I was due June 11 with baby girl, Clara. Because I had preeclampsia with my first, I had to have an emergency csection, which was really difficult and my son and I nearly died during it. So.I was pretty adamant on attempting a vbac this time around as long as it was safe to do so. I found an on that I trusted and agreed that a vbac would be not only possible but would lead to the best outcomes so long as no complications came up.

Pregnancy went well, no signs of high blood pressure or gestational diabetes. I stayed active and ate well and made sure to follow all my doctors instructions. By end of May we felt confident that we did all we could to set myself up for success with a vbac and now we just had to wait and see how things would turn out.

On my due date I saw my doctor and had no signs of labor. No dilation, cervix was still high, baby hadn't dropped. Doctor said she would give me a week to go into labor on my own and then at that point we would discuss the risks of an induction vs a c section and we could decide on a plan then.

On the 17th, doctor checked me and I was 2cm dilated. She swept my membranes at that time. She said she wasn't confident that it would work but that it was worth a try (membrane sweeping is effective in bringing labor in 25% of the time) we scheduled an induction for Monday. By this point I was starting to feel discouraged but I still wanted to try laboring.

Luckily I went into labor that night. I got to the hospital at 8pm but was 3cm and 50% but. Contractions were really close together and the monitor showed they were really intense, so they had me walk around for a bit and go back to get checked. 2 hours later I was at 5cm, 75% effaced. By this point the contractions were so powerful they were charting high intensity and I had to ask for the epidural. Things slowed down considerably after the epidural. They broke my water and that helped. By the next day at noon I was at 9cm, baby was +2 station and I was 90% effaced. At one doctor asked me to start pushing. After 30 minutes Clara was born.

I did have some tearing and required stitches, which are tender and wicked itchy! Otherwise recovery has been super easy when compared to my section. I was up and walking within an hour of giving birth. Bleeding has not been as either. We were discharged from hospital the next day.

Clara is doing great, she was born at 7lbs 13 oz, 20 inches long. She's a pretty calm baby and is nursing wonderfully, though she has a bad habit of pulling on my breast when she's unlatching instead of just opening her mouth. 😝