Cesarean Birth Support Thread 6 (February 2004) - Page 5

[Peppermint]

UD-Chick

My previous OB also always does single layer sutures and to her knowledge has never had a problem (she doesn't know what happened with me this time). I would ask your OB if she would consider a double layer suture as per your request (ie- does she know how to?) I feel that that is pretty important.

As far as going for the surgery so she can tell you how you look for next time- I agree that that is something that might be nice- but, in reality- each time they open you- they only know what has already happened- and can't tell how you'll heal this time, YK. And each c-birth heightens you risk of rupture, and more scar tissue, etc. (although they try to "clean you up" each time, and remove previous scars)

My first 2 surgeries were done by the same OB, and she assured me after #2 that everything looked great for us to go right ahead- the problem was- I obviously didn't heal well after that-which she couldn't have foreseen- although- my current OB, who delivered this baby feels that had I had a double layer suture last time- I would've been in better shape.

I don't mean to make things more complicated for you- I just hear that you hope for more children, and I'd like that for everyone who wants it . I think if I were you- I'd hold off on the c-birth, and see if you can VBAC- BUT- I am not you- and I've said it so many times- each mama knows her body, her baby, her pregnancy best- so- go with your gut, and I'll be praying for you - you too KKmama!

[quiltinglance]

UD_Chick, I SO RIGHT THERE WITH YOU!! I'm 35 weeks and still wondering If I'm going to VBAC or end up with a C/B. Last time I got to 8cm (22hrs of labor) and his head was never engaged. So, I'm on the fence a little, schedule a CB or go into labor and then see what the position is? My last was 10lb 6oz......and I've always believed in a low-intervention birth, that is until I need lots of intervention. I thank you guys so much for helping me to see the light and let go of my depression about not having a "vag birth".

I have the same great support team, my dh is up for whatever makes me happy. I have an OB/RN as my doula. (She birthed at home). Right now it's just so much wait and see, what fork in the road will I travel down and trying to gear up for both at the same time is hard:

I love reading your posts, they are encouraging and I don't feel so alone. I wish I had found this site right after my first was born.

Kim
Mom to Lance wife edd 3/25

[witchbaby]

thanks for the info, ladies! don't worry that you couldn't remember who you were directing the post to-- lately, i can barely remember my own name!

[UD_CHICK]

Thanks for your support:

Patty - I hear what you're saying. I'm actually contemplating cancelling the planned CB (don't tell my family, they'll FLIP) and going to my due date to see what happens (can I really do this another 2 weeks?)

I am worred about the stitching issue. I think I'm going to have to make an appointment to talk to my OB again to really flesh out this issue. I am very concerned. You're right Patty, they can't see how you heal from THIS surgery. DH says they should put a zipper in - then they could just check me before I conceive! Sounds like a good idea.

KKmama - I thought about hiring a Doula for my last birth - everyone was against me at that time. This time around I feel like it's too late - and if I don't know what I want yet, how can I get someone to help me! I'm hoping to 'train' my SIL in time.

I think I'm going to have to do some heavy meditation in the next couple of days to try and determine what my body is telling me.

Thanks for your support! You ladies are my lifeline right now.

[UD_CHICK]

Has anyone here had multiple CBs (3 or more) with or without complications?

I've been reading about increased risks of placenta previa and placenta accretia (and of course, rupture) with multiple CBs and was wondering if anyone has experience with these complications. The male OB in my practice (1 male 1 female) said that he has one case of placenta accretia a year - but that he delivers at a hospital that has the technology and experience to cope with such a complication.

Is it possible to diagnose placenta accretia before you deliver? I guess I really do need to meet with my OBs again.

I went onto the ACOG web site and did a search on cesarean - and found info about incontinence - CB is better than a vag delivery with any kind of tearing or vacuum/forceps intervention - in terms of helping to avoid pelvic floor problmes, BUT the more pregnancies you have, the more likely you are to have pelvic floor problems anyway. At least that's what I understood to be the case. Don't take my summary as truth - I'm not entirely coherent right now.

I really would like to have 4 kids (or at least the option).

It's hard not to have regrets. Perhaps if I'd know about you folks when I was pregnant with my daughter things would be different - I've learned so much from you. But hey, can't change the past - only the present!

And of course, I shouldn't be greedy, I have a wonderful family, am expecting a wonderful addition in the next couple of weeks...Life doesn't get much better.

