Honestly What would you do? (Long but any advice or feed back would be LOVED)

[pinkmoonlight]

I don't know really where to start with this so I will give you a little background and explain my situation and question.

Background: In August of 2010 I had my daughter via emergency c-section due to arrest of descend at station 0 to +1 with non reassuring fetal heart tones. I dilated to 10 and pushed for a total of an hour before I was taken for a c.

The first time I pushed it was because I was at 10 with a cervical lip. I pushed for maybe 30 minutes on my back. Nothing happened. I changed positions to hands and knees for a total of an hour. During that time I got the urge to push and my body took over in pushing. After 30 minutes in that position, I moved to my side and started pushing again. My  daughter went into distress, I got the c-section.

I was induced by having my waters broke at 3-4 cm and on pit. I did have an epidural shortly after my waters where broke and pitocin started.

So now on to the current situation.I am not currently pregnant but I found myself a new doctor because DH and I want to start around August for number 2. My new doctor said he is completely supportive of a VBAC delivery. He said he would allow me to try if I wanted to. He did say though he would try and steer me to a c-section but the choice was mine and whatever I wanted to do was up to me. His reason for this is that: 1. With my daughter I gained the minimal amount of weight (17 pounds) and she was still 9 pounds 6 oz. 2. I am only 5'1 and DH is 6'0 so chances of having a smaller baby are pretty much zero. Again he said the decision is completely mine and he would support me in what I choose. He did not try and scare me with rupture, or anything like that he stated the facts like they where. Small chance of rupture but we have the necessary equipment to get baby out if need be. He said he has only had 2 ruptures in his career and they where minimal both mom and baby were ok.

I forgot to ask him this question but when I got pregnant with my daughter I weighed 202. I have lost a significant amount of weight since having her and continue to lose weight. I am currently 175 but am trying to get down to at least 130 before we try again. Could my prepregnancy weight have had a factor in the big baby?

What would you do?  I know most would say VBAC but honestly I don't know. I had such a bad experience with my c-section. (Troubles breathing not seeing or knowing I had a daughter for many hours) that I am terrified of it happening again. Having to be put under general for an emergency situation if I cant push my baby out. Has anyone had an experience similar to this and had a successful VBAC?

I am worrying about all of this now because I want to have time to prepare for either of my two options. Please share anything and everything that might help me or educate me. Thank you so much.

[TiffanyToo]

Why were you induced? Was there some health concern?

[pinkmoonlight]

Here is the story behind that- I went in to the hospital on a Sunday in horrible amounts of pain. I could hardly walk and when I would use the bathroom the pain was so bad I was litterly screaming out, on my hands and knees crying in pain. I had this pain for 3 days. It got a little worse each day so on Sunday after dealing with it for most of the day my husband suggested we go to the hospital for fear that I might have had some type of infection or UTI. I went I could not take it any more. Along with the pain I was having timeable cramping.

When I got to the hospital they did all the monitoring (I was 40 and 6/7 weeks) took blood etc and could not find anything wrong. Meanwhile I was still in a ton of pain and felt that I had to constantly go to the bathroom but nothing would come out and I would get horrible pain when trying to go. I had not slept in three days and was exhausted. They decided to keep me over night give me a sleeping pill and check me in the morning. By the morning I had made progress from 2-4 cm. My water was broken and I was put on pit, not knowing better and not knowing anything beside what my own mother had told me and what I learned in birthing class I allowed it to happen. Shortly after the pitocin and water breaking, I requested an epidural. They pit it in and it worked for about an hour before it completely stopped working. This was also around the time I reached complete with a slight cervical lip and started pushing, I pushed for probably a good 30-40 minutes before the nurse had me turn over to hands and knees for 45 minutes to see if we could get the lip to go away. During that time I started having the urge to push and my body took over. The nurse and doctor came in and to do more pushing. I pushed for another 30-40 minutes and my daughter had distress her heart rate kept dropping between 90 and 60 BPM. I consented to a c-section.

In the OR her heart rate returned to normal and I had even more of an intense urge to push my body still taking over. My medical reports state that DD was in an ROA position, no cord around her neck and deep in my pelvis. She was born with a bruised head which the doctor states is from her being pushed in to a place she could not fit. Her head was not molded at all.

