elective c section for suspected large baby? - Page 3

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by theatermom

At the end, the doc looked at me and said, "Next time, you'll have a bigger baby and will definitely have a c-section."

Wow! The skills possessed by OBs never cease to amaze me. I had no idea they were able to read the future!

I have no words. He told you that your next baby will be bigger and you'll "definitely" have a c-section?? I wonder if it's possible to perform an ego-ectomy.

[OnTheFence]

Originally Posted by EENS

Is this common? I'm having a hard time wrapping my little brain around this.

A friend of mine, first baby, just had an elective c section today for suspected large baby. The baby was big, I guess. 9 lbs, 11 oz. She was only 38 weeks pregnant with her FIRST.

I don't have more details but this seems odd to me. Sure, I've heard of obs scheduling inductions for suspected large babies...but a c-section? This is a first time, healthy mother who had an uneventful pregnancy.

What am I missing here?

Without knowing the mothers full medical history I don't think we should speculate as to why the OB recommended a csection to her. Yes, part of the reason could have been because her baby was "large for dates" but she could have had other issues that came into play, issues that she didn't bother to share with you. I think we need to keep that in mind when discussing people's births.

Kim, Mother to Five, Cesarean Goddess

[turtlewomyn]

Originally Posted by theatermom

At the end, the doc looked at me and said, "Next time, you'll have a bigger baby and will definitely have a c-section." Um, no, I don't think so.

Hmmm... I was asking my aunt about her kid's birth weights at Christmas time.
The first was 9 pounds, the second one was 6, and the third one was 8. So, that whole theory didn't hold true with her. The only one that had problems was the six pounder because he shot out so fast he ended up having breathing problems (amniotic fluid didn't clear) I still remember when he had to be readmitted to the hospital.

[TCMoulton]

Originally Posted by OnTheFence

Without knowing the mothers full medical history I don't think we should speculate as to why the OB recommended a csection to her. Yes, part of the reason could have been because her baby was "large for dates" but she could have had other issues that came into play, issues that she didn't bother to share with you. I think we need to keep that in mind when discussing people's births.

Kim, Mother to Five, Cesarean Goddess

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[angelcat]

My dr. asked me if I wanted a c-section. I asked if labour as any benefit to the baby even if I ended up needing a section, and she said yes, so i didn't schedule one.

She told me either when I was in labour or when she scheduled my induction (41 weeks) that she now thought I had a chance or birthing vaginally. ( i figured all along I did, but it was good to be prepared for a c-section too)

I ended up having a c-section, for an 8lb 15.2 oz baby. I asked to be induced earlier, but she told me birthing a smaller baby before I was ready was harder than birthing a larger baby when I was. And I went into labour on my own the night before the induction.


Sometimes i wish I'd just scheduled the section. Hours of back labour with no epi was not fun. But I really didn't know til I tried, I guess. If baby had been in a better position, it might gave worked. or if I was taller, baby would have had room to turn later in labour. Or if baby had been smaller.

I know my dr. was concerned becasue of my height, but I know other short women who've had vaginal births with her. There were severalk factors in my case, and if any one of them had been different, I doubt I'd have needed a c-section. My dr. made a point of tleling me after that I could likely vbac next time. It wasn't til I started rading here I decided I don't want to vbac. Before I found this site, I jsut assumed it was safe and that's what people did.

And I know of many large babies born vaginally.

[almadianna]

i dont know how the mother's height has anything to do with this, women are actually taller than they were a century or two ago... I am hispanic so most of my family is pretty short. Shorter than average. my grandmother was not even 5 feet tall. She had 13 children at home, one of them weighing over 13 pounds. The only woman in my family to have a csection was my mother, but she was in the US and ended up laboring on her back for 12 hours with not enough progress so they cut her open. Her doc refused to do VBACs so he scheduled one for my brother too.
If height had anything to do with it I would think that most of my family would have had csections.

[dcgrl]

I had a 10 lb 6oz baby (my first) by c-section on Dec 5th. I had studied hypnobabies and was prepared for a pain-free unmedicated labor. I anticipated a large baby and was confident I could birth him vaginally, although I was taking all the weight estimates with a grain of salt, knowing how inaccurate they could be (in the end, they underestimated his weight). 28 hours of back labor proved me wrong. I labored in a vertical position for most of it, but the baby wasn't descending. I reached 8 cm after about 12 hrs, then wasn't progressing beyond that, prob. b/c baby's head wasn't putting enough pressure on the cervix. got pitocin after 20hrs, along with epidural. 5 hours later, I was at 9cm, but baby still hadn't descended. I was worried about my baby because of the thick meconium that had been in the AF when it broke at hour 10. I agreed to a c-section after discussing with husband, midwife, and surgeon. He was out an hour later, initial apgar of 3, needing suctioning below the cords because of meconium. Am I happy about the way things turned out? no. but I'll always be grateful I had the option of a c-section and the support of a great midwife and an excellent surgeon.

