With our first little man (going to be 2 soon!), my labor was long and ended in a c-section. My husband and I wanted to try a natural birth so we took bradley classes which were great and did help. Unfortunately, I never had regular contractions and our son's head was coming out a little turned to the side (because of my tilted uterus) so I ended up having a c-section after about 13-14 hrs of labor and another 3-4 hrs of pushing. I am pregnant again (26 weeks) with our second child and we really would like to do a vbac. I am just curious about how other people's second labors went after a c-section. Any tips would be great as well. I look forward to hearing everyone's stories :) Thanks!
ADDED:
Thanks for all the stories and tips so far! I guess I should have given maybe a little more info about first labor. We absolutely love our doctor and she was great with letting us try for as long as we did with our first one. She is all for me trying a VBAC and is encouraging it but wants us to know that if our second one is as big as our first (8lb. 9oz) that we may have to do a c-section. I am not sure if having a tilted uterus will always prevent me from having a natural labor ... that is something that I will have to ask. When I was in labor and pushing, I did push in as many different positions as my body felt comfortable with (I favored squatting ... it felt the best). But my legs got very fatiqued (as was I since I had no sleep the night before) and it got harder and harder to push ... which is another reason a c-section finally came into play. We did talk to our doctor about all the risks and she did tell us about uterine rupture risk but said it was low. We just hope that everything goes well and we have a safe and healthy baby and mama ... whether it means a VBAC or c-section.
I had a c-section with my first child because she was breech. With my second child I did a vbac, and it went perfectly. I do have a tipped uterus as well, but it was never a problem.
I am doing a VBAC at home in August. I'm a HUGE advocate of VBACs and there is a website you can check out that deals with it. Your best bet is with a Midwife!!
http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/icanvbac.html ...
http://www.ican-online.org/ ...
http://forums.about.com/ab-vbac/ ...
vbac, vbac, vbac. first was a c, took months to recover. 2nd was a vbac, took 3-4 days to recover (okay, maybe longer but really I felt better at a week w/ no. 2 than I did at 4 months w/no. 1). talk to your doc. BUT make sure he even reasonably considers vbacs - most docs won't anymore because of lawyers and malpractice insurance and they'll steer you to scheduled c. realize there are some risks w/vbac but ask for the acutal stats. uterine rupture risk is doubled in vbac - sounds bad right. oh wait a minute, it goes from like 0.5 to 1.0 per 100 births - still really low. so whatever risks he talks about, push for the details to figure out how big a risk it really is. don't forget that a c is major abdominal surgery and has plenty of risks on its own.
as for the hospital "allowing" it - you have to sign consent forms for surgery and if you don't, well, then they have to "allow" it. your body - you get to make the choices. they can be really pushy and use words that imply you don't have choices so have someone w/you that can help w/responding in that atmosphere.
also, there are a lot of things you can do the last month to increase your odds of a positive outcome, including walking and sitting on an exercise ball. midwives and doulas are better about having this info.
do some research w/a midwife and doula too.
good luck.
Were you pushing on your back? If so this is probably why your little one wouldn't come out. I would suggest finding someone to attend your birth that will allow and encourage you to push in different positions. It is possible that a simple position change would have made all the difference for you. Knowing that your uterus is tilted I would encourage you to research pushing positions that would counter the tilt. My first instinct would be hands and knees but squatting may be really good as well. Also, I can not tell you how important a birthing tub was for my last labor. My son was coming out a little crooked (had molding on the side of his head) and being in the water allowed me to get into different positions to help him straighten out and descend. Also, it is very important to listen to your body and do what you feel is right while in labor. When I was in the water my instincts kicked in and I was just laboring in what ever position felt right at the time. I heard my midwife and doula talking about how awesome it was that I was naturally putting myself into those positions because they knew how good they were for getting the baby to move down the birth canal and would have suggest them to me if I hadn't already been doing them. You can do this if you are given enough time (13-14 hrs for a first time labor is awesome and not long at all) and support.
www.ican-online.org
www.vbacfacts.com
www.childbirthconnection.org
Well i have had 2 c-sections and I'm 25 weeks so I will be having my 3rd in a few months. I don't know much about vbac cause for me it isn't an option (due to medical reasons) so my only advise would be to talk to your doctor. Basically you had a c-section because of your uterus right? Doesn't that mean you would just have the same problem again? Like I said I never had the option to consider a vbac but I know the feeling of wanting to badly to have a natural birth. It was hard for me to take...I felt like a failure, but then I realized the most important thing is to bring my babies into this world in the safest way possible. So if you doctor thinks you have a good chance of a vbac then go for it but if he thinks you will run into the same problem do another c-section.
I had a similar experience-wanted to go naturally, labored for 10 hours, baby wouldn't progress down...ended up in c-section.
For multiple reasons my OB rec'd a scheduled c-s, but our little pnut decided to come 3 weeks early...the labor was fast and intense--if I hadn't had the issues from the first time I probably could have delivered her quickly--but my dr still advised the C.
I don't know if i am really answering your question other then it's possible baby #2 will come fast(er). :)
Just make sure.... first.... that the Hospital will allow it.... AND that your medical insurance will cover a VBAC. Some will not.
Hi Mama... I didn't have a c-section, but otherwise had a very similar first labor and I just had my second, so I thought I'd share my experiences...
My first labor I was induced for being past-due and having high blood pressure. I also was trying for a natural birth (hypnobirthing). The induction never took very well and I also never had very regular contractions. From the time they began the induction to the time my daughter was born was 51 hours and 39 minutes. She was also a big baby at 10 pounds (and I'm not a big person - 5 foot 2 inches on a good day and medium weight). We finally consented to a c-section for "failure to progress" and my midwife suggested I start trying to push (I was only about 7.5 cm). Two hours later I managed to push out my little girl.
