Asher’s Birth Story- My 2nd Successful VBAC

Disclaimer: This is not medical advice this is just my birth story. I am so thankful to God, my body and my doctors for a second successful VBAC or vaginal birth after c-section.

Pregnancy History

At 19 years old I gave birth to my first baby. I had a normal pregnancy and ended up having an emergency c-section due to baby going into distress. You can read that story here. He was a healthy baby boy, weighing 8lbs 11oz. I had a low horizontal scar and everything healed up normally.

At 22 years old, I had no issues getting pregnant again and had another healthy pregnancy. And I gave birth to my second healthy baby boy via my first successful VBAC. You can read that story here. He was a big boy weighing in at 9lbs 6oz so that confirmed my c-section wasn’t due to anything physiologically wrong with my body- I mean, hello! He was huge!

Then about 10 months after my second son was born I found out I was pregnant again and around 4 weeks along. Unfortunately, I had an early miscarriage at around 8 weeks.

At 24 years old, I found out I was pregnant again and we were so excited to have our rainbow baby. We did not have any trouble getting pregnant after the miscarriage. We are very blessed in the sense that we know it is not always easy for some women to conceive after a miscarriage. Thankfully, just like my first two pregnancies this one was healthy and an uneventful pregnancy. I didn’t have gestational diabetes, high blood pressure, preeclampsia or anything else concerning.

As soon as I found out about this pregnancy I knew I wanted to try to have another successful VBAC. I feel like watching a million VBAC Youtube videos (I will share some of the channels that helped me at the end), reading successful VBAC birth stories, and reflecting on my previous VBAC helped me to get in the proper mindset for another successful VBAC.

My first VBAC was a very therapeutic birth experience for me because it was so picture perfect. I know that is not the case for everyone, so I am truly thankful to God because it was just what I needed to heal from my c-section being a bit traumatic for me.

I encourage anyone looking into having a VBAC to do their own research and talk to their doctors. Not all doctors are supportive of VBACs so I would make sure to educate yourself and find a doctor that is supportive (within reason of course) of your ideal birth. That is not to say your VBAC will be a 100% success but having proper support and education is very important.

Birth Story

I was so excited to meet this baby boy! Toward the end of my pregnancy I was definitely uncomfortable. He was weighing in at around 8lbs, on the last ultrasound at around 38 weeks, like my second baby so I had a feeling he would be pretty close to it.

I made it to my 40 week appointment. And similar to my first VBAC my doctor didn’t want me to go past 41 weeks so I scheduled an induction at 41 weeks.

At that appointment I did have my doctor check my cervix and I was actually already 4cm dilated which was great to hear. With that news I hoped I would be going into labor the next day.

However, God and baby boy had other plans. For the next couple of days I tried walking as much as I could tolerate, getting plenty of rest, bouncing on my workout ball and getting all of the last minute things together.

I tried all the crazy ways to induce labor with my second pregnancy and honestly nothing will induce labor except medicine or your baby. So just save yourself the trouble and just work on getting yourself ready mentally and physically because birth is like a marathon.

Then at 40 weeks 4 days I started to get contractions around 5pm. They were consistent and within the 1 minute long, 2-3 minutes apart, and lasting 2 hours. I called my doctor’s on-call nurse who advised me to head to the hospital to get checked out. So, we packed up the boys and dropped them off at my in-laws and headed to the hospital.

Once we got there it was around 8pm and they had me in a triage room to check my contracts and cervix to see if I could be admitted. However, I was still only 4cm dilated and my contacts had gradually slowed down and stopped. So, they monitored me for an hour to make sure they didn’t start back up again, and once they didn’t they sent us home.

We left the hospital around 10:30pm that night. Since it was so late for the boys we decided to have them stay the night at my in-laws and we would pick them up in the morning.

Leaving the hospital that night I felt disappointment because the rush and excitement of going into the hospital to finally meet this baby you’ve carried for the last 9 months is such an intense feeling. So, it was disappointing leaving knowing I had to wait a little longer to meet him.

We went and grabbed some Taco Bell on our way home and ate, relaxed and went to bed around midnight.

At 6am I woke up feeling like my pelvis was ripping apart along with the most intense pain. I immediately knew and started to time the contracts and they started at 1 minute long and 2 minutes apart. I remember just waking up Will and he could tell immediately how much pain I was in and started to get everything together to head to the hospital.

I called my hospitals labor and delivery floor and let them know what was going on and they remembered me from a few hours before and told me to head this way. Little did they know I already was in the car. The hospital I was delivering at was about 30-45minutes from my house.

