Reasons for C/s

lisa85 wrote: I personally hated the thought of pushing out one baby let alone two lol! So I wanted one from the start. Esme was breech as well so that just sealed the deal. I had an elective at 37 weeks.

hugs Renee that sounds awful:(

Lisa- if you only had one baby the first time you wouldnt necessarily get to choose..so lucky you had two:) i talked to my mw cause bub in great position atm and I'm sure Ob will say VBAC.. and everyone else wants that even DH ..she said ultimately my decision.. cause i already had one (so you will be ok there) if i never have labour again I'll be totally happy..I'm not one of those it's all wonderful and necessary and the way it's supposed to be kind of people.. but having said all that this time i have to think about recovery etc time as well!

I was an emergency c-section at 33w4d after 5.5 hours of labour and none of the drugs to stop labour working. Jade was breech anyway (which we knew from the word go) so I would've been going in for an elective, but even if she was head down and I had a VB with her, I would have needed a c-s with Amber because she was tangled in my ribs and had the cord wrapped around her neck....so I'm kind of glad that Jade was breech!! I had no probs with recovery.

I know I want to experience a vb as well, but I'm kind of glad I didn't get to experience a vb and a c-s on the same day

I had a C-Section due to a severe case of pre-eclampsia, my boy was born at just 28 weeks he was only 1000grams he is a healthy little boy now at 5 months old! My operation only lasted about 30mins it was fantastic thanks to the awesome team at Auckland Hospital!

On a funny note:

when i was in the maternity home the lady across from me also had a emergency ceasarian (although i never felt mine was an emergency its classed as thaT)

when i was talking to her husband he said his wife wanted a natural birth after having a ceasar first time (VBAC) and I said I was the same (we got induced the same day) and hes like ' Why would you want a Natural - I just don't get it - rather it be pulled out than pushed out any day' LOL Men just don't get it!

Charlie was extended breech the entire pregnancy. My obstetrician scanned at 34.5 weeks and we had almost run out of fluid around Charlie so the chance of him turned was nil.

The next day I was booked in for a C/S and it all went perfectly except for the delay of another day because they didn't have room in their newborn intensive care unit, so they decided to keep him inside for another day and closely monitor in case anything went wrong. But I was in the right place.

Recovery was much easier than I expected it to be. Charlie and I spend a week in hospital with him in intensive care for five of those days because of his size (not too tiny at 5lb5oz). My scar was tiny as my obstetrician knew how big Charlie was going to be when born and only cut as much as needed instead of slitting me hip to hip. Yay for Dr Paul!

It couldn't have gone better and we'll be heading straight to Dr Paul for our next pregnancy.

TC747 wrote: Hi My son was born via em. c/s due to failure to progress during 2nd stage. I dilated fully and pushed for a few hours, but he never descended fully, he was 9lb 6oz, posterior and deflexed head. I am now pregnant 18weeks with my second, I would like to try for a vbac, but nervous about having another crash section. I would love to hear from anyone who has succeed in having a vbac, seems to be a bit of a rare thing? Alot of c/s friends have ended up having 2nd & 3rd c/s, most electively but some emergency one’s too. I really feel in a bind, go for an elective & know what you are getting or go for a vbac and maybe avoid a c/s entirely. Cheers

Your labour sounds very much like mine-my son was in the same position, but he also had the cord wrapped around his neck & went in to distress. I only got to 4cm dilated though, despite having lots of syntocin & 12 hours of labour.

I feel exactly the way you do-adamant I don't want another crash c-section. If that's going to happen I'd rather just have the elective. The MW says it's impossible to predict what will happen. She said it's pretty much a 50/50 chance of successful vbac vs emergency c-section. I don't like them odds, so at this stage I think it'll be elective for me.

From some of the posts I've read it seems that the best way of emsuring you have a vbac is to avoid any drugs during labour, & I am DEFINITELY not doing it without the epidural, so I just don't have much hope of a VBAC for me.

Anyway, just wnated to say I know how you feel. I am seeing a specialist on 15 feb to discuss my options.

Febgirl wrote: My first birth was about as ideal as you can get - 6 hour labour, gas only, no stitches and I was up and in the shower 1/2 hour later. This time around things didn't go as smoothly - I was fully dilated within 3 hours of contractions becoming regular but sometime during that period DD turned posterior and got stuck. After a few hours of futile pushing I was taken to theater, they tried forceps but she just wasn't budging so emergency c-section it was. Febgirl-having experienced both the vaginal birth & the C section-what do you think you would do if you had another baby? Would you try for a vbac or just have an elective to save yourself the stress of another possible emergency C section? I feel fine about it, there was no other way she was going to come out (she was 4.1kg, my first was 3.4kg) and I consider myself lucky really - 50 or 100 years one or both of us probably wouldn't have survived the birth. Before this birth the idea of a c-section terrified me but it was a relief in the end to have one after the way the labour went. I've also found recovery so much better than I'd heard or was expecting, was never in much pain at all.

