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The unCommon Exposè
VBAC- Vaginal Delivery After Cesarean
Gain insight into Ashleigh's experience of a cesarean and a vaginal delivery after cesarean and how different her two labours were.
Who doesn't love a birth story!
Thanks from coming on mama and sharing your insight!
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Welcome beautiful mamas, I am your host Shea Harrison. This podcast is a place for Springfield and local surrounding area mamas to share their stories about life, motherhood and everything in between, completely judgement free. I am so excited to be able to share these stories with you and give women an opportunity to be heard. So if you're ready to laugh, open your
SPEAKER_00:mind and be part of a supportive sharing community, let's crack on. Welcome beautiful mamas, I am your host Shea Harrison. This podcast is a place for Springfield and local surrounding area mamas to share their stories about life, motherhood and everything in between, completely judgement free.
SPEAKER_01:Hello, welcome to the podcast. How are you feeling? I'm good. Thank you for having me. No, welcome. Alrighty. As always, I'll get you to introduce yourself and we will crack on with your story. Okay. So my name's Ash. I've just turned 30. Happy birthday. Dirty 30s. And my daughter Ellie just turned two. Her birthday's two days after mine. Yep. And then Ivy's three months. Ivy's three months. Ivy is joining us today. So if you hear any little baby babbles or bum pats uh you'll know what's going on behind the scenes yes she's only three months and she's so tiny and cute and oh all righty so what story are you going to be telling us today ash so i will be talking about my v-back journey yes so ellie i had fire emergency caesar yes and ivy was a v-back baby so v-back vaginal birth after cesarean which is not always accomplishable so credit to you mama was that your goal totally yeah yeah definitely what I wanted um and I was really lucky to have good support in my midwife yeah yeah so that can definitely make such a difference yeah definitely she made it feel easy you know compared to some people yeah so I'm really lucky great yeah yeah um so I guess talk a little bit about Ellie's yes yes yeah so she is your eldest yeah so she was um actually my second pregnancy so I had a miscarriage just before her
SPEAKER_00:okay I'm sorry
SPEAKER_01:around 11 weeks so that was really hard obviously it's hard for anyone at any stage but I think I took a lot of fear into Ellie's pregnancy obviously not meaning to but yeah so I was really counting down to her due date really just wanted her to get here so around 40 weeks and 5 days with her I was booked for an induction she was well cooked yeah well cooked but I mean no reason for her to be rushing to get out yes like they made it at the time they made it seem like if she doesn't come out you know she might be stillborn or she's too small and all this sort of was she small just ah small ish she was three kilos exactly yeah so yeah not tiny no no um and yeah and just already having that fear yeah i think them telling me that on top of everything yeah you know i was begging to be induced which i didn't really want yeah but i just was scared yeah yeah so induction was you know i didn't enjoy it not fun for anyone um did they do balloon or they tried to do balloon um but they said i had scar tissue from the miscarriage oh really yeah because i had a dc yes yes yes yeah um and so they did the gel which is quite harsh for first time moms yeah i believe but that's i had the gel with my second um not callie was horrific um I was induced with Cora and it was great. Oh, yeah. In comparison to Callie's birth. Yeah, wow. But, yeah, I've heard first-time mums, it's hard and fast and very, very overwhelming. Yeah. Yeah. Just a lot of stress on the body. Yeah. And you're already stressed. Yeah. And induction definitely has its place. Like, if it was great for you, then that's awesome. But for me, looking back, I just creamed when I think of induction. Yeah, yeah. And so... So it ended up being a long labor. It was about 29 hours. Oh, wow. And I was pushing for an hour. So I got fully dilated. Yeah. But Ellie went into distress. So she was posterior. Yes. And her left, facing to the left. Yeah. So it was a weird posterior, I guess you'd say. And yeah, she just wasn't, they weren't able to turn her. She wasn't coming out. So posterior spine to spine. Yeah. Where with a normal pregnancy you want, sorry, not normal pregnancy, but a comfortable, helpful. Preferable. gliding pregnancy you would spine to front yeah yeah totally um and so they sort of kept mentioning caesar i kept saying no no no way yeah um and then they sort of offered a episiotomy but they weren't sure