VBAC Success Story & How to Prepare for One

I was trying to think of my next blog post when I got a text from a co-worker. Her sister-in-law was pregnant with her second child and was looking into the possibility of having a VBAC. She wanted to chat with someone who had experienced a successful one. My co-worker thought of me and asked if she could give out my information. Ding, ding, ding! My next blog post…

When I was researching VBACs at the start of my second pregnancy, it would have been so nice to talk to someone about their experience. Sure, you can research the risks, benefits, recovery, etc., but to hear directly from someone about their experience whether good or bad, is sometimes all we need as a mom to help us feel like we’re not alone.

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Here’s my Journey…

I happened to have the BEST experience I could have ever imagined so I am a firm believer in VABCs if it’s what you want. Please do the research on your own as I am not a medical expert and I am in no way here to offer suggestions or advice for your personal experience. I am here to share my VBAC journey with you and answer any questions you may have.

If you had a C-section prior to your current pregnancy, you will ultimately have to decide whether or not you’ll plan to have another C-section or try for a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). This can be a sensitive subject for some mothers which is why I believe it must be your decision and you need to be confident in what you choose. No one can decide for you and try not to allow outside pressures to sway how you feel or make you feel guilty about your decision. I am all for doing the research, understanding your options and finally, making a choice you stand by no matter what others think. This post is not to make any mom feel bad, but rather to share my personal decisions for wanting a VBAC and my experience with having a successful VBAC.

My First Baby Resulted in a C-Section

When I gave birth to Nora, it was anything but ordinary. From not knowing my amniotic sac had torn to having her heart rate drop with every contraction; it was painful, scary, chaotic and it ultimately ended in an emergency C-section to get her out safely. After that birth, I knew for my second child I was going to do everything I could to have a successful VBAC. I had a few things motivating me. I wanted to experience a vaginal birth since I wasn’t even given the option the first time, my mom had all 3 of us kids naturally so I wanted to try on pure principal and I wanted to see if my body could physically handle it. 

90% of Women are Eligible for VBACs!

Now, obviously you have to qualify before even considering a VBAC. For some women, a VBAC just isn’t an option and that is something your health care provider will discuss with you. It is encouraging to know that according to the American Pregnancy Association, 90% of women who’ve had a C-section are eligible for a VBAC!

As soon as I knew I was pregnant, I started inquiring about the possibility of having a VBAC to see if I was eligible. I spoke to 3 different Doctors and my Nurse Practitioner throughout my pregnancy advocating for myself and baby. Because of the circumstances surrounding Nora’s birth and how rare it would be to happen again (not knowing my sac had torn and needing to get her out quick (jokes on me because it DID happen again as you’ll read below)), I was eligible for a VBAC. 

I was given a few handouts to look over outlining all the risks and benefits (Yes, there are good things!) of having a VBAC. The main risk being a possible uterine rupture. Although very scary and serious, it’s also extremely rare (less than 1%). I personally felt comfortable and prepared knowing all the benefits and risks. The one thing that solidified my decision was a conversation I had with my favorite doctor (which I found out later had 3 successful VBACs herself). She assured me that because I was a known VBAC, they’d be prepared for a possible emergency C-section when I got admitted. This made me feel confident in my decision. Be sure to ask how your hospital is prepared for any possible complications to put your mind at ease.

Ultimately, I knew that I wanted to not only experience a vaginal birth, but I wanted to try and have a somewhat normal labor compared to Nora. I know it sounds weird, but I wanted to feel contractions that my body had naturally rather than induced with stupid meds (I was given Cytotec with Nora). I didn’t want to be so doped up on meds that I didn’t remember holding my baby for the first time (also something that happened with Nora). Ask any of my family or friends who visited and they’ll remember me falling asleep during visits because of how much medication was in my system. And ultimately, I wanted this birth to be my decision and I wanted to be in control as much as possible.

