Anyone have an unmedicated hospital VBAC?

[Lisoula]

If so - please share some of the details here...thank you!!!!

[thorn]

I did!

I had my daughter in october 2007 at a hospital, med free (and by med free I mean pain meds, I did have abx for group-b strep. but no epidural or narcotics or anesthesia of any kind)

what do you want to know?

[snowmom5]

Yep. It was my third hospital vbac (I had epidural with the other two). In this case, I wanted an epidural but couldn't get one, for two reasons (1) I had done my heparin shot two hours before active labor hit suddenly (I would have needed 12 hours between shot and epi), and (2) my labor was too fast anyway (he was born two hours after I got to the hospital; I went from 5 cm to delivering in under 90 minutes). OB showed up just in time to catch. It was the middle of the night, dark and quiet in the room, and they pretty much left me alone - though I think the nurse had no idea I would go that fast because the contraction monitor wasn't working.

I had no rest between contractions whatsoever. It was like running up a mountain at full speed without stopping. Fortunately I must have had an intuition that this would happen, and had done some reading about natural birth, and that's how I found MDC to begin with. I read lots of birth stories, anywhere I cold find them. I had prepared with hypnobirthing in the past, and did so again, though interestingly, while it was helpful in the weeks leading up to active labor in terms of breathing through contractions (and visualizing the cervix opening - I was 3 cm before active labor began), the hypnobirthing was irrelevant by the time active labor set in. That's in contrast to my previous delivery, with an epi, in which I was still able to use the breathing-the-baby-down technique and found it quite effective at that time. In my unmedicated birth, however, I ended up having the fetal ejection reflex - an out of body experience in which aliens took over my body and I just hung on for that freight train ride. Literally, hung on to the side of the bed. At some point the OB commented that the pain would end when the baby was out, so I started trying to push along with the freight train, only I couldn't do the breathing-down technique, but just regular old pushing (I wanted it over LOL).

In a nutshell, my labor tricks were (1) breathing - it was all I could do to get the air in and out, and I fell into a pattern like I might while running very strenuously, and (2) Any leftover mental effort I spent focusing on relaxing the rear end of my body, all the relevant tissues, while it seemed the entire rest of my body was in a giant contraction. Out of nowhere came these church songs from my youth that played over and over in my head. I was biding my time until it was done.

I layed on my side until the very end of the pushing phase, when my OB turned me onto my back to open up the pelvis a little more and then he was out. I couldn't move myself so they had to move me. I couldn't really talk either - when the fetal ejection reflex started, at some point I whispered "I'm pushing" since I thought they'd want to know and they really had no other way of knowing. I might have made a few strange sounds (very unlike me! and kinda embarrassing).

I am expecting a similar labor this time around, if all goes well, i.e., if the baby's in a good position (knock on wood!!!!). My OBs are expecting the same, and they expect that again I'll be completely unmedicated. Maybe it'll be even faster. Fast generally = very, very intense, at least for me. But then it was over. I'm going to be in kind of a hurry to get to the hospital because I really appreciate that monitoring during labor. Plus I have no idea how fast this one will come.

In discussing the whole labor thing with the OB the other day, and my concern about having a too-fast labor, he said, "that's a good problem to have."

Although after that I said I'm "never doing this again" and this is a surprise pregnancy, knowing what to expect makes a huge difference. If I get thrown a curve ball and end up with a long labor I'm going to be so P.O.ed, but you just never know. I try to expect the unexpected and go with the flow.

[kltroy]

I did! my birth story is the link in my sig. It was fabulous!

[mezzomama]

I did too! Just three weeks ago. I was with a midwife practice in the hospital. I ended up having my water break and went into fast and heavy contractions. I was 4 cm. and 100% effaced by the time I got to the hospital, and then proceeded to be 10 cm. within a little over an hour. Pushed for under an hour, voila! An amazing, wonderful experience. (ok, yes, it hurt, too, and was overwhelming a couple of times, but still, amazing.)

Anne

[mamatolevi]

I had pitocin and a paracervical block that didn't have time to work before she was out. does that count?

[kitkat5505]

I did, link in my siggy.

[E-man's mama]

I sorta had one, but I did show up at the hospital pushing (though that was NOT the plan - just went through transition FAST). So I didn't labor at the hospital at all, just had the baby there.

However, laboring at home was very nice and much easier to get through. I, too, focused on breathing and then when the contractions were one on top of another I did some moaning and swayed my hips back and forth.

I also had the fetal ejection reflex and hung on to the hospital bed rail and yelled (yes, yelled but it felt oh so good and I think it helped me relax as that is what my body felt like doing) and just went with the feeling. It was the most intense feeling in the world, but it was so worth it.

You can have an unmedicated birth - believe in yourself and your strength and your body. Good luck!

[hannybanany]

I did! It was incredible! My labor started naturally 10 days after my DD's "due date", it was 24 hours long, with 2.5 of them spent pushing. She was nearly a pound bigger than my first DD.

I had a heplock, but no IV fluids or medications.

[PTmorgan]

DS2 is just 13 days old - hospital VBAC with no pain meds, but did get Pitocin for 1 hour to augment pushing.

http://www.mothering.com/discussions....php?t=1085974

Read my birth story for details if you wish. This hospital was much more natural than I was expecting. There are hospitals out there that will not only allow VBACs but also encourage them. You need to research though. I had to drive right by another hospital that is known (in the birthing community) for their interventions and has a VBAC ban.