that they were going to be able to turn her so they wanted to do it in theater so we're getting ready to go to theater anyway and then they said let's check ellie's lactate because her heart rate was very erratic um and the lactate came up extremely high so it was basically no choice from there sort of you're having a caesar let's go um yeah right and yeah she i mean she was fine when she was born luckily you know i guess she was distressed in labor but she she was fine um we were separated for about three hours because of her i think blood sugar and you know heart rate and trying to stabilize make sure she was okay yeah um so that was really hard at the time too you know you just want to hold them yeah you've waited so long for them to get there yeah so i missed out on that it was really craving that first cuddles and then yeah when I did get to hold her it was all fine I did sort of get debriefs in the hospital saying you know if you want to have more children you'll have to have cesarean make sure you wait two years no real explanation as to why and then again with the check ups you know the six week and what not they were sort of saying the same thing you know if you want more children so that was sort of in the back of my mind that Caesar was a preferred option yeah um but I did I just didn't want to go through it again and the recovery was really difficult um for me I know some people cruise through it um how was
SPEAKER_00:your
SPEAKER_01:recovery I struggled uh yeah you know I'm very independent sort of person so I guess going through a big operation and needing help was hard mentally
SPEAKER_00:as
SPEAKER_01:well um and I ended up getting an infection from the caesar oh dear so yeah around four weeks postpartum I was back in hospital for almost a week um you know pumped with antibiotics and I lost my milk supply because I was unwell and Just not not fun And yeah, I was lucky after that that I you know, my milk came back
SPEAKER_00:I did.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Yeah, and you know, then I really started to enjoy Ellie and enjoy yeah enjoy being a mom very traumatic though, but yeah Second pregnancy first labor. Yes. Yeah, totally not what I wanted wanted not what was in my mind you want to have this amazing experience where you sneeze and then you're holding her and it's all lovely and that's not the case all the time no no um but definitely grateful that she got here as well so that was in the back of my mind too you know why am i so upset i've got this perfect baby you know but yeah yeah it's traumatic yeah i think um it's a couple of weeks ago i was saying this to you the other day it was birth trauma awareness week
SPEAKER_00:yeah
SPEAKER_01:so yes it is great that they're here and they're alive and they're healthy but we still need to appreciate that it is traumatic yeah yeah definitely and a healthy mom you know and a mom that's not traumatized is the best mom for the baby
SPEAKER_00:yeah
SPEAKER_01:people often say oh a healthy baby so it's all fine but that's not always the case one piece of the puzzle yeah yeah you need to be your best self to look after them yeah yeah oh she's asleep yeah i got a little hedge just like bubbling around sometimes when you nod yeah Um, so that was, yeah, Ellie's journey. Um, and then with Ivy, I was, yeah, with the MGP group. So like I mentioned, I had a really great midwife. That's the mother. Yeah. Midwife group. Midwife group. That's right. Yeah. So same midwife the whole way. Yeah. Um, and she was amazing. She sort of said, your body's pretty much done it. You know, you were pushing. Um, so I think it'll be faster this time and it'll happen. Um, um and so yeah ivy's pregnancy felt a lot easier you were you in that there was not two years between them god was there just shy of two years oh okay so she ivy was april and ellie turned two in june so it was 22 months i guess but that includes your pregnancy and yeah yeah so you weren't two years after being pregnant no and your midwife said that that was fine obviously yeah yeah i think they even say 18 months is doable yeah okay yeah yeah so yeah that was really good yeah good good gap sorry I just thought it was I was under the impression that it was two years from the birth date of the cesarean to two years before you can even start trying again yes yes I did sort of get that advice too it was mixed yeah okay but obviously that's not what has happened for you no oh great and definitely other stories um just from other podcasts not that I know these people but I've heard them saying you know a shorter birth interval they've been able to have feedback as well yeah That was really encouraging to hear other people had done it as well. So your eldest was how old when you fell pregnant? She would have been