This is an amazing VBA2C story. A VBA2C is a Vaginal birth after 2 Caesaraens!!!

It is not many couples who will even contemplate this as a possibility but when I met Kandi and Aaron I knew they could do it.

They were so determined.

They were also great fun and added a lot to the classes. They were certainly an inspiration to the other couples with their determined, straight forward approach to getting the birth they wanted.

Here is their story.

“Everything started when I went for an induction massage on the Monday arvo after my aqua class, I was at 41 weeks. I then caught up with my girlfriends hoping this would be the last time we had a catch up before bub comes 🙂 Throughout the late arvo/ evening I had little niggles but nothing major so off I went to bed.

When I woke up I was having irregular surges, nothing that made me have to stop and concentrate. I had an appointment with the OB that morning so I thought we might as well go and get a stretch and sweep and hope that gets things moving. I didn’t think my waters would break :0.

 

Now I was hoping to get the same doctor as we did the week before as you know the last time I saw this other doctor he was trying to talk me into a C-section, I even requested the doctor we had the previous visit and they said yes, but when I heard my name called and looked up my heart sank. It was the doctor we saw two weeks before who tried to bully me into a C-section again… I told myself, “No Kandi ! It’s ok if this goes bad we will just ask to see the other doctor”.

So in I went with the kids as Aaron had gone off to the toilet (I was so nervous/ anxious and angry at the same time). I called Aaron to tell him what room we were in and I felt like I was very reserved and not comfortable, Aaron came in and saw the doctor and said “Why aren’t you with the other doctor?”

I felt timid and the doctor said, “Did you want to see another doctor?” I didn’t know what to say…. I ended up just saying what I felt “It depends on how you are going to be”, his reply was “How do you want me to be?” all I said was “Supportive if you can.”

It felt good telling him what I was wanting and I felt in control of the situation again 🙂

He saw no reason not to be supportive in the end, all that worry for nothing.

He agreed to wait until the following Monday to book in for a C-section which would make it 41+5 weeks where he said we could try breaking my waters and go from there. But even he said I should be going into labour in the next couple of days as I was having niggling surges.

So he gave me the option of a stretch and sweep and I thought “Why not, it might bring things on?” (In hinds sight I shouldn’t have done it as she was posterior). I had the stretch and sweep (well half a one as my waters broke halfway through). I asked if he did it on purpose (hahahaha) but he said no, he look a bit surprised. All I was thinking is “Great timer happening………”

The doctor said I could go home (YAY!) but to come back in at 9pm or before if contractions were 2 every 10min.

So off we went and the girls were so excited they will soon get to meet their baby sister.

My mum came and picked the kids up and then thought we would play some Carcassonne for a bit to relax and bounce and roll on my birth ball. Things started picking up so I thought I would try a shower listening to birthing prompts to try and get in the zone and get things happening.

By the time 8:30pm came around my surges got to 7min then back to 10 min apart. The time got to 9:30pm and thought we should get on our way because we couldn’t really hold off much longer. On the way to the hospital I had one earphone in listening to the affirmations and birthing prompts, surges really started to pick up with intensity and getting to 5 min apart.

When we got to the hospital we were sent to the assessment unit where surprise, surprise I had to sit back on the bed to get a good trace of the baby’s heart rate and contractions. I asked if we could do it on the fit ball but the midwife said if we get a good 20min trace I can go on the fit ball. But of course she would come back every 20mins realising the monitor wasn’t recording both the contractions and heart rate, just the heart rate, so started again, and then again. All my instincts were saying that I don’t want to be leaning back considering she was border lining on the posterior. I was still listening to the tracks but it was so bright!

After about an hour and a half she let me off and I could go to the toilet, walk around and really breath through my surges. They were picking up again with intensity, but I just breathed through them while I had one earphone in listening to the birthing prompts. By 12pm they did a VE and I was 4-5 cm so I was able to go to labour ward but had to wait for what seemed like forever! All I wanted to do was get out of this bright room and set up my labouring room so I could just concentrate on this labour.

When we got to the labour suite I was set up with the telemetry monitor and Aaron was setting up the room. The doctor came in and was letting us know that after 24 of the waters breaking I will need to have antibiotics and we would have to “discuss” options. I was happy with that as he said there is room for negotiation if all is well.

I also didn’t think I would need that long hahahaha!

To my surprise he was really into the hypnobirthing and read how he could help etc. I was getting a really good vibe from my caregivers they really wanted me to succeed and not have to have another C-section.

After the house keeping was done and dusted they pretty much left us to it. Surges just kept building in intensity but I could breath through them with a lot of help from Aaron. Aaron was so great through the whole labour. Next thing I knew it was 3am time for my next VE my surges from what Aaron was telling me was that they were about 2-3min apart and boy were they building!!! I thought I would be quite far along as I was starting to moan through the surges, I thought that I would like to know where I was at turns out I was about the same 5cm I thought that’s ok she is posterior surges were going to be that bit more intense. We found out later in labour that she was full posterior.

