Here I am, one week out from my due date and staring down the barrel at a rapidly changing birth plan. Let’s get it out of the way that we all have the same goal of ending up with a baby and that that is the most important part of the birth plan. Beyond that, birth is an extremely intimate and special experience that each person has a vision for.
My original plan for this baby’s birth has been to try for a vbac (vaginal birth after cesarean), otherwise known as a tolac (trial of labor after cesarean). Parenthood, I’ve learned, is overflowing with acronyms. I have planned on trying for a vaginal birth knowing full well that with my family history (every maternal female relative from my grandmother down has had a cesarean) it was a long shot. However, I am stubborn like no other and like to believe I can do the impossible.
I did my research on what makes an ideal vbac candidate and it is so hard to judge what your body will do the second time around to really know if you are a good candidate. Basically, the best person to have a vaginal birth after a cesarean is someone who had a labor that progressed without interference, yet ended up with a cesarean because of the baby being breech. In other words, the previous cesarean birth being because of the baby in the womb, not because of the body the baby was residing in. For an in-depth look at ideal vbac candidates check out this article.
The main factor against me when it comes to a vbac is a cervix that refuses to dilate. Add in the fact that I have a posterior cervix and I drop way down the line from an ideal candidate. With all of this information and discovering that I am only dilated to a half centimeter at my 38-week appointment, I scheduled a cesarean for 2 days after my due date. Throughout this process of weighing my odds and hemming and hawing between scheduling or letting nature take its course, my doctors were incredibly supportive of still going for a vbac.
In the end, the decision to schedule a c-section came about because of my less than ideal status and my desire to not “waste” too much of my maternity leave on pregnancy. My one issue with my scheduled c-section is that I really want to go into labor naturally. I want my body and my baby to decide it’s time to part. I keep reminding myself that I am giving my body and baby a full forty weeks plus some, but it is still a struggle. Add in the fact that Eli was two weeks late and was such an easy baby that slept and ate well and could hold his head up pretty much right away, it’s nerve-wracking to think about having an actual on time newborn. To wrap this up, we have gone from a tolac to a scheduled csection, in which I really hope I go into labor the night before so that my body signals that it is done.
*this was written when I hit 39 weeks, stay tuned to see what ended up happening with my birth!
cantaloupe / 6730 posts
I’ve got a c-section scheduled for 40+6, so you are not alone in waiting to see if your body will do something. The way I look at it, it’s giving it a chance and if it doesn’t work out and I have another c-section, oh well.
guest
I found out at 39 weeks that I had a posterior cervix, and my midwives were both convinced I’d likely need to get induced past my due date after trying all the natural induction techniques) I had been induced the first time). I thought I was maybe in labor, went into the hospital 2 cm dilated, and to everyone’s surprise had a baby within 2.5 hours of arriving (and after just over an hour of active labor) right on my due date. You never know! Good luck either way!