As many of you are aware, Jason and I made the decision to have a scheduled C-Section on Thursday 6/24/2010 in order to delivery Logan safely. Many of you may be wondering why we would have CHOSEN to have this procedure done. I figured I've been open enough about everything ELSE while writing this blog, why stop now? So I'll explain everything as best I can so that everyone is "In the know".
We've known for awhile that Logan was going to be a large baby. Between Jason's family and my family, we have some big genes! We never really knew what that would mean until our 34 week appointment.
At that appointment, the doctor did some initial measurements which helped her to gage how big Logan could potentially be. We heard a lot of "Oh Wow!"'s and "That's big!" while in that appointment as Dr. Morris was measuring Logan's leg and head! At that point, she hinted that we may have to induce labor around week 39 or 40 (Legally, a doctor is not allowed to induce a labor any sooner than 39 weeks unless there is something wrong with the baby, or the Mom). She told us that we wouldn't need to make any decisions until 38 weeks which is when we would do another ultrasound and get a plan together.
Cut to week 38 (Last week), and we did do another ultrasound. Dr. Morris confirmed at that appointment that Logan had a really large head! She wouldn't tell us HOW big it was, because, really- who needs to know that? I know that I've got 10cm to work with, and the look on her face made it clear that Logan's noggin was WAY bigger than that! Once all of the measurements were completed, she decided to discuss our options with us. She broke it down that we could either induce labor and attempt to push Logan out, or we could opt to do a C-Section and avoid labor entirely.
Dr. Morris further explained the complications that could occur should we choose to induce. Aside from the obvious issue of Logan's head not fitting through the canal, she also explained other issues that we could face:
- Assuming the head DOES fit, they don't know if the shoulders will fit. If that were the case, the baby may be able to manipulate his own bones to squeeze his shoulders through on his own, but that's not always the case. If Logan wasn't able to do it himself, the Dr. would have to break his collarbone- which would heal, but still- she'd have to BREAK HIS COLLARBONE (Doesn't that just break your heart thinking of a little baby having a broken bone on his first day in the world?). Another thing that could happen is that while twisting himself to make it out, he could temporarily or permanently damage his arm. We asked what type of "Permanent" damage would occur and she said that forever he would have numbness and weakness in that affected arm. Yikes.
- Back to the first issue, his head- it could very well be that his head doesn't fit at all and Logan could get stuck just before crowing. When that happens, you have a matter of minutes to get the baby out so that the blood supply isn't cut off, and permanent brain damage or worse doesn't set in. I don't think I need to clarify what is worse than brain damage.
- Going through labor could all in all be a success, but due to the fact that we would be inducing, overruling Mother Nature, it may not go quickly- which can be exhausting for the Mother. On the other hand, labor could go VERY quickly (All 3 of my Mom's labors were pretty quick) which would leave the Dr. less time to react to any complications.
Dr. Morris ultimately left the decision up to Jason and I. She said that overall, she was Ok with either option we went with, as long as we were aware that if we chose to induce and she wasn't comfortable with the progress she would take over and have us do a C-Section.
So Jason and I left her office and talked about our options. As I write this, it baffles me that I actually wanted to TRY to push him out. But yes, that was my initial thought. I explained to Jason that I felt I could do it and I wanted to give it a try. I asked Jason what he wanted to do, and he said he felt that trying the induction was too risky. Something *clicked* in my head when he said that- I realized that the decisions we make from here on out were going to need to put Logan first- and that was going to begin with this decision. It didn't make sense to put HIM at the biggest risk so that I could try to experience Labor. So after a little more talking, Jason and I decided to just schedule a C-Section for the next week and call it good. So that's exactly what we did.
After speaking with several people since we made our decision I cannot tell you how right it feels to do the C-Section. I can think of at least 3 people who either had a natural labor (meaning they began going in to labor without an induction) or were induced and labored for hour after hour (One person labored 50 hours, pushed for 2), only to have all of it end up with a C-Section anyway. At that point, the Mother then has to deal with being exhausted from the labor, recovering from the surgery AND taking care of a newborn- I just think that since we were given the CHOICE, we should take the easier route since not too many things are going to be easy from here on out!
So we have a C-section scheduled for 7:30am on Thursday the 24th. Our families are flying in or driving down for the event, though Jason will be the only person in the OR with me. We'll be in the hospital for 4 nights and should be released sometime on Monday. Jason is going to be with me from the 24th through July 6th since I will need a lot of help getting around and caring for Logan (Most likely Jason will be doing all of the diaper changes for the first little while). My Mom arrives for a week and half on Saturday July 17th so I'll have about a week and a half "on my own. I have a lot of friends in the area that I know will come over and help if I need it, including one brother who I know is just DYING to change diapers! haha :)
I know that the recovery will be tough, but I have a really good attitude about it all. I'm a tough and motivated individual and I'm also very goal oriented- so I think every day I will have a goal in mind for how to get a little bit further in my recovery. Whether that means one day I walk down to the elevator of our apartment building, and the next day I get IN the elevator etc I will do it and I will recover well.
So that's the story! If you have any questions, let me know- I'm pretty much an open book at this point, so I'm happy to answer anything :)
Just a few more days!!
-Ash-
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