Hannah Grace....my attempted VBAC....

I was tryng for a VBAC so I figured this story might be helpful. I will say even after alllllllll this I am still glad I tried.

DD1 was born via csection after a very similar story to this EXCEPT. She was 9 days late, I had pregnancy enduced hypertension and developed preeclampsia during labor (was put on magnesium) and she was sunny side up. Drs thought that those were all factors in why I couldnt push her out (I pushed for about 2 hours, was in a tremendous amount of pain bc my epi wasnt working and I was on high doses of pitocin etc.) I never wrote a birth story for her because it was somewhat traumatic for me and I still dont really remember most of it.

With this one, I figured if baby was in position and i didnt have the comlications I did with DD1 I would try...drs agreeed.

I went into labor at abut 3am on my due date (4/28). I was up timing contractions and they were about 10-20 minutes apart so I knew it would be a while. DH went to work to take care of some things and then came home. As the day went on the contractions would get worse for a little while but then by early afternoon were spreading further apart. I was already exhausted at this point but decided to call my drs office before they closed and get checked out. My mom picked up Sadie and we went in. They had me on the monitor and my contractions were pretty far apart. The dr checked me and I was like 3cms. He said he'd probably see me at some point friday and to go out to eat, walk around, see if anything progresses, but he thought it would be at least another day.

DH and I went out to eat to Cheesecake factory and I ate spicy buffalo chicken crispers....welll by the time we left there, I was dying. I thought maybe it was just from the spicy food so I had my mom bring Sadie back so we could put her to bed and told her to keep her phone on because I might need her to come back in the middle of the night. AHHH. I should have never let her leave. I started having very strong and close contractions....back labor too.....and I made DH call her about 15 minutes later to come back. We headed to the hospital, and I was contractioning every 2-4 minutes. They frekkin hurt...way worse than my contractions with Sadie. I was abut 4cms so they decided to admit me and I requested an epidural which was aweeesoommmmee. I was able to rest throughout the night and I progressed on my own very well. Drs thought Id have no prblem and were so happy I was progressing well. My water broke around 3am and right around royal wedding time (HAHA) I was 10 cms. They wanted to let the baby drop more before I started pushing. About an hour later I was in ALOT of pain....my back was AWFUL. I wound up pushing hard for a little over 3 hours. At that point, even though I was pushing the correct way, the same thing happened as with Sadie....the baby just didnt want to descend. My dr said the baby was still too high to even try a vacuum or forceps and he really thought we had to throw in the towel. I agreed and so did all the nurses that were helping with the pushing. Prolem was, I was now emotionaly and physically exhausted and in a tremedous amount of pain. I had a serious panic attack during the surgery and they had to give me valium to calm me down.

Hannah was born at 949 and did not cry when she came out. I was FREAKING (which led to more valium) and no one would tell me what was going on but it turns out she was fine, just quiet and probably tired from all the labor and pushing.

Apparently I lost a lot of blood during the csection and my counts were all crazy. I was in recovery for 6 hours until they stablized my pulse, and blood pressure. I really was just exhausted from everything and wanted to be in a room to rest.I called and txted a few people but really, I was so ut of it I had to rely on DH to tell everone she was here. I didnt get to a room till like 4/430 and got to see Hannah again (they let her stay with me in recovery for like an hour before they took her). I was in bad shape though, and DH had to go home to Sadie so my mom came up to help me get settled for the night. Saturday was better, but they still had me hooked up to everything and I just wanted to shower and put clothes on. They were afraid, because my blood counts were so off, that I would pass out from the hot water. Blah Blah...I was fine and never even took pain meds.

So that was that.... I didt get my VBAC but I know I did everything I could and I am glad that I was able to experience labor a second time even though it was hard and long. My recovery from the second C has been totally fine....my body was just SORE from all the labor and pushing.

Hannah Grace
4/29
7lbs1oz/20in
949am

Re: Hannah Grace....my attempted VBAC....

She is absolutely beautiful! Congratulations on a job very well done -- you should feel very proud for how hard you tried! You did a great job and will always know you tried your hardest. Let's hope she keeps that calm temperament through childhood. Congrats to bib sis Sadie too!

Re: Hannah Grace....my attempted VBAC....

She's so beautiful!

Re: Hannah Grace....my attempted VBAC....

I'm sorry you didn't get your VBAC, but you really tried!
Your DD is beautiful, just like her name!

Re: Hannah Grace....my attempted VBAC....

beautiful baby!

amazing story ~ thank you for sharing!

Re: Hannah Grace....my attempted VBAC....

Jen, VBAC or not, that's a great birth story! I am so glad you got to try She's gorgeous, totally Sadie's twin!!