said that nothing is a guarantee, and I do understand that, but are there foods/drinks that help prep your body...or exercises and stretches that help with labor?
I'm currently lifting weights at home, but I'd like to get back to walking more and getting my endurance up. I noticed a big change in a few months of walking, just a mile at first, then two, then up to 4 miles without getting tired. I'm going to try to get that back into my routine again..
I know I need to do Kegels, anything else?
Thanks in advance!
Expecting Baby #3 to complete our family.
I have an adventurous 2 Year Old Toddler Boy & thoughtful 4 Year Old LIttle Girl!
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Re: How are you preparing for a vaginal delivery?
Nearing 38w, I also took evening primrose oil, ate five dates a day, and ate a bunch of pineapple.
Emotional/psychological prep is super important, too. I took a hypnobirthing class, hired a doula, practiced a lot of relaxation and visualization techniques and read a couple books about natural birth. HTH!
Yes! This, too. When I was having false labor for two weeks that never led to real labor, my doula guessed that it could be a positional thing and recommended I go to a chiro, who did a prenatal adjustment and the Webster Technique. I went into labor six hours later. I'll never know it the chiro was truly the reason, but it was pretty darn amazing.
I think the number 1 most important thing is having a supportive care provider. Aside from that, I have a doula, I am doing the hypnobabies home course, staying active, keeping weight gain low with healthy eating, seeing a chiro, drinking red raspberry leaf tea, kegels, staying hydrated, etc.. I just really want to go into labor on my own! Not sure there's anything I can do to encourage that. DS1 was induced due to low fluid and failed NST at 41 weeks. CS was at 41w1 for failure to progress and thick meconium. He was 9lb 8oz.
I would try to identify the reasons that you think you may have needed a c/s in the first place, and work on those.
Personally, for example, I was completely unprepared mentally to deal with the pain. This lead to me jumping at meds ASAP and also left me completely immobile in bed.
With the VBA2C, I read a lot about what to expect in labor and how to deal with it, and although I knew I would probably ultimately get meds, this hospital does "walking epidurals" where you can still shift positions, which I did often.
Prior to that, though, I spent about the last month of pregnancy squatting low to the floor on a pillow as much as I could and continued to be active with my kids. (I was trying to fabricate squatting on a medicine ball, lol)
At the hospital, I sat on a ball until I reached 6 cm, then my water was also broken since they believed that was what had me stalled at around that for a while, then it was a mere few hours before DS was out! GL!