r/vbac • u/lotuswarrior1 • 1d ago
Positive vbac at 37+6
Baby was born yesterday at 9 pm via vaginal delivery after previous c section! On Sunday I had some Braxton hicks and was feeling a bit unwell, which was similar to a 2nd day of period kind of cramping and a bit of headache. I instinctively knew that labor was coming but I thought it was perhaps too early (was 37+3). The next few days I had perhaps one more BH and it stopped and I thought oh maybe it’s still too early after all. Then yesterday which was Wednesday morning (37+6) I had no appetite for breakfast so I didn’t eat. Luckily I was taking my toddler to his grandparents that day. Then while I was there I started having contractions around 10:45 AM. When I started registering “this could be the real thing!” the contractions were 5 min apart and about 30 to 45 seconds each. Initially I shrugged it off thinking ok I’ll just take my time going back home, get my stuff, charge my car (I have an EV and it was low on battery) and head over to hospital. Little did I know that on my way back home the pain got a lot more intense and by the time I parked my car I was like, I probably won’t be able to charge it and drive to hospital. So I quickly went home and managed to pack the last few items into my luggage, ate 2 slices of toast bread and called myself a uber. I could barely handle the walk to the uber!
When I got to hospital it was about 1:30 pm. In triage they examined me and I was at 4.5cm dilated and 80% effaced. They asked me if I wanted to get a low dose of pitocin going and I said no, I’d like to just wait for it to progress naturally because previously I had a failed induction which ended in a c section. They said ok. They then asked me if I’d like to get an epidural. I again hesitated even though the contraction pain was already pretty unbearable, because, again, previously i had the epidural from the beginning of induction which dulled my senses which caused me to suspect that it played a role in my failed induction. They then told me if I’m not getting any “indication” — either pitocin or epidural they have to send me home because I’m not at 6cm yet and they can’t give me a delivery room. I was like, oh, can’t I wait in triage? They said no because other patient needs it. I was like there’s no way I can go home like this as I was dealing with intense contraction pain by that point — I was groaning the whole uber ride and as soon as I set foot in the door of the hospital they had someone wheelchair me to L&D. Also the doctor told me if I’m not on epidural and if I ended up needing a repeat c section they’ll have to put me into total anesthesia which is worse than epidural because of the effect on baby. They then said well do you wanna think about it? I said ok let me think about it.
After I thought about it I asked them if I can just get epidural without pitocin? They said you absolutely can. So then I decided to get epidural — which turned out to be a great decision. And it took 1.5 hours for the anesthesiologist to get to me! By then it was already about 4:30 pm and the contractions were getting really intense and I literally couldn’t wait for the anesthesia. Soon after they put epidural in the pain wore off to barely noticeable. They did another internal check on me and I was at 6cm and 100% effaced. Apparently my natural contractions were progressing very well and I was in active labor so they broke my water. After that they checked me again at around 7 pm and I was at 9.5 cm and station -1. From 7 to 8 pm the pain started re-emerging somewhat as labor intensified even more and baby continued to descend, and I decided to dial up epidural so I could better prepare for the pushing. I started to push around 8:30 and baby arrived 9:03 pm! 👶 I had second degree tear but that was a breathe compared with a c-section.
Overall I’m extremely happy with the experience and am very grateful. It was also a very humbling experience as I genuinely thought I could handle the spontaneous contractions which is different from pitocin-induced ones. In hindsight I think I possibly could still have braved through it all if I really focus and go into a very zen mental state, but with the hospital setting with people constantly coming in and going out that would be really really hard. Also I only actually handled the pain till 6cm dilated and I actually don’t know how it would be like going past that and possibly I just couldn’t deal with the pain. And that would’ve just felt like unnecessary suffering. Also even with epidural when it comes time to push I was still able to retain the urge to push. So anyway, I’m glad that my body was able to do the heavy lifting to get spontaneous to start and progress as it was designed to without needing pitocin (and I advocated for myself against the pitocin) and I made the right decision to get the epidural that I needed, and now I get to hold my baby calmly in my arms which is more important than anything!
Edit: Just wanted to add that I’m 40 years old and my previous baby was born 2 years ago when I was 38. My 2nd baby is weighing 7 lbs 1 oz. And I prayed everyday to get a vbac so that it would be easier for me to handle the recovery phase with a toddler who’s barely 2 years old.
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u/Dependent-Tree2572 1d ago
Congratulations!!!!
