I Got What I Wanted and I Wanted What I Got: a VBAC Story

Or as my wife likes to say, the story of how I “yeeted” our daughter into this world.

I had been doing it all: raspberry leaf tea, dates, curb walking. We joked that if baby girl came early, she was Chelsey’s; if she came late, she was mine. Baby girl was not only not interested in arriving early, but she missed her due date by a whole 8 days. Stubborn–definitely mine!

At 40 weeks and two days, I had my weekly OB appointment, and finally let the doctor do a cervical check to see if I was dilated. I had been told previously that they wouldn’t be comfortable letting me go much beyond 41 weeks. To my disappointment, I was not at all dolled. I asked to return later in the week to check again, to hopefully avoid scheduling a C-section. I was hoping to have a successful VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) experience.

So I returned to the doctor later that week, at 40 weeks and five days. To my dismay, I was still not dilated. We planned a C-section for the following Tuesday. The doctor said that I still might dilate before then on my own, but it would be unlikely. I felt so many emotions: disappointed that I wouldn’t get to TOLAC (trial of labor after cesarean, the first step to a potential VBAC); defeated, like my body was letting me down; glad to have an “end in sight” so we could meet our little girl.

I left the office thinking I was going to double down on everything I had been doing already to try and help my body ease into a natural labor. I felt alright about the plan we had in place.

But by Friday night, I had given up. I was at the peak of uncomfortable-ness: no position I stood, sat, or laid in felt good, and things just felt very…heavy. This continued through the night. Although I had slept great all through my pregnancy, I was up a lot with the feeling of constant pressure. Early Saturday morning, the pressure became intermittent, and it dawned on me that perhaps—maybe—I was in early labor. There was now a definite start and end to the pressure, so I began timing what I soon realized were irregular contractions. Still not convinced, I got up around 5 and went to the bathroom. There was a little pink tinge when I wiped–I immediately texted some mama friends–”SOS! TMI picture incoming!” They agreed–it seemed to be the start of my mucus plug coming out. It also seemed that the message had reached my stomach–my bowel seems to be clearing out—another sure sign of my body preparing to bring baby girl into the world.

I woke Chelsey to tell her the news, and let her know that I was going to go walk on the curb outside. My toddler, however, had other plans. Although it was only 5:45AM, he woke up and did not want to go back to bed. Could he sense that a big change was about to occur? I took the opportunity to snuggle with him on the couch, knowing that this would be our last quiet morning together just him and I.

I labored at home all morning. Chelsey took Everett for a drive so he could nap and I could rest. Around 12:15PM I called the hospital nurse line to see when we should head into L&D. To my surprise, I was told to “come on in”. So I called my mom and set our baby day plan in motion–she would be watching Everett while we were at the hospital. Chelsey returned about an hour later with Rett, and they brought lunch. My mom advised me not to eat, in case they were going to do a c-section. But I was hungry, so I ate. (See, that stubborn gene runs strong!)

When Chelsey and I arrived at the hospital, a cervical check revealed I was still not dilated. I was nearly in disbelief–I was contracting and losing my mucus plug--how could that be?! We were offered options on how to proceed and ended up deciding on a c-section that day. But there was a catch: I had to wait 8 hours since I had just eaten—and let me tell you, I’ve never been so thankful for Burger King!

I was admitted into L&D and hooked up to an IV and fetal monitor. I had resigned myself to the fact that I would be delivering via c-section. But around 6pm, the doctor came to check on me and lo and behold—I was 1 cm dilated. That 1 cm was enough to justify canceling the c-section and proceed with a TOLAC with the hope of a successful VBAC. The doctor said depending on how I progressed, we could consider using a foley bulb to encourage my body to dilate further, but that we could make that decision when the time came. And so, with my plan back on track, I began my TOLAC.