Kat’s Positive VBAC Birth Story
Second-time-mum Kat shares her empowering birth story. Kat had a previous emergency caesarean and here she shares her second birth story, a positive VBAC (Vaginal Birth after Caesarean) birth story. Love reading positive birth stories? We’ve got lots more just for you!
Previous Birth
I had a previous caesarean “emergency” as I went into spontaneous labour 3 days before a booked elective caesarean. I was having an elective caesarean due to a medical need.
Mild Tightenings
On the 13th I started having very very mild tightenings. These were maybe one every 1.5 hours or so and they weren’t painful, just the physical tightening sensation.
These carried on all through the 13th and 14th, but by about 5pm on the 14th they were more like every 15/30 minutes and the pain was starting to come in now.
I hadn’t lost my mucus plug, had any bloody show or had my waters go. Due to childcare for our 2 year old we decided the plan would be to see how the night went and call in the grandparents for tomorrow so we could have some help if things kicked off.
Well, I didn’t sleep a wink. They were coming every 5-10 minutes and we’re really starting to take my breath away. This was pretty similar to my first birth now, but this time I had to make it to 8am nursery drop off!
Heading to the Hospital
We got to the hospital around 8:30, where I was examined and told I was 3cm. They said I was a “stretchy 4”, but had to go off the initial assessment. I was a bit disappointed at this because by this point I was struggling to walk and couldn’t talk through them. The pain was intense and really starting to overwhelm me. I had completely lost control of my breathing and mindset at this stage.
As we’re not close to the hospital we had a wander around. We had been told to give it an hour and go back to see if I was over 4cm, and could therefore be admitted (and get pain relief!). My husband got me hooked up to my TENS machine and off we went. When we back back to the birth unit I had another vaginal examination and was told I could be admitted.
Our Birthing Room
By the time we were taken to our birthing room it was probably around 10:30/11am. I immediately requested pethidine as a form of painkiller. Initially I been completely against it as in my first birth it had made my daughter very drowsy, but on discussion with the midwife we agreed it was unlikely I’d be giving birth in the next 4 hours so it should be unlikely to affect the baby.
I absolutely needed it. I’d had maybe 1.5/2 hours sleep and was already exhausted. The pethidine meant I got a good few hours sleep, and it just took the edge off. Before the pethidine I was informed it could slow down my dilation so they did another vaginal examination and I was 6cm. I think they said they would’ve hoped I’d be around 8cm but I could be mistaken), but as my waters hadn’t yet gone they offered to do this, advising it may help get things going again. I consented. It was painless, and they went absolutely everywhere the midwife was shocked, but I wasn’t surprised given the size I was, it couldn’t be all baby!! This rest gave me a chance to get back on top of my breathing and mindset. I used the box breathing technique for the entirety of my labour going forward.
Things Moving Quickly
Once my waters were broken things started moving again pretty quickly. The next few hours were just using my TENS, a comb and gas and air. I kept being told I’d know when to push and I think I really doubted myself on this. At this point I really struggled to get comfortable. I wanted to find a comfortable position but nothing was working for me. Not being on all 4s, not leaning forward on the bed, it just all felt wrong. I never wanted to birth on my back as I know physically it isn’t the optimal position but ultimately it’s what actually felt the most comfortable for me at the time.
After what felt like forever my body started involuntarily pushing, so I thought this was it! I was really giving it my all, but it turned out I wasn’t quite 10cm so it was pointless! This was pretty exhausting, but not a lot I could do about it.
When I was dilated and I started with those involuntary noises. It was go time! Turned out I had a lip on my cervix though, which meant it was incredibly hard to push enough to get baby past it. She basically kept moving forward and then slipping back because of this lip, again, this was exhausting. I was still only on the TENS and gas and air, and really feeling the tiredness. It was too late for any other pain relief so the only option was to crack on!
Hello Baby: Positive VBAC Birth Story
Eventually (after genuinely like an hour of this back and forth) we were a bit further forward, and not long after (although it felt like a lifetime)
she was here!”
I did get a second degree tear which was stitched in the room. I also had a horizontal labial tear. The labial tear has been really difficult due to the nature of the injury, but my recovery has still been a million miles ahead of my caesarean. I was up and showering within a few hours, mobile instantly, and was sent home the next day. I could pick up my 2 year old and I was driving within about 10 days. Again I could’ve done that sooner if I didn’t have the pain from the labial stitches.
My biggest fear going into it was a horrendous tear but even with that complication it’s still been a great experience and so much better physically and mentally.
Love reading this positive VBAC birth story? Take a look at Joycelyn’s Positive Birth Story – a quick hospital VBAC or Georgie’s Positive VBAC.