And Here Comes Baby No. 2…

Fast forward to the day before Baby Rivera 2.0’s birth…

I started having contractions with Baby Rivera 2.0 on January 23rd, one day past my due date. I had gone for a walk with Nora and I was doing all the things I could think to induce labor naturally. My doctor told me that if I didn’t go into labor on my own by one week past my due date, they would schedule a C-section. They also told me that if they had to induce me, it was an automatic C-section. Hence, my commitment to doing everything in my power to make this happen.

A few hours after our walk, I started feeling what I thought were tiny contractions. I also noticed some leaking going on (the same leaking I felt with Nora when my sac had torn). By the time Mark got home from work I was having some stronger contractions. I mentioned the leaking to him and asked if he could go get some Ph test strips (my recommendation is to just get these from in advance if possible) on his way home. 

About a week earlier I thought my sac had torn and because I was paranoid because of what happened with Nora, we went to get checked at the hospital. Long story short, no tear, but they did do a Ph test to check and it was negative. A Ph that is 6.7 or higher would indicate that amniotic fluid is leaking. Standard Ph test strips to a lay person are a freaking joke though which is why I recommend the ones I found above meant specifically for paranoid, soon-to-be moms since they are easy to read.

Anywho, the Ph test strips just confused me even more (because I didn’t have the proper ones), but the contractions were coming on stronger and closer together. I started to time them and had one that was about 5 minutes apart. I let Mark know and he immediately began to go into daddy mode and started packing up. However, I knew we had some time so I took a shower, told Mark to take a shower and did my hair and makeup (yah, I know, don’t judge). Everything was ready to go and organized so I wasn’t nervous (check out my post on hospital bag essentials). We got in the car and I called my mom on the way so she could pick Nora up at the hospital and watch her. 

Hospital Time

We got to the hospital and the first thing they did was another Ph test. Ladies, if you are worried about leaking please hear me now! Best advice I was given was to wear a panty liner or pad (depending on flow) if you think you are leaking fluid and then give that to the nurse. The nurse will take a Ph strip and literally press it onto the panty liner/pad where all the liquid is soaked in one spot making it easier to test. As soon as the nurse put the strip on the pad it was obvious I was leaking amniotic fluid. My water hadn’t actually broken all the way (and yah, only 15% of women actually have their water break on their own leading to labor – not as common as you’d think based on movies, huh?), but even a torn sac means it’s time for baby. 

We were admitted and got a room right away; it was glorious. I was introduced to a few nurses and they were awesome! My main nurse was all-in with me on the VBAC and promised me she would do all she could to make sure it happened. I obviously had my doubts, but she was pretty confident that we’d be successful and that baby would be here before the end of her shift. I was admitted around 9:30pm on January 23rd and had Baby Rivera 2.0 at 5:10am on the 24th so she was right!

The nurse went over all the standard questions and paperwork. They covered whether or not I wanted to touch baby’s head during pushing (yah, that’s a thing), pain level and at what level of pain was it ok to give me medication. This is where I told them about my strong opposition to taking Cytotec so it was documented. Make sure if you have any concerns or must haves, you get it documented and it’s made clear up front. They did tests, hooked me up to fluids, got me the huge jug of water and then asked me about the epidural. 

Did I want the Epidural?

Up until that point I was flip flopping between an all natural birth and one with pain meds and an epidural. I really wanted to go for the all natural option, but once they went over a logical reason (at least to me) as to why an epidural could be beneficial because of my history with the emergency C-section, I made the decision to go for it. If I hadn’t opted in for an epidural and I happened to have an emergency C-section, they would have to do a spinal tap which just takes a bit longer (I had to have it with Nora). However, if I already had the epidural, it would be much faster and one less step in case baby needed to be out quickly. 

The epidural wasn’t too bad. It was similar to the spinal tap I got with Nora, but this time I was on no medication. They numb you, you arch your back like a cat over a pillow with your legs hanging off the side of the bed and within about 10 minutes they’re done. They numb you so you barely feel anything. 

Once I had the epidural, they wanted to give me a dose of Pitocin (a medication meant to induce labor) to get things going. However, my body was responding really well on it’s own and after the one dose, they didn’t need anymore because I was basically already at 10 cm and ready to push. 

No One Ever Talks about Contractions!

