Being Sara

At my last doctor’s visit, I learned that there are 6 women all scheduled for repeat c-sections within 1 week of me.  Apparently the end of December is a popular time of year to have a baby.  I don’t know if everyone is trying to get the tax write-off for 2008 (not the reason for our decision by the way).

When Xander was born, we had a wonderful experience with the hospital staff.  Our hospital is a relatively small regional one - only 4 post-delivery rooms, but that wing was entirely rebuilt (finished about 2 months before Xander was born) so everything is new and pretty high tech for our rural setting.  Aside from one nurse who was a little obsessive about rules on the maternity ward, they were all awesome.  The nurses were incredibly attentive.  One nurse who usually works in the ER spent the day with me while I was in labor (filling in a shift) and actually came up to check on me the next time she was working.  One of our doctors actually came in (with one of his kids) on his day off to check on me.  Overall, it was a great experience.  They were great with Xander - showed us everything a new parent might need to know, and they were always patient with us, never talked down to us, and truly seemed interested in our well-being.  It was such a great experience that a week or so later when I was feeling up to a walk, we bought them a gift basket of cookies and brought it to the hospital (I should mention that our house is less than a mile away from the hospital).

I think one of the factors in this positive experience was that we were the only ones in the maternity ward for 3 of the 4 days we were there.  The undivided attention was quite nice!  This time, if we’re lucky it’ll just be full and not over-full.

So now I’m nervous.  Not that I think the care will be any less amazing, but I don’t think that we’ll get the undivided attention that we got last time.  When they have the time, the nurses will keep the sleeping baby in the nursery, allowing mothers to get some much needed rest as well.  Again, this is only as time allows, so I suspect that this bonus feature will be offered far less during our upcoming stay.

I’m sure everything will work out just fine in the end - the baby will arrive, the doctors and nurses will give us great support, and we’ll go home a happy and slightly larger family.  But, that doesn’t stop me from wondering about what to expect when we arrive

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I hadn’t ever heard the term “VBAC” (pronounced ‘v’ back) before I got pregnant this time around. Apparently if you have a c-section in your first pregnancy, you are sometimes have the option of having a “Vaginal Birth After Cesarean.” I happen to fall into this category. So now I get to decide, do I want to try another regular delivery, or would I prefer to go straight to a scheduled c-section? For those of you who don’t recall, my first delivery experience was quite lengthy and painful and ultimately ended in an emergency c-section. For those of you interested in the gruesome details, you can check out Xander’s first post here.

Right now, I just can’t decide. There are pros and cons to both sides. With a successful VBAC, there are less lung complications for the baby. However, if I attempt a VBAC and then end up with another emergency c-section, there are higher risks to the baby. There is also a small chance that if I attempt a natural birth, my uterus may tear at the sight of the incision of the first c-section. This would of course be bad news for both me and the baby. If I decide to have a scheduled c-section, there is more danger that the baby’s lungs might not be fully developed, but there is less stress than in a regular delivery. Since there is no way to predict how this birth will go, it’s even more difficult to decide what would be best.

Then of course, there are the practical considerations - a regular birth means a shorter recovery time, but an unpredictable delivery, and no guarantee that I might not need a c-section again eventually. A scheduled c-section fits much better with my type A personality and need to schedule and plan things. But, it also means a longer recovery time, and I wouldn’t be able to lift Xander for at least 2 weeks. I know some women feel robbed of a natural delivery if they end up having a c-section, but I never felt that way. I didn’t ever feel like I was less of a woman, or that my delivery was somehow less valid than any other delivery, so this time around I don’t feel like I need to try a natural delivery because I missed out on something the first time around. At least this isn’t something that I need to factor into my decision.

My doctors have been wonderful - I wondered if they would encourage one option over another, but they didn’t - not even a little bit. At my last visit we talked about some of the benefits of each option. He said that in his experience, women who went through a second c-section generally found the recovery time to be easier the second time around, which was a relief to hear. We talked a little bit about my specific delivery experience, and decided that we’d look at the records more later, and talk more as the time got closer. He also said that if I decided to try a regular birth, it would be like last time where I waited forever before they decided on a c-section. This time around, I could change my mind at any point. If I felt like things were going as slowly as they were before, then I could say that I didn’t want to wait anymore and I would prefer to go straight to c-section. All of this information made me feel a lot better about either decision I make, but I’m still having a heck of a time trying to decide.

There are tons of websites out there with individual stories about women who had VBACs, even vbac.com - which is of course entirely in favor of going the natural delivery route. A quick google search turns up tons of information on the subject. It sounds like lots of hospitals are banning VBACs - they say for medical reasons, but most individuals claim it’s more legal and business reasons. This part of the debate doesn’t affect me much personally, as my hospital still encourages VBACs for women who are interested, but I do find the debate over them rather interesting.

