OK, recently we found out that we’re going to have another little floor crawler in a few months, and since the first one was a breech, we delivered via c-section. We’ve been offered the option this time, however, of doing VBAC (vaginal birth after caesarian), and although they made clear most VBACs are uneventful, there are risks which they illustrated with a few horror stories.
So, has anyone out there opted for a VBAC or not? Care to share the whys and wherefores, results and opinions? I’d be very interested.
I don’t know for sure what decision I’ll make if I get pregnant again. Probably a repeat C. Don’t get me wrong, I took Bradley classes and everything, and am a strong believer in the value of unmedicated, natural, vaginal childbirth.
I think for me it’s a “the devil I know” type of decision. I’m also a wuss, another major factor. And I’m sure that my c-section recovery would be better this time, which adds to its appeal. If Cranky Jr had been a breech, maybe I’d be more curious about VBAC. Cranky Jr, instead, was huge with a big fat huge head to boot. I don’t think he presented right (My childbirth instructor said after the fact it sounded like a “military presentation”) but even if his head had been banging on my cervix at the correct angle, I still don’t think giving birth to the little monster would be a picnic. I worry his siblings (none of which are planned right now) would have similarly huge noggins.
However, I know at least a half-dozen moms who have chosen VBAC. There are actually some good boards and forums devoted to this topic at the parenting/pregnancy websites, so I suggest you check those out if you haven’t already. Not that I’m trying to put the kabosh on posts here–I just mean I know they’ll be another good source of info.
IANAM, but my wife went VBAC.
Background: When she was quite young, something really unpleasant happened, and my (then future) wife was left a pregnant teenager in a rust-belt/bible-belt town. She was shipped off to a convent (talk about wounding the victim!) to deliver her child, and at labor, the child presented breech, and was delivered C-section.
Fast-forward 12 years: We’re expecting our first, and Mrs. Tranq wants to avoid the C-section: The first experience left her quite jaundiced towards the process (she provided no details as to why). She was labled as a “high risk” pregnancy (Uterine scar), and was monitored quite closely. Everything went as nature/God intended, and after 11 hours of labor and a minor surface epesiotomy(sp?) later, we had a beautiful little girl.
The ObyGyn tells us that the next (should there be a ‘next’) pregnancy will be labled as ‘normal risk’, barring other risk factors: Her uterine scar has been tested, and presents no risk. YMMV.
Mrs. Tranq was rather put off by the epesiotomy(sp?) stitches, and would liked to have avoided that (yes, there are ways, and they’re quite fun, too!), but at least it was surface only, with no muscle involved, and healed quickly. No sex for 11 weeks. 
Sure, they say 6 weeks in the birth classes (our hospital used a combination of Bradley/LaMaz), but every case is different… Anyway, that gave her another 5 weeks to work on her kegels 
, so I didn’t much mind, especially as we were both too tired to pop, anyway.
My oldest child was delivered vaginally, after about 19 hours of labor. When Saint Zero and I found out we were expecting together, I envisioned another of the same. Nope. Rick was three weeks early, in distress, so I had a c-section. I had a great experience with that.
Fastforward a few months, and we find out we’re expecting again! I wanted a VBAC. Doctor advised against it. Since the two children would only be 13 months apart, he was afraid of uterine rupture, which, as you probably know, is NOT GOOD. So we delivered again, scheduled c-section.
If you have the right doctor, either is okay, in my opinion.
I was approved for VBAC for my youngest son. I would have gone through with it if he hadn’t gone into fetal distress during labor. It turned out that the umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck, twice. I ended up having another emergency C-section.
My complications had nothing to do with my prior C-sec.
I’m given to understand that as long as your C-section was done with a low transverse incision, and you’ve had plenty of time to heal, you’re good to go, with relatively little risk. At least, that’s what my doc told me.
Congratulations, BTW.
My wife has had 2 VBAC’s since our first child. All went smoothly. Her decision to do VBAC’s was because for her it meant shorter recovery time. Her recovery time from the C-Section was about 6 to 8 weeks. For both vaginal births, it was about 4 days. This makes a major difference when you have other kids to take care of.
I have decided that if I have more kids I will go with another C-section. This may not seem like a good reason to most people, but for me the reasons are: this is pain I know, so I know what to expect; I already have the scar; I am (deathly) afraid of an episiotomy; and I don’t want to stretch out my girly parts if I don’t have to. Also my recovery time was very short. The day after I was up walking and was gone the next day and didn’t bother finishing my pain meds.
However, I have talked to a couple of people who have had VBACs and they said it was a wonderful experience. I would consider how much importance you put into the whole birthing experience. For me, I concentrate more on the “after” so missing a vaginal birth wasn’t that big a deal for me.
I got a good close look at the process of a surface episiotomy: No big deal, as best I can tell: Mrs. Tranq didn’t even flinch. Of course, she was rather out of it after an hour and a half of pushing. It happened so fast I almost missed it: A quick snip with a pair of surgical scissors, very little bleeding, and three (IIRC) stitches to fix it. Her complaint was that the stitches itched as she was healing.
Had we started on the process of massaging her pereneum(sp?) sooner, there wouldn’t have been an episiotomy at all. This is the fun bit I’d refered to earlier: You (or you partner) massage the pereneum with a good lubricant, with the object of gently stretching it. It takes a while, and has to be done over a period of some weeks. And it’s fun! 
Our midwife recommended we use olive oil, which has interesting uses… 
As for the ‘stretching’ of your ‘girly parts’, well… After some kegels, I’m thinking she’s as good as new, if not better. She’s certainly not complaining.
Thanks for all your input.
I did check out one or two of the boards that Cranky mentioned but most of the posts there were so syrupy I had to come here and get real people opinions.
After a c-section the episiostomy doesn’t really scare me - but hen again it doesn’t thrill me either. My main problem was a VERY bad experience with the anesthesiologist and the whole epidural thing. So much so I elected to go with a general. I absolutely do not want another attack on my spinal column during which ever birthing method I go with. I think that’ll wind up being a bone of contention.
Since Child #1 is 3, I think the whole scar thing should be a non-issue after so much healing time. The doc is very mellow - he was in act the one who suggested the VBAC option to me in the first place and it honestly hadn’t even occured to me. It’s another 10 days before we meet with him to discuss, but I’m presently leaning slightly toward the VBAC consent. At least if I do my husband won’t want to name this one Caesar, too. (No we didn’t but he thought it was a good idea at the time.)
A good anesthesiolgist is an absolute requirement for an epidural (ours was an artist), but have you considered an intrafecal? Yes, it means running the IV into that place, but has the advantage of being much easier to place, and much less risky. The Navy uses intrafecals, almost exclusively, for births at Naval hospitals (Many, many births at those places…), and they have a very low complication rate.