vbac "induction"?

[wombatclay]

I am now 42 weeks pregnant with my fourth child.  I had a c/s with my first followed by two vbacs.  Although I am planning a vbac with this babe too, the fact that I am now officially 42+ weeks (on solid dates) has dropped me into a bit of an insurance/hospital policy bind.

The midwives I saw with my last babe, and now with this babe, cannot attend a vbac after 41 weeks.  And the hospital does not support vbac after 42 weeks.  I managed to keep my midwives by agreeing to an "induction", scheduled for tomorrow morning, which at least on paper made everyone happy.

Now obviously, as a vbac there is very little that can be done in terms of "induction".  AROM is basically it, and when I was checked yesterday I was still at "barely 2cm" and not really a good candidate for AROM.  I will be asking in more detail tomorrow, but I think at this point my options are AROM and hope or elective rc/s.  Neither seems like a great idea, but given that I'll be 42 weeks 2 days at that point I think I've given this babe a fair shot at picking her own birthday!  (no, I'm not up for EMTALA or UC.  yes, this is the best hospital/practice for vbac within a three hour drive.  no, there are no midwives who can/will attend hbac. yes, dh and I have tried nearly everything to get labor going and we've been trying it for a good three weeks now!)

Anyway, my question... has anyone here had an induced vbac?  Any ideas or btdt suggestions?  It's certainly possible she'll get things going on her own tonight, but if not... I've never had an induction (or elective c/s for that matter) and I really don't know what to expect in terms of arriving at the hospital when not in active labor.  It seems really surreal to just "walk in", you know?

[akind1]

Have you tried a breastpump? Some mamas have good luck with that.

Also, depending on the hospital/practice, very, very, low pit might sometimes be used (I know of at least one mama with a successfully induced VBAC this way)

My first baby was an induction that ended in a c-section, things are very relaxed and go fairly slowly (there usually is no rush) so gettiing you in a gown, hooked to monitors and all that takes some time, and all the usual admittance questions . . .

Hope your LO decides to come on her own!

[mamatogirls]

Castor oil would probably put you into labor at this point.  I worked for me and my sister.  I was a VBA2C when I took it too.

[SAMarshall]

What about a foley bulb catheter? (I don't know the exact right term for that thing.) I think that was one of my options if I wanted to be induced with my last labor & delivery. 

[lifeisgood9]

I'm 12 weeks and hoping for a VBAC with the birth of my second.    (Was 2.5 weeks overdue and induced, then C-section - ugh - with first).     Midwife said AROM and balloon catheter were going to be my only two induction methods if I run into the same problem this time.    I would definitely ask about the baloon catheter.    Good luck, and keep us posted!!!

[wombatclay]

Thanks all!  She actually beat the clock by a hair... the induction was scheduled for 7:30am, I woke with really strong contractions around 2:30am, and she arrived (no induction or augmentation needed) at a few minutes past 9am on the 21st!  There's a birth story in my ddc if anyone needs more encouragement for a hospital vbac.  :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

There is a huge collection of natural induction, or at least "less medical" induction, ideas on the Gentle Birth site here.  While I didn't use castor oil (for me, the risks didn't balance the benefits, but I do know women who have found it to work really well) I tried just about everything else from EPO to pineapple, from guided visualization/self hypnosis to cohoshes, from acupressure to homeopathy.  I didn't use Gentle Birth (an herbal blend from Mountain Meadow) this time... I probably should have though, since I did use it with my previous birth (my second vbac) and wasn't as postdates (though he was still a 42 week babe).

[LisaSedai]

Congrats on your VBAC and happy birthday baby!! 

Your link is to a Farscape page - that was a great show :-)

[wombatclay]

LOL!  I was explaining farscape in another thread (actually, my reaction to starting labor just hours before a 42+ week induction was "frell me dead" and I had to explain the context of that comment) and must not have grabbed the right link!  Here's the real, live, actual birth story thread.  :)

[SLPmama]

I had my 2nd VBAC 3 weeks ago and b/c of my bag of waters leaking for 18 hours my OB gave me the option of a c-section or slow, low, carefully monitored pitocin.  I chose the pitocin route and had a healthy baby girl 7.5 hours after the pitocin started.  She never went above 20 on the pitocin and I had an interuterine monitor in to carefully monitor my cx and uterus.  I was NERVOUS about the pitocin b/c my first VBAC was natural but it went well and so happy I didnt' have to have another C/S!!!

[~Amy~]

I had a successful pit-induced VBAC. There was never any concern about giving me pit as it can be stopped quickly if there's an issue. They said the only drugs I couldn't have for an induction were Cervadil and Cytotec.