just over one. Yeah, okay. Yeah, yeah. And, yeah, she was sort of sleeping through and started to feel easy. It was like, okay, let's try and have another one. Yeah. Yeah, make it all crazy again. Yeah, yeah. But, no, Ivy's been amazing. Yeah, great. Yeah. So she was two– she wasn't– She was two when she was born. How did you find the pregnancy the second time with having an 18-month-year-old? Yeah, it was hard. You know, just the morning sickness or all-day sickness. Yeah, yes. Yeah, it was challenging. And I think it's sort of survival mode for the first trimester or so. And then maybe after 20 weeks I sort of really started to enjoy it and, you know, get more excited. Did you experience the same anxiety or stress the first as the first no sorry the second pregnancy for the first complete pregnancy yeah no I think I really trusted more in my body this time that yeah I've done it before I can do it again yeah yeah which it was really nice not to be so scared and yeah yeah make my decisions more feeling more empowered rather than yeah that's such a strong word isn't it as a mother empowered yeah rather than choosing to do something because you're scared yeah it's such a different experience choosing to do the same thing because you're you know you feel empowered and yeah i'd done felt like i'd done my research more with ivy yeah regarding induction and all those things yeah you just don't know the first time around maybe um yeah so ivy's birth was um very quick well i feel like it was quick um she i went into labor at 37 and five okay yeah um and but i wasn't convinced it was labor because of you know it's too early it's not as painful you know I was just sort of relaxing at home and did Ellie's night time routine and then tried to go to bed and I was thinking hang on I'm still you know these contractions becoming more regular what's going on sort of started timing them and you know I put my phone and it's saying go to hospital you're in labour I was like no no no yeah sort of woke my husband up because I'd been trying to get him to sleep so he could help me if it was the real deal Yeah. So he had some energy. I like that you say you're trying to get him to sleep and you do an air pat. Yeah. Like we pat our children to sleep and you're just there patting your husband, heavily pregnant, patting him to shh, shh. Just like, yeah. So I was sort of pacing in the other rooms and stuff. Yeah. Yeah, I got him to help me put the tens on. Did that help? Yeah, I loved it. I wasn't too sure on getting it. I only picked it up the day before. Oh, right. Convenient. I thought this, you know, might be an extra tool. Yes. and yeah it was awesome that's all I used I didn't have any I had a little bit of gas yeah but they kept taking it off me saying I need to concentrate so yeah it was okay you know I yeah I think I was sort of wanting the gas for comfort but yeah my midwife was like no no you need to push now it's like yeah concentrate sort of thing so yeah sounds a bit harsh but it was okay yeah you were you were there yeah was so your husband went to sleep you're pacing and then how did that how did you feel You were ready to go to the hospital then? Yeah, so I sort of, yeah, woke him up, called the midwife. She was sort of very relaxed as well, like, oh, yeah, it does sound like you might be in labor. You know, come in if you want. If
SPEAKER_00:you want. Yeah, you
SPEAKER_01:know, very relaxed, which I appreciated. You know, I didn't want to be on hospital timeline and everything. And, yeah, I didn't want to get there and then them trying to steer the birth in a different direction. Yeah, or be sent home. Yeah, totally, yeah. especially from here I mean it's not that far of a drive but it is labor yes it's too far forever yes yeah so um yeah we call my parents to come get Ellie they're about an hour and a half away oh wow yeah that would have been a big wait yeah well then things started to amp up and I was like we need to go now yes and so I yeah we put Ellie in the car um normally my husband was packing the bags he was stressed he didn't have his hospital bag ready oh what a clown it's always the man I know he couldn't find his hat that he wanted or something. I'm like, come on. Priorities. Yeah. And then just before we got, I got into the car, I went through transition or what I think was transition. So then I was ready to push and I just freaked out. Oh my goodness. Yeah. And I was in the car, you know, screaming to Dolly that I need to push and he was freaking out. So we sort of didn't make it too far. And then he pulled over and called the midwife and she's like, okay, call an ambulance. So I was sort of in the, in the street, like I need to push or really embarrassing when I think about it now not at all not at all that's amazing sort of