I know a lot of first time moms spend countless hours imagining what the birth process will be like at the end of the pregnancy. Some even write out their ideal birth plan prior to going into labor. Being a planner myself I actually did not write out a birth plan for the sole reason that I did not want to end up feeling discouraged that everything did not go according to plan. There really is no way know definitively what will take place during labor and delivery. There are too many variables to take into consideration. So my plan was to go into it with the expectation of a normal birth, but not ruling out any possibilities that may arise during the process.
Well, plans are already changing and I haven’t even made it to labor and delivery yet. At my 38 week appointment we discussed the ultrasound results from last week. My doctor recommended that we induce at 39 weeks based on how big the baby is measuring. We also discussed a c-section. Although the ultrasound machine is not exact just an estimate, the measurements were enough that my doctor is not comfortable waiting any longer than 39 weeks. The baby gets bigger everyday! 8 lbs last Friday could be 9 lbs this Friday. Scary thought.
After some discussion and going over the facts we decided to schedule the c-section. The facts are that I have a narrow pelvis, the baby’s body is measuring a little bigger than the head, which presents the risk that the baby could get stuck at the shoulders during a normal birth. The only course of action at that point may result in a broken collar-bone and permanent nerve damage to the baby. Unfortunately, that scenario is not one that can be predicted with certainty until you are at that point, and once you reach that point there is no turning back. I just cannot imagine taking that risk with my baby. So, although I would have liked to have a nice normal birth, we felt the c-section was the safer option for our baby.
The doctor’s office is scheduling us for a c-section for Thursday, May 10th. We’ll go in that morning and have our baby by that afternoon. I’m excited and nervous and anxious and just about every other emotion I can think of all rolled into one at this point.
