Has anyone regreted try for a vbac??

[didsnbump]

I had a tramatic first labour that ended in a emerg c section under GA. Im trying to decided what to do reguards vbac or elective but only ever seem to see positives about vbac's and im sure they dont all happen that way?
Please tell me your stories so i can see both ends of the scale..

Well, I had emcs with DD1 after longish labour, 2 attempts at ventouse.

With DD2 I was adament I wanted a VBAC - hired private midwives and ended up with a home VBAC, 4 hour labour, no pain relief, tucked up in bed with a glass of champagne 25 minutes later. Marvellous! Well done me! Etc etc.

BUT...as a result of this delivery I suffered severed incontinence, have had to have 2 surgeries - the second major - a colpususpension involving c-section style cut, week in hospital and no picking up baby for 12 weeks. It has been utterly, life stoppingly horrendous. 2 years later I still have further bladder issues that are having to be investigated.

All I think now is - if I had known I would have had a planned section and bloody well been grateful instead of being so insistent on proving something and having a "proper" birth experience.

So that's my experience. It's not necessarily as simple as acheiving a VBAC or not.

I have to say Riven's story always springs to mind.....

I only had the one, but if I should be in that situation again, I would go for an elcs every time. I did most of it the last time, but dd was at risk. I would not feel the need to prove myself.

Hi didsnbump. I too had an emcs with ga after having a hideously long latent phase, no sleep for 4 days and 12hrs plus in birth pool - ds was in bad position and would not descend so had emcs but then i couldn't breathe so they had to knock me out.
Hideous and very traumatic, had pnd for a while and couldn't talk about c section without crying for a while. Got over it a bit but always thought i'd try a vbac if ever did it again.
well about 5wks ago i had a vbac and it was great! could not have been more different. 7hrs from twinge to birth, only about 2hrs serious labour, gas and air only and he just came flying down and out. I feel he pushed himself out as it really was involuntary, it just worked this time.
I never really believed I would be able to do it but i did and don't regret it at all.
had small tear with a couple of stitches but home the next day and no problems. did have retained placenta but only for a couple of hours then it came out in hospital.
2nd labours are totally different and mine was very positive, although still painful!
you know you can decide to have a section even if you go into labour so you're options are always open. you never know it might happen as fast as mine so you don't get a minute to even think.
i think you should go for vbac, it is a really good way of putting trauma of emcs and ga behind you.
obviously it is your choice though. hope you are having a good pregnancy and have a great birth, however you decide to do it.

*your options, not you're!
by the way, i was asking for an epidural and a c section about 10mins before my son was born this time so i'm not saying it's all a barrel of laughs! recovery time much better in my experience though. good luck x

I had c/s for dc1 who was breech. Wanted another for dc2, but was persuaded to try for vbac, so ended in ventouse. So much better as I already had a toddler to run around after and my recovery was fast. (Ventouse cos epidural failed, anethetist didn't believe me and I ended up having an old fashioned block-everything epidural so flat on my back for 8 hours)

For dc3 I had a home birth!!! Was convinced my body knew what it was doing by then, and it was the best experience ever. Non-commital community midwife for antenatal care, but an absolute fab one turned up once I was in labour. 3 hours later I was tucked up in my bed with baby. Dh loved it too.

If I'd had dc3 in hospital, I'd have gone for a water birth and stayed in the pool until I was wrinkled and the baby was out!

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I was kind of same as tigerlilly. It bloody hurt and I was screaming for a bullet at the time and they kept swithering on taking me for another section cos his heartbeat kept dropping but he came out in 7 hours start to finish with 2nd degree tear and only a bit of morphine at about 8cm. I'm so glad I went for it and felt like I'd climbed everest afterwards. plus was up in the shower about 2 hours later and picking up my toddler the next day which until I did it I hadn't really considered how debilitating it would have been for 6 weeks after another section.

Saying that I really went into it it with my eyes open that it could very likely end in another section and it did look that way at times. I'm going for No. 3 and going back for another vbac but again I'm realistic that it could be a section again.

my ds1 was also born by emcs under ga, and i have subsequently had 2 vbacs. with dd i did end up with stitches to some grazing but it was nothing compared to the pain and inability to perform even the simplest task after the cs. ds2 was almost perfect (as far as births go!), only gas and air, even though i did beg for the epidural-i chewed the poor midwife's ear off every time she came in!

With the last two i knew there was a chance i might end with a cs and like others ahve said, the key is to keep an open mind. Know what you want but be prepared for the unexpected.

I had emergency c section with dd and debated a vbac, after much discussion opted for elective...HOWEVER..went into labour 2 days before planned section, had same difficulties with this labour as with my dd, slow to progress, baby getting stuck etc. My son was born on the day I was due to have elective section. long labour. He was born by forceps. I hoped my recovery would be quicker, but episiotomy took time to heal and undercarriage has never been the same. Definately no more babies for me!! Good luck whatever your decision.

Im really feeling elective will be the best option as even though recovery takes time i never really found there was anything i couldnt do the first time, just have to be carefull and things take a little more time.
I really want to share this birth with my DH as with my first he got to meet our son straight away where for me it was 4 hours later. If it was to end in another emergency c section then this wont happen, plus i dont like the idea of being awake and having the section with out DH there as i struggle with things like that, which i have been told will more than likely happen this time as i had my first abroad where they tend to give general anth if u havent already had an epidural.

I would love to do it naturally but im to scared of the what ifs i think to risk it.

I had emergency cs first time then VBAC but found the aftermath of VBAC far more painful - had no real problems after cs.

