Like many first-time moms, the birth story I envisioned didn’t quite match up with reality. I was hoping to go with the flow and let my body do what it was made to do. I was hoping for as little intervention as possible but wanted the safety of a hospital birth. There was no reason to think this wouldn’t happen.
Until the very end, when a routine ultrasound picked up low amniotic fluid.
Two days later, it resulted in a medically necessary induction. Hours and hours of labor, then more hours of pushing, then “failure to progress” resulted in a C-section. We both came out healthy in the end. I was OK with this and had confidence in my doctor and the decisions we made throughout the process. But the former straight-A student in me had a hard time with the “failure” part of things.
About a year later, I was pregnant with my second child and discussing options with my doctor — the same one who delivered my first child. She told me I was a candidate for a VBAC — vaginal birth after Cesarean — and assuming my pregnancy remained healthy, it was up to me.
I could choose to labor and delivery vaginally — or schedule a C-section.
She explained there would be no way to know if I would have the same low fluid problem with my second and need an induction, but that it was more likely having had this complication once. She humored my need for journal articles about VBAC versus C-section to review the data, and she discussed them with me. We talked about how the data indicated women who went straight to C-section without labor and then tried VBAC with subsequent pregnancies were more successful with VBAC births that those who had labored and then had a C-section, like I did. But this data wasn’t compelling enough to recommend the scheduled C-section for moms in my situation.
I agonized over this decision. I didn’t want surgery if I didn’t need it. And I appreciated the lack of pressure from my doctor. Medically, she said the result of labor would probably be the same as my first and end in C-section. But it might not, so it was up to me.
For six months, I thought about every last detail.
I went back and forth with my husband on recovery and the impact on our toddler and the newborn, carefully thinking through each scenario.
The recovery from the first C-section was manageable, but I knew it would be tougher the second time around. This time I would have a 1.5-year-old at home who I would be unable to lift for six weeks, and my toddler wouldn’t understand that this wasn’t what I wanted.
I also didn’t want another day of labor, hours and hours of pushing, and the same complications as the first time. My doctor said I basically experienced recovery from both a vaginal birth and a C-section.
While I agonized, my doctor suggested we schedule the C-section so it would be an option. Turns out the only availability on her schedule was two days before my due date. So right up until the end, I was hoping for a quick and sudden labor and a healthy baby delivered with little intervention — wishful thinking regardless of previous circumstances.
In the end, I realized the scheduled C-section had more medical and logistical benefits. I was going with that unless my body decided otherwise. I was comfortable with my decision.
The whole experience the second time around was a world of difference. Everyone was calm. Even me. And it turned out to absolutely be the right decision for us. My healthy baby and I were settled in a room and nursing successfully shortly after delivery. My toddler came to visit on day two and touched his new sister’s toes with fascination. At home, we adjusted to the no lifting and had help. And my body healed much more quickly from this surgery instead of the previous sleep-deprived labor, exhaustion, and then surgery.
It wasn’t easy to get there, but it was the right decision for us all.