middle of the night freaking out and yeah the ambulance came and I think they were excited they thought that the baby might come in the ambulance yeah I would be if I was a paramedic yes let's do this totally but she didn't I was just sort of pushing in the ambulance the whole way the midwife was on the phone telling me not to push we didn't know what position she was in even if I was fully dilated they weren't sure yet it was just my feeling yes i needed to push um so yeah that's a little bit blurry in the ambulance i did do you remember pushing in the ambulance or do you remember like even though you want to push you were holding it back sort of yeah bits of both you know i feel like you can't really help it i was yeah my body was sort of taking over yes yeah i was trying to you know just hold out until we squeeze yeah yeah yeah hold out till we got there yeah um and they're sort of asking me questions like oh can we give you the shot for the placenta and like you know talking as if i'd already had her i was like just get me to the hospital yeah yeah um did you have to go in the ambulance by yourself because you still had yeah yeah yeah which i thought would freak me out but i was fine you're in the moment yeah it's the heat yeah yeah um and so yeah that that drive was a bit of a blur but we got to the hospital um on the way i think mom and dad got to the hospital the same time as normally so he could palm off Ellie. Perfect. And then, yeah, he just came in and my midwife did the check and everything. She was like, you're fully dilated, like, let's go. Yeah. That was awesome. Yeah. And then it was really relaxing in the birth suite. You know, I didn't feel that way with Ellie. It felt very intense, but, you know, it was intense pushing, but then it was relaxed. Like, it wasn't doctors rushing in and out and it was just me and Nollie and my midwife. Yeah. Yeah, it was really nice. Ivy was posterior as well. Okay. which we didn't know until she was born. Oh, okay. Yeah, she took a while to come out. I think it was about an hour and a half in the hospital of pushing and then she finally came out and, yeah, it was amazing. That's awesome. Yeah. So I just want to cover off a little bit more about the actual VBAC process. Obviously you've gone to the hospital and your midwife is there and they've done an examination to tell you you're 10 centimetres dilated and you're obviously not going to remember all of it because we all know what birth thing is like yeah but was there any concern from you or from your midwife about the fact that it was v-back or did you have to do anything to prepare yourself for pushing yeah so i guess in terms of their concern they wanted me to have a cannula okay and that's in case of uterine rupture so that's the main concern with feedback is that your scar will rupture yes um and yeah that could lead to something really catastrophic or hysterectomy that sort of thing um and And so, yeah, they ask you to have a cannula for your whole labor so that if it is a uterine rupture or something happens, that they can quickly act on that and, I guess, put you under general or whatever they need to do. Get you straight into the operating theater. Yeah, yeah. And I was happy to agree to that. I didn't really notice it. Like, they put it in in the ambulance. Yeah, that didn't bother me. And they also asked for continual monitoring, which I was okay with, but I asked for it to be silent just for me with Ellie's birth that like hearing the heart rate up down it just really upset me so I didn't want to hear it with Ivy so that was amazing I didn't notice it was on really because it was silent but yeah they sort of will monitor throughout a VBAC labour because the baby's heart rate supposedly is the best indicator if you're going to rupture so if the baby's heart rate I don't know how accurate that is but I think that's what the research sort of tells at the moment is that yeah if the baby's heart rate is going into distress there may be a rupture so yeah that's why those two main things obviously you can decline but they really want you they will try and push you to have those things and I was okay with it and that obviously didn't interfere with the actual event being a VBAC anyway yeah no so that's really positive yeah yeah so that was fine yeah and they did sort of say you know in my throughout my pregnancy with ivy that the interval was a good amount like between children so that the chance of a rupture was very very low so they didn't seem too concerned and and i wasn't really either yeah so yeah they're the main things that make it different yeah having a v-back rather than just having a vaginal birth yeah first up yeah yeah and you didn't find physically that you had to do anything in preparation or even in the moment? I mean, yeah, I guess I'd say it was different. Um, I just, no one really told me to do extra preparation.