Any other VBAC-ers? - Page 3

[wombatclay]

It's a bit unorthodox (both in terms of the standard medical birth prep world and the more crunchy natural birth prep world) but the OBs who attended my first VBAC had an interesting philosophy that they shared with their VBAC mamas...

Basically, they felt like a lot of VBAC mothers spend too much time in their heads.  They understood that this sort of obsessive analyzing was normal, that it was important for VBAC mamas to process their past births and dig deep into the whole world of VBAC stats and stories and figures and risks and ruptures and rules and "how to do it right THIS time when you did it all right LAST time and it didn't work" stuff.  The really encouraged moms to spend time processing and thinking and reading all the studies and doing that sort of "in the head" work.  But only in the first half of the pregnancy.  More or less for the entire third trimester they asked VBAC mamas to commit to being "in their bodies"... do yoga or belly dance or sing out loud as much as possible, garden or sit outside with your hands in the dirt, go swimming or hiking or camping, build things, have sex, get a body rub or massage, do moving meditations or finger paint your birth art, and just connect physically with the whole earth mama/birthing energy.  Spend the first part of the pregnancy coming to terms with the "-ac" part of "vbac" and then the second half of pregnancy focused on the "vb-" part.

They even write Rx for that sort of stuff during the third trimester.  You know, "take 5 deep breaths outside, three times daily".  LOL  (they do something similar for moms who are giving birth following sexual abuse and trauma, again with the goal of moving women out of their heads where everything is percentage of this and fear of that and into their bodies where the birth actually happens).

~~(my first VBAC was attended by Drs Heidi Reinhart and her husband Rudy Fedrizzi, Heidi wrote one of the chapters in Ina May's book so she's kind of on that earthy/birthy/sexual/physical wavelength, only with the OB/medical role experience grafted onto it... I think Heidi is practicing in CT now in case anyone is looking for a kick butt VBAC birth attendant)~~

[rareimer]

i think that's definitely true, wombatclay--or at least was so of me.  which is sort of why i'm leaning away from that this time.  i spent so much time in my head during my last pregnancy, and then during labour, of course you're not really in your head at all (or shouldn't be.)  definitely food for thought.

[Ms. B. Sprout]

How are the VBAC mamas doing?

I just ordered The Pink Kit to learn more about my pelvis. I'll let you guys know what I think of it.

I've been thinking about wombatclay's last post for the last 2 weeks. I think it's very wise.

Originally Posted by wombatclay 

More or less for the entire third trimester they asked VBAC mamas to commit to being "in their bodies"... do yoga or belly dance or sing out loud as much as possible, garden or sit outside with your hands in the dirt, go swimming or hiking or camping, build things, have sex, get a body rub or massage, do moving meditations or finger paint your birth art, and just connect physically with the whole earth mama/birthing energy.  Spend the first part of the pregnancy coming to terms with the "-ac" part of "vbac" and then the second half of pregnancy focused on the "vb-" part.

[konayossie]

Originally Posted by Ms. B. Sprout 

How are the VBAC mamas doing?

I just ordered The Pink Kit to learn more about my pelvis. I'll let you guys know what I think of it.

I've been thinking about wombatclay's last post for the last 2 weeks. I think it's very wise.

Please do report back on the Pink Kit, Ms.B Sprout. I have looked it before but can't tell where it seems to have info that I haven't gotten out of massive amounts of reading and doing the Hynobabies Homestudy. Maybe I'm not reading up on the right product??

Nothing much happening over here....Next week I'm going to meet the last of the new CNMs in the group I'll be using for my hossy VBAC. I've identified one I'm not crazy about, one I think I like, the unmet lady, and then one I had during my last birth whom I definitely don't like. :-) I'm hoping for another good one to even out my odds of getting someone I like at my birth!

Found out at my anatomy scan that all is well and my placenta is posterior--very pleased about that! So far no signs of the placenta problems/IUGR I had with DS1 (although it's really too early to mean much on that front).

