Well, I guess you could say I'm attempting my second vbac. My first vbac attempt ended in a repeat cesarean. It's a long story but my dates were way off, first of all. The hospital insisted I was at 42 weeks and 2 days, and the midwives there threatened to drop me from their care unless I submitted to induction by AROM. I was 4cm dialated with off and on labor at that point. So I agreed, and it turned into an awful, long labor with a malpositioned baby. I actually pushed for 3 hours before doing another cesarean.
Anyway, the hospital experience I had was not very positive -- I couldn't STAND the constant EFM, even though it was a telemetry belt. And I made a huge mistake in not getting a good doula. I told myself next time would be different.
So this time I'm planning a homebirth with a midwife who lives 10 min from a major hospital. I live on an island with a tiny hospital, so we're birthing at her house in case we need to transfer quickly. I have a doula and also the midwife has an assistant, and they are so so so incredibly supportive it's amazing. They make me feel so great about everything, and about my choice. I love them.
DH is very supportive as well. He was also very disappointed that our last birth turned into a cbac... it was emotionally hard for both of us. He's probably the only DH who has ever said, "Man, I wish that baby would have come out of your vagina!!!"
I'm going for a vbac again rather than a repeat cesarean basically for two reasons: 1. I very strongly believe in the importance and power of natural childbirth for both mother and baby, and I believe that vbac (even vba2c) is essentially safe, with very low risk. 2. I can't imagine scheduling a cesarean unless I was at least at 42 weeks. If I would have scheduled a cesarean with my DD, who obviously wasn't ready to come out, she would have been over 3 weeks early, and probably only 6.5 lbs. I have 8.5-9 lb babies -- I think that's normal for me.
The journey of vbacing has changed me as a person. It's made me much more of an informed consumer of everything, health care being the first. I can't stand talking to doctors who use fear tactics to scare women away from vbacing... I've become very interested in the politics of vbac and childbirth, and really the state of modern maternity care in this country just infuriates me sometimes!! (sorry, soapbox!)
Anyway, I'm 39 weeks today, due next weekend. I'm feeling pretty confident about it... and super super ready to just DO it!!!
Looking forward to seeing how that last 2 inches can change things for the better.
