[Mod-quietsong]

I know we had a number of us going for a VBAC, and I know some got theirs and some didn't. Check in with us! If you got your VBAC, how was it, did it go the way you hoped? If you didn't, how are you handling that?

[Jintana]

Didn't get it but it's just a story now

[UrbanMomma]

My sections were #4 and #7, but I am still a VBAC momma. I got mine again this time even though the docs/mws act like my uterus is going to explode each time.

It went great because I gave them no time to harass me. I went in at 10cm and ready to push.

[Mod-quietsong]

I laughed out loud at your "my uterus is going to explode" comment, that's hilarious and yet sadly true! I was also amazed at how...surprised...unusual...the hospital thought I was as a VBAC. I got a lot of "oh! you're the VBAC we heard was happening!" during and after my labor. Apparently, we're a rare and unusual species?

[woohoo502]

I spent most of my pregnancy on the fence about trying for the VBAC. I decided if he tried to come in his own, I would try it. Well, then my water broke in the middle of the night. I didn't start contracting though. We decided on the way to the hospital if I was dilated and making progress, I would labor and try for the VBAC. Well, I was not anymore dilated than my appointment earlier in the week, not thinned out at all, not contracting, and he was still floating high.

I made the executive decision to just do the csection, because I knew they wouldn't use pitocin to bring on labor, and if I spent all day in labor, to only end up with the section, I would have been mad with my decision.

I'm fine with how his birth turned out. In the end, he was in my arms, safe and sound, and that is what matters to me the most.

[Mod-quietsong]

Whitney, I would have made the same decision. That ticking clock with the water broken and having the hospital wanting to section because of it...bleh, not worth it if you aren't going into labor right away.

[WhoaMomma!]

Didn't get it. I had an acupuncture treatment to try and bring on labor at 41w3d. Had tons of contractions, pressure, upset stomach etc. That was Friday morning. By Sunday night the contractions were getting much more intense but still not regular. Woke up Monday morning at 3:30am with contractions 15min apart. By 6am they were down to 5min apart. I ended up laboring with membranes in tact all day Monday with no progress. Tuesday afternoon I was still 5 min apart, 1 min each and had still made no progress. They sent me for a fetal biophysical profile to make sure baby was tolerating all the labor OK since I was doing it at home without any monitoring. Baby was sluggish on the NST but did eventually pass. But we scored a 7 on the AFI ultrasound. Midwives were nervous, but told me sometimes fluid can be low (they wanted to see it at least 8, preferably 10) from dehydration. So they told me to go home, drink a lot of water, and we would repeat the BPP the next morning at a radiology place (as opposed to the office) to make sure the machine wasn't messing up the measurements of the fluid pockets bc it's old. So I went home, drank a ton, continued to labor. Went in the next morning for my BPP. That morning the contractions had spaced out to about 7 min apart, and I had only felt the baby move a couple of times since the NST the day before. We BOMBED the followup BPP. Baby scored a 2/8 with zeros for muscle tone, movement, and amniotic fluid. They only found one tiny pocket to measure and asked me if I was leaking or had broken my water the night before bc they couldn't figure out how I could go from a 7 to almost nothing in less than 24 hours unless my water broke (which it didn't). So we went to the hospital for a NST. Baby was unresponsive on the NST. My OB came in and told me that the baby needed to come out. He believed she was too stressed from the long labor (I was at about 58 hour by then starting from the 3:30am wakeup - but of course I had been having irregular contractions for 2 days before that even) and without any amniotic cushion he didn't think she could hang in there long enough for me to get to 10cm considering that I STILL wasn't making any cervical progress. He also didn't think based on her performance on the NST and the ultrasound that there was any way she could tolerate pitocin. They gave me the choice of trying induction or going straight for the c/s. By then I wanted her OUT. I can't even begin to tell you how scary it is to watch your baby on an ultrasound lay there and not move at all. She didn't flex muscles, she didn't kick, she didn't stretch. The only movement of any kind we saw was an occasional practice breath. So I asked them to just go in and get her. When they made the incision, there was no amniotic fluid left at all and she was born severely dehydrated.

I'm doing quite well - much better than I expected. I went into labor on my own. I labored at home. I did it on my own terms. I gave it a 100% effort, and I had VERY supportive midwives and a wonderful OB. I genuinely believe if they had not done the BPP we might have lost her. I'm not sure how long babies can survive in the womb with no amniotic fluid at all, but I'm sure it's not indefinite. And I was nowhere near the point where I would have been admitted or put on a monitor, and CERTAINLY nowhere near delivering.

My only pang of sadness (if you could even call it that - concern might be a more accurate word) is that they told me after my c/s my placenta had basically crapped out and wasn't transfusing the water I was drinking to the baby. Essentially it just stopped working and stopped hydrating/feeding her. They said this is a problem that will likely happen in subsequent pregnancies and tends to happen sooner each time. So my NEXT pregnancy will be more closely monitored at the end and they will want me to have a scheduled c/s at 39 weeks. But my babies are small and tend to take longer than the average bear to mature. So that makes me a little bit sad that a VBA2C is completely out of the question (unless I magically go into labor before 39 weeks which totally won't happen) and that I will be racing to try and finish growing a healthy baby before my placenta shuts down. The same thing happened to my mother (though after her 3rd, not her 2nd) so I wonder if it's somehow genetic?

[Fluffy Baby]

Oh wow Danielle. I did not know your VBAC story. I am so glad they were on you at the end. As you know, I had a stillborn and he died right at 41w6d or so (was not sure of dates due to being on birth control pills). I was waiting for labor for my VBAC too. I can't even describe the guilt I feel. I am glad you had a better outcome. <3

[Mod-quietsong]

Gosh, Danielle, how scary! My last ultrasound with Danny was much the same - minimal movement, no fluid - and you're right, there isn't a whole lot that compares. I'm so glad they were watching so carefully though and were able to get her out for you. It sucks that your chances of a VBAC as so slim next time though.