I added a prenatal yoga video to my Netflix streaming queue and hope to start doing it now that school is out for the summer.

[Earthylady]

I've never heard of the Pink Kit before.

[bignerpie]

Originally Posted by konayossie 

I added a prenatal yoga video to my Netflix streaming queue and hope to start doing it now that school is out for the summer.

The Crunch Mama, or whatever it's called? I've had that on my queue for like 4 months! LOL. I've never had a chance to watch it.

[rareimer]

i liked that Crunch Mama one, i did it almost every day my last pregnancy.  i lent it out to a friend and never did get it back, and i don't know if Netflix Canada has it.  i'll have to look and see!

i've also been considering The Pink Kit...looking forward to hearing what you think of it Ms. B!  it looks really interesting, but at the same time, vague enough on the website that i'm just not sure about it yet. 

[Ms. B. Sprout]

I have high hopes about the pelvic mapping part of The Pink Kit -- learning the shape and particular traits of my soft and bony pelvis. All the general birth education stuff is sure to be retreads of other stuff I have done/read. I will let y'all know.

Konayossie, yay for a good scan and good placental position! I think my sonographer was a bit surprised that I was so interested in where my placenta was.

[konayossie]

Originally Posted by bignerpie 

The Crunch Mama, or whatever it's called? I've had that on my queue for like 4 months! LOL. I've never had a chance to watch it.

Yep, that's the one! Glad to hear it's a good one, rareimer!

Originally Posted by Ms. B. Sprout 

Konayossie, yay for a good scan and good placental position! I think my sonographer was a bit surprised that I was so interested in where my placenta was.

I know--I don't think the techs are used to mamas who are almost as excited about seeing good placental positions as about baby's face (not that we didn't enjoy that, of course). 

[bignerpie]

When we had our ultrasound, I asked the tech if she'd checked the placenta yet, and she had, so I asked her about it, and she just gave me a really strange look and said, "What do you want to know?" As in, who cares about the placenta?

[Smurfy]

Wow I've been absent from here forever!  Sorry, lots going on, we moved and then needed a spontaneous vacation, yes apparently you can still do those with kids! 

I'm still not concerned about prep, my midwife team is very confident in their VBAC abilities and outcome statistics, plus my chiropractor has me coming in every 2 weeks right now and that will be upped to weekly very soon.  Only thing I am worried about is I'm feeling the majority of the kicks in the same place as I did with my son.  I see my chiropractor on Wed and my midwife next week so I'll talk to them both about this.  Though I've already decided that if this one ends up sitting in the exact same position then it's definitely something with the shape of my uterus or my pelvis.  I'm quite small, so that may have something to do with it.  At least if that's the case then I know it's not something I could prevent.  On another note, if this baby is sitting breech then I will be talking to an OB about the possibility of a breech vaginal delivery.  He was open to it last time, though he was the only one in the entire city and midwives aren't allowed to perform them, not sure if that would change being it's a VBAC.  Fingers crossed that I'm wrong on the kicks or if I'm not that the OB will have an open mind again!

[Smurfy]

Guess who's got another breech baby?  ME!!  My chiropractor checked today and thinks she's in the exact same position as my first was.  Which to me suggests a possible problem with my uterus or pelvis.  I know I'm only 25 weeks but I knew my son was breech at 26 weeks and he didn't move from that point on.  My chiropractor's going to start trying some adjustments to help turn her and I e-mailed my midwives about what else I can be doing.  I also asked about possibly doing a breech VBAC with the same OB I had before, seeing as he was open to VBACs and breech deliveries, just not sure if he's open to trying both together.  Fingers are still crossed that she'll turn but my instinct is telling me it's the same story all over again and I don't want to get my hopes up or convince myself that she'll definitely turn on her own.  I'm willing to try anything though, even if that means multiple ECVs again, joy!

[rareimer]

that sucks, smurfy!  i hope she decides to turn on her own!   and if not, you are very lucky to have found an OB who will attempt a vaginal breech--will also cross my fingers that he would be willing to try for a breech VBAC!   and your post reminded me, i really have to go and make a chiro appointment. 

