I've been on the VBAC board probably since DS (first child) was born 16mo ago. I'm 9wks pregnant with #2, and they'll be pretty much two years apart. I have always wanted to post a summary of my labor and c/s with DS in order to get personal feedback but haven't yet. I am now ready to. I've analyzed it from a dozen angles and feel I have learned a lot. Some things I can change and help, and some things I can't and need to leave it with the Lord.
I'll try to be concise! I put a bold question mark next to the labor events that looking back, I wonder are the "building blocks" to the cesarean.
Background: I received webster chiro care from 30 weeks on; seemed to be LOA from then on. I also dealt with symphosis pubis dysfunction and stopped the practice of squatting to alleviate the pain. I had looked forward to squatting to help bring baby down. Uneventul pregnancy otherwise, but I am/was overweight by 20-30 lbs. I had a desk job so I sat w/o the best posture. We took Bradley classes and I immersed myself in all kinds of birth stories.
LABOR: My water broke (?) the day after the chiro "stirred things up", at 38w3d. Labor started right away, progressed beautifully all day. Stayed home 6 hours, labored on birth ball, got to birth center at 4-5 cm at noonish. Got in tub, labored for a while and by 5pm I was 8cm. I vomited, hoped transition was upon me. Sat for two hours on a short birth ball and vocalized A LOT for two hours. I felt all the pain in my hips (?), felt like they were being stretched apart. Every now and then I'd feel the contraction in lower uterus (m/w seemd positive when this occured, less so when it was all through my hips). I had very active contractions, and from the start of labor, they never petered out. Accepted an IV during this time, and felt it improve my energy. I was at 9cm then and the midwife suggested that I started pushing if I wanted to see if that brought the baby down (???). Climbed in bed and started pushing (?) at 7pm. She could see him come down well, then he'd only come down so far. Hips hurt so much! Very active contractions. Tried pushing on the toilet a couple times, but still no further progress. Hemmoroids by this time from intense pushing with no help from my body (?) and less than two hours later, I start to sense from the m/w that things aren't moving, I kept asking if he was coming down more. She said he was facing right, was posterior. I kept giving a harder push, she said he wasn't going past my pubic bone. We talked about going to hospital for epidural, and decided to do that. Still contracting, lost all ability to deal with them. Change in midwife shift, the next one goes with us. Agonizing wheelchair ride up to L&D, assessemnt by OB and m/w, suggest instrument delivery will be needed, loss of freedom of movement if I get epi, had all the pushing options back at birth center, consented to C/S being overcome by pain and wanting something, hesistant for epi to lose feeling of possible injury with pubic pain, had c/s and welcomed 9lb 2oz boy 17 hours after water broke at around 11:30pm. No maternal or fetal distress. He did have molding that looked normal, at the crown of his head (so was he really posterior?)
My assessment: Water breaking to start labor didn't contribute to dropping into birth canal in a good position. I feel like I just needed to give it more time even though I understood transition to typically be short. Pushing, especially as a first time mom, without the help of my body was not a good thing. I wonder why the midwife suggested it, and DH later recalled that the nurse countered the suggestion that it might not be a good thing, I never heard her but wish I had. I wonder if I had done some deep squats, would he have come down? I reclined in the tub some, did that make him turn? Labor progressed well...what does that indicate compared to labors that drag on with malpositioning?
I don't have any feedback from OB from what he observed when I was cut open. I can't recall DS's head size but it was 90% (all of him was lol).
Suggestions for this time: continue webster care, starting later in pg; be more careful about weight gain (a lot was from carbs unnecessarily); be careful about posture and believe I can do it.
I appreciate any thoughts you have, very much!!
I'll try to be concise! I put a bold question mark next to the labor events that looking back, I wonder are the "building blocks" to the cesarean.
Background: I received webster chiro care from 30 weeks on; seemed to be LOA from then on. I also dealt with symphosis pubis dysfunction and stopped the practice of squatting to alleviate the pain. I had looked forward to squatting to help bring baby down. Uneventul pregnancy otherwise, but I am/was overweight by 20-30 lbs. I had a desk job so I sat w/o the best posture. We took Bradley classes and I immersed myself in all kinds of birth stories.
LABOR: My water broke (?) the day after the chiro "stirred things up", at 38w3d. Labor started right away, progressed beautifully all day. Stayed home 6 hours, labored on birth ball, got to birth center at 4-5 cm at noonish. Got in tub, labored for a while and by 5pm I was 8cm. I vomited, hoped transition was upon me. Sat for two hours on a short birth ball and vocalized A LOT for two hours. I felt all the pain in my hips (?), felt like they were being stretched apart. Every now and then I'd feel the contraction in lower uterus (m/w seemd positive when this occured, less so when it was all through my hips). I had very active contractions, and from the start of labor, they never petered out. Accepted an IV during this time, and felt it improve my energy. I was at 9cm then and the midwife suggested that I started pushing if I wanted to see if that brought the baby down (???). Climbed in bed and started pushing (?) at 7pm. She could see him come down well, then he'd only come down so far. Hips hurt so much! Very active contractions. Tried pushing on the toilet a couple times, but still no further progress. Hemmoroids by this time from intense pushing with no help from my body (?) and less than two hours later, I start to sense from the m/w that things aren't moving, I kept asking if he was coming down more. She said he was facing right, was posterior. I kept giving a harder push, she said he wasn't going past my pubic bone. We talked about going to hospital for epidural, and decided to do that. Still contracting, lost all ability to deal with them. Change in midwife shift, the next one goes with us. Agonizing wheelchair ride up to L&D, assessemnt by OB and m/w, suggest instrument delivery will be needed, loss of freedom of movement if I get epi, had all the pushing options back at birth center, consented to C/S being overcome by pain and wanting something, hesistant for epi to lose feeling of possible injury with pubic pain, had c/s and welcomed 9lb 2oz boy 17 hours after water broke at around 11:30pm. No maternal or fetal distress. He did have molding that looked normal, at the crown of his head (so was he really posterior?)
My assessment: Water breaking to start labor didn't contribute to dropping into birth canal in a good position. I feel like I just needed to give it more time even though I understood transition to typically be short. Pushing, especially as a first time mom, without the help of my body was not a good thing. I wonder why the midwife suggested it, and DH later recalled that the nurse countered the suggestion that it might not be a good thing, I never heard her but wish I had. I wonder if I had done some deep squats, would he have come down? I reclined in the tub some, did that make him turn? Labor progressed well...what does that indicate compared to labors that drag on with malpositioning?
I don't have any feedback from OB from what he observed when I was cut open. I can't recall DS's head size but it was 90% (all of him was lol).
Suggestions for this time: continue webster care, starting later in pg; be more careful about weight gain (a lot was from carbs unnecessarily); be careful about posture and believe I can do it.
I appreciate any thoughts you have, very much!!
and also immediately responded that I am a great candidate after hearing a pretty detailed birth story. It's good to get that encouragement and the encouragement from those who posted here, it's empowering.
