VAC experience? The good the bad and the ugly!?

I was really hoping for a VBAC but I'm nervous about the risks and I don't want to end up in hours of labor push and then end up with a section after all I would love to hear all experiences with a VBAC if it was successful,the recovery etc vs a section TIA

Re: VAC experience? The good the bad and the ugly!?

Check out my March 2010 birth story! I had a very successful VBAC. It went smoothly from the start. My only issue wasn't even related to labor - a few of the OBs in my practice wanted to schedule me for a repeat c-section at 39 or even 40 weeks but luckily I had two OBs who felt that as long as baby was healthy we could wait, and I also advocated for myself after doing as much research on VBACs as I could.

I went into labor on my own 9 days past my due date and everything was fine. I had my first contraction at 2am but didn't progress to 3 cm until around 8/8:30am - probably because the idiots in triage wouldn't let me walk around. I SHOULD have advocated for myself then but was too nervous. I got the epi around 9am, and was fully dilated by 4pm. I waited for the epi to wear off before I started pushing and she was born in 29 minutes. I had some interneal tearing which hurt a LOT and took a few weeks to heal from completely, but I'd still prefer that over healing from a c-section. It was a different recovery, not any better or worse, but I didn't have to have major abdominal surgery, which was a bonus!

Good luck! I feel so lucky that I was able to have a VBAC. It was a wonderful experience.

Re: VAC experience? The good the bad and the ugly!?

Read The VBAC Companion. It's great and has lots of positive VBAC stories. Other LIF moms recommended International Cesarian Awareness Network aka ICAN. I haven't been to a meeting yet, but the FMs I got made it sound great and really helpful.

Re: VAC experience? The good the bad and the ugly!?

I had a VBAC with my DD in May 2006. I had a c/s 2 years before her because the baby was breech. I went into labor on my own during my 38th week (doc would have let me go to 41 weeks) and she weighed in at 7 lbs 11 oz. Everything was textbook, I had the epidural, I pushed for 3 hours though, but she finally came and not a single issue!

Recovery is 1000x better than the c/s, and my first c/s recovery went really well. I loved being able to get up right after delivering, using the bathroom, picking up the baby didn't hurt at all, etc.

I just had my 3rd. I was going for the vbac again. However, I had a host of complications this time around, mainly extremely high blood pressure that led to pre-eclampsia at 37 weeks, and since I had not made any progress at all (cervix was completely closed), I had to have an unplanned, emergency c/s. It's been a month already, and I still feel like I am healing, my incision still has a small part that is still open and not healing, etc. I needed a lot of help with the baby at first, since moving around is tough! Plus, 4 nights in the hospital was more than I wanted!