Questions about first birth to help with second

I'm torn whether to have a VBAC or try for a vaginal birth after my first experience, so would appreciate any advice/further info anyone may have.

With my DD I was in labour on and off for a few days. I was admitted to hospital at 7am and 5cm dilated and my doctor broke my membranes at that point presumably to speed things up a bit (I was already quite tired by this point) By about midday I was fully dilated, which is when I was told that my baby was still not engaged. They said she was at "-1" whatever that means. By this point my labour had slowed right down so I was given syntocin in the hopes she would move down a bit further to at least allow an assisted delivery. Two hours later and she had not budged so I had a c section as the advice I was given at the time was she would not move if she hadn't after 2 hours of intense syntocin contractions.

When DD was born her head shape was absolutely perfect. It had not started to shape at all which makes me think maybe her head was just too big? :confused: Her head was on the 100th percentile as compared to her height and weight which were 50% so she does have a big head. I've since learnt there were probably different positions I could try etc which may have helped, but to be honest I was absolutley exhausted after my experience and had a dream recovery so I'm wondering if it's even worth trying if this will happen again.

So.. comments, experiences all greatly appreciated

Anyone?

I can't help you from a c/s perspective, but with her head shape, I don't think that it would have been because her head was too large to engage, she may not have engaged for a lot of different reasons. It is possible that with the niggling labour that you weren't ready to labour yet and that if you had of gone a few more days then she would have engaged, but when your waters were broken, it could have been too early kwim? And her head would not have been moulded because she hadn't engaged. If she had of engaged at all during labour then she would have had some moudling, so that is why her head was as large as it was. If you measure the head of a vaginally birthed baby a few days after the moulding has gone, then their hc is different too. So it wouldn't have been too big, it would have moulded to fit and if she had of been born vaginally then she would have had a cone-head look. My first had a big cone on his head from the birth and had a hc of 35, but I reckon if they had of measured it on day 3 or 4, it would have been a lot bigger - his hc at 4wks old was 40cm and by that age my other 3 had only gained 2.5-3cm in hc so I doubt that his head grew 5cm in that time.

I would say that had your waters not been broken to get a show on the road that in reality probably needed a few more days off the road ;) then it could have been a very different outcome for you. That doesn't mean that any of this was your fault because it wasn't - you did what you needed to do at the time and you should not regret that at all OK? :hug:

Whether you want to have a VBAC or have an elective c/s next time is up to you and what you want from birth really. Weigh up the pros and cons for each and think about what it would mean to you to have a vb, or to have a c/s birth and go from there. Good luck :)

ETA - I found this info for you http://www.plus-size-pregnancy.org/malpositions.htm don't worry about it being from a plus sized pg website, this information is relevant to women of any size.

Thanks for that info :D I was actually wondering about that. Maybe I should have refused having my waters broken.. At the time I was in a fair bit of pain though and not really thinking logically :lol: I just wanted it over!

The other thing that confuses me is the day before my daughter was born my OB said I was 1cm dilated and that he could feel her hair. Surely if she wasn't engaged he would not have been able to feel her head.

I have bought myself the pink kit and hope to be a lot more knowledgable this time around.

Really? He said he could feel her hair when you were only that far dilated, you still had intact waters and she wasn't engaged? That doesn't sound right to me. He could have just been trying to boost you up a bit and make you feel like something was happening. Going by that pic in your ticker she wouldn't have had enough hair to feel, let alone him being able to put his finger in far enough to get through a cervix only dilated 1cm, that may not have been thinned out and efaced.

Yeah he definitely said he could :confused: Maybe he was just trying to make me feel better :lol:

i had 2VB's with perfectly shaped heads- go for it!! actually they were so good the shift changing midwifes though they were both c-section babies!!

Hi Kyliealysha,

IMO I think you should really think about what you are wanting from your birth, read up heaps (which it sounds like you are with the pink kit ;)) and make your decision from there.