I know there are a lot of Monday-morning laborers out there, who are eager to tell all of us failed v-birthers what we should have done, or not done, to get the baby out the old-fashioned way. But any birth that ends with a healthy baby and mom is a joyful event and deserves to be respected.

[cj'smommy]

Ultrasounds can be up to a pound off eithe way they try to 'guess' the weight. With my first they said he would be about 7-8 pounds according to the ultrasound but no need for a c-section. I ended having 9 pd 2 oz baby vaginally with 4th degree tearing. I went into labor a week after my due date. If you're curious about size, I'm 5' 5" and when I got pg I was 132 pds. I gained 19 pds during the pregnancy.

When I was expecting my second, there was no mention of a c-section because I had a large baby the first time. DS #2 was born 3 weeks early and weighed 8 pds, he would have been larger than my first if I had gone to term. I had placenta previa and started to hemorrhage and have contractions, so that was the reason for the early delivery and the c-section.

With this pregnancy the baby is measuring 2 weeks ahead (both my other boys did too) and I was planning a VBAC, which my OB was fine with. Unfortunately the baby has some problems (brain tumor and hydrocephely) so I am now having another c-section.

I guess it just depends on your doctors. Mine said she would not induce or c-section for size, and obviously she meant what she said. Size hasn't been an issue wtih any of my pregnancies.......

[Nate'sMama]

Originally Posted by frontierpsych

I am 5' tall, 105 lbs, a size 0, and had a 10 lb baby, without tearing too.

You are my hero!!
I am VBACing in May with your same exact stats! I hope she's not 10lbs, but nice to know we can do it!

[BunnySlippers]

I have a friend who had a c-sec because after about 5 hours of labour she was 'only' 4cm dilated (can you believe the docs on thinking that is bad?), also because she is short and her husband is tall they told her, her baby was too big for her to birth vaginally and they c-sectioned him. He turned out to be 7 lbs, and a few ounces. Its just crazy

She is due again and her doc has told she will not birth this one vaginally either and to just schedule a c-sec. She asked to at least be allowed to go into to labour and he agreed. He has her right where he wants her :

I tried to let her know that although I am a few inches taller, I have WAY smaller hips and I birth a big baby-who was my first. I let her know that labour takes WAY longer than 5 hrs. Just trust yourself, stay at home as long as possible and let your baby and body do it together.

Unfortunately her Dr also told her that because her baby has not engaged (at 36 wks) it will not engage. I tried to piont out that she is ONLY 36 wks and that this is her second so she may not engage until well into labour. Why jump into a c-sec when she can at least try.
C-sec are very quick, they can do it at any time in an instant, so why not wait. As long as everything is fine, just wait.
I feel like begging her. She wants a vag birth, but she has been scared out of it. I just want to protect her and help her experience the joy that is birthing naturally.

oh jeez, I just realised I am way off topic and totally venting. The subject of unneccessary interventions make me do that

[CherryBomb]

Someone on another message board I used to visit was induced at 38 weeks for a "huge" baby that turned out to be 4.5 pounds or so with immature lungs

[ericswifey27]

Originally Posted by mrscunning14

What I don't get is, how are these women not angry after the fact--after they get cut open and the baby is not even close to what the doctor said it would be.

I would be furious--at the inaccuracy of the sonogram, at the stupidity of my doctor, and at my own willingness to believe what they were telling me.

IMO OBs are really good at making things seem like they were meant to be, and will come up with a new excuse to cover up their misjudgement. When my first son was born by unneccessary csection the doctors knew I didn't want one from the very beginning. They flat out lied to me about the necessity, and then when he was born they made a point of how the cord was wrapped around his neck and "it was such a good thing" they csectioned him, implying he could have died. I think I was so traumatized by the whole thing that I actually believed that for a long time. Until I started doing more research, ykwim?

The problem is the blind trust that women have in their OBs. I understand this, because I have been there. Since most of us are not getting the truth from our OBs, we need to become our own birth advocates.