[First Time Mama]

<p> I planned a homebirth with my son, who is now three years old. After a long labor and and over 5 hours of pushing with no progress I ended up with a transfer and a c section. I was devestated and heartbroken over my son's traumatic arrival and it challenged all of my beiefs about my body and my beliefs about birth. I am now anticipating my vbac any week now. I am planning a hbac with very supportive midwives, but have had to deal with a lot of fears and anxieties throughout this pregnancy. I have lurked on this forum for a long time but, not posted much, but wanted to introduce myself.</p>

 

[buckeyedoc]

<p>Well, I just want to say that I am excited for you, and I am rooting for you! All births and babies are different. Since 70-80% of VBAC attempts lead to vaginal delivery, why not yours? Sounds like you are in good hands.</p>

 

[LisaSedai]

<p>Welcome! Did they hazard a guess as to what happened in your first labor? I'm sorry you pushed for 5 hours, then got a c/section on top of it.Not fair! Like PP said, every birth is different and I hope this time you get a happy healthy homebirth. Have you been trying anything new like spinning babies exersize/ yoga /accupuncture/ chiro? Your siggy cut off, you're hoping for a..... ?</p>

 

[First Time Mama]

<p>  When the MDC fourms got their new format, it cut off my siggy for some reason. It just says hoping for a hbac. After the c/s at the hospital I was told my son was posterior and when I looked at my medical records with my current midwife we saw that DS was still really high (I think -2 station) during the time I had been pushing. He never descended during the hours of pushing. We tried all sorts of positions and things at home to no avail. When I transferred my cervix was so swollen I was told a c/s was my only opiton. That and baby was not having great variability in FHT's so I guess that concerned them. I remember an oxygen mask over my face. But it wasn't an emergency and the way the decision was taken out of my hands and the way we were treated as a homebirth transfer was traumatic. Talking with my midwife a few months after DS was born, she thought that DS head was deflexed and that caused him to not be able to descend. I think that malposition was a factor, but my midwives also broke my water, and I think that contributed to him getting stuck in a malposition and he couldn't get into my pelvis. In retrospect, I feel I also started pushing much to early, before I felt an urge. So this time, I don't want anyone telling me when to push, I want to wait for the urge, and I don't want my water broken. Most of my previous labor went very well, and I coped all right for almost 30 hours, until the pushing didn't work. I have a lot of confidence in my current midwives (different ones than with my first), and I am trying to build up confidence in my body again. I have been aware of positioning this time, avoiding reclining and have been doing knee/chest and cat/cow exercises. My sister is a chiro and I get adjusted when I see her, not as often as I'd like though. I really believe that if I am able to labor unhindered and follow my body's instincts that I can birth this baby.</p>

 

[coraljean]

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[MNHall]

<p>It sounds like you're preparing great! </p>
<p> </p>
<p>My first was fairly similar to yours, although I was induced for no reason other than I was uneducated about it at the time and my OB took advantage of an excited first time mama!  Anyway, I also was only allowed to push for 2 hours, then my time was up.  But, like you said, my baby was malpositioned, I started pushing without the urge and he was still at -3 station, so we were pushing to get him down...not even pushing to get him out!</p>
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<p>Anyway, I had my #2 via vbac, but I still had some malpositioning issues, I think I was fairly "lucky" in that she came 3 weeks earlier and she did descend more into my pelvis.  But she was still malpositioned, so my OB was able to reach up there and turn her!  EEEEKK!  But anyway,</p>
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<p>THIS TIME...I've prepared my body physically, like it sounds like you are doing.  Between yoga, sitting properly, and chiropractic visits, I'm hoping/planning that my body is in better alignment to allow my baby to decent and rotate properly through the birth canal.  Through visiting the chiropractor, I did find out that I have an extremely tight periformis muscle on one side of my body.  And this is a muscle right in your pelvis, so to her, it made sense that my babies sort of wanted to stay in their position...it's where they fit best.</p>
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<p>But, with lots of physical changes, this time, for both of us, I bet it will be a very different pushing experience!  Our bodies are more in alignment, the way that a baby will be able to position itself correctly to just come on out!    </p>