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Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Pregnancy Update- July 17, 2012



Look at that sweet little thing. This was taken a week ago on our sonogram appointment. Everything looked great! We could see and hear his or her little heart beating. The heart rate was 164, nice and strong!  Our official due date is Feb 20th, 2013. I had already figured that out and the baby measured exactly at what I had figured! I had some anxiety leading up to this appointment, for obvious reasons, but in reality I was much calmer than I expected. God has just been so good to me in helping me stay calm. I am so thankful for that. I'm ready to be out of the 1st trimester though! For more reasons than one! :)

I'm already thinking about delivery. As many of you know my last two deliveries were c-sections. And you know that I tried with Eli to have him. That is called attempting a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). Well, I've been contemplating trying the same. I have been praying about it for some time and even prayed that if it were a possibility that my hubby would bring it up. And you know what? He did! I almost started crying! We had talked the past year about just going ahead with a 3rd c-section whenever I got pregnant and not dealing with trying again. For him to bring it up out of the blue was truly an answered prayer. But it's not that easy. Most doctors will not let you try for a VBAC after one c-section much less two. It is a 'higher risk' situation although the risks are not greater than any other surgery (umm.. like a cesarean). The risk is that there could be uterine rupture and that would require immediate emergency care. Chance of uterine rupture is very low, something like 0.9%. The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists updated their guidelines which states that women who've had up to two cesareans- including those having twins-  can attempt a vaginal delivery, as long as the prior incision was low and horizontal (mine both were). Round-the clock access to emergency care is required to try a VBAC, as well. So, what am I saying? I ask you to pray for me. Pray for this decision. I honestly don't want to try and fail again. It's such a depressing thing to go through. I know I can't be guaranteed that it will work but I want to have the guarantee that it's the right choice for me. The hardest thing is going to be convincing my doctor and if I can do that, I'll be more confident that this is the right direction. So pray for clarity and pray for my doctor. I haven't brought it up to him yet and I am scared! He's already mentioned repeat c/section and pregnancy prevention since this will be my 3rd c/s. That makes me sad because what if I want more kids?! If I could successfully have a VBAC, I could for sure have more children and my doctor would be more confident of that as well.

How am I feeling? Yucky. All food sounds gross but I get super hungry and have to eat! I'm having a hard time drinking my water. Ew, it's so gross! I am exhausted. The afternoons are the worst. I pretty much lay around and do nothing. My motto right now is if we have clean clothes (even if they are piled on the love seat), clean dishes and food, we will survive! I'm praying that this will all end soon. With Eli, it started easing up around 11 weeks. I'll be 9 weeks tomorrow! :)


I give thanks for the blessings granted to me through the prayers of many (2 Corinthians 1:11)! Thank you!



3 comments:

Lisa Maria said...

Hi Crystal

Thanks for stopping by my blog. I wanted to pop over and give you some encouragement. Your post made me smile because I can see so much of myself here! (Drinking water makes me nauseous...gross is a good word here ;-)

I actually thought of trying a VBAC with my 3rd daughter.It was the first time I'd even heard it was possible, but I was intimidated by the doctor and he was adamant that I cannot deliver naturally...though a midwife friend said nobody knows how far the bones could open until they do.

Just to give you a little history. I had my first daughter at the age of 23. Late in my 3rd trimester the doctor decided to do a measurement of my pelvic bones because he felt that the baby wasn't dropping enough or something. Comparison of the measurements of that and the baby's head led them to conclude that I probably could not deliver naturally.

It was probably the right call because years later both my sisters had c-sections too and one of them really did want to try (My nephew was born with his head cone-shaped from trying to exit the birth canal...don't worry he's fine now :)

Anyway, I understand your desire to try for this, maybe God has placed it on your heart to do so, but pray alot about it first. If this is what He wants, everything will fall into place but will require much faith on your part.

As for the doctor pressuring you to 'fix something'...they can't force you to (though I know it may have some repercussions with health insurance and such). This is something else that you need to pray about and takes alot of faith.

If you've read the link on my last post about surrendering my womb to God, you'll know how difficult it is, but even though I'm afraid, I put my trust in Him.

I'd be happy to talk to you again if you need me to. You can always e-mail me at lo.supersunshine@gmail.com.

I'll be praying for you Crystal...may God guide and protect you.

God bless!

Jessica said...

Praying for you my friend. May God guide you and Robby and your dr. as decisions are made.

Unknown said...

My daughter in law just had another baby, this making her 4th csection. The Dr. insisted she have her tubes tied end of discussion. We prayed and the Dr.finally agreed to take a wait and see once we get in there attitude. God answered prayer, the Dr. couldn't believe it. She said it didn't look like she even had a csection before. Thank God. Don't give in so easily to Drs. demands.