Quote:
Originally Posted by
homemademomma 
I am a UC/UP supporter. That does not mean that I can't be concerned about a particular situation. Polyhydramnios substantially increases your risk of cord prolapse and malpresentation. It is also sometimes associated with congenital problems in the baby. If you are carrying twins, you need to know if they are di/di, mo/di or mo/mo. This is extremely important. I am sure you have looked into all of this already, but I would be remiss if I didn't bring it up for anyone else who is reading this thread. Not to mention that you have been diagnosed with Pityriasis Rosea, which could present problems for your baby- hopefully not, but it is another risk factor.
If you go to an OB and get an ultrasound, no one is going to force you to change your delivery plans. You can still UC if you want to. But you will be better able to manage your care if you are fully informed. If you have signs/symptoms that fall outside of the "normal," it is wise to get them checked out. That is why we have midwives, OBs and hospitals! Being a UCer doesn't mean you eschew medical care or diagnostics when it is warranted.
I would like to point somethings out. The mono-mono di-di issue is rare. Coupled with the fact she does not know she is carrying twins the odds of this are really really small. You have to divide the risk by the chance that she's even pregnant with twins. Which is only a fraction of potential, anyway.
And as to the polyhydramnios... Cord prolapse is something that most often happens with artificial breaking of the waters, even without poly. Natural breaking though, can be safer. I myself had PROM with a baby who turned breech after waters broke and was early, born small (3.5 pounds). These things would have put off any doctor and many a midwife, but the reality was, he was safe. He was moving and healthy the whole way through labor and this was easy to confirm with simple observations. I let my body and intuition draw the line, not just going by the raw data. And I was suspecting twins, too. Everything panned out.
Now here's something that many people, even some purportedly pro UC people don't understand - intuition, prayer and sixth sense. I really don't believe this woman would even consider UC if there was something wrong and she was getting a bad vibe about the whole thing. I don't think it's anyone's place to tell her to ignore these things or distrust her intuition in favor of tiny statistics.
Polyhydramnios is like marginal cord insertion (the marginal cord also happened with my last baby, btw) - it really tells you next to nothing. Chances are, if there's extra water it's because it's normal for that baby or it's the one byproduct of the rash. At any rate, she's right down the street from the hospital if anything goes awry! And she will not be in the dark if prolapse happens. She can feel movement and listen just fine.
A lot of UC people are happy to check in to the hospital if they so much as see their shadow and I say, power to them. There is a time and a place for intervention. But I also admire the women who trust their bodies when they feel intuitively and see with personal evidence that their baby is healthy.
This is a risk averse society. Just look all around and you will see people trading this half percentage of risk for that quarter percentage risk all the time, as though it's a life and death decision. What's weird to me is the left brain thinking that does not allow for other data points in the equation.
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