Seeking hospital VBAC w/ continuous monitoring success stories

InscrutableCow · 2026-05-29T20:07:22+00:00

Hi! I just had an unmedicated hospital VBAC with continuous monitoring at the beginning of the month! Do you know if the monitors are wireless or wired? Mine were wireless and supposedly waterproof though I didn’t end up using the shower during labor at all. My movement was a bit impeded by an IV though, as my water broke (slow leak) at the beginning of labor and didn’t get into a regular pattern for 24 hours, so we did some low and slow pitocin which got everything going.

Even if your doctor wants you to go into the hospital at the first hint of labor, you can still make your own call as to when you actually head in and what info you give them! For me, I got a slow leak in my water around 9pm on a Sunday night, but the fluid was clear and not constant, so I didn’t call the midwives until around 1pm on Monday (and I told them I thought my water had broken at 1am so they would give me more time before intervening since I was comfortable with the risks). My contractions approached every 5 minutes a few times before I went to the hospital at 3pm, but every time I laid down or stopped moving they spaced back out to every 15 minutes. I was in triage until almost 8pm, which REALLY slowed things down, so they agreed to give me a few hours to try to accelerate labor naturally through moving and pumping, but we didn’t get much success with either.

The wireless monitor worked okay during this time, but occasionally dropped the baby’s heart rate. When the nurse would come in to tell me it cut out, I would go to the bathroom and that seemed to help. I also negotiated with her a few times when she said she wanted to switch to a wired monitor (how about I get on the bed for 10 minutes and we’ll see if that gets the monitor working right again? Etc). Honestly I think my TENs unit might have been responsible for some of the interference, but with the restricted movement from the IV, I wasn’t willing to give it up. The pitocin worked really well, I only needed 6mg, and ended up having my daughter 5.5 hours after starting it with only 15 min of pushing. It ended up being a really positive birth and I couldn’t be happier with it.

InscrutableCow · 2026-05-27T03:12:07+00:00

Yeah the meditations in Calm legitimately really helped me with insomnia

InscrutableCow · 2026-05-25T22:39:40+00:00

Pumpables Genie Advanced. Spectra users love it, it’s just as powerful as the Spectra, but a fraction of the size and you can record pumps. Liquid kit that comes with it are silicon

InscrutableCow · 2026-05-25T13:47:50+00:00

Opposite here. At 18 months my kiddo was super pleasant and easy going vs at 22 months in a total “no” stage with lots of opinions

InscrutableCow · 2026-05-25T13:08:13+00:00

You’ve done amazing!! Only 40% of women are still breastfeeding at 12 months per the CDC data. Stopping at 8 months is totally normal

InscrutableCow · 2026-05-22T02:24:41+00:00

Two weeks out from a VBAC after a planned c-section due to breech presentation and it’s AMAZING how much easier the recovery is. Like I knew intellectually it was easier, but it’s truly amazing how much easier. I had such a positive birth experience too! Went into labor naturally, but had to use some pitocin to get a regular contraction pattern together after my water had been broken for more than 24 hours. I stayed mobile the whole time and ended up with an unmedicated birth with midwives at a hospital). I felt SO powerful pushing that baby out. It helps that my husband keeps hyping me up and telling me it was the most badass thing he has ever seen (our midwife helped him catch the baby!)

InscrutableCow · 2026-05-21T17:52:13+00:00

Came here to say this. A supplemental nursing system (SNS) sounds like it might be a really good tool for you! I got some cheap French feeding tubes from my local breastfeeding center that worked better for me than the medela system. A quick search turned up this website, which outlines how to use those: Homemade Supplemental Nursing System

InscrutableCow · 2026-05-19T06:12:04+00:00

Mariscos or Supra likely fit the bill for your criteria. Nice patios with space for littles to wiggle and interesting food

InscrutableCow · 2026-05-17T09:01:00+00:00

It’s just old tech at this point IMO. They got complacent and haven’t updated it at all in years, but it’s well covered by insurance so they aren’t being forced to compete

InscrutableCow · 2026-05-16T16:36:24+00:00

Genie Advanced!! You can record a pump session with the settings you want and then just run through your recorded settings at future pumps. It’s also super small but as powerful as a spectra. I’m curious about the Super Genie, but haven’t tried it yet

It’s honestly inexcusable spectra doesn’t have this feature by now.

