elizy
15-07-2006, 21:39
After having an emergency c/s with my first daughter Lily (due to foetal distress and didn't experience labour) I was keen to try for a VBAC. Mainly b/c I want to have 5 children and had been told they generally will only do 3 c/s. I was a bit anxious thinking about it during the pregnancy and thought there was a pretty good chance I would end up having a c/s again but wanted to at least see how it would go. I had a When the big day came I didn't even think about it or my scar.
As my due date came and went i knew there was greater chance of having a c/s as they would only induce me by natural methods due to previous c/s. At 41 weeks and one day I woke in the morning experiencing short pangs in the pelvic area. These were about ten minutes apart and I just thought it was the head becoming engaged and putting pressure on my pelvic area. As the day progressed the pains became more regular but not that painful and I started to think I was having pre labour pains but wasn't getting too excited as I'd heard these can occur days before established labour. By early evening they were a little more painful and at times coming 2 minutes apart. Around 8pm after a bath I noticed a discharge I was a little worried about so I decided to ring the hospital. They wern't too concerned and said it was probably due to the membrane sweep I had a few days ago. They said I could come in so they could check the heartbeat if I wanted to but wern't too fussed. We decided to go in (we had nothing else to do) and they monitored the heartbeat as well as the uterine activity. The heartbeat was fine and they were interested in the uterine activity. They kept asking if I had been in pain, obviously somthing was showing up on the monitor. They decided to do and internal exam. and told me if anything was happening they would break my waters otherwise I would go home. When they told me I was 3cm dilated I burst out laughing, I couldn't beleive it was actually happened. At 10.30pm they broke my waters and things began to progress steadily from there. Initially the contractions wern't too bad and I just tried to breathe/walk through them. Although I had to be monitored throughout I was lucky they used a wireless one which could go in the shower. Eventually I got into the shower and that provided some relief and I didn't want to get out. About 2am I asked for the gas. It was a bit hard to use but when I go it co-ordinated it was good. At 2.30am they examined me and found I was 8cm. We were all very excited that everything was progressing so well. After increasing the gas 3 times I hit the wall (or transition) and was saying "I can't do this, I want to go home". At this point I asked for an epidural but was told the baby would probably be here by the time the epidural had been arranged and kicked in. I opted for pethidine b/c I wanted somthing right then. Although I had to lay on the bed the pethidine was wonderful. It wasn't long before I was talking rubbish and embarrassing my husband. At approximatly 4.30am I felt the need to push. The pushing wasn't too painful and at 5.35am our baby was born. I'll never forget the feeling of the final push and the midwife throwing our baby on my chest. It was amazing!
Overall we were happy with the support the midwives provided us and I was very proud of how supportive my husband was. We felt very lucky things progressed so well and both my husband and I felt we had achieved something great and feel closer for it. Even though I had a fairly good recovery from my previous c/s it felt so good to be walking around straight away & with a toddler at home I needed a quick recovery. I did end up having 6 stitches this time which hurt when I went to the toilet but that pain went after about a week.
So for anyone considering a VBAC I strongly recommend giving it a go. You just never know how it could turn out and giving birth vaginally is amazing!!
As my due date came and went i knew there was greater chance of having a c/s as they would only induce me by natural methods due to previous c/s. At 41 weeks and one day I woke in the morning experiencing short pangs in the pelvic area. These were about ten minutes apart and I just thought it was the head becoming engaged and putting pressure on my pelvic area. As the day progressed the pains became more regular but not that painful and I started to think I was having pre labour pains but wasn't getting too excited as I'd heard these can occur days before established labour. By early evening they were a little more painful and at times coming 2 minutes apart. Around 8pm after a bath I noticed a discharge I was a little worried about so I decided to ring the hospital. They wern't too concerned and said it was probably due to the membrane sweep I had a few days ago. They said I could come in so they could check the heartbeat if I wanted to but wern't too fussed. We decided to go in (we had nothing else to do) and they monitored the heartbeat as well as the uterine activity. The heartbeat was fine and they were interested in the uterine activity. They kept asking if I had been in pain, obviously somthing was showing up on the monitor. They decided to do and internal exam. and told me if anything was happening they would break my waters otherwise I would go home. When they told me I was 3cm dilated I burst out laughing, I couldn't beleive it was actually happened. At 10.30pm they broke my waters and things began to progress steadily from there. Initially the contractions wern't too bad and I just tried to breathe/walk through them. Although I had to be monitored throughout I was lucky they used a wireless one which could go in the shower. Eventually I got into the shower and that provided some relief and I didn't want to get out. About 2am I asked for the gas. It was a bit hard to use but when I go it co-ordinated it was good. At 2.30am they examined me and found I was 8cm. We were all very excited that everything was progressing so well. After increasing the gas 3 times I hit the wall (or transition) and was saying "I can't do this, I want to go home". At this point I asked for an epidural but was told the baby would probably be here by the time the epidural had been arranged and kicked in. I opted for pethidine b/c I wanted somthing right then. Although I had to lay on the bed the pethidine was wonderful. It wasn't long before I was talking rubbish and embarrassing my husband. At approximatly 4.30am I felt the need to push. The pushing wasn't too painful and at 5.35am our baby was born. I'll never forget the feeling of the final push and the midwife throwing our baby on my chest. It was amazing!
Overall we were happy with the support the midwives provided us and I was very proud of how supportive my husband was. We felt very lucky things progressed so well and both my husband and I felt we had achieved something great and feel closer for it. Even though I had a fairly good recovery from my previous c/s it felt so good to be walking around straight away & with a toddler at home I needed a quick recovery. I did end up having 6 stitches this time which hurt when I went to the toilet but that pain went after about a week.
So for anyone considering a VBAC I strongly recommend giving it a go. You just never know how it could turn out and giving birth vaginally is amazing!!