Why did you have a C-section?

[minkajane]

What was the reason/justification for your C-section?

[stafl]

I'm going to refuse to answer this question. It places all the emphasis on what has already happened, which we cannot change. What we need to focus on is what we can do to avoid such things in the future. We need to be proactive, not reactive.

and besides, what I think was the reason for my cesarean changes each time I think about it. What I was told, and what is written in my records are two different things, and what I believe to be true is yet another (or two or three more different things). Who knows? There's no going back and changing it now anyway.

[mamaGjr]

glad my baby was healthy

i NEVER thought I would have a c section...but i did


went into labor on friday at midnight .....made a couple of trips to the birthing center b4 they would admit me...could not walk from the get go
was COMPLETELY miserable
had a lot of support but nothing was working

by saturday around 9pm they broke my water and there was mecomium sp?
so they shipped me off to labor and delivery had not progressed to more than 3 cm .....so pissed , annoyed upset in pain , miserable.....got the damn epidural which made me feel better physically but i am sure that failed me to progress even more
by 4am on sunday i was at 5cm ..they recommended a c section and i said heck yes! oh well...i hate to be so flippant about the subject but i did have a huge (i am small) big headed son who was sunny side up

i could blame mymidwives ...myself..my support but I have chosen to be happy that I am a mother and have a beautiful 2.5yr old
i will look into vbac practitioners should i decide to have another babe
thanks

[Boof]

stafl- I completely disagree. I was entirely traumatized (and actually still am) that I had a cesarean instead of the happy, peaceful homebirth I had planned. I am SO happy that I've discovered the actual reason why it happened and can stop blaming myself for having what I feared what an entirely unnecessary surgery. I resent that most people are so flippant about how a cesarean surgery can effect people and that "all's well that ends well." While I'm entirely happy and greatful that my son and I are ok, I still mourn my birth experience. The emotional trauma is lessened somewhat by knowing that there was a reason. Besides, if you don't take time to react, what does that mean? Keeping all the pain and trauma inside? I've done that for 3 months now and it hasn't helped anything. I'm finally able to start thinking and talking about it.

Why did I have one? SPD. Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction. Round ligament pain + sciatica + the other symptoms I was feeling should have tipped off someone that something was wrong. I was told that every bit of it was "normal" and I should just strap on a maternity belt and go with the flow, work on some stretching and ofp (which actually made it worse). So after 36 hours of active labor, I gave up my dream of a home birth and went reluctantly to the hospital. The contractions didn't hurt. What did hurt were my hips- excruciating hip pain. My hips still hurt. I'll get proactive as soon as I finish reacting.

Beth

[Threnody]

Pre-eclampsia and cervical malposition (my cervix was resting on my pelvic bone.)

At the end of the day though, I'm just happy the little guy is here.

[Mom2baldie]

My cesarean was scheduled for breech presentation and for failure to research optimal fetal position.

At this point in my life I can't say it was a bad thing to have happen to me. I learned SO much when I was planning my first VBAC and I know that I wouldn't have had the labors and births I did with subsequent children had I not had SOMETHING happen to make me wake up and start thinking for myself.

respectfully,

[a-sorta-fairytale]

short story - planned hb, turned transfer for mec in water, pit - cs for bp issues and fetal distress (ya think? - laying strapped down on back with pit pumping through me???)

The reason found later was my dd had craniosyntosis - her head could not mould at all - not a single soft spot.

MArgarita

[RosieTook]

MIne was a planned hb turned transfer and c-sec...dd was transveres, posterior and brow presentation...she didn't know which way was up!!

[pycelan]

My pelvis bones are not wide enough to let my children through. Did not realize this until 16 hours of unsuccessful labor later. Don't regret it...we both would have died if not for the c-section!

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Becky, Wife of V , mother of tootie-scooties Z & A

[SKK]

Originally Posted by pycelan

My pelvis bones are not wide enough to let my children through. Did not realize this until 16 hours of unsuccessful labor later. Don't regret it...we both would have died if not for the c-section!

