Before I even dive into this whole thing, I just want to say I GOT MY VBAC!
AHHHHH!!!!
I was told several times during this pregnancy that it wouldn’t happen for one reason or another, but I birthed an almost 9 pound human out of my va jay jay!
After 17 hours of labor, I welcomed my son Noah Alexander Maybell weighing in at a whopping 8 lbs. 14 oz at 6:32 PM.
Why I Needed A C-Section The First Time
Around 28 weeks pregnant with my second baby I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes and because of that my OB wanted to induce me around 39 weeks to avoid an overly large baby.
Because of some scheduling conflicts, I ended up being induced on my due date July 10, 2019 at 8 AM.
I labored for about 12 hours and made it to 10 cm dilated when my daughter started to have heart decels and the call was made to have an emergency c-section.
When they pulled her out of my belly, they realized that the umbilical cord had been wrapped around her neck twice and was too short for her to descend all the way into the birth canal.
My recovery afterwards was hell, but I’m so glad that she was healthy and had no health complications afterwards.
My recovery was a huge driving force in making me try for a VBAC this time around!
VBAC Complications
Since I had such a crappy experience last time, I switched doctors offices to midwife care and also hired a doula.
It seemed like everything was going perfectly until I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes…AGAIN!
I got referred to Maternal-Fetal Medicine and although my midwives still had faith in me, the doctors and nurses seemed to have a really negative vibe about my birth.
They were throwing around words like “induction” and “big baby” pretty early on and I was getting scared that I was going down the same road all over again.
Then at about 38 weeks pregnant, he flipped from head down to breech.
I was so far along at that point that my midwives had me seen by the OB they worked with to see if an ECV was an option.
Since it was my third baby there was a good possibility that I could go into labor early and it could be fast. So, we wanted to get this sorted out before that happened.
When the OB did the ultrasound the next day, he was still breech and she realized that my placenta was right in front of him. That meant that she couldn’t do the ECV, so she scheduled me for a c-section a few days after that.
I’d given up at that point until one of my midwives called me later on that day and suggested that I get a second opinion and try a prenatal chiropractor and spinning babies exercises.
Getting Ready For Baby!
Over the course of that week, I tried every single thing my midwife recommended.
I went to another OB/GYN who said she thought she could try the ECV and scheduled me for two days after I turned 39 weeks. I was literally over the moon because it felt like my plans for a VBAC were back on track!
I also went to the prenatal chiropractor for a session and she did mention that he was still breech at the end of our session. Opening things up at the chiropractor does tend to make ECV’s more successful though, so I didn’t feel like it was a waste.
My ECV was scheduled for Thursday morning and whether it worked or not I would have had a baby that day. Either vaginally or by c-section due to being full term.
My Labor
Wednesday night my Braxton Hicks were starting to get more uncomfortable and consistent, but I’ve never gone into labor on my own so I ignored them.
At about 1 in the morning I started tracking my contractions and they were about 7-10 mins apart.
I told my husband to get ready to go just in case, but I still wasn’t taking it seriously. At around 3 in the morning I called my midwife and told her what was going on.
Since my baby was breech she wanted me to come in right away, so we packed up our kids, dropped them off at grandma’s and headed to the hospital!
My contractions picked up in how fast they were coming on the way but they still weren’t unbearable.
When I got to the hospital, my midwife wanted to check to see if I was dilated at all while we waited on an ultrasound to check the baby’s positioning.
She ended up saying that I was 4 cm and she thought she could feel a head but she wasn’t sure. At that point, I could’ve fainted. I never felt anything like my baby turning back to head down and it seemed like a miracle!
Once the ultrasound was ready, she checked again and yep, our baby boy was head down and ready to go!
After that, I got moved to a birthing suite and labored waiting for the midwife to be done with some other patients.
When she came back and checked me, I was 6 cm! At this point thought, the contractions were kicking my butt!
I was beyond ready for an epidural.
Once I got my epidural in, I got my water broken and was almost 8 cm.
Baby’s head wasn’t perfectly in the birthing canal though, so my doula helped me with a peanut ball and moving from side to side to get him to where he was supposed to be.
At around 5:30 pm, I started to feel pressure near my butt and called the midwife to come check.
I was 10 cm!!! It was time to push!
Delivery & Recovery
When my midwife told me it was time to push, I expected tens of people to run in the room, but it was just her, my doula, my husband, and the nurse.
Honestly, it was such a relaxing environment. Maybe a little bit too relaxing because I just couldn’t figure out how to push the baby out lol.
After about 15-20 minutes of literally doing a whole lot of nothing, I got the hang of it. He came out in the next 2-3 pushes and was on my chest!
It felt so surreal to have my son and the birth that I’d prayed for.
I was able to get up and walk almost immediately and was taking a shower the next morning and walking around like normal.
We went home with our beautiful baby boy that night at around 8:30 pm and he passed all of his tests with flying colors!
My recovery at home this last week and a half hasn’t been amazing but believe me when I tell you, it’s miles and miles better than my c-section.
I love being able to take care of my son and my other kids, and do things for myself without overwhelming my husband.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