[Noisette's_Maman]

I had one! Arrived at the hospital pushing, with no time for the mandatory hep-loc. I think the key was a great husband, great doula, great doctor.

[wombatclay]

I had a heplock, a 20 minute intake trace on the monitor, and that was it till after dd2 was out and in my arms (I had a sever tear and the local didn't take so they hooked up an IV pain med, and I had pph and got a shot of pitocin... but both of those things happened after the birth).

Let's see... got there, had the heplock and trace (and discovered that even though my contractions were regular and strong and "felt" about the same as they had with dd1 when I was 5cm, I was only 3cm... I almost went home but I actually gave birth just a few hours later so I guess it's good I stayed), and then labored with my DH and doula for a few hours. I started asking for pain meds so the nurses threw me into the shower... I kept asking so they tossed me into the birth tub. It was a pretty crunchy hospital and the staff knew I didn't really want meds.

I was in the tub for a while, felt pushy and got out. I pushed for roughly 4 hours and everyone was really encouraging... I was always "in charge", no one counted or told me when to push or when to stop, after things had gone on for a while the OB and nurses started suggesting positions to try. And more alternative things to, like the OB asked everyone to "focus" during contractions to sort of "send" energy my way and there was massage and what not between pushes for a while too.

The very end was a bit unpleasant/dramatic (I was squatting, there was shoulder dystocia, the gaskin maneuver didn't work, mcroberts didn't work, my ob eventually did the "reach in and twist/pull" which is how the tearing happened, dd2 wasn't breathing and needed resus, then there was the pph and the loooooong tear repair) but the birth itself rocked!

I'm planning another vbac in August and have a differen hospital/different care provider and know I probably wont have the same sort of amazing support, but I hope it'll still be a relatively intervention free birth (with a lot less drama!).

[melissalaurel]

Great thread!! I love reading these birth stories, keep them coming please!

[loudmama]

I did as well, but didn't have the option even if I wanted to! I didn't realize I was in labor until my water broke, & my DS was born less than 1/2 hour later. Denial is an amazing thing. "Luckily" I was in the hospital on bed rest.

L

[phoenix78]

I just did! My dd#2 was a hospital vbac with midwives 10 weeks ago. No pain meds, but I did have to have amx for group-b strep. I stayed at home and labored from 2pm-4am the next morning before heading into hospital. 6 hours in the hospital, but it went by super quick. I used hypnobirthing and found the birth ball to be my savior! Also spent time at home in the tub and in the shower in hospital. DH and midwives did a lot of massage. To be honest, the pain didn't get really bad until pushing. I was really proud of myself for getting through the contractions so well. Everyone told me pushing was a relief, but I think because I wasn't sure what to expect, it was a bit overwhelming. That said, once I got the hang of it, I got some control back and only ended up pushing for half an hour. My 7.5lb baby girl came right out, even with her arm first (which the midwife assured me contributed to the pain during pushing). There was no comparison to the c-section. I never felt more alive in my life and I will never, ever forget this birth (dd#1 birth I was heavily medicated and very sleepy for). So, so happy for my drug-free vbac! :

[cairomama]

I had an unmedicated hospital VBAC with a midwife attending, 11 weeks ago. I didn't realize I was in labor until contractions were three minutes apart. I had a 2 hour ride to the hospital, but I was listening to my Hypnobabies scripts and it was very manageable. When I arrived at the hospital, I was 8 cm dilated. I had a heplock and EFM, but was able to labor in any position I wanted to (hands and knees with a bit of birth ball). After laboring in the hospital for 2 hours which seemed like only 20 minutes, I went to the bathroom.My midwife checked me in the bathroom and my water broke. I was complete and went back to the bed to start pushing. I did mother-directed pushing and pushed her out in about 20 minutes. I did have a tear, but didn't feel it or crowning. The keys to my successful unmedicated VBAC were: laboring at home (though I didn't realize it), a supportive midwife who stayed with me the whole time during labor once I got to the hospital, having a doula, and the most important was being able to choose my position for laboring and pushing. The heplock and monitoring didn't bother me at all, but if I would have had to labor or push on my back, I would have panicked and probably not be able to maintain focus and relaxation using Hypnobabies.

[hmbay]

Had two of them. Only time the pain got so bad I was begging for drugs was transition and I was lucky that transition to pushing to baby out was all of 10-15 minutes with both DS2 and DD. Truthfully I was more afraid of the epi than labor itself and was willing to put up with a lot of pain to avoid someone sticking a needle in my spine. I did a lot of relaxation breathing, birthing ball sitting/bouncing, walking, standing and swaying--whatever felt good at the time.

[JWhite31]

My hospital VBAC wasn't TOTALLY med-free because I had a shot of Stadol during transition...but that was the only drug I got the entire time. I had no labor augmenting drugs or procedures and no epidural.
It was a wonderful experience. I delivered her at 40w4d and my labor lasted about 10 hours and I pushed for about 5 minutes or so...not long at all. I didn't tear or need an episiotomy...it went perfectly. A midwife delivered my VBAC baby and she was wonderful. It was an all around great experience. It IS possible to have a smooth, calm hospital VBAC..you just have to have a very supportive care provider and be assertive.

[*ami*]

I had a hospital VBAC ten days ago with no pain medication. I did have IV antibiotics about an hour before delivery, as my water was broken for more than 24 hours. My OB let me labor in peace for the most part. I did tear and needed a few stitches.

[dlm194]

I had a hep-lock and wireless monitoring. Otherwise, everything was au natural for the 17 hours I labored in the hospital. Birth story is linked in my siggy!