Hello Nate! My VBAC

[MammaRocks]

This is quite long (sorry!). When I started writing this i thought I should include a brief description of Sebastian's birth, as it really affetced how I approached labour the second time around.

The Birth of Nathaniel Dennis


Background

My first son Sebastian was born by emergency caesarian. I was convinced by my obstetrician that the safest course of action was to be induced at 9 days overdue. Being young and naïve (and not fully understanding the risks of induction) I agreed to be induced with the proglastin gel. This caused my labor to start very gradually, after 24 hours I had dilated 2cms and so was given a syntocin drip to speed things up. This caused sudden and very painful contractions straight away, but still I was not dilating fast enough, so my waters were broken artificially. My labor continued on for hours with very painful contractions 2/3 minutes apart, and lasting about 1 minute. I only had gas for pain relief, until at midnight, after 12 hours of “established labor” the midwife on duty contacted my obstetrician (who I hadn’t seen since having the gel a day and half beforehand) as I had been laboring too long. Not long after this I had an epidural as I couldn’t manage the pain any longer, and another an hour after that my obstetrician arrived, examined me very briefly and then stated she thought a caesarian was needed as I had not progressed and my baby was in an awkward position (and she did not like to use forceps). I had dilated 8cms but was very exhausted and once again trusted that my obstetrician knew best. I agreed to a caesarian and within 10 minutes I was prepped for surgery. Sebastian was born via caesarian at 2.05 am on the 25th of June 2004, he was a very healthy 9’4” and totally covered in vernix. My obstetrician commented that he did not look overdue at all and that my dates were probably wrong! I had a few minutes with him before he was taken back to the birth suite and I was left to recover for an hour and a half in the operating room.

I recovered well and did not reflect much on Sebastian’s birth (except for occasionally feeling disappointed with the experience) until Brett and I decided to try for our second child. The more I read about birth (VBAC in particular) the more I felt cheated out of the natural birth I felt I could have had.

My second pregnancy went well, despite moving house (and towns) twice for Brett’s work. I opted to have my antenatal care through the public system and booked into a birth centre to have the baby. Late in my pregnancy I was told I probably could not birth at the birth centre (but could still have my antenatal care there) as I was classified as high risk and needed continual monitoring due to my previous c-sec, but if they had enough staff on when I came in it would be ok. I had an appointment on my due date where the midwife had arranged for me to meet with an ob who is very supportive of VBACs, he felt satisfied that, given my history, a VBAC was achievable. He wrote a letter that went with my birth plan stating I could have reduced time being monitored and also that induction should be avoided.

It’s Time!!

Six days after my “due date” I woke up feeling very calm, with a feeling something was going to happen. I felt my first contraction while watching Thomas the Tank Engine with Seb at about 9am. I had had weeks of pre-labor, but knew this was a contraction as it felt like a wave, with a peak and descent, unlike the branxton hicks I had. I rocked back and forth on an exercise ball, tweaked my nipples, did a crazy dance where I rocked my hips around, had chilli and tuna for lunch, and burnt a mix of aromatherapy oils my friend made me to help bring on more contractions. I’m not sure what worked or if labor was just on it’s way but the contractions gradually got stronger and more frequent as the day progressed. I was so thrilled, I had never gone into labor naturally.

At 3pm I called my mother and Brett (who was working 3hrs away) to let them know what was going on. Mum and I went for a long walk at about 5pm which helped keep the contractions regular. After my walk I jumped in Mum’s spa bath to help ease the pain. I felt immediate relief, so much so that my contractions seemed to have stopped, which made me panic so I got out of the bath and sat at the computer playing spider solitaire as it distracted me between contractions.

By 6.30pm the contractions had gotten quite intense. With each contraction I had to stand up and rock back and forth or do hip circles. I had some dinner (even though I wasn’t hungry) and kept drinking cups of raspberry leaf tea and water. Brett got back at 8pm and helped me prepare to go in to hospital. By 10pm my contractions had strengthened again and I found myself grunting as they reached their peak. Mum called the hospital to let them know we would be in and somehow I found myself on the phone getting a lecture about the dangers of VBACing from the midwife on duty (not a good sign!)

When we reached the hospital we were told by (I assume the same midwife I spoke to on the phone) the midwife that the birth centre was full and that I could not birth there. She also read my birth plan and the attached letter and told me that that Obstetrician was not on tonight and I would have to make do with who was on and they would decide what monitoring would be necessary. We were shown the delivery suite I would be birthing in and told our midwife would be in shortly. Brett, Mum and I quickly set up the room with our electric aromatherapy burner, a Birthrites poster and other bits and pieces.

The midwife that was assigned to me arrived about an hour after we got to hospital. She told me she had read my birth plan and wanted to help me have a vaginal birth. She also asked me to go over my first labor, so I did, between contractions of course. She then asked if another midwife could be present as she had to attend a certain number of births to remain registered as a midwife. I consented and within half an hour I met her. The second midwife had also read my birth plan and was also very motivated to help me achieve a VBAC. After a brief discussion it was agreed that instead of continuous fetal monitoring I would have 10minutes of monitoring every hour unless the midwife detected any concerning changes in the baby heartbeat.