My second time I was terrified that my body just didn't know how to go into labor, which is funny because we trust our bodies to get pregnant, stay pregnant, and grow a baby, yet I for some reason thought it would suddenly fail me at the end. Anyway, I went into labor on my due date. I had mild contractions every ten minutes for a couple of hours - I don't even consider that part labor. Before bed I took a bath then timed three contractions which were suddenly every three minutes. Exactly two hours later (and after only 16 minutes of pushing) my 9lb 2oz boy was in my arms.
I'm just sharing this to let you know that things can be totally different the second time around. Again, I don't have personal experience with a VBAC, but do know that your body can and will go into labor beautifully!
I had a C-section with my first (she was breech). I wanted to try VBAC with my second and my doc was OK with it although she did explain to me about the chance of rupture (1%) and the chance that I could lose my baby if this did happen. I was also told that I was going to be having a pretty good size baby and his head kept measuring 3 weeks over what it should have. After much thought, after my water broke almost 2 weeks early, I decided I wasnt going to risk the chance of losing my baby, as slight as it was, (it took us a year to get pregnant) and since I recovered quite well from my first C-section to go ahead and have another one. I do not regret not trying for a vaginal delivery - the whole experience was just as special and I had a healthy 8lb 3oz boy which is the most important thing in the long run.
Please try a birthing consultation with Joanne Lindberg at Birthlink. Her contact information is www.birthlink.com and she provides birthing resources for the Chicago area. Prenatal yoga gives you opportunity to practice squatting. Congratulations on expecting your second child!
My dr did not really give me a choice in the matter. I carried high and the baby would not drop in place so the risk was not worth it and I had the 2nd c-section. But I know a few friends that were able to have normal births after C-section. I guess it is trusting your doctor is the key. Because my 2nd was planned, it went very well and had easy recovery that time around. There was no hard labor and pain or meds prior as it was for the first one.'
Congrads.
Find a local support group, check out ICAN www.ican-online.org they have a local groups link on the right hand side of the page. It sounds like your doctor is supportive, try to talk to her about as many "what ifs" as possible so that you can try to get a feel for what will happen during your labor (her answers for a VBAC may be different than they were with your first). Learn as much as you can about pretty much everything that could happen in labor so that you will know your responses and what things you are willing to take the risk on and what things you are not willing to take the risk on (for example I decided I was willing to take the risk of using pitocin with a VBAC and in the end we needed pitocin, I was glad I already knew the risks and had made that decision before labor started.)
I loved my VBAC, my first was a c-section because she was breech. My second was a VBAC and it definitely did not got "as planned" and I was very thankful to have found a doctor who understood and supported my desire for a vaginal birth and continued to work with me toward that end. I am certain that with most other doctors I would have had a second c-section, but I was able to have a successful VBAC and it was great not to have the recovery from major abdominal surgery.
Hi A.,
I also have a tilted uterus and was able to deliver my 1st child vaginally. I think it's all in the position. My labor and delivery nurse had me changing positions until I found the one that was right for me- and you will know because the baby starts to decend rapidly. I am now 21 weeks pregnant with my 2nd and hopefully everything will go as well as it did with my 1st.
Congrats on your pregnancy and Good Luck!
I tried for a vbac with mixed success and I can think of one friend who was very successful with hers. In my case struggled with the decision but eventually found a midwife and doula who were a good team. I would recommend sitting down and talking with your doctor about the pros and cons of you specific case. I had a failure to progress c-section with my first child (after 18 hours). He was 9 lbs and I was sick with a bad cold and exhausted going into the labor. My second one my water broke and contractions didn't start on their own. I got a little pitocin and about 6 hours of labor. I was about ready to push when the baby's heart rate was going up and down and they did an emergency c-section. It was the right call because the cord was wrapped around her neck (but no dectable damage was done). I will say the recover was much easier for the non emergency c-section.
You CAN have a VBAC. 1st find a HypnoBirthing class awesome for those going for a VBAC. Join the DuPage area ICAN support group. It is a group of women with different experiences in having a c-section and having VBACs, great resource and support group. I would hire a dola as well. If you had a tilted uterus or do, the worst position would be on your back pushing, which is why I suggest HypnoBirthing as you will learn so many other positions to birth baby easily, even large 10-11 lb babies this way completely naturally. Contact me if you want more info. You can do it!!!!!
I had my first baby c-section due to increase heart-rate of my daughter (so kind of an emergency). The doc was optimistic about vbac and we were doing pretty well, but the 2nd baby had her head kind of buried in her chest and was out of position for natural delivery. Had this not been the case, the doctor said we could have gone vbac, but the c-section was necessary.
Good luck to you~
I would say try for the VBAC, but you also have to make sure that the reason for you c-section in the first place won't happen again. I had a c-section because our baby wasn't decending into my pelvis, she was 11 days late, her amniotic fluid was low.....all sorts of things. With our second the chances of all those things happening again were slim so we were able to have the VBAC. As a matter of fact any of the circumstances that occurred with our first have not happened with any of our children since and I have been able to have all but our first vaginally (we have 7 now). But if the reasons for you having a c-section was because your uterus was tilted and the baby's head was coming out turned....you may not be able to have a VBAC. Talk with your doctor about the possiblity. My second labor after the c-section was actually like a first labor as I never did go into labor with our first. Now my second VBAC (with my 3rd child) was faster because I had gone through labor before. Good luck.
J.--SAHM of 7
