VBAC or RCS?

It's been an interesting day. During Jenna's nap I've been doing more research on births and baby positions and reflecting back on my birth experience with Jenna. Earlier in the pregnancy I was totally pro-RCS (Repeat C-Section) but the more I research and the more I think on my first birth experience, the more I think that I might be a little more pro-VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean). I know the V word is a little shocking for some of you, but it's part of the female anatomy and I intend to use the acronym, so don't worry.

My birth experience with Jenna was quite the ordeal. 36 hours from start to finish. Because my water broke after 26 hours (two more than the hospital allows) they were pushing me to use pitocin and to get an epidural, even though the baby was not in distress. The baby was in the posterior position, something I knew because I could feel the numbing pain of the back labor the whole first 24 hours. I tried to tell the nurses and some mentioned helping me to be able to turn the baby, but they got called away and no one helped. I was at a 7 before pitocin and the epidural was administered. I was stuck in a bed at that point and the baby was monitored continuously and was never in distress that I can remember or my husband. Eventually I got to 10 and they had me start to push. Of course because the baby was in the posterior position and I was limited in my movements (and well exhausted) it took me two hours to push her. The nurses said before I even started that they felt the baby was not going to fit through my pelvic region, especially because of position. The doctor however felt that the baby would fit if things were stretched a little more. The baby was only in slight distress when I was pushing, but because it took so long, the doc just decided we should do a c-section and I relented because by this time they had stopped the epidural and I could not control my body because of the natural progress of labor and how hard the contractions were due to the pitocin. So I had my baby, but she was whisked away with her father and I didn't see them for over an hour. It was heartbreaking. They had already weighed her and measured her and were going to give her a bath without me. Luckily I stepped in an insisted on skin to skin time, which I got. I was thankful for my little girl and for getting through the birth, but remembering all that got me thinking....

In doing some research, I really think if the baby had been able to be turned, especially when the labor had slowed, the labor would have progressed and she would have been able to come out. The doctor at the time even said that if the baby had been turned the right way and not had a giant head, she would likely would have fit. When I remember about my labor experience and then read about others who had posterior babies and even some medical research, it shows that in a lot of the cases the labor progresses slower with a posterior baby. I think had I been given more time,and if Jenna was turned the right way, things would have turned out a little differently for us.

Why write all this now? Well tomorrow I go to talk with my VBAC friendly OB about my health, some more about my history and to see if she will let me do a TOL (Trial of Labor) to see if I can do a VBAC before just assuming I will do a RCS. If I end up having high blood pressure, or some other things happen that medically make things more risky, I'll just have a RCS, but I'll have it my way. Which means skin to skin ASAP and B-feeding ASAP and having the baby in the recovery room ASAP. Whatever is safe and medically feasible, I want to happen. This hospital seems pretty open to those things and I've heard of women, in the right circumstances, getting all those things and more.

So if you read this, please pray for wisdom for me and for my OB tomorrow as we discuss this. I am super nervous and trying to shore up the strength to advocate for myself. I wrote everything down so I wouldn't forget things and I'm taking it with me tomorrow too. The more I think about having a VBAC birth, the more I think it would make sense for my family and our needs, giving that everything lines up medically to make it possible. I won't regret a RCS if it's the safest thing to do medically in a few months, but I'll feel better knowing I explored every option. :)