Vbac? - Page 2

[astar326]

i'm hoping for a hbac. ds was suppose to be a home birth but the midwives i was using wanted to induce me and they said he didn't have enough fluid for a home birth. 37 hours of pain-med free, but pitocined labor i stalled at 9 cm and despite trying every position i couldn't get him to descend. ds was op & 9lbs. if i had to do again i wouldn't induce, but instead try chiropractic care & acupuncture to help prepare ds for labor. i was really swollen in my feet and spent a lot of time with my feet up trying to get the swelling down, but i think this was a bad position for the baby.

[Mamatoabunch]

Originally Posted by astar326 

i'm hoping for a hbac. ds was suppose to be a home birth but the midwives i was using wanted to induce me and they said he didn't have enough fluid for a home birth. 37 hours of pain-med free, but pitocined labor i stalled at 9 cm and despite trying every position i couldn't get him to descend. ds was op & 9lbs. if i had to do again i wouldn't induce, but instead try chiropractic care & acupuncture to help prepare ds for labor. i was really swollen in my feet and spent a lot of time with my feet up trying to get the swelling down, but i think this was a bad position for the baby.

What led them to believe you had low fluid? Did they suggest alternatives? How did they determine you actually had low fluid? I just find this so odd!

[elisheva]

Chiropractic: the earlier the better. The yoga ball will help your overall pelvic alignment, too. I've heard conventional couches/easy chairs are very hard on this. I've been meaning to get mine out but I'm reluctant to sacrifice space in our tiny house :)

[astar326]

Originally Posted by Mamatoabunch 
What led them to believe you had low fluid? Did they suggest alternatives? How did they determine you actually had low fluid? I just find this so odd!

they did an u/s at 41wk6d. they said i needed at least 5cm for a home birth, but i only had 3cm. i wish i had hydrated more that day. they also did a nonstress test and ds passed. i found the whole thing so odd too.

elisheva, i love my yoga ball!

[Mamatoabunch]

Originally Posted by astar326 

they did an u/s at 41wk6d. they said i needed at least 5cm for a home birth, but i only had 3cm. i wish i had hydrated more that day. they also did a nonstress test and ds passed. i found the whole thing so odd too.

elisheva, i love my yoga ball!

I wish they had suggested you drink, just so odd. It seems they were looking for something to risk you out. The whole low fluid thing is such ridiculousness.

[nononose]

Originally Posted by Mamatoabunch 

I wish they had suggested you drink, just so odd. It seems they were looking for something to risk you out. The whole low fluid thing is such ridiculousness.

Yes, they should have.  But ... I had low fluid too, and I was drinking water non stop.  A full 8 ounces every half hour for all the time I was awake and it did nothing - except keep me in the bathroom!  They started this at 8, and mine only got to 4.4 (after a 'gush' that left no 'evidence' (we swabbed a few hours later) 4 days before labour started, and did not replemish)  and they made a big deal of it at the hospital - my midwife did not (we were at the hospital for other reasons).  I'm in Ontario, Canada, and oligohydramnios is a required consult with a physician, but not transfer of care.  I don't know if a transfer to the hospital is required or suggested, but I do recall them mentioning some magic number that it had to be above for a home birth (or was that just the ECV - might have been both).  I do know that the midwives were surprised that my hydrating didn't seem to make any difference.  (mine were determined by u/s - I had 8 in the last 3/4 weeks - NEVER again!).  

Sorry for your induction and experience.

[astar326]

nononose, thanks for sharing your experience. i would like to think it may have made some difference, but i may have been like you. i think they should have least offered me the suggestion. i think the midwives i was using were nervous about my late pg. this makes no sense since everything else was normal throughout my whole pg.

[nononose]

Originally Posted by astar326 

nononose, thanks for sharing your experience. i would like to think it may have made some difference, but i may have been like you. i think they should have least offered me the suggestion. i think the midwives i was using were nervous about my late pg. this makes no sense since everything else was normal throughout my whole pg.

I definitely think they should have.  If it happens again, you'll know.  I'm sorry they were nervous about the later pg too - that's another thing that really bothers me, but my daughter came on her own at 39 weeks, so I don't get to personalize that one!  Still, I find this whole 'expiry date' mentality quite annoying!  Good luck with this one!

[dabblersupreme]

so ... now that we've been broadcasting our news, i'm coming across an issue i will have to deal with eventually. people ask if we will be finding out what we're having (nope, same as last time), when i'm due (i know since i went 10 days postdate last time to not give a specific date - i've been saying late june even though my due date is mid june) and where we'll be having the baby. for most people it's just small talk, but i know i'm gonna get a lot of "well meaning concern" when i mention our plans for a HBAC, at least in my work community (i work at a hospital). i don't mind telling people closer to us and explaining, if people express concern about safety, that i have research this heavily, have a midwife who supports me, and this is not open for negotiation.  i kinda feel like taking the cheater/lie of omission way out by telling people we're not close to that "we would go to NameOfHospitalIfWeHaveAHospitalTransfer". so far i have just said we haven't decided yet, but that won't work when i'm 30+ weeks, necessarily.

my husband says we should just own our decision and state it strongly rather than introduce the notion that we will be going to a hospital repeatedly, and i can see his point for sure. any thoughts? anyone else dealing with this issue?

for what it's worth, i saw a hospital-based midwife practice last time and labored intervention-free for over 24 hours before they broke my water (after 3+ hours of pushing), discovered thick meconium, and steered me towards a section. my son was in the NICU for almost 2 weeks. this would be the "what-if" line of thinking that people leery of a homebirth would use.

