Jade Lopez Says Past ‘Cervical Arrest’ Prevented Her From Having VBAC With Her 2nd Child

Jade Lopez faced several health issues before giving birth to her and her husband Rocky Siccion's second child on February 9, 2022. They've named their baby boy Rohan Azurite.

"Early on my pregnancy I had to consult a cardiologist," recalls the actress in an online interview with Smart Parenting. "Kasi nagkaron ako ng post partum cardiomyopathy with my last pregnancy. I was also diagnosed with borderline gdm kaya meron din ako endo doctor all throughout my pregnancy."

Pregnancy complications

Jade is referring to the time she had their panganay Rinoa Sapphire, now 2 years old, whom she delivered via emergency cesearean section (read here).

She had a heart condition also called peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM), which is, according to the American Heart Association, "an uncommon form of heart failure that happens during the last month of pregnancy or up to five months after giving birth." Cardiomyopathy, experts say, literally means "heart muscle disease."

GDM, on other hand, stands for gestational diabetes mellitus. In this condition, as explained by the Johns Hopkins Medicine, "a hormone made by the placenta prevents the body from using insulin effectively." It happens because glucose, also known as blood sugar, builds up in the blood instead of being absorbed by the cells.

With the help of Jade's cardiologist and endocrinologist, she and Baby Rohan were cared for from possible pregnancy complications. However, midway through her pregnancy, around September 2021, she and her family caught the Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus.

Jade recounts their experience dealing with the highly contagious disease: "I had to isolate for 14 days as per my OB because my first result was negative but eventually nagkaron din ng symptoms but super mild lang. My husband and daughter, on the other hand, quarantined together. They experienced mild symptoms (fever and cough)."

Thankfully, Jade once again overcame a huge hurdle while heavy with her second child. She then set her sights on vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) "kasi ang tagal ng recovery ng CS." But her obstetrician-gynecologist suggested otherwise, which is to go for another CS.

Jade remembers her doctor explaining to her that the "cervical arrest" she experienced with her first pregnancy may force her to have another emergency CS, if she pushes through with VBAC. Cervical arrest is a type of abnormal labor, in which the cervix ceases to dilate further. So she agreed to have a scheduled or elective CS.

Days before the set schedule, Jade had a checkup with her ob-gyn and found to be having a dilated cervix. That last checkup turned out to be her delivery date. Everything turned out fine, she says, except a week later, her blood pressure was shooting up. Good thing all her tests were negative for preeclampsia.

Breastfeeding experience

Jade is also thankful that she's able to breastfeed Baby Rohan, unlike before with Rinoa. "One of my proudest moments," she beams. "Kasi si Rinoa never nag direct latch sa akin so I had to pump my breastmilk tapos bottle fed her."

She explains that Rinoa had to stay at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for 10 days, that's why "hindi s'ya nasanay mag-latch." But with Baby Rohan, it's different, "That’s why kahit nakakapagod magpa breastfeed masaya ako. Fulfilling sya for me."

Speaking of Rinoa, this how Jade and her husband prepared their panganay with the arrival of their new baby: "We bought her a baby doll (yung may feeding bottle toy) tapos sinasabi namin 'love love baby,' ganyan parang conditioning na.

"'Tapos, I let her touch my tummy 'tapos sinasabi ko, 'your baby brother is inside mama’s tummy.'" (Rinoa is a rainbow baby, read here about Jade's miscarriage.)

She points out, too, that they really planned on having another child just after Rinoa turned 1 year old. Thus, she says, "We are blessed talaga na in one try nabuo agad."

Read here to know if you're a candidate for VBAC.