I promise, I'll be quiet for a while now and let everyone else vent and ask questions!

[Peppermint]

UD-Chick

Please keep asking away, and hashing it out. This group really helped IOF and me come to terms with our most recent c-births

Just so you know- I did have a single layer suture the first time and my second pregnancy was just fine- I don't know just how big the difference is, obviously my first OB and yours feel single layer is no problem- others like my current OB are very adament about double layer closure- I wonder if anyone here has concrete evidence on it? OTF? Anyone else?

I think really meditating on your options is the best you can do for youself right now- as well as becomming comfortable with your options, and writing up birth plans for both.

Keep talking!

PS- my OB has delivered as many as 6 c-births, and we had someone who posted on our previous thread who had had 4. My OB never expected that I would be the way I was when she opened me- she though I'd be able to have as many as I wanted with no problem.

[~Megan~]

My dd was born June 2002 by c-section. It was kind of planned but she came 2 weeks before her scheduled date.

In my case I felt it was completely unnecessary and although I'm still upset by it, I'm not as mad as I used to be.

Since Oct we have been going birth controlless but now we need to start using it again because we don't want a child due from Nov-Feb to avoid holidays and all the birthdays we have in Feb. So we will need to wait until June before we can ttc again.

In some ways its for the best but it doesn't keep me from being sad. I loved being pregnant and I love newborns.

[UD_CHICK]

Patty-

I had a complete meltdown this morning. I called the OB's office this morning - "to cancel my CB on Thurs and make an appointment with the Doc for next week."

Needless to say, they connected me directly with the doctor. I told her I was freaking out about risks, etc. so I'm going in Monday during lunch - so we have plenty of time - and we're going to talk everything through.

I am so relieved - she responded to me exactly how I needed to be responded to. We both acknowledged that there are no guarantees, and no way to predict the future, but that there is merit in discussion the options and risks in detail and then making the best informed decision possible. She was a nurse before she became an OB and I think that provides her with a remarkable ability to connect.

I feel so much better. I'm going to make a chart of risks/benefits of both options (CB and VBAC) and then we'll talk about it on MOnday. I'm also goign to bring in something for the office staff - a cake or some brownies - I've really put this office through their paces!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

[KKmama]

Hang in there, UD_CHICK. I really identify with a lot of your prior post... I'd like to have at least 3 (maybe 4), I worry about all the pros and cons of a repeat, and I make lists of the pros and cons of the 2 sides when I have difficulty making a decision!

Let us know how things turn out.

[Peppermint]

Amarasmom- Welcome to the thread I know there are many people on here who either feel the way you do now, or have been there, feel free to lean on us as you work through this.

UD-Chick-
I am so very glad to hear that you are going to talk it all over in detail with your OB, not happy that you had a meltdown, but whatever it takes to get you where you need to be, right? I think the list is a good idea, it will help keep your thoughts organized. It is great that she was a nurse, and knows how to respond to you in the way that you need her to, that is really great!
Please let us know how the appointment goes

[Megs Mom]

Originally posted by UD_CHICK
KKmama - I thought about hiring a Doula for my last birth - everyone was against me at that time. This time around I feel like it's too late - and if I don't know what I want yet, how can I get someone to help me! I'm hoping to 'train' my SIL in time.

You might want to ask her to read The Birth Partner by Penny Simkin. Good luck!

[UD_CHICK]

I had a great conversation with my OB today. She's really incredible.

I actually made two flow charts about the various possibilies of complications with VBAC and CB. We went through every one - she talked both about the general statistics of when complications arise, and then what she tends to see in this area at our hospital. She talked about her expereinces with severe complications. We then talked about my options.

Of course, I feel so terrible right now, part of me just wants the baby OUT - in the quickest, most painless way possible. I actually contemplated calling the on-call doctor yesterday and offering to bribe them to do SOMETHING to get this baby delivered.

I'm better today - though there appears to be an intestinal virus working through our family. EXACTLY what I need as I'm preparing to give birth to my son. So far my FIL and MIL have had it (hit MIL started last night), DD has had really bad diarrhea today and is a bit fussy (no vomiting fortunately). And I've felt off the whole day. Fortunately my SIL spent the whole day here and took care of us.

We almost went to L&D twice this weekend after 2 4-hour bouts of contractions 4 minutes apart. I was even laying down when they started! At 2:30 this morning I took a shower and got myself something to eat and they stopped AACK!

