Feeling scared and unsure after seeing Consultant!

[cheekymonk]

Hi All, just wondered if anyone could offer any experience or advice. Have had a look at past threads so know this is emotive!
I am currently 22 weeks pg with 2nd child. 1st birth resulted in emergency section under GA despite me getting to 2nd stage. DS was in funny position and in distress hence outcome. He was born with no abnormalities or issues.
I have also been advised to diet to ensure 2nd child is smaller so that should mean easier birth! DS was 8 pounds odd so not exactly huge!
I am very large (size 24, weigh roughly 22 stones now) and have had no pg complications so far. I would like to avoid a CS under GA if I can and would like to try VBAC but if I thought I was going to go down same route as before I would chooose elective CS now as I am sure risks/recovery are slightly better and plus its no so traumatic for baby and me.
I just want a SAFE birth. I am happy to be in hospital but am scared that my choice could literally mean the difference between life and death looking at some old threads. That do you think?

Hi starlightmcKenzie. I was induced for ds as 42 weeks. I just had gas and air. Was in pain most of the night at hospital and when they checked me at about 4am I was 7cm dilated so had got to that stage ok! Getting to 2nd stage took until about 1ish the next day. I was hooked up to drip and I hatted being so immobile. I wanted to get on all fours but this knocked drip out. It was all a bit of a nightmare! I only had gas and air.
By the time I got to 2nd stage I was exhausted and relieved at prospect of CS. The distress was last 20 mins of labour ( I think)
Yes thank you for getting me to think about these things. Have put them on here in case it helps with the giving of advice!

bump

I had an emer csect with epidural with DS & am going for vbac this time. Although you mentioned you didn't like being immobile first time round, this time if you go for a vbac you could always ask for an epidural & then if labour isn't going as planned you can have a csect under epidural which for me was not a stressful event at all. I didn't have the epiudural till late in my labour but that was due to being filled up with syntocin which made my contractions go off the chart & just too painful to bear (Gas and Air made me sick!!)
Plus every labour is different, this time you could sail through a vbac with little intervention!!

Hi bubbakin, yes I would like an epidural as a back up plan as you mention but obviously if all was going well would just get on with it. Thanks for your encouragement x

I was induced due to hospital policy. I did think I may have got dates slightly wrong as I couldn't exactly remember date of LMP. I did have long cycles then, yes.
Your points are really interesting starlight and have made me really look and think about things.
I am not sure how I am going to get the optimal birth but I will do some research and perhaps stick up for myself more than last time! Consultant did seem impressed that I was at least trying to make an informed decision but scared me when he mentioned about the scar on my womb possibly tyearing and the possibility of baby being separated from placenta would result in a 'dead baby' as he eloquently put it! I read up afterwards that the risk of this is less than 1% but it is still a risk and a frightening one at that.
Also just to add, I was a similar size when I had ds.

bumpety bump

Your consultant sounds like he has a bad bedside manner! When I was preg with DD I found I had cholestasis and one reg said to me they'd monitor the baby every few days, when I told another this he said oh monitoring is no good, baby can be fine on the monitor in the morning and dead by the afternoon!! You can imagine the panic that ensued and it ruined the last few weeks of my preg. He was in fact totally right but the way he put it was wrong, same with your consultant (I'm hoping for a VBAC too so have been looking at same statistics) yes there is a risk of the scar rupturing but as long as you haven't had any problems with it during pregnancy the risks are minimal and your risk of having a stillbirth are the same as any VB so don't let that worry you, you could choose to go overdue if you wanted to and not accept induction, you'd need monitoring but they should do this for you if you want it and stick to your guns, also they may be able to offer induction with a balloon catheter if you go over and don't want a repeat c-section, I don't know if everywhere offer them but its worth asking as you can have this after a c-section but can't use prostin.
Good luck with it an don't let a bad bedside manner ruin your pregnancy for you

Thanks squallyrose. Must admit that i feel better about it a few days later. All I can do is try to take care at the moment and not stuff my face! Worrying won't don't any good but its hard not to sometimes!
Thank you and Starlight McKenzie too xx