Things have gotten a little interesting in soon-to-be-a-mother-land as I'm currently carrying a 9 pound, 5 ounce baby (weight as of yesterday afternoon). At first this was something that was just interesting, but now it's gotten a little stressful when my doctor told me that the baby is almost too big for a natural birth and I might have to have a cesarean, but because I'm a tall, large woman, I might be able to pull this off. Unfortunately, this was the appointment in which I could've used my husband's support (he opted to stay home), so when I was asked what I wanted to do, I almost lost it. How do I make a decision on whether to go for natural or surgery [and I use "natural" in the sense of pathway of delivery and not in the no-epidural context]? I told my doctor that I wanted to wait a week to try to have the baby, so I'm going to be scheduled to be induced next Wednesday night.
My doctor is hopeful that I will come in for my morning appointment dilated 3 centimeters so that they won't have to induce, but seeing as I'm almost 2 centimeters and not effaced, I'm worried that I will have to go the surgery route. I've never been in the hospital for more than a few hours at a time in the emergency room for asthma attacks, so this baby will be the first time I've had a major procedure, and now I'm starting to get scared. What if I can't have the baby naturally? What if we start that way but it gets stuck at the shoulders (which my doctor says is the fear when the baby is too big)? I know that a cesarean is not a mark of failure (considering how many people in my family have had them), but I still feel bad if I have to do that. And surgery will take longer for me to recover from, making going back to school even more difficult. And for all I know, the ultrasound could be wrong and the baby is smaller than it says (or it could be larger), but I won't know until delivery day.
Now the problem is, if I have the baby early [The original due date was today, but was changed to September 6] I will stop working sooner than I wanted and that will put us in a bad financial fix. If I manage to get all the way to Wednesday, the baby may be too big and I would have to have the surgery. Or I could go into labor over the weekend and end up with someone other than my primary doctor doing the delivery. Anyway out, I don't win.
I'm trying to stay calm about this, but it's hard to not feel bad that this isn't going in a way that makes sense to me. I had no plans for how I wanted this to go, I had just hoped I'd be the first in my family since my great-grandmother to have a natural birth and that may not happen. I'm still trying to figure out how I'm carrying a baby that's approaching 10 pounds. We'll have to see how this goes.
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4 comments:
I am just a random person in cyber space but...
You could very well be carrying a 7lb baby! Ultrasound this late in pregnancy is notoriously inaccurate - as in several pounds either way inaccurate. I am 5ft 7in and about 150lbs not pregnant and I gave birth to a healthy 10lb 2oz baby at 43 weeks.
Your doctor seems to be pushing an induction or cesarean for all the wrong reasons. If neither you nor the baby has a true medical reason for a cesarean then just say NO!
I've been there and I know it's hard and I ended up with a c-section for listening to my doctor who had HER best interest in mind while providing my "care".
You are already dilated to a 2 - that's awesome! The more you dilate now, all the less you'll have to do while in active labor. Your body is working and it was amazing enough to grow this baby - please trust that it is able to give birth to this baby.
If you are interested in more info please visit www.ican-online.org
kansaskp - mom to four
one cesarean
two hosptial VBAC
one HBAC (home birth after cesarean - as in REAL natural child birth!)
YOU CAN DO THIS!!!
http://nhapmom.wordpress.com/2008/08/27/even-acog-says-no-to-cesarean-sections-in-case-of-big-babies/
I didn't know you were so close to giving birth!
I would take the doctor's advice when the time comes. My son was almost 9 pounds. I pushed for 2 hours, but he was transverse, which made it harder for him to come through the birth canal. Eventually, I spiked a fever and we and they opted to do a c-section rather than risk an infection for me or my son.
Neither option is better than the other; sometimes it's not really up to you. Whatever needs to be done for a healthy baby and a healthy you is the best way to go, in my opinion.
Considering that my due date is the 6th, I'm actually okay with the inducement. I'd rather not have the c-section, but what I want is secondary to what is best for the baby, so we'll see how it goes.
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