I’ve got time of course to make my decision, but I think that this one is going to take me a while to sort out. Has anyone else out there gone through this VBAC decision process? What did you do to help you decide?

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In the past year several friends of ours have produced children. Starting last July, kids seemed to be popping out all around our circle of friends and family. The latest edition was born at the end of May, and with her birth, I started to wonder about how frequently c-sections are used these days.

Counting myself, I personally know six women who have given birth in the past year. I realize that this is a very small sample, and it is in no way random. However, out of the six women who gave birth, only two did it naturally. Everyone else had a c-section. The reasons for c-sections were all different, and only two women went to the same hospital - some were north of me, some south, one in Pittsburgh, PA and one in Nebraska (both the out of state babies were born by c-section).

Although my personal experience can’t be extrapolated to the rest of the world, it seems like 4 c-sections in my small circle of friends is a pretty high anomaly. I’m curious about any other mothers who read this blog, and what their birthing experiences were like - and those of their friends in recent years.

In google searching this topic, I uncovered an interesting blog post from Health Mongers. The statistics they list show that c-sections in the US reached a record high of 29.1% in 2004, though they don’t say what that number increased from. Their theories about the reasons for more c-sections are interesting, though I’m not sure that I agree with them, I guess I’ll have to do more of my own research. It’s an interesting topic though.

baby, babies, infant, infants, parent, parenting, parents, delivery, birth, caesarean, c-section

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First, I would like to apologize for my lack of posts in the past few weeks. As you may have guessed, I finally had my baby. So, for the squeemish, let me warn you that the rest of this post will have some details regarding the labor and delivery. The next post will be more warm and fuzzy about the joys of new parenthood.

I started having contractions on September 19th at 4:30 in the morning. They woke me up, and did indeed feel like I was going to have a very strong bowel movement. I spent the next hour examining this new discomfort, and realizing that I could feel it about every 7 minutes. Around 5:30 I woke Zach up and told him I didn’t think he’d be going to work that day. He and I timed the contractions for another few hours, and I eventually called the hospital to let them know I would likely be in to see them sometime that morning. Around 9:30 am Zach and I went to the hospital. They checked me and said that my cervix had thinned, but I was only about 1 centimeter dilated, so I should go home and make myself comfortable and come back when the contractions were closer together. (On a side note, when we had timed the contractions at home, they were about 3 minutes apart. When we got to the hospital, they had slowed to 6 minutes apart - very strange…) So, I spent the rest of Tuesday hanging out with my sister and having contractions. Zach went to work for a while, and came home around 4:00 pm. About 7:30 pm we went back to the hospital. They checked me again - I was at about 3 cm dilated. They gave me some Ambien to sleep and sent me home. I slept until about 4:00 am on Wednesday, the 20th, and then went back to the hospital - to stay this time.

So, on Wednesday, after laboring for about 24 hours, I was admitted to the hospital. Some time that morning the pain got strong enough for me to ask for an IV drug (Nubane - it came highly recommended from other mothers, and it worked quite well for me). As the labor progressed (slowly), I received more IV drugs, and eventually those wore off, and the contractions were getting worse, so I asked for an epidural. The epidural they gave me also worked wonderfully, and was supposed to last about 2 hours. Just as the 2 hours was running out, my doctor decided that I was not progressing along fast enough, and had been at about the same dilation (8-9 cm) for the past several hours. So, they decided to give me Pictocin to help speed up the contractions, which also makes them more intense. After about an hour of excruciating contractions (since the epidural had worn off and the Pictocin kicked in), I still had not made any progress, so we decided to go ahead with a ceserian section. The doctor was willing to wait another hour or so to see if I progressed at all, but I was too exhausted (we were at hour 35 of the labor by then) and didn’t want to wait any longer.

So, they called together the surgical team, unhooked me from the monitors, and wheeled me downstairs to the operating room. I received my second epidural - this one made me entirely numb from the waist down) and then Zach and I sat behind a curtain while they cut me open and removed the baby - a boy We named him Alexander Grady, and are calling him Xander. Apparently Xander had been facing the wrong way - “sunny side up” and had refused to move into the birth canal, hence the c-section. At 6:39 pm on Wednesday September 20th Xander was born, after approximately 38 hours of labor. It was a very long few days, and an emotional rollercoaster for both Zach and myself, but as every day passes, and the discomfort from the c-section gets less, I am more and more pleased with the results, and I have no doubt that in the next few years Xander will have a sibling.

birth, cesarean, delivery, giving birth, infant, labor, pregnancy

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I’m pregnant. I can’t recall how many times I’ve said that in the past several weeks - to myself, to my husband, family, coworkers, friends, and pretty much anyone who will listen. I’m 12 weeks along, so I’ve already missed out on blogging some milesones. Thus far: I found out I was pregnant on January 24th. By that time, I was about 6 weeks pregnant. Zach and I had been trying for a while, and I was so excited that I couldn’t wait to tell him in some sort of creative way. They say that your first pee in the morning has the highest concentration of the HGB hormone, so when I got up for work, I pulled out the test, took it, and my hands shook when the little digital read-out said pregnant. For the previous seven months whenever I was late for a period I would take the test and then be crushed when it came out negative.