A vaginal examination (that I requested) at about 12am showed I was 5-6cm dilated and my baby was in a good position, everything was on track and I was more than halfway, I was feeling confident I could have my VBAC. My contractions continued to get stronger as I moved around, got in and out of the shower, used the hospital’s birth matt and exercise ball (which one of the midwives collected for me and suggested I use). By about 3am I had not dilated any further and it appeared my baby had gotten into a posterior position. The Ob on duty felt I had labored a long time and that a c-sec might be an option. Brett told me later that the midwife then lied to the Ob about how long I had been laboring, that it had not been as long as my records said, he believed her and was then happy to let me go another few hours before he came back.

At this stage I began to lose hope. All of a sudden I could not cope with the pain and began begging for an epidural. The supervising midwife told me she had read my birth plan and knew I did not want an epidural, she convinced me to have gas first (as per my birth plan). The gas made me very relaxed and “drunk,” however it took the edge off the contractions while the midwives, Brett and Mum helped me move into positions that might encourage the bay into a good birthing position. The encouragement I received from the midwives and my birth support people during this stage of my labor was incredible. Within 2 hours I had fully dilated and my baby was anterior again! The gas was turned off and I suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to push.

Second stage lasted 2/1/2 hours according to my hospital records. During this time I went between a semi-reclined bed and the birth stool. I preferred the birth stool because I felt gravity was helping me, but I got the best pushes on the bed. At one stage Brett told me he could see the baby’s head. I was offered a mirror to see as well but I declined. After 2 hours of pushing the Ob returned and was concerned the baby had not been birthed yet. He did a vaginal examination and found that the baby was posterior (again!) and said he felt a c-sec was the best option. The midwife in charge suggested we try forceps delivery first, then look at a c-sec, but she warned me that a c-sec was looking likely.

My determination and hopes for a VBAC were fading. I was still having strong pushing urges but knew I would not be pushing my baby out, or at best I wouldn’t feel it. I was prepped for surgery, which seemed to take ages. I found myself sobbing between contractions. I didn’t want to keep feeling the contractions if I was not going to have a vaginal birth. I got irritated and snappy with the anesthetist who asked me to sit up, how on earth could I sit up? I was in so much pain! Once the spinal block set in I was wheeled into the theatre and my legs were put up in stirrups, how cliché! There were so many people there but I couldn’t see Brett anywhere. I became frantic and asked where he was. The midwife was by my side the whole time, she got someone to call Brett in and told me that I had to keep pushing when I had a contraction (the monitor would tell me when I was having one). Within two contractions (and two very big pushes) I managed to push out my baby boy Nathaniel, while the Ob turned him around with forceps. I hwas given a small episiotomy which took a few weeks to heal. Everyone in the room was surprised at how quickly he was born after we got into theatre and about ten different staff shook my hand. I couldn’t believe I had actually gotten my VBAC and I was finally meeting my beautiful boy.

Nathaniel was 3.79kg and 55cms long, born at 8.18am on Halloween. He had dry peeling skin and looked a bit overcooked. Due to the forceps delivery he has a cephalic haematoma (pocket of blood on his skull) that will eventually go down and had a slight case of jaundice, but all in all he is just gorgeous. He stayed with me in recovery and was placed straight onto my chest (skin to skin) after his birth, as is the hospital’s new policy for theatre births.

There are many things about Nate’s birth that didn’t go to plan. I didn’t have the beautiful birth I dreamt of, but I did have a VBAC and this time my body was able to go into labor spontaneously and progress through the stages of birth relatively intervention free and I am very proud I achieved that.

[Chuckles]

Thanks for the great read - with my VBAC aproaching very very soon its great to see how things can turn out and wot steps can be taken. Thanks for posting!!

[~Harmony~]

Oh Zoe, what a great story Thanks for sharing with us, and congrats on your VBAC!

I see you're just about to hit 800 posts too!

[jarrahsmumma]

Thanks for the story of Nate's birth, you did an awesome job

[earth mother]

Thanks for sharing Zoe- and belated Welcome Nate.

[kristamumof3]

Thanks Zoe for sharing. I can't believe what similarities we had for our first births. Congratulations on your VBAC. You rock!!!! You went though an ordeal but you must be so proud of yourself. I also went onto have a VBAC and its the greatest feeling in the world. Welcome to your beautiful baby boy!!

[froggie]

congratulations on achieving your VBAC birth. I enjoyed reading your birthing journey.

xoxo Amanda

[Wombat]

What a beautiful birth story. Thanks so much for sharing Zoe.

[pj'smum]

Yay, I was cheering for you as I was reading, so glad you ended up with your vbac! Thanks for sharing your story.

Catherine

[rose]

and so you should be proud of yourself! congratualtions on your VBAC
thanks for sharing your story zoe