Birth Stories :: My Experiences With VBAC (and What You Need to Know)

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Birth is a funny thing. It is powerful. It is amazing. It is miraculous. And above all else, it is unpredictable.

Whenever a gathering of moms or moms-to-be talks about birth, there are always different groups — cliques, really — that fall together. You have the “sign me up for a C-section!” group; the “all natural, no medication, out-of-hospital please” group; and the “can I get an epidural immediately?” group. Plus a few others who fall in between.

No matter where you fall in these categories, the trite statement “healthy mom, healthy baby” is really all anyone wants at the end of the day, right?

True … but also, not true.

No matter what many will tell you, your birth experience DOES matter. It affects your recovery (both mentally and physically), your bond with your baby, and how you approach a subsequent birth — or if you approach another birth at all.

I’ve done it all — just about. My first baby was a C-section. My second was an unmedicated VBAC (vaginal birth after Cesarean), and my third was a VBAC with an epidural. The only thing I haven’t tried, that I really wanted to, was an out-of-hospital water birth. With my varied birth experiences, let me tell you my story.

Baby No. 1: C-Section

meeting gabe
I wanted an out-of-hospital waterbirth, but things didn’t quite go that way.

My first baby, I really wanted that out-of-hospital waterbirth. I interviewed the midwife at the local birth center (this was in 2009; that center is now closed), excited about our parenting journey. But then my husband was laid off, and there was no way we could swing the out-of-pocket expenses. (Don’t get me started on how backward the U.S. health insurance system is about covering out-of-hospital birth!) So I chose hospital-based midwives, read all the natural birth books (Ina May Gaskin, Henci Goer, Gentle Birth Choices, Bradley, Dr. Sears), and thought I was prepared to stand up to interventions. All that went out the window when I was still pregnant at 41 weeks and 5 days.

I was tired of being pregnant, tired of working, tired of answering silly questions posed by well-meaning strangers. “Are you STILL pregnant?” “When will he be born?” “How big is he?” “Will they do a C-section?” — the answers to which are: Duh; Soon, I hope!; Big enough; and I really hope not. It’s no wonder I agreed to an induction then, starting at 7 p.m., with Cytotec. My providers then broke my water and started Pitocin at 6 a.m. the following morning, which led to intense, irregular contractions that quickly escalated to me asking for an epidural.

By 10 o’clock that evening, I’d had enough. The baby was no longer tolerating contractions well, I was only 7 cm dilated, and he needed to come out. So at 11 p.m. on November 20, 2009, our first was born by C-section. Before the doctor even made his first incision, I was asking if the next baby could be born vaginally. And was told, “Of course.” So I began to hope.

Baby No. 2: Unmedicated VBAC

meeting norah
Recovery from my first VBAC was difficult, but it was healing to know that my body could birth vaginally.

My second pregnancy, I was determined to get what I wanted, as much as  possible. I had a regular chiropractor and massage appointments. I hired a private doula, who was experienced in both helping VBAC moms and who had successfully VBAC’d herself. And I did it! I had a fantastic nurse, a confident doula, and a supportive obstetrician. Ten hours of labor went so quickly that I was pushing before they could administer the epidural I requested.

The only negative part about the experience was the tearing. I had a 4th-degree tear (which means through all the layers of tissue). The doctor wouldn’t even tell me how many stitches I needed — just that it was a lot. Healing was slow and painful, and I have to admit, I was a bit terrified after that. No lie — recovery from that birth was so much more difficult than from my C-section. But would I go back and opt for a second surgical birth? Not a chance. That birth healed me — it gave me the confidence that my body was not broken, that I could birth, and that made it totally worth it.

Baby No. 3: VBAC with Epidural

meeting theo
My medicated VBAC had an easy recovery.

My third baby took us by surprise — I found out I was pregnant when the second was only 8 months old. I was anxious throughout that pregnancy. The timing sucked, to be frank. Baby No. 2 was still nursing, but my milk supply dwindled fast. We were living in my parents’ basement (still are, in fact). My husband was still in the early days of a new career. We didn’t even announce the pregnancy publicly until our daughter turned one, and by that time I was halfway through.

The rest of the pregnancy flew by in a rush of preparations (plus side to having 3 babies in 4 years is that there really isn’t much prep work to be done), and then there I was, still pregnant on my due date. I saw my favorite OB on Friday, and she said she was on call this weekend, so maybe the baby would oblige us by coming? Saturday I woke to steady, widely spaced contractions. I tried what I could to get them to pick up. We sent the kids to my in-laws so I could focus. We went shopping and ate out at T.G.I Friday’s one last time, all the while timing contractions, which ebbed and flowed but never completely disappeared.

I dozed off on the couch Saturday night, still timing contractions, and woke on Sunday tired but determined to get them moving longer, stronger, and closer together until we hit the magic “4 minutes apart, lasting one minute, for one hour” that was supposed to determine that it was hospital time. I walked. I paced. Finally, at about 1 p.m. I had a good strong pattern going and we left for the hospital, met with the doula, and were admitted to the labor and delivery floor. Progress happened very slowly.

Sometime in the night, exhausted by 30 some hours of slow labor, I requested an epidural, and then for my providers to break my water. Once those were done, progress slowly picked up, and our third baby was born in just a couple of pushes early Monday morning, March 11, 2013. The baby was born before the doctor (my favorite OB who had been waiting all weekend to catch this baby) could even make it in the room.

