C Section

Posted by Nikki Montgomery on

10/24/11

I'm so jealous of my sister and Charli at our sister station in Green Bay they are both able to plan exactly when their babies are going to arrive while I sit here and wait for the surprise. They are both having a planned cesarean. I'm not sure what Charli's story is, but I know my sister's. When my sister was in labor with my nephew Hayden nearly 5 years ago they tried to make her deliver vaginally. Well that didn't work out so well. My sister is tiny and even though the baby was just over 7 pounds he was too big to fit through her pelvis. Finally after making her push for hours they decided to do an emergency C-section which freaked everyone including her out. When Hayden was delivered his poor little face was so swollen up and black and blue that they couldn't take his birth picture until the 3rd day and even then he still had two black eyes. So after that epic fail the doc told her they're going to schedule her C-section for 10 days before her due date so she doesn't go into labor. A planned C-section is still major surgery so not ideal, but so much less stressful than an emergency one. 

There are a few reasons a woman could have a planned C-section.

  • You've had one before or you've had another uterine surgery before that could put you at risk for your previous incision to rupture during vaginal delivery. 
  • If you are carrying more than one baby. 
  • Your baby is expected to be very large which is most common in diabetic mothers. 
  • Baby is breech instead of head down and can't be turned. 
  • Placenta previa which is when the placenta covers the cervix. 
  • Some sort of obstruction like a fibroid. 
  • Mom is HIV positive. 

These are the reasons for an emergency C-section.

  • Your cervix stops dilating or your baby stops moving down the birth canal.
  • Baby's heartrate becomes a concern.
  • The umbilical cord slips through the cervix before baby which could cut off the baby's oxygen supply.
  • The placenta starts to pull away from the uterine wall before the baby is delivered cutting off the oxygen supply.
  • You have a genital herpes outbreak when you go into labor or when your water breaks. A C-section will protect the baby from getting infected.
Though it may sound nice to be able to schedule the birth of your baby a C-section is really not the ideal way to give birth. It is major surgery and the recovery time is longer than a vaginal birth. You're also put on a lot of restrictions after such a surgery that you don't have after a vaginal delivery.
I know you can't predict how your delivery will go, but I sure hope mine doesn't include a C-section for my husband's sake more so than my own. That's a lot of stress on dad when it comes down to an emergency C-section even though in most cases he can be there for the surgery it's still freaky to see your wife and unborn child be wheeled away in a hurry to the operating room because something is wrong. 
I know that no matter what happens I'll be in good hands with the doctors and nurses at Ministry Saint Michael's Hospital in Stevens Point.
Did you have to have a C-section? Planned or unplanned?

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When do you think I'll deliver? Click this link to place your bet on the Guess the Arrival Calendar and you could win a $50 gift certificate to the Talent Shop inside the new Goodwill in Rib Mountain, a pair of 4 day passes to Country Fest in Cadott, and an overnight stay and waterpark passes to the Grand Lodge by Stoney Creek http://wdez.com/nikkis-guess-the-arrival/

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