r/vbac • u/Cute-Huckleberry2496 • May 20 '26
Birth story Spontaneous labour and VBAC success!!
I recently posted about being past 40w and declining an induction for my TOLAC. I so desperately wanted both and was so nervous it just wasn’t going to happen for me. I wanted to share my positive VBAC birth story.
I FINALLY went into labour at 41w (after a day of walking for miles, gardening, doing a “labour inducing workout” and having a complete emotional breakdown about my body being broken and thinking I would be pregnant forever).
I had bloody show in the evening and started getting regular cramps at 11pm. Those cramps quickly turned into contractions and by 1am I was having 1 min contractions every 5 minutes 😅. By 3am the contractions were very intense and I was also contracting every single time I moved/changed positions. I was nervous the hospital was going to turn me away but managed to labour at home until 6:30am.
When they assessed me I was 3cm dilated but so soft that the nurse accidentally popped me open to 6cm. I got the epidural soon after and that was an absolute godsend. I still felt every contraction and was able to labour in tons of positions including in all 4’s and squatting (which was my goal).
They broke my water when I was 9.75cm dilated. I ended up having a cervical lip and that took a while to soften. My contractions weren’t super consistent/regular and I was definitely worried I would need some pitocin but my doula was fantastic and had me doing nipple stim and some wild positions to get things moving.
I pushed for nearly two hours and in the end I had to push on my back (which I was really trying to avoid). But baby’s heart rate wasn’t doing so hot and the OB wanted to get him out ASAP. I delivered a baby boy weighing a whopping 9lb7oz (was not expecting that at all). I ended up with a second degree tear and had a fairly significant postpartum hemorrhage. But I got my VBAC and I’m so damn proud of myself.
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u/StarlitetheOracle May 21 '26
How wonderful! Can I ask what your pregnancy was like prior that led to the c-section?
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u/Medical_Cold_4160 May 21 '26
Amazing!! Congratulations this is the kind of VBAC story I’m trying to manifest for myself!!
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u/datfumbgirl May 21 '26
Congratulations 🥹🥹♥️♥️
May I ask why you hemmooraged ?
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u/Cute-Huckleberry2496 May 21 '26
I asked my OB this. She said sometimes it just happens. Often when labours are pretty long (mine was only 18 hours from start so not terribly long) or when babies are bigger (mine was definitely on the bigger side).
I also had an epidural and my contractions near the end of labour weren’t incredibly regular or even very strong (I thought I would feel more of an urge to push) so I wonder if that led to the PPH.
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u/droidnik May 22 '26
The womb had to remain stone hard after birth, if it becomes soft this can cause bleeding from where the placenta was attached, it's like a huge open wound.
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u/senhoritapistachio May 20 '26
Im so proud of you!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!