I totally understand where you are coming from though, it can be very difficult to make a decision and if you're anything like me, there is a teeny little element of "perhaps better the devil you know" type thinking and also worrying about failing VBAC.

FWIW I'm going for a VBAC all the way. My CS was elective because I had Pregnancy induced hypertension and bub was not engaged so my Ob said an induction wouldn't work. My Ob also said that because my baby wasn't engaged at 38 weeks that it was likely I had CPD and wouldn't be able to birth vaginally. I've done a lot of reading since and discovered that CPD (or baby too big to fit through small pelvis) is in most cases a crock. I've therefore changed my care provider and am hopeful that I will get my VBAC.

The way I look at it is: Different baby, Different pregnancy, Different birth :)
Best of luck with your decision.

Oh yeah, 2 books I can thoroughtly recomend to help you make the decision that is right for you are one called Better Birth and one called Delivery by Appointment.

HTH

Thanks Mamaspice :)

At the moment I am leaning more towards VBAC (hopefully) I know what you mean about the devil you know though. It would make life a whole lot easier in many ways :lol:

Why not give it a go? What have you got to lose? They key will be choosing the best care provider to help you have a VBAC, otherwise another caesarean might be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

hmm.. with the hair thing.. i seriously doubt he could feel it, maybe he was saying it in a joking way as if yep bubs has engaged so much i can 'almost' feel the hair? dunno? if bub was engaged i think they can come out again but not sure? or maybe the doctor just didnt make the correct call on it?

i agree the head gets moulded from going down the birth canal and coming out thats why bubs who are born with c-sect often have perfect little shaped heads! :-)

as for your next birth.. things often (not always but often) progress faster and more efficiently and cause you have done it before you have slightly more understanding/ less fear of it all. i also think its up to you totally.. VBAC, c-section as long as bubs arrives safe and sound i dont thin it matters but you need to decide what you really want. :-)

As MamaSpice said...different pregnancy, different birth. I think there are so many things that might have influenced your previous labour, it almost doesn't factor into your decision this time. What you really need to think about is what you want.

Do you really, really want to experience vaginal birth? Do you just want to be able to say that you gave it a go? Would you rather know exactly what will happen?

I don't think from anything you've said about your previous labour, that there is any reason for you not to go for a VBAC, it would be totally up to you.
I know that doesn't necessarily make it easier ;)
but have confidence that there is every likelihood that this time around will be completely different.

Good luck with your decision :hug:

Just thought I'd add - my four were all totally different, first two were VB, third was ECS, fourth was a VBAC. With my CS bub, he never engaged because (it turned out) he was all tied up in the cord. My VBAC baby didn't engage until about 10 minutes before she was born ;)

Thanks everyone. I actually have no burning desire to experience a vaginal birth :lol: I'm actually more interested in the baby's health. Emma had a lot of fluid that caused her issues from not being pushed through the birth canal.. I also just learnt from my OB that if I have an elective c section then the baby can be with me in recovery, but if I try for a VB and end up with and emergency c section then we will be separated like I was with Emma. That was not cool. :(

Kyliealysha,

There is a saying among many midwives which says "hire a surgeon, get surgery". Vaginal birth is the most healthy way for your bubby to be born. I guess I would just be really wary of setting yourself up for failure by going to an OB to try to help you have a VBAC. Most of them have terrible rates of VB after CS. because they don't believe in womens bodies as basically being something that works. If you go into labour and go straight to hospital looking for a VBAC the most likely will want to hook you up to CTG for the whole labour and that makes it really hard to move around and help your baby down. Is there any way that you can get an independent MW to go with you or a doula? Someone who can help you get past that point when you are just tired and the dr suggests something that makes his life not yours easier?

There was a study done down in VIC which showed having a home birth midwife gives you a 90% chance of a VBAC going to hospital gives you about a 13% chance.........who your carer is is the most important factor in what will happen in your labour to both you and your baby.

Good luck with your decisions and I hope you get out of your birth what you are after.

Birth blessings to you

Bella