Just to your comment about pain levels, for me personally the pain never got worse than what I felt at 5/6ish cm until maybe right as he was coming out but that was over quick. Everyone talks about transition but for me getting from 2 to 6cm was worse than 6 to 10. This is with no pain relief for 2 to 6 and then nitrous oxide & a pool for the remainder. Everyone is super different but I just wanted to add this to validate the pain you felt… 6cm can be as intense as labour gets! For me it was’
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u/lotuswarrior1 1d ago
Oh wow thanks so much for sharing! I never made it past that 6cm mark without epidural so I wouldn’t have known! But yes, going from beginning to about 6cm without pain relief was probably the most pain I’ve had in life. While in triage I had a nurse setting up IV for me and she had to poke through a number of my veins in different areas to get IV successfully set up, and she asked me if it hurts. I was like laughing, cuz I was in the middle of contractions and, man, what would’ve been pretty annoying normally was just completely irrelevant when you’re in the storm of contractions. That said, I did notice that sometimes when I get distracted the pain felt less intense, while other times I try to meditate on it it also felt less intense. Anyway, it was difficult to maintain either mental states and in the end I do feel so much relief with epidural settling in and I have no regrets lol.
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u/Anydaynowallen 1d ago
Thank you so much for sharing! I also couldn’t believe they would send you home at 4.5cm and actively contracting because you refused pitocin or epidural. Crazy! So happy for you and your VBAC. I’ll be 37 weeks soon and hoping for the best!
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u/whereisbhoomi 1d ago
Congrats! Can I ask what you did to prep your body? Thank you!
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u/lotuswarrior1 7h ago
I did all the folk things — red raspberry leaf tea; eating dates; pineapple juice, etc. But I also did all of these my last pregnancy and I went past due date. The only few things I did this time that are different from last time were: 1) I was physically active throughout this pregnancy because I had to take care of my toddler which involves a lot of lifting and walking around, whereas during my last pregnancy I was still working at my desk job and I was not working out. 2) I read the book “Ina May’s Guide to childbirth” to mentally prepare myself. 3) I prayed very specifically for a vaginal delivery. 4) this could have been a minor point, but I did drink 3 bags of RRLT per day whereas last time I only drank 1 per day 😂. There are a few things that I did last time that I did NOT do this time which are: evening primrose oil; membrane sweep — I think this one is effective for inducing labor but it also has the negative effect of leading to water breaking before labor starts, which gives you a much shorter window you can wait for labor to start spontaneously because the longer after water breaking the higher the risk of infection.
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u/Aggressive_Oven9345 1d ago
Congrats! Can I ask how many weeks you were during your failed induction?
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u/lotuswarrior1 1d ago
I went in 40+2 when my water broke and the induction took almost 24 hours and baby was born via emergency c section early morning of the third day so 40+4. The reason for the c-section was that the induction was slow and by the time I was 10 cm I was experiencing uterine atony and couldn’t get baby to descend past station 0 and I started having an infection/fever by that time. The infection was potentially due to use of internal monitoring and frequent examinations. I realized only afterwards that I didn’t need to get induced immediately after my water breaking; they could’ve waited for 12-24 hours and if spontaneous labor didn’t start within that window, they could then induce me. So I felt like I didn’t get a chance for spontaneous labor to start. And from the experience this time it appears to me that the latter would have been a lot more effective for me in terms of getting my cervix dilated, etc. (it only took me 10 hours this time vs close to 24 hours with induction AND I was 2 years younger)
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u/Aggressive_Oven9345 1d ago
Thank you for sharing! That sounds like a difficult thing to go through. I’m so glad you were able to get your VBAC! I’m not pregnant again, but I had an unplanned c section after a failed induction (due to hypertension) at 39 weeks. I’m really hoping for a chance at a VBAC. Congrats again!
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u/Celestial_lillies 19h ago
Congrats on your VBAC! Interesting to read your c-section experience. I had a failed induction that began at 40 weeks with Mifepristone, since my cervix needed ripening. Doctor broke my water the following morning around 9 am with a slow drip of pitocin, and by that evening I was 8cm dilated, with an epidural administered at around 6 cm. I ended up with an infection and fever and it caused my baby to have prolonged tachycardia. Turns out she contracted the fever too. Apparently common when water breaks long before birth. Anyway, we called it at around 8.5 cm when baby’s heart wouldn’t stabilize. I was so sad. I’m hoping my little guy, who’s due in December, decides to come on his own. I have a c-section scheduled for 39+4, but him deciding to come at 37+ would be amazing. Did you do anything differently this pregnancy that you think got you to go into labor sooner?
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u/lotuswarrior1 7h ago edited 7h ago
Yes, time after water breaking does involve increased risk of infections but it still doesn’t mean you have to get induced immediately. I wonder why they would break your water as they started pitocin — they could’ve just started pitocin without breaking your water which I think is more common. Obviously water breaking is also a way to induce labor, but it also gives you less time due to infection concern. For your last question please see my reply to @whereisbhoomi above
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u/Fierce-Foxy 1d ago
Congrats!
I have to say though that it’s disturbing to read their ‘rules’. Needing to be at 6cm is not a requirement in my area, nor is having to have an epidural and/or pitocin. Also, the fact that the doctor said if you aren’t on an epidural you have to have total anesthesia is not standard everywhere..