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The price to pay for a healthy baby doesn't end on delivery day. There are many lasting internal problems from repeated c-sections. Uterine rupture is RARE and c-sections are not deemed the safest delivery method with a normal pregnancy and fetus. Labor is fine, hard work but fine. I had a v____al and then a c-section due to breech presentation. The v____al was by far the way to go for many reasons. I will be delivering VBAC next week, I worry more about the risks of a c-section and leaving 2 ( or 3)children at home without a mommy than the 1% risk of uterine rupture.

My friend tried a VBAC. Tell her how “rare” it is. She nearly bled to death & came d__n close to a total hysterectomy. She didn’t get to see her son for his first three days of life. Why? Well, she stayed at her hospital to recover & he had to be airlifted to the nearest children’s hospital so he could fight for his life. He did not make it. Her baby boy lived for a total of 15 days. Had he survived, he would have been a complete vegetable. Her rupture happened without warning & in an instant. The poor baby went without an oxygen source for at least 10 minutes before they could get him out. It took TIME to realized what had happened, rush her to the OR, prep her, & THEN get him out. (Imagine how “gentle” THAT C-section was!) Her medical bills are out of this world. NICU alone cost a minimum of 10K a DAY. And on top of all of the physical pain of what ended in a rushed C-section ANYWAY she also had the emotional pain of not bringing home her, what ONCE was, healthy baby boy. She also had to pay for the funeral cost to bury that baby. Her only question now is, “WHY didn’t I insist on another C-section?” I’ve had a C-section. This one will also be born via C-section. No way in hell would I risk putting this child through that. I’m NOT coming home empty handed if I have anything to do with it.

WOW Kristi. How far apart were your friend's C-sections? It is the rare but VERY POSSIBLE stories like this that scare the hell out of me and make me not want to try a VBAC at all. I keep reading the benefits and risks of both and while they say the "risks" of a C-section are higher (meaning complications occur more often) it seems like the TYPE of risk is greater for a VBAC....DEATH of you or baby or BOTH!!! How can I even risk losing a child or leaving my poor husband to take care of one or two children if the baby survived and I didn't. Everyone says 1% risk of rupture but what if I'm in that 1%...just devastating! I don't know what to do! Grace, mine will be 15 months apart so I know what you're going through.

Her first one was natural. Her second one was an emergency C-section. Then the poor girl tried for the next SIX years to get pregnant for a third baby. She suffered two miscarriages before she was able to carry this little one to term. (Yeah! SIX YEARS of healing & it still happened!!!) This one was healthy & would have been her third boy. She did what she was told by her OB & STILL came home with NO baby! Scares the c___p out of me too. I never really though much about a VBAC/uterine rupture until it happened to her. Now? No way, no how am I going to even TRY for a VBAC. It's not worth that "1%" risk to me. And I don’t know about you … but I’ve never really heard from anyone (or even a news story) about someone dying from a C-section. I have another friend that used to work in a NICU in IL. She said in her many years working there she knew of numerous babies either suffering MAJOR brain damage or dying because their mothers tried the VBAC.

For every side there is the other. I am having a VBAC for the same reasons, only reversed. I hemorrhaged HORRIBLY from the c-section, also almost lost my uterus, my baby was delivered too soon and spent 21 days in the NICU and my medical bills are astronomical as well. I did not lose my baby, and I feel terrible for your friend, no one should suffer that loss. I also have to pose the question to you, however, if you have already weakened your uterus due to one c-section, you are already at risk for labor and rupture; if you have ANOTHER c-section and this baby is not your last, you are at an even greater risk of ruputure before term. If you are only having 2 children maybe worth the risk of c-sections, but if you are not sure, I don't think so. Again, your friend suffered the very rare, but very catastophic risk of VBAC and no words can make that okay. To Em, re: the risks of c-sections, one of the risks is also DEATH of mother and in the same amount or higher as with VBAC risk to the baby. They are stipping my membranes tomorrow morning so we shall see how my VBAC goes then. Bye the way, I am a friendly poster and don't need to be talked to with hostility.

LOL Who was "hostile"? Come on. RELAX. Give people a benefit of a doubt. That was waaaay not hostile. I’m just freaking over this whole VBAC thing. ANYWAY ... d__n girl! Your story bites too! (I feel faint.) I just wish I didn’t have to have my first C-section in the first place. This wouldn't even be an issue for me if that were the case. I TRIED the natural thing! Both my husband & I threw a real drama queen p__ser once they told us I needed a C-section too. I’m telling you, it makes me want to cry just thinking about how the whole thing went down. "Don't worry", if I were in your situation I don't know what I'd do! I hate this. And every day I get closer to my "date" I get more & more p__sed at my old OB. (Long story short: My first C-section was HER fault! I TOLD HER that my baby turned breech 10 days before my water broke. She did not do an ultrasound to check my word ... she used her hands!!! And after all, what did *I* know? This was my first baby & she had been an OB for YEARS.) This is my second & last baby. (We’re both 36.) Soooooooo I still think I’m gonna stick with the C-section. I’ll just be glad when the whole thing is over.

I am a jerk. Sorry. I can't sleep because it is only a few hours until they strip my membranes and I so don't want another C. I am snotty, irritable and a b***h. I feel very badly for you that you knew your baby flipped and the doc didn't even do an u/s. You certainly had labor you didn't need to do. I will let you know what happens in a few days and again, I apologize.

Oh, quit! You're not a jerk. And we can ALL be b___hy when we look & feel like THIS! I wish you luck, girl. Make sure you keep us posted.

I'm really interested to see how your VBAC goes, I'll be thinking of you! I read these other posts on complications from c-section and none of them sound fun. It seems like either option just sucks! Kristi, my C was my OB's fault too. I told her 10 days before my due date that my stomach was SMALLER! She dismissed me saying it was just because he dropped. It was my first too so what do I know. Well, about 6 days later I went in because I had a slight trickle. The midwife checked for amniotic leak but could not find any fluid. She felt around up there and thought she wasn't feeling a head so she took me into ultrasound to check if he was breech. He was head down but guess what...there was virtually NO WATER left in there! My stomach WAS smaller and if they had induced my a week before when there would have been more cushioning left, maybe my son would not have gone into distress. I'll never trust the docs again and if I want something checked this time I'm not leaving their office until they do!

I ended up haveing a C after 12 hours of labor and 30min of pushing with my first. It wasnt the OB's fault though., Baby's cord was wrapped around his chestand his heart rate dropped. I had a VBAC with my second and it went really really well. 6 hours of labor and no complications. One thing my doc told me is that if you have a bakini cut you are less likley to have a rupture and that the risks vs. benefits are about the same either way. Im currently pregnant with my 3rd. (possibly 3rd and 4th) and plan on attempting another v____al delivery. It went so much better i would prefer to do it that way again. (Having the epidural helped too) My OB is going to do a u/s at 38 weeks to check size of the baby(ies) and to check my uterus to make sure it is safe. Also if you ever do want a 3rd if you have 2 c-sections you will have no choice the nex time