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Becky, Wife of V , mother of tootie-scooties Z & A

Becky,

While this is possible, it is also extremely rare. I'm not saying that this wasn't true in your case, but I think alot of women here will tell you they were given this same diagnosis, and then later, with different birthing conditions and attendants, went on to give vaginal birth to a second baby that was *bigger* than their c/section baby (I, unfortunately, am not one of these women!). If you have another babe, you may want to get second opinion on the too-small-pelvis diagnosis (if you haven't already). (Of course, after 2 c/secs and 2 long labors, I would *completely* understand planning a repeat c for any additional children! I probably will)

[stafl]

Originally Posted by Boof

stafl- I completely disagree. I was entirely traumatized (and actually still am) that I had a cesarean instead of the happy, peaceful homebirth I had planned. I am SO happy that I've discovered the actual reason why it happened and can stop blaming myself for having what I feared what an entirely unnecessary surgery. I resent that most people are so flippant about how a cesarean surgery can effect people and that "all's well that ends well." While I'm entirely happy and greatful that my son and I are ok, I still mourn my birth experience. The emotional trauma is lessened somewhat by knowing that there was a reason. Besides, if you don't take time to react, what does that mean? Keeping all the pain and trauma inside? I've done that for 3 months now and it hasn't helped anything. I'm finally able to start thinking and talking about it.

Why did I have one? SPD. Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction. Round ligament pain + sciatica + the other symptoms I was feeling should have tipped off someone that something was wrong. I was told that every bit of it was "normal" and I should just strap on a maternity belt and go with the flow, work on some stretching and ofp (which actually made it worse). So after 36 hours of active labor, I gave up my dream of a home birth and went reluctantly to the hospital. The contractions didn't hurt. What did hurt were my hips- excruciating hip pain. My hips still hurt. I'll get proactive as soon as I finish reacting.

Beth

You don't know my story, do you? I suffer major PTSD as a result of my cesarean, that was 4 and a half years ago. And yes, the doctors and hospital staff let me blame my own body for what happened. But why did I have the cesarean? There's no one answer, unless it's because I went to the hospital instead of listening to my gut feelings. What happened to me was an intervention avalanche that ended with me having a cesarean. I am unable to pinpoint one thing that caused what happened, it was a very long drawn out process, any one of the things I experienced might have been the cause, or all of them together, and I'll never know for sure. I am not being flippant. I know firsthand just how traumatizing an unwanted surgical birth can be. I don't think it's productive to look at what went wrong because there is no going back and changing it. One thing I've learned as I go through the process of greiving the loss of the natural birth I had wanted, is that my perception changes as time goes on. One day I might blame the Cytotec I was given. Another I might blame my OB for not being on call and leaving me stuck with a slice-happy monster of a fill-in OB. But it doesn't really matter anymore. It's the past, and there's no sense in reliving the most traumatic experience of my entire life, over and over, asking "why?" without ever really finding the answers. What does matter is that I knew what I did not want to happen with the birth of my second child, and I had the most amazing vbac I could ever have hoped for.

[stafl]

Originally Posted by pycelan

My pelvis bones are not wide enough to let my children through. Did not realize this until 16 hours of unsuccessful labor later. Don't regret it...we both would have died if not for the c-section!

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Becky, Wife of V , mother of tootie-scooties Z & A

That is usually what women are told when their babies are not in a good position to descend the birth canal. It most likely was not your body's fault at all. Have you gotten your hospital records and read them? Have you discussed that dx with any other care providers? If you are reading the vbac forum, I'm assuming you don't completely believe that you cannot birth vaginally. I believe you can. Unless you were severely malnourished as a child, and your bones did not form properly, your pelvis is plenty big enough to let a baby pass through it.

[edamommy]

Mostly... I had a csection because of my own failure to take control of my pregnancy and my body. I was overwhelmed by the medical community and it left me (and my dh) completley numb and stupid. I had high blood pressure. My amniotic fluid was way low during the entire 3rd trimester (what I had of it!), baby was in distress after 3 days of unsuccessful induction. In the end he had the cord around his throat and foot- doubled. a mess.

[mommy2girlies]

i really would like a vbac for my third pregnancy. i had a good first birth (water broke at thur 11pm after 21hrs of labor and pit. halfway in...she finally came, only 5lb 15oz) then for my 2nd my doc wanted to induce me cuz of my failure to progress on my own. after cervadil and only 1hr of pit. dd's heartrate went from 160 to 80 w/ every cntxn every min. and a 1/2 so they wanted to do the c-section due to fetal distress. i had had no pain meds and was in so much pain that i wasn't in control of myself or my decisions and my dh was just terrified and went with whatever the docs said to do. the cord was wrapped around her neck twice and tightly, so i know because things happen for a reason, there was a reason why i was induced and there to labor in a hospital cuz if i was home, like i originally wanted to be, the outcome might not have been good for me or my dd! just thankful that she's here and completely healthy!!