So, unable to contain my excitement, I told Zach as soon as I got out of the shower. Since I had been discussing my conception woes with several women at work, I was also eager to tell them, and of course it didn’t feel right not to tell my family immediately too - I mean, if co-workers know, then family should too! So, I called my sister at home. Her reaction was great. She must have said ‘oh my God!’ 50 times. She asked me a bunch of questions, and told me I had to call Mom at work, which I did. My mother I think was a bit in shock when I told her. She said congratulations and not much else. I think she was also worried about how hurt we would be if things did not go well, but at that point, I was thrilled to know that I was actually able to conceive! I also called Mandy (my sister-in-law), who also had an excellent reaction and was almost reduced to tears on the phone, which of course also almost reduced me to tears. She asked me a few questions, and then let me go so that she could call P.J., Zach’s brother at work and tell him the good news.

After getting the word out, I began to panic that maybe I had spilled the beans too early. I mean, my family has a history of miscarriages, and this is our first attempt, and I was only six weeks along. I began dreading that I might have to go back to everyone I told and tell them that I had miscarried, and then face down pity looks for weeks to follow. So, I tried to think positively. I started taking pre-natal vitamins (apparently they don’t write prescriptions for these anymore, but simply tell you to buy some over-the-counter, which I did). I ate as much fruit as I could tolerate, and made sure that there were vegetables at every meal.

Ginger ale and ginger snaps became my morning routine for many weeks. I discovered that I couldn’t eat first thing in the morning, or I would be face down in the toilet before I walked out the door for work. Now that I am headed out of the first trimester, my morning sickness is slowing down - it is much more sporadic, though some smells (such as pizza) can still set it off. In the first few weeks I craved Big Macs, though I only indulged once or twice. Recently, I can’t get enough strawberries. When I discovered this at the grocery store one day, I couldn’t even wait to get home to eat them - I rinsed them in the restroom sink, and then ate half the pint during the 8 minute drive to my house. I have also threatened friends and family with bodily harm if they get between me and my strawberries - something I didn’t think food would ever influence me to do!

At nine weeks Zach and I went to our first doctor appointment together (I had gone the previous week to meet with the nurse, give a social history and 6 vials of blood for testing). We got to hear the heartbeat which was the most thrilling sound I have heard up to this point. It registered at 174 beats per minute. We went back this month (12 weeks) and got to hear the heartbeat again, slowing down to 166 beats per minute, which is apparently good and normal.

Now that I am at 12 weeks, and out of the biggest danger zone, I feel safe enough to blog about my experiences with the rest of the world. Two weeks ago I had to purchase bigger pants, and I’ve been buying up bigger bras for several weeks now. My breasts are starting to feel more normal, not as tender, though I’m starting to develop a complex about how big they are getting (I’m much more comfortable with smaller breasts). I’m thinking that having a round belly will be somewhat acceptable - I mean at least pregnant women have a good excuse for their larger size. However, I don’t really look pregnant yet, just a little fatter, and that is depressing at the moment.

I return to the doctor next month at 16 weeks for more testing (and more blood taken from me). As I do not have much medical history on my mother’s side, I am eager for any testing they are willing to do. So far, I’ve learned that I do not have any sexually transmitted diseases (no big surprise), and that I’m not a carrier for cystic fibrosis (phew!). Next month they will test for spina bifida and downs syndrome, and hopefully start talking about a sonogram! And yes, Zach and I do want to know the sex of the baby - Zach explains it best: people who don’t want to find out the sex generally say they want the surprise, and in Zach’s mind, what’s the difference between a surprise at 18 weeks and one at 36 weeks? Plus, if you find out early, then you get a surprise at 18 weeks (the gender) and then again at 36 weeks when you find out what the baby looks like. As I am a Type A personality, and need to have everything planned far in advance, I don’t think I could handle waiting until the end (unless the kid doesn’t cooperate and I dont’ have a choice)

So, you can expect about 24 more blog posts on this pregnancy topic - I’ll do my best to blog at least once a week and give everyone an update as to what is going on medically, what Zach and I are talking about, how things are going with nursery planning, and anything else I can think of. If you have any questions, please feel free to comment - I’m happy to answer pretty much anything to do with my pregnancy experience.

baby, pregnacy, conception, pregnant, babies, expecting, birth, child, children, morning sickness

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