Baby Sarah arrived 31st August at 11.36am - weighing in at 8lb 7oz which is pretty impressive for 37+5 days! .
Dd2's birth was very traumatic, she arrived at 35 weeks by emergency section and due to problems at birth, has Cerebral Palsy. As her carer I was really worried about the possibility of having another section as I knew it would make caring for dd2 impossible. I was warned against trying for a vbac but I did my research, and was very lucky indeed.
Woke up at around 3am Monday morning with contractions, arrived at hospital around 5am. Taken to high risk unit and the midwife started wheeling in all of the monitoring equipment. We explained that we didn't want continuous fetal monitoring and why, we were really surprised that the midwife listened to my wishes and supported us in every way. I was able to move freely and was monitored every 15 mins or so. At this point I had the Tens machine on which helped a lot. As things progressed I also had Entonox which was awesome . I personally would like a home supply of the stuff just for every day use!
I moved on to the bed on all fours as labour progressed and at this point a doctor arrived and told me that I had two options - continuous fetal monitoring or breaking the waters to put a monitor on her head. I was right in the middle of a contraction at this point and just refused point blank. I didn't want continuous monitoring as it is always hard to find a trace on me and it would have meant me lying flat on my back and not being able to move.
About 10 mins after the cheeky doctor incident I was ready to push - and also ready to give up. I can't begin to describe the pain and at this point I was starting to wonder if a vbac had been the right idea . Luckily I was only pushing for 9 minutes before my lovely girl arrived! I somehow managed not to need stitches, although I did have a little tear. My little lovely was breastfeeding 10 mins after the birth and I was up and having a shower within an hour of the birth.
I was blessed with two lovely midwives who supported me every step of the way and gave me the chance to achieve my VBAC, which felt like a real honour.
I feel very lucky indeed . I was not the ideal vbac candidate - overweight, blood pressure not good, previous problems but I did it!!