[mmace]

Prolapsed umbilical cord here. No regrets for me - there are no other options, nothing else could have been done, no second-guessing any decision that was made. That baby needed to come out - and out she came! She'll be twelve in October!

[Taosmama]

Both of my births were c/s, and while I feel sad that I will never have a vaginal birth (no more babes for us!), I feel confident that they were very necessary.

DS was OP and his head wasn't sufficiently flexed, so essentially he got "stuck". I had fabulous midwives who helped me to try everything to turn him, and then was transferred from the birth center to a hospital where I had unusually supportive OBs who also helped me try to birth him normally. He just wouldn't descend - his head was even stuck trying to get him out during the section!

I would have loved to have a vbac with dd, but I had a placenta previa with her, and mucho complications resulting in an urgent c/s at 31 weeks. I was so high risk at that point I couldn't have cared how she came out.

[NoraB]

The short answer is that DD was breech and my amniotic fluid was too low to attempt ECV.

The long answer involves my being terrified of pregnancy and birth and not knowing it at the time. I believe that my fear kept me so locked up during the pregnancy that my body was not able to do what it needed to get to a vag birth. I abdicated my body to my OB who told me breech birth was extreamely dangerous and that a totally scheduled c/s was just fine. I didn't do any of my own research and walked into a c/s thinking everything would be fine. Afterward, I had a horrible emotional reaction to the c/s. I was joyful to have my baby, but felt extreamely violated and afraid from the surgery.

This time, I was determined to relax and enjoy my pregnancy as well as do everything in my power for a VBAC. I have had to fight a lot so far. My baby went breech somewhere between 28-31 weeks, but this time I spoke to a doula (the same doula I could have had w/ DD but I was too chicken to call her) whose DH is a chiro. He has been seeing me for the Webster Technique for a few weeks and the baby went vertex by at least the 3rd adjustment. My OB has been trying subtly (and not so subtly sometimes) to discourage the VBAC, but I have been very strong. I've been praying very hard that God will open all the doors to this VBAC if it is his will I should have one. And I seem to by flying over every obstacle. Baby is head down and anterior (I was worried b/c he was posterior for awhile). Baby is dropping into the pelvis (-3 as of my last visit, but he feels much lower this weekend). I'm 1cm dilated and 50% effaced. None of this stuff happened w/ DD and I am ecstatic that my body actually knows what to do.

While I'll never be happy that I had a c/s, I do feel like it woke me up to some issues I really needed to work through. This pg has been a journey of self discovery and I am grateful, regardless of the outcome.

[Rach]

I had PIH and developed into Pre-eclampsia. The induction was rushed, therefore failed as I was on a timeline to give birth [so sorry to waste their time!!] and the baby went into distress. I was filled back up with saline, contractions were stopped and I was wheeled in for a c-section.

This time around, I am paying more attention to my body and I refuse to let anyone tell me anything that doesn't sound right or make sense. If something feels wrong, I will say so and stand up for myself and my baby.

[Sagesgirl]

Two footling breeches, and study (from what I know realize are very mainstream sources) that indicated such was an impossibly presentation for vaginal birth. I now realize it is breech delivery that causes most of the problems, not breech birth. Still, I made the best decision I could with the information I had available to me at the time.

[dlm194]

The ob and medwive told me that I had a small pelvis. I'm 5'8" and I couldn't deliver an 8 lb, 6oz baby. The ob said that he sees this with taller women sometimes b/c they have a growth spurt at some point in their lives and their pelvis doesn't grow fast enough. As a result, my pelvis is more of an oval shape than round to allow for the passage of a baby. I was in labor for 29 hours and the only progress I made was due to the medwive trying to manually dilate me and then getting annoyed when I would wiggle away in pain.

Based on my research I am not convinced that I have CPD since it's rare and I have every reason to believe that I can have vaginal delivery next time so I will be looking for new midwives to help me in that goal.

Looking back, I think the hospital terrified me, the pitocin made me nauseous, I was shaking uncontrollabley, the medwive gave me stadol with made everything fuzzy, then an epidural with pinned me to the bed. It's a wonder I couldn't dilate!