VBAC vs 2nd c-section

[Lindsey55]

I am 10 weeks pregnant with my second child, and my first will be 13 months old when the new baby is born.;) I am wondering if anybody has had a VBAC and if they were happy going that route.

I am rather scared to give birth and the only reason I am contemplating VBAC is because I want to be able to pick up and take care of my daughter, so she is less upset by the new baby. My c-section recovery went fairly well, but I want to recover a little quicker this time since I will have two little ones instead of just one. Any thoughts would be great! Thanks!

[lolabear]

i decided not to go vbac with the 2nd baby b/c i was scared of being in labor then ending up with a c/s anyway and to me if its planned i freak out less lol with the 3rd baby who is 13 months younger than middle child, i was contemplating vbac but i had my appendix out at 35 weeks so they wouldnt let me push so soon after having surgery.

i have known a lot of women who have done wonderfully with vbac so its more what you want to do. my fiance picked up the slack with the older 2 and spent more time with them so they wouldnt feel left out from the baby. and really having my appendix out then the c/s, i am just now able to pick up dd2 and i had my appendix out in june so i spent a lot of time recovering but it wasnt that bad. and really with spending so much time nursing in the beginning even if i was able to pick her up i wouldnt have had much time, my son nurses a lot esp at night so all day im tired and dont wanna be bothered lol

[tifttu]

I absolutely LOVED my VBAC. It was soooo much better than my c/s. I am 100% happy with the choice I made. The recovery was like night and day.

[Lindsey55]

I keep thinking that VBAC is the way I want to go, but then like lolabear said, I don't want to end up with a super long labor and end up with a c/s anyway. I still have like 7 months to decide, so hopefully by then I will have a better idea! Thanks for the info guys!

[tifttu]

If you really don't want a c/s, you can certainly be proactive in preventing one. Granted, it's not 100%, but for me, it was important to give my body the chance. What was the reason for the 1st c/s?

FWIW, I had a really good recovery from my c/s, but nothing like my VBAC recovery. It was so nice for my son to be able to run up and hug me or sit in my lap without having to protect my incision. I could lift and cuddle both of my babies no problem. He was pretty needy with a new baby in the house so being able to move and lift was a huge plus.

[trylyn5]

www.childbirthconnection.org

www.vbac.com

www.ican-online.org

All websites with good VBAC information. The second two are very biased towards vbacs. The first I found to do a good job putting out the research on both sides and coming to the same conclusion. These sites may be able to give you the information you need to reduce your risk of needing a second c-section after an attempt at VBAC. Good luck!

[kohlby]

Definately check out those links trylyn posted. If you do decide on a VBAC, it's very important to find a VBAC friendly dr/midwife. Since your kids are so close together, it may be a bit harder than usual. There's one hospital near me that doesn't allow VBAC's unless the babies are at least 18 months apart. But my hospital doesn't have a guideline like that.

I did try for a VBAC and it didn't work out. So, I ended up with my second medically needed c-section. I have no regrets. The labor was hard and I was in pain and still ended up with a c-section. But it was worth it for me to know that there are no what-if's.