birthED VBAC Story - Re-writing a story I carried for years
THANK YOU to this sweet family for sharing their story We are so thrilled to have this amazing documentation of your VBAC! If you are VBAC hopeful or even VBAC curious please join us for one of our upcoming VBAC Prep Workshops
Epidural, Two OP Sunny Side Up Babies, but a skilled doula and encouraging teams make all the difference!
I didn’t know much going into my first birth. I went into spontaneous labor at 39 weeks and progressed quickly to 7 cm before stalling out. I had an epidural, was on my back all day, and didn’t have a birth team to help me make educated decisions. I was taken to a C-section in tears, labeled as “failure to progress” and “fetal distress.” I was nauseated and shook through the entire surgery, spiked a fever, met my baby through a tarp, and wasn’t able to hold her right away. My recovery was complicated by a seroma that had to be drained and two infections.
I knew I wanted a different experience and a different story for my second birth, but I was cautioned about uterine rupture, my anatomy, how dilation issues tend to repeat themselves, and how a scheduled C-section would likely be my best route.
I still wanted a medicated hospital birth, and I wasn’t sure that aligned with philosophies surrounding VBACs. I changed my OB, hired a doula, took a VBAC prep class, and became determined to give a VBAC my best effort. Especially with a two-year-old at home, I knew I wanted a smoother recovery.
Thankfully, I had a healthy and uncomplicated pregnancy, though toward the end I experienced significant pelvic pain. I almost caved and scheduled an induction, but my OB and doula encouraged me to hold out for spontaneous labor, as it would give me the best chance at a VBAC.
At 38+4, I woke up at 4 a.m. with intense contractions after having false labor for about a week and a half. They came on fast and were so painful that I couldn’t labor at home. My mother-in-law rushed over to watch our toddler, and our doula met us at the hospital (Abbott Motherbaby Center). I requested an epidural immediately upon arrival because the pain, especially the back pain, was overwhelming. (We later learned baby was OP, which explained the back labor.)
I received the epidural around 7 a.m., and my doula repositioned me every 15–30 minutes. It was an amazing epidural. I could do a bridge, get on all fours, move my legs, and remain relatively mobile. My water was broken just before 10 a.m., and by noon I was 6 cm dilated, 90% effaced, with baby at a -1 station.
When they came to check me around 2 p.m., I was terrified I had stalled out again or that my contractions weren’t strong enough, exactly what had happened during my first labor. Much to my surprise, the cervical check revealed I was 10 cm.
They began coaching me through pushing and prepared me for a practice push, explaining that it can take first-time moms (especially those with epidurals) a few hours. On that practice push, they said, “Call the doctor, we see a head!”
I was scared to push and worried it would hurt since my epidural had allowed so much movement, but I only felt pressure. I pushed him out in just over 10 minutes. The little stinker was sunny-side up, too. Tears of shock and joy immediately followed. I truly didn’t know my body was capable of what it did, after years of believing I wasn’t able to have a vaginal birth.
My biggest advice to anyone hoping for a VBAC is to prepare your body, cultivate a positive mental space, and surround yourself with a team that truly believes in you. My doula, Maggie, supported me throughout pregnancy and labor and never lost faith, even when I wavered.
This birth was healing, magical, and redemptive. It gave me back trust in my body and a recovery that has been night and day. It rewrote a story I carried for years and I feel incredibly lucky.
