Following my first story about giving birth to my firstborn through an emergency C-section—alone and overwhelmed in the middle of the pandemic—I’d like to share the story of having my second child.
My first and second births could not have been more different. The first was a series of unpredictable and frightening events. The second was a journey I prepared for deliberately. I studied, asked questions, and took an active role in preparing for a vaginal birth after cesarean, or VBAC.
And somehow, that journey led me to an unexpected miracle in my life.
If you haven’t read the first story yet, I recommend starting there:
1. Hypothyroidism After My First Birth, Then a Second Pregnancy Right After Changing Jobs
After giving birth to my first son, I was constantly sleepy. My body felt heavy, and I was exhausted all the time. I assumed it was simply the fatigue of taking care of a baby. But after getting tested, I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism.
I started taking thyroid hormone medication (Letrox, known as Synthroid in Korea). Surprisingly, I quickly started feeling warmer and more energetic. My doctor told me that I would probably need to take the medication for the rest of my life.
By then, my first son was over a year old and had started daycare, so I returned to work. Eventually, I changed jobs.
And exactly one week after my probation period ended, I saw two clear lines on a pregnancy test.
I had really liked my boss and teammates from the very beginning, from the interview all the way through my probation period. I had chosen this company even after turning down another offer with a higher salary. But becoming pregnant just three months after joining… I felt so guilty about it, espeically toward my boss and colleagues who had trusted and hired me.
At the time, I was working remotely, and my boss and teammates were living in the U.S. and other European countries. If I wanted to, I probably could have hidden my pregnancy until my belly started to show. But as soon as I saw the gestational sac and heartbeat, I disclosed it immediately. I explained that it was still very early and that I was being cautious, but because I trusted and respected my boss so much, I wanted to tell her as soon as possible. I also wanted the team to have time to prepare in case anything happened.
Thankfully, my boss responded to my heartfelt confession with warm congratulations and support.
2. From Daycare Viruses to Sinusitis: My Second Pregnancy Wasn’t Easy
Fortunately, my second pregnancy did not come with gestational diabetes, which had required me to prick my finger and test my blood several times a day during my first pregnancy. I also had almost no morning sickness.
But despite that, my second pregnancy was difficult in a completely different way. The problem was my first son and all the viruses he constantly brought home from daycare. If he had even a mild cough, I would end up coughing all night and barely sleeping. If his runny nose got a little worse, mine somehow turned into sinusitis.
It was the first time in my life I’d ever had sinusitis.. And that’s when I learned just how miserable it can be when you can’t breathe through your nose. Eventually, the symptoms kept getting worse, and I needed antibiotics.
But that wasn’t the end of it. I suddenly developed a strange pressure and swelling in the roof of my mouth, connected to a tooth that had previously undergone a root canal. I went to the dentist. He explained that pregnancy-related physiological and immune changes can affect oral health as well. At first, they tried draining the inflammation with a needle. But it kept coming back, and eventually I needed another course of antibiotics.
With all these health problems piling up, I couldn’t work properly either. Then one day, I felt completely wiped out. I had also been experiencing abdominal tightening and pain for about three days. My doctor told me that the most important thing was to get as much rest as possible until delivery. Take naps. Drink plenty of water. Rest my body as much as I could.
In the end, I went on sick leave before entering the later stages of pregnancy.
3. Time With My Firstborn and My Decision to Try VBAC
Despite all the health problems, the fact that I had almost no morning sickness or gestational diabetes meant I was still fairly mobile. I’d often heard that when you become pregnant with your second child, your first child suddenly becomes even more attached to you. That was definitely true in our house. Whenever I had the energy, I loved holding my firstborn as much as I could. And my growing pregnant belly turned out to be the perfect place to prop him up. It was basically a natural hip seat. 😂
Because my first son had been born by C-section, everyone around me naturally assumed that I would have another C-section. But I still had a strong desire to experience a vaginal birth. So I decided to try for a VBAC — Vaginal Birth After Cesarean.
In fact, in Korea, VBAC is rarely encouraged, and the reasons and risks behind this are clear:
- Risk of Uterine Rupture: Although extremely rare, there is a risk that the previous C-section scar on the uterus could tear during labor contractions.
- Experiencing Risks of Both Birth Methods: You have to weigh the drawbacks of vaginal delivery (perineal damage, hemorrhoids, incontinence) alongside the risks of a C-section (abdominal adhesions). Furthermore, if VBAC fails, you risk the ‘double pain’ of enduring full labor only to end up with an emergency C-section.
Even so, I was drawn to VBAC because of its potential benefits. Avoiding major abdominal surgery could mean a faster recovery and avoid adding more adhesions. I also liked the idea of being able to hold my baby immediately after birth and start breastfeeding right away.
But I didn’t want to take the decision lightly. I talked to my doctor and the midwife at the hospital where I planned to give birth. Instead of jumping in blindly, I consulted with my doctor and the midwife at the hospital to see if a safe VBAC was viable. I also dug through medical papers and guidelines myself. My research led me to focus on three main factors when considering whether VBAC was a reasonable option for me:
- Previous C-section Incision Type: The previous incision must have been a low-transverse cut on the lower uterus, not a vertical classical incision on the upper uterus.
- No History of Uterine Rupture: No prior history of uterine rupture in previous pregnancies or births.
- Interdelivery Interval: An interval of at least 18–24 months between the first C-section and the second delivery.
In my case, the gap between my first and second births was nearly three years, and there were no major contraindications, so the medical staff agreed that a VBAC attempt was reasonable. (As a side note, when I was researching back then, uterine lower segment thickness and suture technique were also emphasized, though the latest medical guidelines no longer consider them primary determining factors.)
