With your VBAC labor, when did you call your MW/OB?

[newbiemama]

my VBAC was a long and drawn-out labor. I had to be transferred to the hospital (we were planning a birth center birth) before i was in "real labor" because my cx weren't strong enough. we had mw and a doula at our birth, so we were planning on going to the birth center right around cx 5-7 min apart, like recommended. i understand your hesitation about checking into a hospital, though. it can be a stressful environment. some women wait right up until they're pushing, practically, to go to a hospital, although with a VBAC they would NOT be keen on that. if you are surrounded by a positive and supportive team, checking into a hospital can be fine. my hospital team was AMAZING, even the dr and the mw at the hospital, who we had NOT planned on being at the birth. everyone was supportive and relaxed, and let me take my time with labor.

[~Cricket~]

Talk about your concerns with your midwife, and also ask what kind of monitoring she's talking about. Intermittent checking with the doppler should be sufficient - if she's talking about putting on the straps and keeping you stuck in bed, then you might want to change midwives!
VBAC labour tends to be a little longer and slower - the body takes care of that scar! Nothing too hard or intense. Patience will be necessary, and you should know that induction or augmentation for a VBAC is not a good idea. (and there are plenty of doctors who will do it anyway!) I agree with you that staying home longer is probably best, but talk to your midwife about why exactly she wants you in earlier. Can she come to your home to check on your and baby in early labor?
If I were you, I'd read all I could on VBAC (check the ICAN website, maybe? Google should help you find lots of good resources) and inform yourself about what the risks actually are, and how to minimize them, so that you can make good informed decisions.
All the best for a great birth!

[mibarra]

When did you go to the hospital?

I was told when contractions were consistently 3-5 minutes apart for a full hour to call my doc and they'd advise me at that point. Within 30 minutes of waking up to excruciating pain at 2 am mine were 3 minutes and getting closer, so we called and went.

Did your transport affect how your labor was progressing?

I was screaming for an epidural by the time I got there. There was no gradual buildup, I had back labor, I had 45 seconds pain free in between. I got an epidural and delivered my daughter almost exactly 12 hours after waking up with only an hour of pushing.

How long were you there before baby came?

They would have let me go at 48 hours, but I wanted to stay one more day to see an LC so my doc let me.

[blossomgoat]

I had about 12 hrs of non-painful crux that were 30sec on, 30 sec off for the whole time. I just went about my day and went to bed as normal. At 2am, I woke up thinking I had stomach cramps. DH pointed out that duh, I was in labor. We went in at 4am bec that was when my I laws showed up to take my DD. I was 6cm when we arrived.

DD2was born 12 hours later. I had an epi, which slowed things but calmed me down a ton. I pushed for about 45 min.

Transportation was all of about 5 miles, so it didn't affect me... Much. Lol.

[jaelynsmommy61607]

When I was in transition! I had a home birth. Midwife arrived about 45 min before he was born.

[Amy27]

Both of my vbacs were pretty much the same which was odd! The only difference is we now live 11/2 hours from the hospital and my dr! Also the first was little longer labor! The first I had inconsistant contractions all day long not too painful though! towards the evening I started timing more regularly and they were about 5-7 mins apart and starting to get painful! being my first I wanted to stay home as long as I could just b/c I didn't know what to expect when I got to the hospital. I laid in bed about 10:30 pm and my water broke about 10:50 pm after two very painful contractions so I went to the hospital around 11:30 and was about 3-4 cm. Another dr. was on call during the night but I thought maybe if I could hold off til morning i'd get my dr. sure enough my dr. came in at 7 am I was 6cm when I found out he was there then it took about 1hr and I was 10cm I had my ds at 8:13 am the next morning! my second one was about the same all week I was having inconsistant contractions so I thought this is it! But nope false labor my dh didn't believe me when it was the real deal and I expected them to stop through the night! Anyways after dinner I started having painful contractions about 5-7 mins apart pretty consistant then I went to bed about 10:30 but stayed awake timing them I timed one and dosed off then I had another one and pop!!! water broke again at 10:50 I couldn't believe it was the same time. instantly I started shaking and was nervous b/c we had a 11/2 hr drive ahead of us! I contracted the whole way not knowing how dilated I am. I was 1-2 at my dr. appoint. that week! We got there in 1 hr I didn't care if my dh was speeding I didn't want to have the baby in the car since it was pretty cold out too! Not sure what time it was when we got there prob 12:30 am or so they checked me and I was 5cm. I had my ds at 4:06am!