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. But they did recommend spinning babies. Oh yeah. Yeah. The exercises just because of Ellie's position. They were sort of saying, yeah, if you can do some spinning babies and get this baby in the, you know, Ivy in the right spot, she must be a comfy spot. Yeah. Um, but yeah that just felt I guess it felt good to do something and feel like you are taking control of the situation even though you're not really because baby will do what they want yeah um but yeah the spinning babies was good um I did the yoga pregnancy yoga at revive oh yeah yeah so that was really amazing yeah just to sort of do that take that time out once a week as well it's really nice
SPEAKER_00:yeah
SPEAKER_01:um and then I would sort of do those stretches throughout the week when I could yeah like when I remembered yeah with with ellie um but yeah no they didn't sort of suggest any different preparation um But yeah. How did you feel when she was born? Like the successful V-back? Yeah. So amazing. Yeah. It was just, yeah, it's like she was straight on me. Yeah. We weren't separated at all. You know, it was sort of, I think three or four hours before they even weighed her or did anything. So yeah, it was like magic. Yeah. Yeah. Just everything that I'd been hoping for and, and trying to envision the whole pregnancy. Yeah. It was really beautiful. Relief. Yeah. Yeah. Accomplished. And it doesn't happen for everyone, but you'd achieved what you'd set out for. Yeah. Oh, that's so beautiful. Yeah. And I think one thing that really helped in preparation too was there's a book called The Birth Map. Okay. And so it sort of encourages you instead of making a birth plan, you'll make a map. So you'll say, if this happens, then I will consent to that or if that happens. And it sort of prompts you to do your research as well you know like if I'm if this happens to the baby then I would agree to a Caesar or and you sort of yeah it sort of gives you a roadmap rather than a plan because people can be so devastated when the plan doesn't go to plan
SPEAKER_00:yeah
SPEAKER_01:um so yeah that was another thing in terms of preparation um that was really really helpful and yeah yeah and sort of made Nollie study it and yeah good get him on board and yeah yeah so even if things don't happen exactly how you hoped it If you made the decision from a place of empowerment, like I said, you know, you'll feel better about it. It doesn't always matter exactly what happens, but it's the way that you feel about it. And yeah, that was so massive. Yeah. Yeah. With Ivy. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, that's so lovely. It was really good. And then how was your recovery? Amazing. Because you've obviously had both experiences now. Yeah. My pelvic floor definitely weaker. Yeah. you know, this time around. But it would have taken a bit of a beating first time if you were having to push for so long and then nothing eventuating. Yeah, definitely. Definitely. So, yeah. So I think that sort of took me by surprise this time around. Yes. That sort of recovery. Yeah. And also they said not to lift Ellie for two weeks, which I wasn't expecting this time. Yeah. Because I know after Caesar, it's six weeks. Don't lift anything heavier than that. your newborn um so I was excited to go home and you know play with Ellie yeah all that sort of thing but yeah so I wasn't expecting that but again two weeks it was fine yeah yeah um but I guess yeah physically so much better yeah it was just yeah no hospitalization no exactly and you know you have the lack of sleep but then when you're trying to recover from surgery on top of that it's just exhausting um But this time, yeah, obviously it is still a marathon. And, yeah, your body still goes through a lot. But I just found it way, way easier. Yeah. Yeah. It was amazing. That's so special. Yeah. Awesome, that was amazing. Thank you so much for sharing your story. I love the ambulance bit. That was just so funny. Those ambulance drivers would have been so excited and then be like, oh, okay, well, not our day. Anti-climax there, yes. But it's such a beautiful story and your little babies are so gorgeous. Thank you. So as always, we will finish with a this or that. So I'll give you two things and you pick which one. So tea or coffee? Coffee. Sweet or savoury? Sweet. Summer or winter? Definitely summer. Arms for legs, legs for arms? You can't have too many arms, right? I agree, I agree. So spirits or wine? Probably spirits. Burgers or hot dogs? Burgers. Burgers? Yeah. And which child's your favourite? Don't ask me that. No, they're both amazing. Yeah. Alrighty, well thank you so much. Thank you.