TC747, I had a VBAC last year after an elective c/s for my first who was breech. I also had an epidural. My labour started at 3pm, I went to the hospital at 8pm (we are a fair distance from the hospital and I was concerned about being stuck in the car for a long time cos of sitting making the contractions feel worse) I got to the hospital and was only 3 stinking cms. By 11pm after trying everything else (except pethidine which I would never take) I asked for an epidural, took till midnight to get it, mw then checked again and I was only 4cm. By 2am the epi was wearing off, despite me being on the one that you can keep topping up and I felt pressure in my bum. Mw had a talk to my about synotycin and "bypassing the vagina" as she called it before checking me again. When she did check I was 10cm already and he was through the lip of the cervix and ready to be pushed out. They allowed me to push for just over 2 hours (epi completely wore off, but I didn't care, pushing is a lot different to the labour before it), then I started getting immense pain between contractions so OB was called into check me in case it was my scar, turns out it was the position he was in and was his shoulder hurting me, because of the time of me pushing and also the pain they offered me vontouse delivery to which I happily agreed, I would have agreed to anything I think. One push with vontouse and his head popped out and then I pushed the rest of him out.

So it is possible and it is possible with pain relief as well. I think if you do decide to labour then it's good to get a mw with VBAC experience, mine was awesome and made a huge difference to how it all went. Also a flexed presentation is something that happens more frequently in first babies so it probably wouldn't happen again.

My friend had an emergency first time around after getting to 10cm but baby not engaging, he was also 9lb 6oz and brow presentation. Second time around she decided to labour, however once again her baby had not descended, they did not wait for her to get to 10cm though and she called time on her labour attempt 6 hours in and at 6cm dilated because he showed no signs of getting in the right position. He turned out to also be brow presentation and they think maybe she has a wafty pelvis.

So in short you can try, if you think it is something you want and it may all go ok or you can decide to change your mind and ask for a c/s at any point. My mw said apart from the baby crowning you can pretty much change your mind as far into labour as you like, there is not really a point where they say nope too late no c/s for you.

Odettenz wrote: cuppatea wrote: So in short you can try, if you think it is something you want and it may all go ok or you can decide to change your mind and ask for a c/s at any point. My mw said apart from the baby crowning you can pretty much change your mind as far into labour as you like, there is not really a point where they say nope too late no c/s for you. That's interesting. I thought that if I went to the specialist apt & we decided I would try for a vbac & see how it went that I would pretty much HAVE to have the vbac. I didn't relaise I could still change my mind anytime. Are you sure? I was worried I wouldn't be ablt to get a c-section anymore, & that kind of freaks me out. I like having the option if it goes to poo. Hmm, may have to talk to MW about this some more. I wish I wasn't so confused...

Nah, you will be able to say nope this isn't working, I would prefer to have a c-section. You have an advantage in the fact that you have already had a c-section, though of course if you are 8-10cm (transition time, where many people ask for c-sections lol) they may recommend just holding out a little bit longer as labour often times goes quicker the second time around, and that last two cm may progress quickly and then you would be pushing lol

Febgirl wrote: Odettenz - No more babies for me but if there was another time, I would try for a VBAC but I would be paying for a private OB in case things didn't go well - we'd find the money somehow! I had to wait a long time before they would take me down to theater due to the hospital policy of making you push for a certain amount of time, my midwife told me afterwards that it was ridiculous and most OBs would have had me in theater 1.5 hours before I finally ended up there (and that's 1.5 hours without pain relief fully dilated!) Edited - just reread and are you already under specialist care? In that case I would try for a VBAC - my problem was the time period between realising that this baby wasn't going to come out and finally being allowed to go to theater. I don't think you would have this problem.

Nope, not yet under specialist care, but will be seeing the specialist at Greenlane hospital mid-feb to discuss options, so I guess I should have some specialist care after that.

My MW pretty keen for me to have a go at the vbac (she says I am young & fit & healthy & should be absolutely fine), but I think she is also the very responsible type & if things weren't going well she would get me a c-section immediately. She is pretty down to earth. She has said she thinks I should at least try labour, but that she will be monitoring me regularly to make sure things are running smoothly. . Hmmm, lots to think about. I guess I have time at least to make up my mind.

Thanks for all the replies ladies-I appreciate the input