During the whole car ride my contractions just got stronger and stronger. I was at the point I could not talk through them anymore. I was honestly nervous we were not going to make it in time. And have our baby on the side of the road.

Once we finally got to the hospital, it was around 7am, we parked right at the front because walking from the parking garage or waiting for Will to get a wheelchair was not happening, I was in so much pain. We were able to make it up to triage and they immediately checked my cervix and did the whole monitoring routine.

I was definitely in labor! I was 7cm dilated and having very intense contractions. I was just yelling through them because of the pain. Honestly, it was something I could not even control, normally I would obviously never yell or moan out loud but in that moment I could not have held it in if I wanted to. I did not plan on having a natural birth (without an epidural) so I have no idea how to manage pain like that besides just surviving through each contraction.

After I got checked in they moved me into the labor and delivery room. I had my IV started in triage so all I had to do was get a gown on. I told them in triage that I definitely wanted an epidural as soon as possible.

Luckily, the anesthesiologist was waiting in our room to start my epidural before he had a c-section to go to. Sitting still through the contractions was so hard but someone having a needle in your spinal cord is good motivation to sit still.

Once my epidural was finished Will ran to go park the car in the garage.

It was probably not even 5 minutes after he left I was sitting there with my nurse answering her questions and my water breaks like flood gates were opened. She went to check and see how dilated I was and I was 10cm. So, she looked at me shocked and said “Well I hope dad hurries up because it is time to start pushing!”

My nurse reassured me she wasn’t going to leave me alone in the room she was just going to call the doctor and other nurses into the room. So, about the time all of them come in the room and Will finally walks back in! I was so relieved to see his face. He didn’t even have a second to take his jacket off before I started pushing.

In 3 short pushes and at 9:30am our sweet Asher was born. I was able to hold our sweet healthy baby boy!

It was so funny because he was the exact same size as Noah 9lbs 6oz and 21 inches long – only one inch bigger than Noah.

Since, it was during the pandemic the hospital did not allow visitors so it was only Will and I during our hospital stay. Which I would definitely say is bitter-sweet because I was missing our other two big boys and couldn’t wait for them to meet their new baby brother. Luckily my mom was a nurse at the hospital and was able to come visit us while we were there.

Once we were moved to our hospital room where we were staying Will told me that it took him longer to get back into the labor room because one of the police officers was giving him a ticket for not parking in a spot. He was able to tell him what was going on – umm.. his wife was having a baby! – and he didn’t end up getting a ticket thankfully.

However, looking back it was so strange because there was no designated spot for people to park that were in our same situation, because I am sure I am not the only women something like this has happened to. (And he was not parked in an emergency vehicle lane either.) But anyway, it was all sorted out. I was just glad he made it in the room with perfect timing.

Once we got all settled I could not wait to call my boys and introduce them to their baby brother. Since, we couldn’t have visitors we facetimed them and it was still so sweet introducing them to each other and sharing the crazy story with my in-laws. And then facetiming my parents to tell them the good news.

I remember saying ” oh gosh, I can only imagine what this will say about his personality” and laughing about it with my mother in-law. With my first baby she shared with me that she could see how the birth of her four children related to their personalities and I definitely can see the same in my boys.

Little did I know Asher relates to his birth story just the same way my other two do. He is my Mr. Independent, wild and rough little boy that loves his momma dearly.

2nd VBAC Recovery

I must say the recovery from my second VBAC wasn’t as bad as the first. I think a big part of that is because I knew what to expect and what I was about to go through.

So the recovery was typical. I did have a first and second degree tear again so those are always “fun” to deal with. *insert sarcastic eye roll here* But, other than that everything was normal. We were able to leave after two days.

Once we got home the boys were able to meet in person and it was the sweetest moment.

Noah (my second) was two and I’ve always called him “My Little Shadow” from the moment he was born (he still is) and he was a little skeptical at first and wouldn’t hug me for like the first 20 minutes which broke my heart. But he did end up coming around and adores Asher. Now they share the roll of “Mommy’s Shadows”.

Cayden, was 4 almost 5 at the time, and is my fearless, protective, loving, high energy boy. He was so excited to meet Asher and just wanted to hold him and would not give him back until he was ready. It melted my heart seeing him so in love and protective of his baby brother.

Don’t forget to check out my other birth stories or more motherhood blog posts before you go! And be sure to follow me on my other social media to stay up to date! Thanks for reading!