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VBAC-ers check in

604 views 9 replies 9 participants last post by  sunshinesmommy 
#1 ·
How is everyone doing? What are you doing this time around in preparation? Do you have "a plan?" Any fears or unanswered quesitons creeping up? Can we be each others cheerleaders these last months?!!?


I know that here at 25 weeks I am getting more aprehensive about another hospital birth and yet feeling "stuck" as to what my options really are. I've returned to the same MW group practice that I had my first daughter with 2 years ago, and I have intentionally avoided meeting with the midwife that "called it" last time. Hmmmm.... my big struggle is can I trust my body again if it is the same mid-wife on call when I am in labor, or will my body remember? I'm afraid I already know the answer...

I'm slowly asking questions about what a VBAC will look like and so far I am getting a lot of "It depends." "we will see how you are doing" types of vague-ness. I guess I need to be brave and ask the concrete questions I am dreading, like "Will there be constant monitoring."

Ohhhh... if only I could get to the hospital 3-7 minutes before my little one emerges into the world!! My stuggle has become that I think I am truly a home-birther at heart, so now what?
 
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#2 ·
Oh, yeah, I've been thinking the same thing...hmmm, maybe I can labor at home until the baby is crowning (I live 1 mile from the hospital), then I'll be sure to get a VBAC.


Seriously, I just started the hypnobirthing program (book + CDs), and the relaxation is helping already. I feel like the relaxation will help me at every stage, and even if I end with w/another surgical birth, the techniques will help me heal faster. I am also hiring a doula who has personal and professional experience with VBACs and visualization techniques (she's writing a book on birth visualization). And my big secret plan is to buy a double breast pump and start going at it about 10 days before my due date (I have flat nipples anyway, so I need extra help everting them), take some EPO starting 10 days before my due date, go to an acupncturist and spend a lot of time sitting on a nice warm heating pad.
DH is convinced I'll need another c-section, so I don't have much support from him on these strategies, unfortunately. Hope this helps.
 
#3 ·
I was having serious, recurrent nightmares about returning to the hospital.
: So I decided not to. DH is reluctantly supportive. I hired a hbmw. It is newly legal in my state and her paperwork isn't all done so in addition to her I get her "supervising" mw (who is up on all her paperwork) at no additional fee. I also hired a doula. I will go to the hospital only in the event of an extreme emergency.

To placate DH I agreed to continuing prenatal care with the ob. Already I hear things I don't like from the ob. I'm not sure I'm going to continue going. DH told me after my last appointment that if I don't want to go anymore he's okay with it. The current dilemna is that my baby is (at the moment) breech. If I drop the ob and the baby doesn't turn then I'll have to find someone else at the very end. So for right now I'm just spacing my appointments F A R apart.

I took a hypnobirthing class and do the cd's regularly. One of them puts me to sleep everytime. Guess you can't get more relaxed than that.


I feel like I'm doing everything I possibly can to avoid another c/s. At least this way I (hopefully) won't feel like the birth of my child was stolen from me and I didn't really do it, which is how I felt after the last one.
 
#4 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by Fay View Post
And my big secret plan is to buy a double breast pump and start going at it about 10 days before my due date (I have flat nipples anyway, so I need extra help everting them), take some EPO starting 10 days before my due date, go to an acupncturist and spend a lot of time sitting on a nice warm heating pad.

Be careful going to the acupuncturist. I was overdue with my last child and went for acupuncture. Three hours later I was in labor. It works. I know other women with similar experiences. I'm not saying don't do it, I'm just saying please think hard about it and make sure you are really ready before you do.
 
#5 ·
I really am trying for a VBAC, I had midwives who agreed to delivery me at the hospital just no hb because my C/S was not that long ago. But now that I have GD and low blood pressure they have not so nicely transfered me to an OB (the one who did my C/S) I have to see him on Tuesday, but i know that they will not induce me and last time my water broke and i never had any contractions till they gave me the pit so i'm super scared of that happening again, with the pit i never got passed 3cm after 33 hours of it and DS heartbeat was having a hard time and i was getting a fever so off to the OR it was. DH is not supportive of the VBAC because he worries about abrubtion and thinks we should just plan a C/S.


Anyway the OB that i have is great and i know he will give me the information i need, to decide what to do.
 
#6 ·
HVBAC hopeful here. We've got a supportive midwife, and I'm trying to put together a cohesive birth plan that I believe in (I had one, but when I talked about it to my accupuncturist I found myself laughing at it, like it was a fantasy...heh).

Our issues are mostly focused around my mw, who is due with her first child any day. We're worried she won't be available for our delivery at the 11th hour. Also we live in a new (to us) 100+ y.o. house that still needs a lot of work and I've realized that I don't have a lot of spaces that seem safe for laboring. So...the VBAC thing doesn't seem all that highly prioritized comparatively these days.

I really believe I can do it and I'm doing yoga daily and working hard on being prepared as much as I can.
 
#7 ·
my biggest advice is this

#1. DO NOT GET INDUCED!

#2. Try to labor with our drugs. Epis tie you to the bed and labor can stall. I urge women to labor the way they want. I have to stand up. It really drives the nurses crazy but I do it anyway.

#3. Refuse the IV, if you must let them hep lock you ( just the iv in you hand so it is ready to hook up if need be) being free of the IV allows you greater movement.

I never was allowed to labor with out the external monitor but I wish I could have been. Stupd thing is always in the way.

Good Luck to all of you!
Remember, you are in charge! You are the patient, You are paying them to work WITH you.
Make sure your Support person knows EXACTLY what you want so they can advocate for you when you cannot. Staff love to come at you during a contraction and ask you stuff. Who can say no to pain meds when breathing through a contraction?
 
#8 ·
The PP was right... don't allow induction. This can cause uterine rupture in a former c/sec mom. No pitocin to augment labor, either.

No drugs... they can mask underlying problems and cause even more interventions.

About the external monitoring... if they absolutely MUST have it, ask if they have any telemetry units. They allow you freedom of movement, and transmit the signals to the nursing station.

Have your DP or a doula there who you are confident will advocate for you and your birth choices.

Homebirth if you can... much less intervention this way.


My first was a c/sec... then I had 3 hospital VBACs back when VBACing was in vogue. I'm now working on my 4th homebirth. The homebirths have been much better for my own comfort and peace of mind.


Do all you can to promote good positioning in the baby as you approach labor... breech at this point is really not important. Baby still has a lot of growing and moving to do.
 
#10 ·
I had tragic unnessecary "C" and if I were in the same area I would never use that MW again. I found a HBMW and got my reluctant DH on board with a HBAC. I have to say honestly that I feel it is the safest way for me to birth this time and I feel like if I went to the hosp I would get maybe a 10% chance of a VBAC if that much. My advise:
1) If your not happy with your practice leave, even if it's like 2 days before your EDD, if you don't trust your provider it's not the right person for you.
2) Avoid all intervention. Most are unnessessary and are geared to lead to that "C".
3) Meditate, talk to your baby and trust your heart.
 
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