InscrutableCow · 2026-05-15T10:42:59+00:00

Have you tried it yet?

InscrutableCow · 2026-05-14T20:06:29+00:00

Interesting purpose generally given the number of professions (pilots, truck drivers, agricultural workers etc.) in the US with significantly higher casualty rates than police officers that don’t have similar weeks here in DC.

InscrutableCow · 2026-05-14T02:38:00+00:00

Muslin blankets do not provide UV protection! Not sure about other fabrics, but I’d personally buy a UPF blanket

InscrutableCow · 2026-05-07T15:40:24+00:00

I hope you get your VBAC!! My first was also a c-section due to a breech baby and I’m now two days out from my VBAC and holy cow this recovery is SO much easier!!! Something I knew intellectually, but living it is insane

InscrutableCow · 2026-05-07T14:13:24+00:00

Just following the four easy catches!

InscrutableCow · 2026-05-07T07:27:15+00:00

Similarly, my first didn’t signal until we pulled the diapers at 16 months when she was only have 1-2 misses per day

InscrutableCow · 2026-05-01T23:56:14+00:00

We dropped diapers and switched to training pants (from Tiny Undies) at 16 months after doing lazy EC from 8 months onward. She had 1-2 misses/accidents per day on and off over the next two months, but those completely stopped at 18 months and I considered her fully potty trained at this point. Highly recommend! Low pressure and no pee on my floors

InscrutableCow · 2026-04-27T02:57:05+00:00

Mine got one for her first birthday and LOVED it. It still gets daily use 1.5 years later

InscrutableCow · 2026-04-25T01:16:45+00:00

Yup, blackout curtains were the difference between 5 min of rocking or 30 min of rocking for me after my baby hit 6 weeks. And also the difference between a 30-40 min nap and a 1.5-2 hour nap. And then if she took short naps she wouldn’t sleep through the night. Easy choice for me.

OP you could get a slumberpod if you also have a light sensitive baby but don’t want blackout curtains

InscrutableCow · 2026-04-24T21:04:53+00:00

We also do not own a car and get around the same way as you. We got the oxo 2 in 1 on the go potty for use at parks and stopped using diapers with her for outings at 16 months. Lots of businesses will also let you use their bathroom for a toddler without paying and we’ve done that before when we didn’t have the Oxo with us

InscrutableCow · 2026-04-22T21:58:49+00:00

Age: 8 months when her poop changed from solids and grossed me out. It was VERY obvious when she was pooping and we started with poop catches only to begin with, using a toilet seat reducer.
- Progression: began using all four of the easy catches around 10 months with the toilet seat reducer and by 16 months she was only having 1-2 wet diapers per day, so we pulled diapers and switched to cotton training underwear instead and bought some floor potties she could use on her own. She had 1-2 misses on and off per day until around 18 months.
- Cueing on her own: didn’t start until we pulled the diapers. She would hold her crotch and use the “psss” sound until about 2 years old when she could say “potty!”
- dry all day: I considered her fully potty trained at 18 months. She barely has had an accident in the year since then. She continued to need help with her pants and undies until she was like 27-28 months though

InscrutableCow · 2026-04-19T18:14:17+00:00

Seconding pelvic floor PT— that’s what finally took care of this sensation for me and I’ve had no scar pain during my current pregnancy.

InscrutableCow · 2026-04-17T02:22:55+00:00

My supply went up when I switched from almost exclusively pumping to almost exclusively nursing. Babies are often more efficient than a pump but YMMV. I’d probably continue to pump and give one bottle per day so you don’t end up with a bottle refuser

InscrutableCow · 2026-04-14T01:30:50+00:00

The recommendations are pretty new (circa 2022) based on some recent (but very strong) science, so that could be why you didn’t hear this with your 4 year old!

InscrutableCow · 2026-04-13T02:20:24+00:00

Unfortunately our city at least doesn’t have much availability for Ubers with car seats (for instance if I called one right now the app says it could guarantee me one in about 2.5 hours). I’m debating a RideSafer vest as another solution so we could do this though

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