So, OB checked me today - NO PROGRESS AT ALL! I'm 50% effaced. That's it. I'm contracting every 10-15 minutes - and then for hours at a time it will crank up to every 4-5 minutes. The doctor said that the contractions don't necessarily mean anything - we can dilate without them. Pretty much is up to the baby if he wants to come or not.

The game plan is to go in to L&D Thursday AM and get checked. At that point we'll decide whether to try some pitocin (a LITTLE bit - only if I'm dilated) or go through with the CB. I can still cancel the CB on Thurs - but every day I wait, the baby gets bigger - increasing my concerns about complications during a VBAC - particularly 4th degree tears and vacuum/forceps assist. I'd take a CB over that experience ANY day of the week.

I feel more comfortable with the idea of a repeat CB. I feel so physically lousy right now - I don't know how I'd do a VBAC - but if the baby wants to come that way, he'll let me know.

Thanks for your support ladies!

[OnTheFence]

UD_Chick

I know how you feel in some ways. The end is so rought. Especially when you feel bad. When I go to 38 weeks I had a breakdown. My MIL pulled one of her stunts and screwed me on child care, saying she had the FLU. Well she really wasnt that sick. So in essence in my emotional state I screwed her out of being here for my youngest sons birth. I know she was heart broken, and I now sort of regret it, but then she can be quite irritating and she wasnt a person I really wanted draining my energy.
Around this time I was having very vivid night mares and my blood pressure was going up up up. I just went into my doctor, spent and said I just couldnt go on. So Friday we scheduled my csection, a week earlier than I had planned.

Also I have never dilated. NEVER. In fact with Jack I had contractions from 14 weeks onward and then they stopped around 37 weeks. They checked me a few days before my csection. I was not dilated, not effaced, not nothing.

Now I have come across some women who have had csections that actually had contractions for days that never dilate. Never progress, even with induction methods. I always wonder about those women and why they never dilate at all. One woman had been in labor 40 hours at home before going to the hospital. Then started on PIT. She never got past 2cm.

That is not something I would want to experience!

[UD_CHICK]

Kim-

Thanks - you make me feel better about being at my wit's end.

The whole no dilation thing makes me wonder if I would die during childbirth if I were in a place without such good care. Makes me wonder if I'm passing on bad genes - ie counterevolutionary genes - by 'circumventing' mother nature's controls.

Isn't that crazy?!

Deb

[OnTheFence]

Originally posted by UD_CHICK
Kim-

Thanks - you make me feel better about being at my wit's end.

The whole no dilation thing makes me wonder if I would die during childbirth if I were in a place without such good care. Makes me wonder if I'm passing on bad genes - ie counterevolutionary genes - by 'circumventing' mother nature's controls.

Isn't that crazy?!

Deb

My sister, who is a former OB nurse, and I have talked a lot about csection births and do they run in families.

Now I am the first woman in my family to have a csection, maternal and paternal side. My mother had me under twilight and I weighed 9 and a half pounds and was 22 in long and was born at 42 weeks and 2 days. She had my brother, completely unmedicated, at 37 weeks and he weighed 7lbs. My grandmother had two children, my mother she was in labor for 4 days and my aunt was born at 35 weeks, vaginal breech. My other grandmother had 5 children, all unmedicated vaginal deliveries.

My SIL comes from a generation of csection mamas.
My neice born by csection was due to low amniotic fluid, this was after it being monitored for over a week and it kept getting lower. My SIL was born by csection for failure to progress due to pelvic issues. Her grandmother had all three children by csection (when it was really uncommon) for the same reason.

I hope I didnt start a new trend in my family.
My aunt also had a vaginal birth so that is good. So far I just have one daughter, and I really hope she can have natural vaginal deliveries, however I will stress that its not the end all and be all.

[UD_CHICK]

Kim,

that's really interesting. I think part of the issue might also be the size of dad versus the size of mom. If you are petite and your husband is big, couldn't that possibly affect the size of the baby?

My sister and I both delivered our first via CB within 4 months of each other. Her son was around 7.5lbs, but his head was huge - after 3 hours of pushing, he never moved into the birth canal. My BIL is a big guy - 6', built like a football player, while my sister is 5'2" and very petite.

For me, delivering at 35.5 wks, my daughter was about 5.5lbs. She was ready to come, because my cervix effaced and started to dilate - but never got past 3.5/4. Why?

