Long prodromal labor + VBAC

Two weeks later I am just now realizing that I actually, successful VBACed.

My DS was born via c/s almost four years ago after a very long labor and 2.5 hours of pushing. He was large (9lbs 11 oz) and posterior. During this pregnancy I was told my chances of success were not great and that my second would likely be as large, if not larger, than my son. Every single dr. that I rotated through immediately cited my sons size as evidence against a VBAC, but I was never prohibited from trying. I had scheduled a repeat c/s for 41w5days and knew that I could not be induced.

A little over two weeks ago, at 38w5days, I went into early/false labor with contractions coming every 10-20 minutes. The contractions were painful and required me to stop what I was doing and concentrate. The next day I lost my mucus plug, and went in to be checked and was 50% effaced and not at all dilated. I labored all of that day (Friday) but felt increasingly frustrated and had mentally resigned myself to another c/s, since my labor with my son had started out the same way. Saturday morning I had my bloody show, contractions were increasingly painful but still 10-20 minutes apart. Then in the evening I drank some wine and took a hot bath, hoping to stop the contractions. Instead, they became more intense and frequent, but still not 3-1-1. Finally, we went to the hospital to see where things stood, not thinking that I was in real labor. However, once we were there contractions immediately started to intensify and become consistent and I was admitted at 5 cm. the next eight hours were a blur, but in a nutshell, I ended up having a very textbook labor. I progressed to 10, managing to get an epidural at the last minute, and pushed for a couple hours. My DD was born on Sunday morning, weighing 7lbs, 14oz... almost 2 lbs less than my son!!

Recovery, both physically and mentally, has been 1000000x easier. With my son my incision became infected and had to be reopened. This time I only had a small 2nd degree tear to think about. I've been up and moving from day 1, am able to take my son to school, and can take care if my daughter 100% if needed (the help from family is still nice).

I should add that there were a few times during labor, particularly while pushing, that I had trouble recognizing the fact that things were going well. Mostly bc my labor with my DS had been so bad. I also worried about rupture, which had never been in my mind previously. Thankfully the medical staff, particularly my nurse, was amazing and put my concerns to rest. I felt very supported thoughout labor.