I don't know how appropriate it is to post my story here, but I thought it might be nice to read other experiences of VBAC attempts.
DD was born via c section 36 hrs after I had ROM and then a failed induction at 24 hrs. I felt robbed of my homebirth and railroaded into a c section. I felt that I should have waited longer to see if my body would go into labour.
This time around I was determined to have a VBAC and it really looked like it was going to happen. I went into labour naturally last tuesday at 7.30am and the ctx were really great - strong and regular. By 1pm I was 4 cm dilated and we were all excited because this was further than I had gone last time. I started having really heavy transition type ctx and my doula was convinced that I was in transition. Another check at 7pm and I was STILL at 4cm. It was very demoralizing. We all talked (mw, doula, DH, me) and decided to try and epidural to see if it would relax my body enough to dilate. By 10pm I was still at 4cm and the baby wasn't descending. I knew what this meant. We talked some more and our only real options were to augment with pitocin or go for a c section. We decided that the augmentation was silly because ctx were not a problem at all and I didn't want to put the baby into distress. I also knew that pit increases the risk for UR, so we decided to go straight for the c section.
Strangely enough I felt ok with this. It's because WE made the choice in the end and were surrounded by our mw and doula rather than hostile nurses and OBs etc.
When the OB was doing the section she commented that it was very very difficult to get through my abdominal wall because there was so much scar tissue and she had barely seen anything like it. This made me feel lucky that it wasn't a crash c section.
So now I am now so upset about missing out on a natural birth but annoyed at the recovery from a c section. I hate not being able to pick up my DD or sit up in bed easily. I am also in a fair amount of pain as I am only taking OTC meds.
Anyway, I hope this offers a different perspective to VBAC. Overall the prep I did for the VBAC resulted in a much better birth experience despite the fact that it ended up a repeat c section.
Good luck to everyone who is having a VBAC!
DD was born via c section 36 hrs after I had ROM and then a failed induction at 24 hrs. I felt robbed of my homebirth and railroaded into a c section. I felt that I should have waited longer to see if my body would go into labour.
This time around I was determined to have a VBAC and it really looked like it was going to happen. I went into labour naturally last tuesday at 7.30am and the ctx were really great - strong and regular. By 1pm I was 4 cm dilated and we were all excited because this was further than I had gone last time. I started having really heavy transition type ctx and my doula was convinced that I was in transition. Another check at 7pm and I was STILL at 4cm. It was very demoralizing. We all talked (mw, doula, DH, me) and decided to try and epidural to see if it would relax my body enough to dilate. By 10pm I was still at 4cm and the baby wasn't descending. I knew what this meant. We talked some more and our only real options were to augment with pitocin or go for a c section. We decided that the augmentation was silly because ctx were not a problem at all and I didn't want to put the baby into distress. I also knew that pit increases the risk for UR, so we decided to go straight for the c section.
Strangely enough I felt ok with this. It's because WE made the choice in the end and were surrounded by our mw and doula rather than hostile nurses and OBs etc.
When the OB was doing the section she commented that it was very very difficult to get through my abdominal wall because there was so much scar tissue and she had barely seen anything like it. This made me feel lucky that it wasn't a crash c section.
So now I am now so upset about missing out on a natural birth but annoyed at the recovery from a c section. I hate not being able to pick up my DD or sit up in bed easily. I am also in a fair amount of pain as I am only taking OTC meds.
Anyway, I hope this offers a different perspective to VBAC. Overall the prep I did for the VBAC resulted in a much better birth experience despite the fact that it ended up a repeat c section.
Good luck to everyone who is having a VBAC!
Sorry things didn't go as planned.
Congrats on your new baby and wishing you a speedy recovery!
