Share your story with ICAN to be featured on our Instagram and Facebook! All cesarean and birth-after-cesarean stories are welcome: the difficult, the triumphant, the still-processing, and the stories which haven’t yet been shared. Sharing your birth story can be freeing, healing and profoundly powerful. It can bring others hope, comfort, and reassurance that they are not alone on their birth journey.
Submit your story HERE: https://airtable.com/shrJOtXla9O9MVBaj
In 2016 I was pregnant with my first daughter Lucy. I went into labor at exactly 41 weeks, and after a fast labor her heart rate dropped severely and I was rushed into an emergency cesarean.
The birth experience was traumatic, and had me nervous that I would never be able to experience a natural birth. Flash forward 4 years later, I got pregnant with my second daughter!
Immediately I researched multiple practices in my area, and joined my local ICAN group to search for a provider who was supportive of me having a VBAC. I was fortunate to find a midwifery group in the area that delivered at the hospital, and from the start they were very encouraging of my wishes to have a VBAC delivery.
I had a smooth pregnancy, and once again went passed 40 weeks. Me and my midwifery team had decided to schedule an induction for 41 weeks, and since I had gone into spontaneous labor with my first birth I thought for sure I’d go into labor on my own before reaching that induction date. But to my surprise, in fact made it to my induction!
I was nervous to be induced, because I had heard Pitocin would increase my chances of rupture, so I was hesitant but knew that it was worth a try to get my VBAC! When I arrived, my midwife checked my cervix to find I was already around 3 cm and all the way effaced, and having some regular contractions. We determined I was in early labor, and to get things rolling they administered some low doses of Pitocin! It worked!
I labored without an epidural for 14 hours, at which point I just needed to rest after a very intense labor, I had been stuck in transitional labor, and all I needed was to rest to gain some more energy to push. The epidural was such a positive experience, once I got it, I was able to sleep, and when I woke up I was finally 10 cm! Though I had the epidural I was still able to move my legs enough and get into pushing positions that felt natural to me, I pushed alternating sides, and positions, and after 2 hours of pushing, she was here! She was born on April 18, 2020. And she weighed 9 pounds 8 ounces!
I was in shock I had a successful VBAC induction, and amazed my body was able to deliver a large baby! There were a lot of uncertainties and anxiety towards the end of my pregnancy with having to deliver during a pandemic, but wonderful midwives and nurses that took care of me made forget about everything happening around us and allowed me to focus on my body and my baby!