There was another reason I wanted to prepare carefully. My first birth had been deeply affected by the language barrier. I still remembered the confusion and fear of not understanding what was happening around me. So this time, I decided to hire a private midwife who spoke fluent English. She could stay with me throughout labor regardless of shift changes and help communicate with the hospital staff when necessary. Just knowing that someone would be there with me from beginning to end was incredibly reassuring.
4. “This Time, I’m Not Alone”: Labor Begins the Night Before My Due Date
During my first birth, COVID restrictions meant that my husband wasn’t allowed into the hospital. I spent the entire hospitalization alone. This time was completely different. Just knowing that my husband and private midwife would be beside me made me feel much more at ease.
The evening before my due date, I was getting ready for bed when I started feeling mild abdominal pain. I told my husband I was going to the bathroom, but nothing happened. I started wondering if these might actually be contractions, so I opened a contraction timer app and started tracking them. They were irregular. “Maybe it’s false labor?”
But an hour passed, and the contractions still hadn’t disappeared. Eventually, I contacted my private midwife. She told me that because I was attempting a VBAC, I should go to the hospital immediately. Then they could monitor the baby’s heart rate and my contractions with CTG, known as KTG in Poland.
I quickly called my mother-in-law, who lives nearby, and asked her to come watch our first son. While we waited, I packed my hospital bag. I also ate a quick meal. By then, the contractions had suddenly become much stronger. Eventually, I was too overwhelmed to even keep track of them on the app. My mother-in-law arrived, and around 11 p.m., my husband and I headed to the hospital.
After checking in, I was put on the KTG monitor. And they checked my cervix—it was dilated only 1 cm. ‘Only 1 cm…?’ I was already in so much pain that I couldn’t believe it. Around 2:00 or 3:00 AM, I was moved to a delivery room, and my private midwife arrived soon after. As contractions intensified, my husband massaged my lower back, and I applied a warm water bottle we had brought along. Those two things helped me tremendously. Unfortunately, the nitrous oxide wasn’t available because other women were already using it.
5. VBAC Through the Pain, and the Unexpected Hemorrhoid Surprise
When my cervix was about 4 cm dilated, I finally got an epidural. The pain disappeared as if someone had flipped a switch. Suddenly, everything was peaceful. My midwife told me to rest and save my energy for the birth. I couldn’t feel the pain, but I could still feel the waves of uterine contractions.
After a while, my midwife broke my waters and reduced the epidural medication to prepare me for the pushing stage. As the epidural wore off, an unbelievable amount of pain came rushing back.
I wanted to scream. But I remembered being told that screaming could make me tire myself out instead of focusing my strength effectively. So I concentrated completely on my breathing and the timing of each push. Whenever my midwife gave me the signal, I pushed with everything I had.
After a few pushes, she told me to rest for a moment. I couldn’t understand how I was supposed to rest in the middle of that kind of pain. I told her I still had plenty of strength and just wanted to get the baby out as quickly as possible. She complimented me on my stamina and encouraged me to keep pushing.
And after giving it everything I had, my second son finally came into the world just a few minutes before noon. It had been about 12 hours since we arrived at the hospital. My midwife told me that because VBAC involves a labor process that can be physiologically similar to a first vaginal birth, 12 hours of labor was not unusually long.
My husband cut the umbilical cord. Then they placed our baby on my chest for skin-to-skin contact. In that moment, I was overwhelmed by so many emotions. Unlike my first birth, I wasn’t in an operating room. There was no emergency. No one was shouting in Polish around me. And this time, my body seemed to know exactly what to do. I also started producing colostrum smoothly after birth, and my baby latched beautifully almost immediately.
But there was one unexpected source of pain waiting for me. After we came home, I asked the postpartum midwife who visited our home to check me. “I think my recovery is going well, but I still have pain in my lower body. Could you check whether my perineal area is healing properly?” She examined me and then laughed in disbelief.
“Ma’am, it’s not your perineum. You have a really bad case of hemorrhoids!”
I had been enduring the pain, assuming it was from the vaginal birth. And the actual culprit was hemorrhoids. I didn’t even know hemorrhoids could hurt that much.
Following her advice, I bought suppositories and started taking sitz baths. Miraculously, the hemorrhoids improved very quickly. If only I had known sooner, I could have saved myself several days of unnecessary suffering. It was such a ridiculous ending to an otherwise successful birth.
6. Easier Motherhood and an Unexpected Change in My Body
Without the need for formula supplementation or late-night pumping sessions like with my firstborn, exclusive breastfeeding with my second child went smoothly. Because of this, parenting felt surprisingly manageable. Perhaps it was because I had already experienced ‘parenting on hard mode’ with my first? Even with a 3-hour feeding cycle, I got adequate sleep and enjoyed daily life.
And then something even more unexpected happened. Following my doctor’s recommendation, I had bloodwork done after giving birth. The results were surprising. The thyroid levels that I had once been told might require lifelong medication had returned to normal.
Following my doctor’s instructions, I gradually reduced my medication and eventually stopped taking it. My thyroid levels remained normal when I was retested three months later. They were still normal at the six-month checkup. My obstetrician explained that the enormous physical and hormonal changes surrounding childbirth can sometimes be followed by changes in the body’s hormonal and immune systems, and that in some cases a condition may improve or resolve.
After the loneliness and exhaustion of my first C-section, I had studied, prepared, and made the decision to try for a VBAC. The birth of my precious second son gave me not only the joy of experiencing a vaginal birth, but also the unexpected experience of seeing my body return to normal.
But our peaceful days didn’t last forever. Another new journey was already waiting for my husband and me. The birth of our third son.
I’ll be back with the final birth story in the next installment!
