De-breif of traumatic birth at Hospital today - what should I ask?

[joey123]

I was so hoping for a VBAC, but it didn't turn out that way. Below is a brief outline of how my labour went. I am going to the hospital today, hoping to get some closure, so I can stop obsessing about my second CS, and start thinking realistically about trying for a VBA2C when I become pregnant next time, but I'm not sure exactly what I should be asking. Any suggestions??

PS - I know it's last minute, but my hospital appt is at 2pm today, any suggestions would be appreciated before 1pm

Thanks



Tuesday 2/6/09
? Hospital appointment at 1.15pm to discuss induction in 8-10 days. Have an appointment in 7 days to book in for the induction.
? Woke at about 9pm feeling very sick
? Felt first contraction at 10pm.

Wednesday 3/6/09
? Woke every 35 mins from 3am to 6am with contractions.
? Got up at 6am. Too excited to sleep any more.
? DH and DD left for work and school. Had breakfast and went for a walk.
? Sent mum a text and asked her to come up from the Gold Coast.
? Some contractions are strong and some are soft, so just keeping track of the really strong ones and they are lasting about 25-30 seconds and are about an hour apart.
? Contractions have pretty much stopped from 9am.
? Contractions started again at about 4pm

Thursday 4/6/09
? Woke every 30 mins with contractions last night, gradually getting stronger and longer each time, lasting upto 90 seconds
? Waters broke at 5.10am
? Phoned the hospital and they told me to come in for a check
? Wasn?t very dilated (they didn?t give me a measurement)
? Gave me the option of going home or staying at the hospital
? Chose to go home and was told to come back when contractions were 3 mins apart
? At 11am contractions were 4 mins apart and lasting anywhere up to 2 mins each
? The pain was unbearable and I felt I had to go back to the hospital
? At 3:45pm - 4cm dilated
? At 7:50pm - 3-4cm dilated
? As there had been no change in four hours syntocin drip was started at 10:30pm & epidural was given. I figured if I was going to have the syntocin, I may as well do it as painlessly as possible.

Friday 5/6/09
? 12:40am - 6cm dilated
? 2:50am - 8cm dilated
? 4:00am syntocin was turned off as they were worried about Lily?s heartbeat. They *****ed her head three times to try and get an oxygen reading but the machine to test the blood wasn?t working (this is why they had to do it three times!)
? 5:00am - 9cm dilated. Syntocin was re-started and I was given an hour to progress.
? 6:50am ? 9cm dilated still Lily?s head was in a transverse position and the moulding of her head suggested an obstructed labour. We then decided we had tried everything possible and opted for a caesarean
? 7:39am ? Our beautiful baby Lily made her entrance into the world with a beautiful cry (exactly one week over due). 56cm, 3.902kg.
? 7:40am ? Placenta delivered
? 8:30am ? Had very sore collar bones (due to the pressure on my diaphragm, I was told), had gone a dreadful shade of red and a terrible case of the shakes. Hearing the anaesthetist discussing it with DH and saying ?This is not normal? was not very comforting!
? 8:50am-ish ? Shakes finally stopped. Phew.

[human bean]

No advice sorry, and a little late too, but I hope your appointment went well and was helpful for the healing to begin

[Trillian]

How did the appointment with them go yesterday? I'm surprised they gave you a syncto drip AND an epidural when you were having a VBAC attempt and thats a bit of a worry for me - the syncto would have made contractions harder, thus increasing the risk of a rupture and the epidural would have meant you wouldn't know it was happening as you wouldn't feel the pain of it Plus the epidural would have meant that you were stuck to the bed and unable to get to a better position for her, hence the obstructed labour. I would also bet that this is why you didn't dilate properly because her head would have been placing uneven pressure on the cervix. However dispite all that I think you would be a really good candidate for another VBAC if you were supported.

[Butterfly Child]

hope your appointment went well yesyerday and the healing begins xxx

[joey123]

Thanks for your replies.

They were really good about it, but still tried to convince me that I would be a nutter to try VBAC next time. TOO BAD!

There was a few little things that I had forgotten about, so it was good to hear those things and they convinced me that I tried as hard as I could and she just wasn't going to come out. However, I think that if I had been allowed to be upright and in the shower, etc, we wouldn't have taken so long and been obstructed grrrrr I didn't bother discussing that with them cause them admitting that, would make them at fault, so I knew they wouldn't.

Anyway, she recons that I went a lot further than they would have liked and everyone did as much as they could to give me the best chance of delivering naturally and she was a big baby (???) for my small frame (???) . Lily was 3.9kg and I am 63cm and 58kg (when not pregnant).

So she had gotten down so far as that she was beginning to twist, but then couldn't straighten up for the last bit to come out.

I had blood in my urine which says obstructed labour and I wasn't progressing well in the times when they turned the syntosin off

My uterus was HYPERstimulated, meaning i would just finish one contraction and then start another, meaning i had no rest and because of my CS they were scared that it would rupture. This is why they turned the syntosin off, but then my contractions were not strong/regular enough by themselves, so they turned it on again, and so on and so on.

So she recons I was lucky that i went that long and i didn't rupture (just shows how much bollocks the story about rupturing really is!) And she (the head of gyno and maternity) was not happy with the dr that I was let to go that long. Helllllooooo, it's my choice, I don't know why she got in trouble!


So next time, I'll have a midwife trained doula and labour at home and stay up right and I will PUSH THAT BABY OUT!

Bring on AF.

[Trillian]

Of course you will push a baby out! See even with the syncto, it was just too much for her to be able to do what a baby is supposed to do to get themselves born. It was nothing to do with your build - much much smaller women have given birth to much much bigger babies and I have no doubt that with the right support that soon we will see you announce a successful VBA2C Any argument they try to mount to support you having another c/s is just rubbish - you got as far as you did with a syncto induction and your uterus held up just fine.

[joey123]

Thanks so much

[Julie Doula]

They gave you syntocinon for a VBAC birth??? Or did i read that wrong?

[joey123]

nope, they gave it to me! they also told me i wouldn't be induced, but at my 40 week appointment, they said that i would be if i make 42 weeks.

[Julie Doula]

I thought it was standard practice not to induce or augment VBAC women because of the higher risk of uterine rupture. Whew, I'm sorry.

So next time, I'll have a midwife trained doula and labour at home and stay up right and I will PUSH THAT BABY OUT!

I like the sound of this plan! Go, you! Homebirth is not an iron-clad guarantee of course, but I reckon your odds are going to be better than what you experienced first and second time around. There is a doula on the Gold Coast, Claire Aslangul, she is pretty spesh, I think she would be able to recommend someone in your area who could help you line up a birth team of your choosing.

By way of encouragement, did you see this doc from the Vic health dept, it's about homebirth VBACs in Victoria but I hope the stats are favourable in your area too. Another place you can check stats for hospitals and private midwives is this new site called My Birth

Oh and check out My Big Ugly VBAC.

"It wasn't pretty. But it was mine."

Love this birth story - she writes it with humour but there's some powerful truths in it too!

GOOD LUCK!!! You CAN do it.