I am here because truthfully I don't know what to do. While I am not pregnant now I would still like to prepare myself either way. My greatest fear about getting pregnant again and going through labor is that it will end up like it did with my daughter. With General and difficulties (me ) breathing after to the point where I thought I was going to die. Not to mention that not knowing the sex of my baby and getting to hold my baby until everyone else has. My husband has a pass out issue with blood and bodily fluids, even talk of medical procedures will put him out cold. So I rely on my mother for support. She is the one who will go into the OR if I have another c-section, she will be there if I VBAC, I also plan on hiring a doula if I choose to do the VBAC.

[jenniro]

I just replied to the thread "Repeat C-sections and deaths" and I feel like that reply fits here to.  I am so sorry that you are struggling. 

[cairomama]

VBAC attempts result in vaginal birth most of the time. When they don't, there is time for spinal anesthesia most of the time. Your chances of having general anesthesia are small.

You might also consider finding a provider who is more pro-VBAC not just VBAC tolerant. 

[JessB]

My opinion is... If you are wondering whether you are able to give birth vaginally, the only way for you to know is to try.  Also, if you feel the desire to have a vaginal birth at all, then you may eventually regret it if you don't try.  Many women say that their VBACs are very healing experiences after traumatic first deliveries.

If I had to guess, I would say that being induced was probably a big factor in what ultimately led to your c-section.  Of all my friends that were induced with their first babies (myself included) every single one ended up in a c-section.  You may fare better next time if you give your body a chance to do things itself. 

You have to decide what is best for you.  In the meantime, I encourage you to continue working on getting healthy and educating yourself in order to decide what is best for you.  Best wishes on your journey! :) 

[DMG8]

I wouldn't put a lot of stock in your DH's size resulting in a definite big baby.  My DH is 6'4" and quite large (muscular thanks to heavy lifting).  However, he was only 8lb at birth which was just a bit smaller than me.  I'm 5'2".  Our DD was only 7lb 6oz at birth (I put on 35lb while pregnant, I started at a healthy BMI of like 22 or 23 so not overweight at all) - so his size didn't affect her birth weight - though she was 20.5 inches long and she's still 75th percentile or higher in height.  How big were you and your DH at birth?  That may be a better indicator though still not exact.  

You should also watch the CPD video on the ICAN website - it's a video of women who delivered bigger babies with their VBACs than they did with their c-sections.  I found it very inspiring!  http://www.ican-online.org/community/videos/laureen/question-cpd  as well as their info page on CPD: http://ican-online.org/vbac/cephalopelvic-disproportion-cpd

[pinkmoonlight]

My birth weight probably wont be of much help- I was a 30 weeker and weighted just over 5 pounds. DH while his mom cannot remember the exact said that he weighed around 8 pounds.

[CookAMH]

I would absolutely try for a VBAC. Your labor will be different next time. It's hard not to fear it will be the same, I felt that way too, but as my labor approached, I knew it would be different, and it was. It was quite fast actually! I just had my VBAC (at home) last week. I also had pushed with no urge, with my son.

[pinkmoonlight]

Over the last few days I have been doing some looking around and have found that my failure to descend diagnosis is also translating into big baby CPD. That being said while I am sure I will continue to spin my tail in this for a while, I am leaning more towards attempting a VBAC delivery unmedicated (hope to use hypnobabies) and a doula. While I gained minimal amounts of weight during my last pregnancy, I also started it weighing 202. I am now currently between 175-177. I hope to lose more weight between now and August/September when we are planning on TTC again.

I have also learned that while I tested negative for GD, it is still possible that I had elevated blood sugars still that could have developed later or been just below the cautionary line, thus causing my larger baby. It is also possible that I just make larger babies. With that being said I also plan to follow a stricter eating plan when pregnant next time around, which while I did eat healthier then I did prior to pregnancy it still probably could have been much better. I don't know if it would make a huge difference as I have only read 2-3 articles on it and could not find anymore but I am willing to try.

Any other suggestions, places to look?

[maotmsmi]

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Edited by maotmsmi - 5/21/11 at 9:45am

[TiffanyToo]

Here a good article on CPD.  http://ican-online.org/vbac/cephalopelvic-disproportion-cpd