I didn’t tear, and that recovery was remarkably easy. That birth healed me even further, knowing that I could deliver a baby easily, and recover quickly, too.

What to Know if you Want a VBAC

Friends who’ve had C-sections and are planning a second pregnancy often ask me about what I did to have a successful VBAC. What doctors did I see who “allowed” it?  What is the recipe for success?

My advice? Compromise. The doctors, nurses, and hospitals have protocols they like to follow for various reasons. My advice is to go along with it as much as possible. Go ahead and let them have IV access and continuous monitoring. That way, if you go off plan (not wanting an epidural, delayed cord clamping, etc.) the staff is usually much more agreeable. You catch more flies with honey, after all.

What if a C-section is inevitable? Or you just don’t want to fight for a VBAC? (Because it is a fight — though it shouldn’t be. The vast majority of women who do attempt VBACs are successful.) If you are facing another C-section, either by choice or necessity, I would tell you to be gentle with yourself. You’ve done this before; you know what to expect. A planned C-section is a different thing from an emergency one. The atmosphere is calmer, and you are so much more prepared. You should still make a birth plan, because you may still want to do things a certain way, and you’ll know what those are from having done this once before already.

For me, if I were having another C-section, I would ask that someone could switch with my husband and be with me while he left with the baby. That eternity while they are stuffing your organs back in and sewing and stapling you back together is very lonely. I might also see if they were open to a gentle C-section. This term covers a variety of choices such as skin-to-skin contact after birth. These C-sections are becoming much more common and lead to better birth experiences and bonding for mom and baby.

Most of all, be gentle with yourself. You are NOT broken. The situation sometimes does dictate the need for a surgical birth. And it is okay to choose it. I admit I envy a bit the ability to schedule a birth — the logistics are much more convenient. And for some families, it’s not just a convenience but a necessity to be able to plan what to do with older children and how to navigate the time off work (finishing projects, scheduling oversight while you will be out, etc).

After a C-section, planning your next birth can be an absolutely terrifying prospect, filled with a hundred what-ifs and a million doubts. Talk to your doctor. Talk to a doula (many offer free or low-cost consults), talk to friends who have made different choices. At the end of the day, be confident and at peace with the decisions you have made and go into this birth knowing that you are making the best decision possible for your baby, your body, and your family.

Resources for information on VBACs: VBACfacts.com; the International Cesarean Awareness Network; and the Upstate chapter of ICAN

Did you have a VBAC? Share your experience in the comments.

 

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Katrina Siron
Katrina is a mom of three great kids and has been married to her first love for nearly 10 years. She’s grateful to have a job that allows her the flexibility to both work from home some days and in the office others. On the surface, Katrina is pretty crunchy – she loves breastfeeding, babywearing, co-sleeping, natural birth, and homeschooling — but still loves her stroller, having her kids in their own beds at some point, her epidural was fantastic, and she’ll be sending the kids through public school. Most of all she loves the fact that we have all these choices, which makes life interesting! One of her favorite experiences was moving to Japan in 2002 to live as an adult dependent with their USMC family. It was an amazing experience, and if it weren’t for that, she probably wouldn’t ever have met my husband.

10 COMMENTS

  1. “…an out-of-hospital water birth, and that’s an option legally closed to me in South Carolina anyway…”

    THIS IS NOT TRUE! You need to fact check before you make absolute assertions.

  2. To clarify, I should say, midwife assisted out of hospital birth isn’t a legal option for VBACs. If you can find a MD to attend one, that is an option for some, but from my understanding, there might be one in the state that is willing, and he’s not in the Columbia area, and traveling was not something *I* was willing to do.

  3. Thank you for the article. I had a c-section. Not exactly emergency but not planned either. In many ways I feel a c-section didn’t show me if I could do a birth or not… I don’t even use the words giving birth (my baby is 4 months) but my situation prevented a more painful recovery (tearing) and that was good for me and the baby.
    And ditto on the having someone in the room with you when hubby leaves… very lonely.

  4. FYI we now have an ICAN of the Midlands chapter! 🙂 Find our group on Facebook, we meet the second Thursday of every month.

  5. Would love to know who your doctor was for your vbac? I live in Lexington and have only found one vbac doctor in Columbia. We’really not expecting yet but I would like to find a doctor first and see what my chances of vbac look like. Thanks for sharing your story!

  6. I delivered with the doctor side of Lexington Women’s Care. All of the doctors were supportive, but Dr. Skinner was my personal favorite. USC Specialty Clinics – they deliver at Richand – also is highly recommended for VBAC mamas. They are the only place that will work with VBA2C mamas that I know of.

    • I realize this is an older post but I am trying for a vbac in March with Lexington Women’s Care doctors. I have a question for you – did they require internal fetal monitoring?

      • KMG; they didn’t require it, and in fact were reluctant to do internal monitoring. I felt that if continuous monitoring is necessary that internal allowed me more freedom of movement. My babies never liked staying on the monitor. But that was my personal choice.

        • Thanks so much for answering. I am with the practice and was told today internal fetal monitoring is a non-negotiable for a vbac with them – it must be new procedure that they require it.

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