Pennyrain - Why did you have a natural labour when you were booked in for a section? I always assumed in that situation that they would give you a csection when you arrived at the hospital.

Gosh this is a tough decision - I've been there.

If only there were a crystal ball. I found myself hoping that I would have placenta praevia or something so that the decision was out of my hands

Good luck with whatever you choose to do

thedollshouse if the section is not for medical reason incompatible with vaginal delivery they will wait and see how vaginal goes, as i understand it.

Didsnbump - i know exactly how u feel...i had Em CS with DS after a difficult labour and have been tore between elective ir vbac the whole pregnancy!!

I am due on xmas day but i am booked in 4 elective on 22nd....goodluck whatever u decide

The dollshouse...amazingly c section wasn't considered by my consultant when my labour started, he quoted me a 70% chance of all going well this time round, so decided to go with it, motivated by the hope of a quicker and less complicated recovery (had infection with c section). They did keep a very close eye on me, but by the time it became apparent baby wasn't coming out unaided, he was too far down for section. Still perversly enjoyed the birth though!

In answer to OP - yes and no.

I had a relatively straightforward but unplanned section with dd (back-to back labour, failed ventouse).

The VBAC I had with ds1 was truly awful. I ended up with a ventouse delivery requiring an episiotomy where a swab was left inside - I pulled this out 3 weeks later . As a result of this, my recovery was slow, the scar didn't heal as it should and I really didn't feel I'd have any more children.

However, I decided to go for dc3 with a view to having a homebirth (as I couldn't face the prospect of the hospital again). I didn't get the homebirth I wanted as there was meconium present when my waters broke but I did have a quick and easy birth which I don't feel I would have had if I'd opted for a section for ds1. I'm pretty sure I would have felt railroaded into another section.

It's a really difficult decision, I think. In a way it's easier to go with what you know, and you seem to have recovered well from your first section. Though, of course, you'll have the added complication of another child to care for this time.

How far did you get in labour the first time?

I didn't have a VBAC but did have a traumatic first labor with emergency section so I do know a bit about where you are coming from on that. I decided from the start to have an elective with ds2. I just couldn't bear the thought of going through another labor and then possibly having another emergency section. The elective was wonderful. Not going through labor beforehand meant that, imo, I recovered much faster than the first time around. It was just such a different experience from ds1's birth and laid to rest a lot of things that had haunted me iykwim.

I'm hoping that this baby will turn out to be breech again, takes the decision out of my hands.

I feel really guilty because I keep reading about ways to turn a breech baby and thinking to myself "well I must do the opposite" . Its just that my csection was a calm controlled experience and I keep reading about so many horror stories that I'm thinking better the devil you know!

thedollshouse I was the same as you. I had to have an extra scan as the placenta was low lying and found myself hoping it would be too low for a vagninal delivery. It was then I realised that what I actually wanted was an elective and so that is what I had.

I did feel a bit guilty for not even "trying" but the elective was a very good birth.

I had a crash section under GA with DD, was horrifying.(For PROM, brow, and fetal bradycardia)

Asked for elective second time round and was basically refused. I didn't much care whether I had a VB or elective, just wanted to make sure I didn't have such a terrifying experience.

So I booked a homebirth for my VBAC and wrote a very firm birth plan which basically said - if baby comes out, fine. If any problems, I will go in for a CS at once

I transferred for failure to progress, another malpositioned baby. I refused their kind offer of breaking my waters and giving me an epidural and insisted on CS. They did, under spinal. Not nice, but 100x better than first time.

Irritating thing was, that if I had been having a hospital VBAC I would have already been sectioned for the FTP, baby was getting distressed when the blood checked so I was right to insist they got him out. And with the poor position I am CONVINCED it would have been an assisted delivery if I had ever dilated.

Bamboo- I laboured right through, but i gave birth to ds1 in germany where they dont use any pain relief other than epidural.
I went into labour late tuesday night and when checked by a midwife at 10am wed i was 3cm with high blood pressure so sent to hospital. By 11pm i had only gone to 4cm and was beginning to get more pain, they gave me something to try and sleep but at 2am my waters broke and the pain got a lot worse.By 6am i was in a lot of pain but by the time they took notice of how bad i was (busy night with 13 deliverys) i was fully dilated and to late for an epidural.Ds wasnt wanting to come out so they then checked his postion and found him back to back. They had two attempts to venthouse before putting me to sleep.

I had an appointment with a consultant today. Im now 32 weeks, so have another month to decide but nothing we talked about incouraged me anymore to try for a vbac. Plus baby is breech so might have to anyway so im def looking towards elective right now.
The one thing i dwell on with my first is that i didnt get to share the first momments of my sons life with my hubby. He got to have the first hold see them weigh him and clean him up, while i was out for the count somewhere. I dont want to have it happen apart again, i want to share this one and the only way to guarentee that is an elective.

Gosh, that sounds a really traumatic labour . My dd was back-to-back - it is awful (and I had the full works as regards pain relief!).

There's a world of difference, isn't there, between that sort of crash-section and a planned elective. Sounds like you've made your decision . Good luck with it all.

I had an elective section for DD2 after my requests for a waterbirth VBAC fell on deaf ears. As with my first section (for placenta praevia) i was driving after 2 weeks and could pick up my 21month old DD1 after a few days. I am very glad that i went with this option now, even though i had initially set out with the dream of a lovely natural waterbirth

Hope all goes well, whatever you decide

Positive stories here. I had an EMCS under GA for my first baby, but two VBACs since, one in hospital and one at home. They really helped me get over the trauma of it all.

Good luck whatever you decide.