So we continued to labour and breath though surges, but it was getting so much harder, once again Aaron was great support reminding me to do things and reassuring me with his voice. It just got so much! They were so intense! So I asked for the gas to see if could take the edge off and make it easier to breath through the surges, it helped for a bit but the surges kept upping in intensity and I found I couldn’t relax, Aaron was trying his best to get me deeper but they were just one on top of each other there was just no break! It was coming close to my next VE exam and I decided then and there that if I wasn’t much further along I would have an epidural because I couldn’t handle it anymore they were just so intense! I told Aaron this as he came back from moving the car. Aaron just asked if I was sure. I just knew within myself that I couldn’t handle it anymore, there was no break to rest between surges and that the epidural will either help me to relax again so I will dilate or give me some time to rest before having to have a C-section and I was ok with that even though this is not the path I originally wanted for my labour I needed this to be the new path.

 

So I had my exam and surprise, surprise 5cm! 9 hrs of 5cm and I knew the surges were just going to become more intense. When I did make the decision for the epidural I had to wait an hour as they were in theatre. That was the longest wait of my life!

 

 

I am tearing up as I am writing this not because I was upset where this labour was going but because this was our labour and Aaron was just so great through this whole thing, I really don’t think I would have coped as well as I did with my labour and decisions if he wasn’t there he was just so encouraging and understanding. He was saying how proud he was of me. 

 

 

Anyway back to the story…

The midwife double-checked with me asking if I understood that there is a chance the contractions might stop. I thought that was good of her to tell me. Once the anesthetist came and I was about to get it put in I was starting to freak out but Aaron was in front of me looking into my eyes and helped me relax everyone was telling me to relax and I couldn’t. I asked Aaron can I relax? He said “Relax”, and do you know what, it was only then that I could. Aaron calmed me down and led me through it.

All my other labours had not been this intense and it was all new to me to have an epidural in labour. I asked the midwives to check where she was facing so I could try and turn her lying down. Even after the epidural started working and I did the top up dose I still needed the gas so I got the emergency dose I could have once an hour. What a detour this birthing had taken!!, I had never had these drugs with previous labours.

I started to relax and got Aaron to put hypno tracks on then birthing prompts and I lied back listening to them and I felt really relaxed and calm (no surprise really with the drugs hahahaha) so the epidural was inserted at 7:15am. It seemed like no time at all when 9:15am came around and had to do my VE, I thought “Yep ok! Lets see where we are at”, before the midwife did she was commenting on how I was still regularly contracting and that was really good, she was surprised, when she did the VE she said “I need to get someone else to check but I am sure you are fully dilated!” All we could think is “What!!!”

Nobody expected it! We hoped I would have progressed but FULLY DIALATED!!! WOOHOO!! We were so happy!  It seemed very surreal to Aaron and myself. Sure enough the other midwife came in and yep 10cm dilated, that was it Aaron started crying, I started crying we were going to get the birth I wanted so bad!! They said they would give me an hour so I could get some more movement in my legs and they also informed me that she was no longer full posterior Yay! I ended up leaning over the back of the bed on my knees to help her down.

After an hour they said it was time to start pushing, I said that we have been learning to breath down the baby, but I couldn’t seem to get it whether or not it was because I couldn’t feel my surges properly. I tried pushing in the position I was in it wasn’t happening, they asked if I wanted to try sitting on the bed and get a mirror, I said I really didn’t want to be on my back, they said it is worth a try sitting and if not we could try another position. They said not to worry we were going to get this baby out they were all so exited to witness a VBA2C as it doesn’t happen all the time. The midwife had come in earlier asking if we minded that the OB delivers the baby, she was really wanting to (hahahaha).

Anyway so I ended up in a kind of sitting squat position. I ended up having to push and I think the mirror really helped because I could see my progress. She seemed to not take too long to push out; she came out the right way (what a clever little bubba knowing how to do it!!)

 

Baby Harper was born at 10:36am. The doctor placed Harper right on my chest, (she was so warm!!) and waited for the cord to stop pulsating, and left us for un interrupted skin to skin. I had never had one of my babies placed right onto me, I remember when I gave birth to Kiara she needed help to breath so I didn’t get skin to skin and with Quin and Addy I didn’t know about skin to skin in the theatre.

 

 

 

It was amazing! I did it!!! WE DID IT! Sure it wasn’t the original or ideal path I wanted to take to get there but I did get there! One of the many things I have learned from the hypnobirthing course, “I am prepared to calmly meet what ever direction my birthing takes” which I think was really a strong one for me in the labour because so many things were happening that weren’t in our original plan!!

 

This birth was such an experience; it was intense, tiring, amazing and everything in between. I am so proud that I managed to birth baby harper in the way I wanted I am so grateful to Aaron for helping me and supporting me through this he was amazing!!

 

Baby Harper was born on the 04.03.15 3.25kg 53cm long

 

Even though this labour was so so hard I loved it and would so do it again, but I now have four beautiful girls. What a great way to end that chapter in my life.  I just wish I hadn’t only found out about hypnobirthing with Harper!

Once again, thank you so much Pip for all your knowledge, help and encouragement, Aaron and I can’t thank you enough! You rock!”