VBAC Success

Just wanted to share my VBAC experience for anyone that is thinking about having one. DS#1 was an emergency C at 34 weeks. Recovery was very rough for me so this time around I wanted to try a VBAC. My OB was on board and said I was a good candidate. My scheduled c/s was booked for 5/31 but my water broke on 5/22 at 5am. My goal was to labor at home as much as possible but there was a good amount of bright red blood so I got nervous and called her office. The Dr on call told me to come in right away. We got in around 630am and when the PA gave me an internal she told me I was 1 cm and long. The on call dr walked in she basically told me I was only 1 cm and long and there was no way I was having this baby naturally considering my water already broke. I wasn't in active labor so we should proceed with a c/s. I was so upset and questioned why she wasn't letting me try, my water just broke and that could get things moving along. She again emphasized that the contractions I was having were irregular and it wasn't active labor and this would be a waste. So I stuck to my guns and said I didn't want a c/s - the baby wasn't in any distress bc her heart rate was fine and I was having some contractions so let's see if anything picked up. She told me she was giving me until 8am. At 830am she went on a break and another dr from the practice came in to speak to me. She told me she would give me until 11:30 am and recheck me. If I was at 3cm they would let me labor longer. I started walking around and noticed the contractions picking up. They were uncomfortable but not terrible. They moved me from triage to a small room in the recovery section around 9am and that's when contractions got intense. They got closer together and were lasting really long. It was awful and I really considered tapping out. I thought if it's this bad now when I'm barely dilated how am I going to make it to 10cm? By 10:45 I was begging for pain meds. My nurse suggested that I get checked and if I had made any progress she could give me something. The 2nd on call dr came in to check me but I was contracting so often that I couldn't even stay still for an internal. She ordered the EPI and then would check me to see how we would proceed. Getting the EPI wasn't any fun either bc I couldn't stay still long enough for him to do what he had to do. He got it in around 11:30 and by 11:45 I started to feel some relief but could still feel the contractions. The 2nd on call dr came in to check me again and was shocked that I was 7 cm and 70% effaced. We were all in complete shock. She explained to me that her shift was ending at 1 so the 1st dr would take over again. I was nervous about that but there wasn't anything I could do. I was moved to L&D around 12:45 and dr came in to check me around 1:30. I was 10cm dilated but baby was still high so we were going to wait a little longer to let her drop. We were again totally shocked since it was happening so fast. By 2pm she told me the baby's head was right there and we could start pushing. She told me she had to give me an episiotomy bc it was tight ... I didn't want to argue with her again and picked my battles and let it be. I pushed for 25 minutes and baby girl made her appearance! Recovery from the episiotomy was uncomfortable but nothing in comparison to my C. I was able to come home and carry my 20 month old without any issues 2 days later which I could have never done with a C. The experience itself was also so much better. I got to hold DD right away and nurse her.

My advice is to educate yourself on VBACs if it's something you wish to attempt. Know when to be an advocate for yourself and when you really should follow the dr's advice.

VBAC Success

Congrats. So glad you got your VBAC!