To VBAC or Not & Deciding My Birth Route

Since I haven't been around much on Giving Birth with Confidence in the last couple weeks, I feel like I should take a couple moments to explain and share some news. We learned about a month ago that we are expecting our third child. This was a very big shock for our family, but apparently it is the curse of the Lamaze Passion for Birth workshops.

Teri Shilling shared with our class, at least one of us would get pregnant in the next calendar year, despite plans not to.Well I guess I was the lucky one because I am the first one to announce a pregnancy from our class (unless any others are hiding)! Almost instantly after learning the news, the constant exhaustion and then the morning sickness, which is really all day sickness, set in, making me prisoner to my to-do-list and my couch my best friend. I am 9 weeks along now, and started to slightly feel better while trying to tackle everything on my list of important things to get done. At the top of which was a post for this lovely blog!

The dilemma we are facing now is the decision of care, and our essential plan for the birth of our third child. At first I was set on trying for a second VBAC attempt, after having two previous cesarean surgeries. If you don't already know, you can read about the births of my boys and my work in the cesarean recovery field. After learning more about adhesions, damage that was found during my second cesarean delivery, and speculation about my pelvis, I started to lean toward the option of having a family centered cesarean.The problem is, we do not have a crystal ball. Depending on who you ask or what study you read, either having a VBA2C or repeat cesarean could be viewed as the safest option for not only my health and well being, but the safety and well being of our child. This fact is making this one of the toughest decisions I have ever had to make. Thankfully, I have months before I need to ultimately come to a final choice on what is best for us.

I am looking forward to sharing my journey with all of the readers here, as well as sharing my research, studies, and other information I come across when looking into the safest of birthing a child after two prior cesarean sections.