Background to birth story

Well, as many of you know, I had a C-section with my first child, Jonathan, in the summer of 2006. It was a scheduled procedure, timed for when I was 39 weeks pregnant, because Jonathan was a transverse breech, essentially sitting cross-legged, inside me. As surgery goes, it was straightforward and as fine as could be expected. We were disappointed, because we had planned a Bradley birth. But, we trusted that God knew what He was doing, and accepted the situation.

This time around, though, I did not want surgery again. After Jonathan was born, I had a gall-bladder attack again, and had surgery very quickly thereafter, when Jonathan was four weeks old. And to have another Cesarean with this baby would be three major abdominal surgeries in less than three years. And, of course, there is more risk for pregnancy the more C-sections you have. We are happy with two children, but I did not want to deliberately choose to have another C and therefore increase my risks. So, I wanted to try for a VBAC -- Vaginal Birth After Cesarean.

Back in the day, the wisdom was, "once a Cesarean, always a Cesarean." Now, it is acknowledged that there is essentially no more risk to the mother to have a vaginal birth after a standard Cesarean (the current standard, not the past...the incisions were very different.) )For more information on the whole issue, visit here.) Still, many OBs prefer repeat surgeries rather than supporting their patients in attempting a vaginal birth. But there are some great docs out there, and I found a very supportive one. He is the "go-to" guy for VBACs and other oddities. People either love him and are willing to put up with the wait, or they aren't. Personally, I found that I only waited for him to deliver babies, but then again, I made it a point to be the first one in the office every time.

In any case, that was where I started. The next post actually sets forth what happened during labor and delivery!