Dad's mom had her kids vaginally, we don't have a medical history of mom's family (adopted). So I guess we won't know.

Well, DD needs breakfast. I'll scamper off now.

Have a great day ladies!

Deb

[Peppermint]

I am the first c-birth mama on both sides of the family. It's funny though, b/c mine are due to pelvic abnormality, you would think that would be a passed down thing, but clearly not, as my mom had 4 of us vaginally. I do worry that my dd will have inherited it from me though

[loftmama]

Wow. It's great to have found you. I wish I knew about you all 2 months ago when I had my 2nd c-section after attempting to VBAC.

First, let me say, I went to the successful VBAC thread and read one ladies wonderful VBAC and cried. That's when I realized I still need to heal.

I wanted to VBAC so, so badly. No one in my small hometown in Texas would do it. The closest midwife was 90 miles away and since my due date was the weekend before Christmas, I couldn't find anyone who would happily be on call for me.

So.....we moved.

The little town we are in now has a wonderful midwifery clinic and LOTS of midwives. There is a midwifery school on site and a surgical room on site. We were hoping to move to Mexico anyway. So, I visited, and met WONDERFUL, open-minded, supportive and healing people. I felt completely confident in our choice. I figured if I could VBAC anywhere, it would be here. If I couldn't VBAC here, then I couldn't anywhere.

Without going into my story at this writing (though I would really love to share it) I'll say that I did end up having to have another cbirth. HOWEVER, the support was incredible. The doctors were amazing, probably the friendliest, most supportive mds I have ever come across. They were so kind, talking me through the procedure. They really made it beautiful for me. I had the best recover yet. I'll post a link to this wonderful place.

Re: rupture fear
I was afraid, too. A midwife in the states said they always recommend an ultrasound to see where the placenta is planted. If it's not planted anywhere near the scar, then there's no problem. The fear is only when the placenta is planted near the scar and puts pressure on it.

Would love to write more. Have a hungry -and healthy-baby.

[loftmama]

Okay, I have a minute now. I know I'm jumping into this thread late, but if you don't mind, I'll write a little bit about my experience.

Two sons. Both cbirths. 1st one 8 lbs 16 oz, 20 1/2". 2nd son 10 lbs, 22". With the second son, I had no idea I was carrying such a huge baby. I am 5'4". My dh is 6'4", broad-shouldered, big. A friend joked that my body just can't handle my husband's half of the DNA. I suppose he was right.

With my first birth, I never dilated past 3 cm. The ob encouraged a section. I remember being HUNGRY mostly and weak. After 18 hours of active labor, I relented and allowed myself to be talked into a section.

With my second birth, I wanted a totally different environment and staff. So, I refused a hospital and opted for a clinic. After 16 hours, nothing. nada. So...another section.

Interestingly enough, both boys were born with IDENTICAL scars/ markings on their foreheads. Since I was in many bad car accidents, my theory is that there has been some pelvic damage. Perhaps a bone spur or calcified scar tissue is blocking the entry.

Incidentally, I am the first cbirth on both sides of my family. My mom birthed me easily. Genetically speaking, I feel like my body is programmed to successfully birth. However, I think extenuating circumstances (car wrecks) or something else has caused physical damage to my pelvis. I would love to get an x-ray, but I'm not sure if they could see everything.

Blah, blah, blah. I feel like I'm blabbing.

I will add: great outcome. The 2nd cbirth was by FAR better. In the nice, upscale hospital in the states, I got an infection and had to bedrest for 8 WEEKS after the section. In small-town Mexico, in a pretty primitive clinic, I had NO COMPLICATIONS and was up and walking the next day. I ran out of painkillers within a few days and was fine. When I ran out of painkillers with my first birth, I cried.:

[its_our_family]

this thread is either dead or hopping!! There is no lukewamr with you gals

Just thought I'd jump in on a topic or 2

I am one of those women who only dilate to 2 or 3 : it doesn't make sense to me either. With Tracy I started serious contractions at about 28 weeks. By 30 weeks I was 1cm and by 37 weeks I was 2. then at 38 weeks I was 3cm. I was induced at 38wks 1d. I was on pitocin for 16 hours and didn't dialte past 3cm. I had no epidural either so that wasn't it. So, Ihad the c/b.

With Bryce I dialted to almost 2 and by the next week i was back to no progress. He even went from engaged to dropped to floating in 2 weeks. : So, I had the second c/b planned.

gotta go...toddler attacking newborn....