The VBAC Blog

Last week, we went for our 20-week sonogram. Everything went beautifully and the baby is perfectly healthy. However while we were there, I was questioned by the woman who weighed me:

She said, “I see here you want a VBAC.”

I said, “Yes.”

She replied, “What did your doctor say about that?”

I immediately became suspicious and since the doctor said we could attempt a VBAC (even though I didn’t trust him when he said that), I thought he was going to get into trouble. Maybe he was letting me attempt a VBAC and not telling the hospital because of the local controversy brewing here about VBACs? So, I replied, “His nurse told us he’d never allow a VBAC.”

She replied, “But what did the doctor say?”

Uh oh. Now I really knew something was going on. I changed the subject. “We read that (this hospital) doesn’t allow VBACs. Has that policy changed?”

She said, “I don’t know. What did your doctor say?”

Duh. She works in that hospital in the Maternal Fetal Medicine office and she doesn’t know what their VBAC policy is? I may be blonde, but I’m not THAT blonde!

I pressed some more, “I know they used to allow VBACs here but not anymore. Do they allow VBACs now?”

She again dodged my question and only said there was a lawsuit back in 2000 or 2001 after someone died there during a VBAC. She then asked again, “What did your doctor say?”

So, I was honest. I said, “He said we could go for it.”

She made a note in my file and that was the end of that conversation.

~~~~~

This morning, I once again visited by Ob/Gyn. I wanted to get his definitive word on the hospital’s policy and his opinion on the matter. Before he examined me, I brought it up. We talked for about 25 or 30 minutes. Well, he talked, I listened and shook my head like a good little patient (that works the best when you’re trying to get as much info. as you can out of somebody).

Basically, what he said was this. The organization that governs Ob/Gyns requires hospitals that do VBACs to have an anesthesiologist and a surgeon immediately available. Does that mean in the hospital or in a building nearby? Does that mean right there on the Labor and Delivery floor? The requirement isn’t clearly worded. So, while I can go there for a VBAC, if something is happening in the Emergency Room that requires the anesthesiologist, I won’t be able to do a VBAC. (I was wondering…so, how would the anesthesiologist treat me anyway if he’s so busy in the ER??)

Likewise, if my doctor’s surgery day is Monday and I go into labor on Wednesday and attempt a VBAC, he can’t drop his other appointments for the day waiting for me to deliver or need a c-section. (I was thinking…okay, so if I go into labor on any other day than Monday, a VBAC is out of the question?? So…if you’re so busy on that Wednesday, who’s going to do that c-section?) None of that made any sense.

He said, “The ducks have to all line up perfectly for a VBAC to be possible.”

So, I was thinking, if all those ducks don’t line up, and it looks like it’s impossible that they will, I’d end up with a c-section anyway. So, again, I was assuming…he is going to make sure I have a c-section anyway. At the end of the pregnancy, maybe he’s going to say the baby’s too big or that I have some other malady that requires a c-section, just so I don’t inconvenience everybody else? Is he just humoring me to get my money, hoping I won’t give my money to a midwife instead? What’s the point of even asking for a VBAC when it’s obvious that, barring some miracles, like a parking lot delivery, I will not get a VBAC if I go to this hospital?

So, he said if the ducks don’t line up, I could then refuse a c-section anyway, but then they’d have to explain the risks to me (he’s already explained the risks). He also implied that you can refuse a c-section but end up having one anyway (we heard a story about a woman here who was forced to have a c-section after the doctors obtained a court order).

So, if I don’t go into labor at exactly the right time, on the right day, I can’t have a VBAC. It’s that simple. And, the chances that all the “ducks” will line are up pretty much nil, from all the scenarios he gave me. So, in actuality, they just appear to be humoring me at this point.

He mentioned that I may have read a recent article in the newspaper (yep, sure did), and I told him I’d also read online that our hospital was a VBAC Hostile Facility. He said, “You can’t believe everything you read online.”

I thought, you also can’t believe everything your doctor tells you…

He also made a passive comment about women wanting to give birth vaginally to feel like women. Well, I’ve had three vaginal births and I don’t need to do that again to prove I’m a woman. However, I was still offended by his comment. I, personally, want to have a VBAC because the research I’ve done suggests the risks of a c-section are much greater than attempting a VBAC. And, I don’t want to spend a month recovering from major surgery! At that time, I will have five children AND business to run!

Anyway, I do feel that he was being honest with me. He could have hidden all that info. from me and just surprised me at the very end. I’ll give him credit for that.

Oh, and he said if he thinks this baby is another 10-pounder, he won’t let me have a VBAC. He says he would never advise any woman to have a 10-pound baby vaginally.

Hey, doc, women successfully birth 10-pound babies all the time! Don’t you watch A Baby Story? And, you can’t use your hands on a woman’s belly or even a sonogram to accurately judge a baby’s size! He actually under-calculated the weight of our last one. And, he and his nurse both told me, in recent weeks, that this baby was oversized. However, the sonogram results say he is exactly the right size for his age.

As I was leaving, they gave me two VBAC consent forms to sign. One was from the doctor’s office (dated 1998). The other was from the local hospital. Since we know they haven’t allowed VBACs since 2001, it was humorous that the date was included on that form as well. It’s dated 1999. I wonder if the nurse had to blow the dust off of it before giving it to me? And, I wonder when the last VBAC was actually done at our local hospital? Anybody know how to find that out?

I didn’t sign the forms. I told the nurse I wanted to take them home to read. Boy, those forms sure are scary! But, funny how they didn’t give me the c-section forms as well. I would imagine the risks mentioned on those are much more numerous than the VBAC forms. The doctor didn’t mention the risks associated with c-sections in our meeting today, either. Hmmm…

Anyway, that’s the news for today. I have an appointment with my family practitioner next week and our next appointment with the midwife is in two weeks. I’m also supposed to meet for a consultation with the anesthesiologist. Gosh, I bet he’ll have even more scary statistics to throw my way. Will post updates here.

On a final note, we learned last week that Isabella Katherine Hoy…has a penis! Yes, the baby we just knew was a girl is a little boy! So, we’re struggling to come up with a new name! Nicholas Quinn Hoy or Ari Quinn Hoy? Decisions, decisions… And, judging from the size of my belly, I just bet this will be another BIG boy!