[Max'sMama]

One option that would go along with your husbands position would be to answer with:

Them:   'Where are you having the baby?'

You:     'Out of my vagina.'

And then promptly change the subject to the furthest topic from birth!

[astar326]

Originally Posted by Max'sMama 

One option that would go along with your husbands position would be to answer with:

Them:   'Where are you having the baby?'

You:     'Out of my vagina.'

And then promptly change the subject to the furthest topic from birth!

love this!

dabblersupreme,  i can't imagine how hard it is working in a hospital and planning a hbac. i get enough grief from family & friends i'm glad i don't have co-workers adding their two cents. i also agree with your answer to edd questions. i am telling people by july when i'm due mid june. ds was 2 weeks late and i stopped answering my phone.

[dabblersupreme]

that is a hilarious response, but i'm not sure how people will take it. it will be a conversation stopper, for sure!

i am also due midjune and if it was even just a few days later i would be telling people july. i think july is too far gone for me, though - my midwife will be encouraging evening primrose oil and/or accupuncture to give labor a kickstart if i am too late, because of my history with ds (he was 9lb 12 oz at 10 days postdate. normally i pooh-pooh the notion that you cannot birth a large baby vaginally, but the poor positioning plus large size was definitely a factor).

i am definitely not offering up to people that i am planning an hbac, but if they ask i think i will be truthful and just tell people it's not up for discussion.

[nikie23]

dabblersupreme, I'm in the same boat as you as far as worrying about "well meaning concern" from people.  Isn't it crazy that we're actually worried about people judging our birth choices?  DH and I decided long before I got pregnant that we're not telling our families about our plan to deliver at a birth center.  My mom's already stated categorically that she thinks anything except a hospital birth is a terrible idea, and it would be "stupid to risk the baby like that".  Where do I go with that?  And as for acquaintances and coworkers... most of the people I know are hard-core mainstream and think that anything except a hospital birth with an epidural is crazy.  I don't want to spend my pregnancy having people tell me I'm crazy, and if it takes me not being completely honest to make that happen, I'm okay with it.

[dabblersupreme]

so, the topic of our planned HBAC has come up here and there with people, and i am impressed that people have been mostly respectful (or at least quiet). i've had to deal with comments and opinions from people who should be dealing only in facts (like when i called my insurance company, who have an oh-so-convenient loophole to skirt the NY state mandate that a homebirth must be covered even if from an out of network provider).

but, i now have a weird thing hanging over my head. we went for our 20 week sonogram yesterday, and the technician consulted with the doctor, who came into the room and told us his concern. baby looks fine, but they think they see a window on my uterus. they explained it's possible this weak spot will rupture and cause problems during a vaginal delivery attempt. they scheduled another sono in 6 weeks to evaluate, because they did concede it could be gone by then or not an issue. i already called my midwife and she told me what i logically know - don't worry about it, we'll evaluate after the next sono. it could be fine. but part of me is scared and thinking doomsday. especially since i keep reading about how the body is built to do this naturally, and that's all i want to do. now i'm even more scared of naysayers around me if this is a potential risk. anyone else get the window-talk ever?

[nononose]

Dabblerupreme, not sure on this as I've never researched it, but when I went for an ultrasound last week (21 weeks), I asked if she could tell me anything about my scar and she said "Oh, are you planning a VBAC?  It's far too early to tell."  Now, that said, ultrasound techs an docs  etc in this area apparently don't like doing any diagnosis on scar integrity.  I really have my reservations of any useful information on the scar being found via ultrasound.  I do hope things work out for you.

[BarefootinBrooklyn]

I didn't see if anyone else mentioned this but I recommend checking out the book "The VBAC Companion." 

Best wishes!

[dabblersupreme]

Originally Posted by nononose 

Dabblerupreme, not sure on this as I've never researched it, but when I went for an ultrasound last week (21 weeks), I asked if she could tell me anything about my scar and she said "Oh, are you planning a VBAC?  It's far too early to tell."  Now, that said, ultrasound techs an docs  etc in this area apparently don't like doing any diagnosis on scar integrity.  I really have my reservations of any useful information on the scar being found via ultrasound.  I do hope things work out for you.

yeah, what's really weird is that we discussed the position of my placenta during the sono, and then i asked if they can see anything about the scar and the technician mentioned how difficult it is to tell anything from an ultrasound. but then he consulted the doc and the doc came in to express his concern. 

thanks. i have already done some reading and will talk to my midwife at our appt. next week, and of course wait until AT LEAST the next sono to have any sort of freakout. ick. i just am really unsettled by anything resembling the dark cloud.

[elisheva]

Everything I've heard has said it's nearly impossible to tell much about the integrity of your scar on a u/s...Check the ICAN boards, maybe.

[dabblersupreme]

just wanted to update that the long 6-7 week wait (with torturous worries creeping in) finally passed, and all looked good in my follow-up ultrasound! this time the tech made sure i had a very full bladder for the sono, and she said the wall looked thick, no sign of thinness/weakness. yay! serendipitously enough, my mom *just* found out that i'm planning a homebirth, and i am much more ready to discuss the issue now that i don't have the black cloud hanging over my head. i feel like i can really think ahead and plan getting my homebirth supplies, get friends lined up to help with our toddler during the birth, etc.

[nononose]

Great news!  Now you can put those worries to rest and spend your energy where it should be - on preparing for your VBAC!  At home.