Now, let me warn you (but, hopefully not scare you)…no one will ever tell you what contractions are like because it’s hard to explain and you almost have to go through it yourself to really understand. I’m going to try and explain them though. 

Imagine your standard period cramp. Now, imagine it feeling about 100 times stronger and then pretend like that little period cramp is on a roller coaster (specifically the Incredicoaster at Disney’s California Adventure because #disneyfreak) slowly climbing up to the top of the largest drop. That little period cramp starts to build up as it reaches the top and it will peak right before it free falls. It feels like the climb takes forever and will never end. Then finally, the period cramp is free-falling down the Incredicoaster and you think you’re out of the woods. Wrong! Now, you’re just in fear of when the next one will come. This is why you can’t sleep during active labor and also why you’re exhausted. It’s not the pushing that will get ya, it’s the contractions leading up to the pushing that exhaust you. 

Because of how strong these bad boys were, I swear my epidural wasn’t working. I remember telling Mark that my legs were not 100% numb and the contractions were awful. He would tell me to hit the button to release more meds, but I don’t remember them ever getting less painful. I also remember feeling really cold and my body would shake uncontrollably. This is all normal so don’t freak out if it happens. 

The contractions suck, but you wanna know what sucks even more? Feeling like you have to take the biggest poop of your life and then being told to keep that poop in because it’s not time to push. Your brain and your body are telling you it’s poop time (or in this case, baby time), but if you push too soon there’s a potential to tear more than you normally would. I told Mark, “No seriously, get the nurse, I feel like I need to poop so bad”. We called the nurse in to check how far along I was and sure enough she called the doctor in immediately. Funny how your body and mind know it’s time for something it’s never actually done before. 

Time to Push, Mama!

She told me it was baby time and then prepared me for how to push. This really is important because if you can do this right, you can get baby out quickly (if all factors like baby weight, mom’s pelvis shape/width, etc. align). She showed me how to hold my legs, how to breathe during each contraction and she told me how long to push. She told me the key was to focus on pushing like you’re taking a huge poop! Great, I thought, I’ve done that before!

I pushed for about 25 minutes and I was so laser focused on getting this child out that I didn’t feel any pain. I could feel the contractions, but my focus was on the poop-pushing so although I knew they were coming (this helps too!), I couldn’t feel them as much anymore. My mom always told me that pushing was the easy part, and boy was she right! I felt like my body was finally able to do what it had been waiting for and I was so ready to get this kid out safely that I pushed as hard as I could with each contraction. 

I could feel the doctor pushing down to get the baby’s head out, but it just felt like pressure. The doctor told me the baby’s head was out and asked if I wanted to feel it (originally I told them I thought that was weird and to ask me when it was time) and I went for it. It was enough motivation for me to push a few more times and then baby Xander was here! 

Surprise, it’s a…

Oh, and surprise, it’s a boy! Yah, we also did not know the sex the entire pregnancy. We decided to wait and let me tell you, it was the best thing we’ve ever done! I highly suggest trying to wait it out if it’s something you’re considering. Being handed a baby and at the same time finding out if it’s a boy or girl is seriously life-changing. 

After Xander was born, we got to do skin-to-skin for an hour while they prepped our recovery room. Mark went with Xander to the room while I was helped by a nurse to try and go to the bathroom on my own (when you get an epidural, they also put a catheter in) using a chair with wheels. I was able to successfully go on my own and then she wheeled me into the room with Mark and Xander. 

Recovery was much easier this time around. We were able to leave the hospital faster than with my C-section (we only spent one night in the hospital), I wasn’t on any medication aside from Ibuprofen for pain, and recovery at home was much easier as well. My first poop was also a breeze compared to the first time (yah, that’s a thing and you can read about it here).

Overall, I was super happy with my experience from the point at which I first inquired about having a VBAC to my labor. Luckily, I had no complications and I’d say Xander’s birth was pretty standard and boring, which is exactly what I was hoping for! 

If you have any questions, I am an open book and will answer the best I can. I hope this gave you some insight as to how a VBAC can possibly happen and I hope that even a portion of my story helped with your decision!

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