With all odds against me, My Vbac wasn't!

A B C-SECTION TO T U VBAC

My Story- VBA2C x2

The second time round

{just about skimming through}

21/9/15

I found out I was pregnant after having suffered a painful miscarriage experience. I was over the moon but slightly confused. Do you find when your trying for a baby, The baby never comes? But, when your not thinking about trying for a baby, Your pregnant just by looking.

I booked an appointment at my local hospital to get an early scan done but I wasn't prepared for what I was about to be told. The sonographer told me as she scanned my stomach, there is no pregnancy in your womb.

What on earth is going on? I took 5 pregnancy tests and all said I was pregnant. 5 tests surely couldn't be incorrect, Could they?

I dare not look into the eyes of the sonographer because my vision was becoming filled with what seemed to be an ocean of tears. I was completely baffled at what was going on. My period was 1 month late and i'm not pregnant? This couldn't be happening to me.

I struggled down the hallway with my heart on the floor of the hospital in a state of shock. It just didn't make sense.

A few days went past and I wanted to double check I was not pregnant so I decided to go back to the early pregnancy unit just for clarity on what was going on. After all I felt pregnant..

The sonographer scanned me again and she said she could NOT again see a pregnancy. I suggested she get her manager or a consultant down to check because this didn't make any sense. She refused but then called her manager.

The consultant sonographer scanned me and to my surprise she could see a very tiny yolk sac but no baby inside it.

"You have had a miscarriage, My dear" she said. In my head I was in a state of absolute shock!! I just couldn't be going through another miscarriage.

you can either let this pass naturally or you can have the yolk sac manually removed (The same procedure they do when they assist medically an abortion).

I told the sonographer id rather just let things happen naturally. Thank god I did and ill tell you why.

I went home and decided to get a 3rd opinion and something very strange happened. From no sign of pregnancy to they can see a yolk sac but no baby my head was clouded. Completely all over the place.

Now i'm being told there is a viable pregnancy. I was over the moon because all this time my family and the hospital looked at me as though I was going nuts.

The pregnancy was very early she said and I was told to come back in 2 weeks to rescan as the sac should become bigger and the baby should become more visible.

PHEW!!

I knew I wasn't experiencing a phantom pregnancy (When a women believes she's pregnant so her period stops and her body reacts as though she is pregnant, even though she's not).

I started to experience this horrendous morning sickness which made me feel sick rather than vomit. I was literally house bound. I couldn't breathe or do anything with it. Yet everyone was so patient with me.

My scan appointment came and It was confirmed that I was pregnant but the pregnancy was extremely early. After this vaginal scan I started to bleed. I was so devastated. I really believed I would have a miscarriage but the pregnancy stayed and I took it easy for a few weeks..

The pregnancy was very hard. The sickness was at its peak all the time and I couldn't do much due to my energy being completely depleted.

My days turned into extremely long days and the nights were even harder with the acid reflux I experienced.

I was asked to be seen by a consultant Obgyn at the hospital but after my last encounter with the same obgyn I decided I would stay clear from any negative people. And thats exactly what I did.

I hardly went to unnecessary midwife appointments and never attended a consultant appointment. I spoke hardly and listened carefully to understand exactly what was being said. Anything I wasn't happy with I just wrote it down and kept a level head at all times.

It was hard to be honest but in order to successfully have a vbac, you must be clear on the facts so you can weigh up your options and never be 1 sided. Childbirth can be fine 1 minute and when you least expect it the unthinkable can happen so keeping an open mind is key!!

- Vba2c Story -

SURVIVING THROUGH THE ODDS

I went to some debriefing and vbac programmes and that really helped me to get the frustration out of me regarding my previous c-section births. After all I felt completely robbed and violated with my first 2 births WHICH the outcomes were unjustifiable.

Throughout my whole pregnancy I completely blocked out everyone and everything so my mind could focus on the task at hand. My VBAC!

35 weeks pregnant and I started to experience pre labour symptoms. I was in agony. I could barely walk so I had to slow down and I developed PGP ( Pelvic girdle pain) I became very agitated because I had 3 other children who depended on me and slowly but shortly our outdoor life became our indoor life and we never could get out. In fact we spent most of our days in bed with a takeaway.

But things started to go wrong! I had no Doula and I had no childcare for the children when it was time to labor my baby. I started to loose focus and slowly became erratic. I quickly regained normal thinking and got myself into a mindset of i will be my own doula and i will train my husband to support me the way i want to be supported.

38 weeks pregnant and I found out my baby was breech again and I was gutted because I knew if the baby was still breech not many hospitals would feel comfortable me birthing vaginally. So the pressure was on!! 3rd time during this pregnancy so I used the same method that and turned this baby 2x before and the same method that turned my 3 other children Turn my baby program found here and once again it never failed me.

The baby quickly turned head down and in the right position but now I was experiencing deep contractions but they were still so far apart. I was in pain, pleading with my husband to stay close by if not with me just in case I should happen to go into labour. I realised I had forgotten 1 thing. I hadn't bought the baby any clothes for when he was born. So we quickly done that. The contractions weirdly seemed to come on worse in the night whilst during the day I could barely walk. My pelvis bone felt as though it was dislocating. I was in agony!

39 +5 weeks came and my regular midwife decided it was time to have that discussion about what happens if I didn't go into labour by 42 weeks and I was adamant I would just wait it out, after all we all know what would happen if i turned up to the hospital 42+ weeks pregnant, yet labor hadn't started organically.

I reassured her I would be fine and that I know what im doing. What i realised is, if your confident you give no one a reason to doubt you!