[Ms. B. Sprout]

Smurfy, I am sending you lots of good baby-turning vibes!!

[Smurfy]

LOL Thanks!  It doesn't look like we have anything like spinning babies around here so I'll have to do everything else on the turning a baby list.  She may turn just fine, in fact I thought I felt kicks on the opposite side just an hour ago, but I'm not taking chances, the fact that the chiropractor figured her to be in the exact same position my son was in kind of scared me.  I'll do everything I can while she's still small enough to encourage her to get that head down.  Really wishing I had grabbed the pregnancy headphones from babysteals a couple months ago. 

[Ms. B. Sprout]

Smurfy, I have a ramble here that was supposed to be a response to your post but ended up being just a ramble :

My second c/s was due to malpositioning (the first was a failed induction at 42+4, hard to know what position baby was in, it's not in my surgical notes unfortunately). Sooo, my worst fear this time is that I have a uterus that just makes them be posterior, yk?

Of course, last time, my fear was going postdates with all the attendant BS, and I went into labor on my own at 41+3 which was great.

After attending ICAN meetings for over a year now, I have heard this from a lot of women -- fear of the repeat performance, the very same thing happening all over again. It seems like it rarely does -- that's just where our brains go.

The other related thing that seems to be common is fear of getting to/past the place where we got "stuck" last time. So for me, last time, that was going into labor on my own without pit; this time, it's pushing (last time I got to 10 cm and was there for 4 hours with no urge to push & baby at -2 station). I am kinda worried about pushing, as well as placenta/bleeding/tearing stuff, because it's unknown territory.

For me, the mental hurdles are hit-and-miss. Sometimes I feel great about things, and sometimes I am very nervous.

[Smurfy]

Mrs. B Sprout, no worries I tend to ramble A LOT!  LOL 

I know what you're getting at though and I have thought about that because this is basically the point where I got stuck, or more so he did, last time.  There was just no explanation for why he was so stuck in that position, and I can't help but wonder if it's not something to do with how small I am, the OB thought it may have been due to a heart shaped uterus but during the c/s he said it wasn't.  With that mindset I also feel like this is something I may have no control over, but I'm still determined to do everything I can.  I think I'm more ok with it this time though, I know what I have to do to at least try, and I know what to expect if it comes to having to have another c/s, though I'm still desperate to at least experience some labour, even if it's only a few initial contractions.   

I'm trying hard to keep positive that this won't be a repeat performance, but at the same time I feel that if I know now at least I can start doing things while she's still small enough unlike last time when I waited until the midwives and OB were ready to take action.  Anything to increase my chances I guess. 

Thanks for reminding me to keep those mental hopes up though, I'm a firm believer in willpower so I know I need to think more along the lines that she will turn.

[konayossie]

Sorry to hear your baby is breech, Smurfy. Sending you flipping-vibes.

[Earthylady]

It's very normal for babies to be breech at this point.  Even IF they go head down, they aren't likely to stay that way this early.  It's not a worry until after 35 weeks.  So, try not to stress about it.  My first baby was breech, then my second two were not.  Baby #2 was breech until about 33 weeks, same for #3.  Currently, #4 is still flip flopping all over the place.  One minute I'm getting kicked in the ribs, the other in my bladder.  :)

I haven't read the whole thread, but has anybody suggested spinningbabies.com?  It has tons of valuable information about breech babies and things we can do with our posture to help encourage a good presentation from baby. 

[Smurfy]

Thanks Earthlady!  I'm trying not to take it too seriously at this point, I know she still has time to turn.  It's just scary deja vu from my son, who I also knew was breech at this point and he didn't turn, at all.  So it's probably ingrained in my head that my babies are destined to get stuck this way early on.  I think I just also want to have all of my options before me early on so I know what I want to do if it comes to that. 

I haven't read spinningbabies.com, I definitely will, I just know that there are no classes or anything where I'm at.  Anything I can do to encourage her to go in the right position at this point can't possibly hurt.