Myself and the midwife just couldn't understand what was going on. The baby is head down, very engaged, I was 2cm dilated last week and the midwife could feel the babies head and hair...

I was confused....

I done everything possible to try to get labor going. I walked as much as my poor legs and pelvis would allow me too, I squatted on my birthing ball, I done my pelvic floor exercises and so much more. I did buy a homeopathic remedy called pulsatilla and i kept looking at it scared to take it. I was scared because if you induce labor prematurely, when i say prematurely i mean literally before the baby and your bodies ready to go into labor you could end up with a cascade of interventions. So I kept pulsatilla close but sadly I didn't try it.

40 WEEKS

I was tired, frustrated and at my last with pregnancy. You know some people can be pregnant and they do well, im the complete opposite. Im literally rubbish at being pregnant!!

By now the contractions were getting worse but I still they were not close enough. I was mentally ready now, I just felt different in myself. My knees were sore and I lost my energy. I knew labor would start and quickly....

Heres where things changed.....

40+3 I thought my waters broke so I called my mum to watch over the children so me and my husband could goto the hospital. I went in at 2am and the midwife asked me for my urine sample. As i was doing it, a gush of water came out all over my clothes. It was almost like I had ran the tap and put my thumb in the nozzle part of the tap. I looked at the sample i just collected and it was completely transparent with no colour to it. I came out the bathroom and told my husband and he thought it was a joke. You know the ok we've been here before look.

The midwife confirmed my waters had gone but i had to be admitted onto the antenatal ward and without my husband. I cried so much because i had a similar experience with my 2nd sons birth...

Sleep was not on my side. I did not sleep as the contractions were coming stronger but still not close together. By 7am I was asking the midwifes for paracetamol because I had a headache and had cramping..

7.30AM The midwife done my observations and by 9 am I was having another. I spent my whole time squatting by the hospital bedside as every contraction came and went. By 11am the contractions had picked up and I was realising they were more frequent now. 1pm my husband came to the hospital and I was leaving the hospital to have a walk so I told them but I really went for a run and a circuit session. lol.

I was gone for maybe 2 hours. 20 minutes into me being out of the hospital my contractions completely stopped. I was deflated, I really thought I was going for another c-section. We slowly walked back up to the ward and I just laid on the hospital bed feeling really tired. All of a sudden the contractions came back with a vengeance. Oh, these ones were so powerful but I was handling them. Every contraction that came I just used my breathing technics I learned from being a voice coach and also from what I learned on my doula and childbirth education training. That seemed to be all I need. By about 5pm the midwife came and checked me and to my jolly surprise i was now FINALLY in active labor. I was 5cm dilated but i was experiencing pain around my scar...

The hospital labor rooms were full and they had no beds for me and a few other ladies so they were planning on converting the Antenatal ward into a labor suite so we could labor our babies there. I was abit nervous about that though. lol...

I started to lose my mucous plug. I was progressing quite quickly. By 7pm I went down to the labor ward and I was 7cm but something started happening to me.

I was absolutely terrified, I thought is this it??

I went to the toilet and wiped only to find a whole load of red fresh blood. I started to panic and asked my husband to get the midwifes in. This is where I guess you could say I started to go off track. The midwife came in and said if I get any more blood I should call them back in. I was in the home from home suite, so midwifes are meant to come and go and allow the women to labor naturally. After having 2 csections and obviously 1 natural birth i was blessed to be there but i really argued my case to get this room.

As the midwife left I started to get unchanged and I had this urge to have another look on my pad to see if there was no blood. And there was, lots of it....

Could I be rupturing??

I was in a slight discomfort now around my c-section scar on the right side. I started to mentally go off track. My husband kept reminding me how much my vbac meant to others and i felt empowered by this so i kept trying to fight for what i believed in.

The doula arrived at 8.30pm. It was me, my doula and my husband, then my m.i.l came and honestly I just wish it was me and my husband and the midwife.

It's important you know who you have with you during labor because too many people can interrupt the birth space and hinder it. I started to feel angry.... Of course the pains were at there peek but goodness me i just felt claustrophobic. On top of that things started to happen to me that i was highly embarrassed about. I wished no one was there actually, thinking about it...

With every breath taking contraction I screamed at my husband to help me with a lower back massage. He really was my rock through it all. In-fact he was my Doula coming to think about it.. He was superb!

By 12am, yes the next morning we all believed I would deliver the baby very shortly. I was leaned over the headboard of the hospital bed trying to get back into my mental place. Things were happening to me that i was not happy with. I just wanted to be in a private space just me, my husband and my midwife, I turned into an evil witch. The midwife was saying push push push and I was but I didn't have an urge to push. Although I had my doula there the midwife was extremely active and with my husband made me feel calm.

The pains were extremely intense now around my c-section scar and I was pushing for 3 hours. I WAS PLEEING with the midwife to give me a c-section, get the DR's in or help me out because the pains were very bad. I was shouting all sorts even though a c-section wasn't on my list of things to do.

The Drs, came in and I told them I needed help somethings not right. They whisked me down to theatre to try a ventouse delivery. It just so happens the baby had turned his head to a transverse position and part of the cervix didn't dilate (anterior lip) so i'm pushing making my privates swell and only causing myself more harm then good. I had a ventouse delivery but I dodged a c-section.... This was the hight of hard labor!!

The surgeons said there would have been no way I would have been able to push the baby out!!

See and no one was listening to me when I was saying I needed help!

I needed no stitches I got my vba2c x2 even though I needed some help. This is why its important to know when to ask for help and when not to be stuck on your vision because things could have gone a different way....

Please comment below...