Monday, March 16, 2009

Someone I love lots is planning a c-section for her baby b/c she already had her first child via c-section. They've also chosen a date two weeks prior to the baby's due date, just to make sure they don’t labor. I don't blame her. For baby #1, she got talked into induction which after much pain and suffering ended up with a c-section. I'm sure her view of labor is colored by this horrible first experience, and why should she choose to go through labor again if she's going to end up the c-section anyway? I know. Her Dr probably told her about being at risk of uterine rupture if she tried to deliver naturally.

Sigh. I wish they'd at least wait until the baby was 39 weeks or closer to the due date.

So why am I upset about this… Could be because the doctors don't talk about the risks associated with HAVING the c-section, they only talk about the risks of not having one. Do they quantify these risks? No. Per this TIME article, "With each repeat cesarean, a mother's risk of heavy bleeding, infection and infertility, among other complications, goes up... patients and doctors need to be as aware of the risks of multiple cesareans as they are of those of VBACs." (VBAC=Vaginal Birth After Delivery). Doctors are also scared of getting sued for not doing a c-section.

I had an elective c-section, due to my child being in breech position. Before the birth, my dr talked exclusively about all the problems we might have if we didn't do a c-section, emphasizing all the dangers the baby would face if we did go through with a natural delivery. He spoke about the c-section about a routine thing, about it being the best way to ensure the safety of both mother and child. Almost sounded like a walk in the park compared to the risk of not doing the c-section. In fairness, he also said we could try delivering vaginally but that he didn't have much experience doing this. Then he'd go on again about risks of vaginal birth for breech babies, and he'd keep on reassure us about the safety of the c-section.

I wish I'd found ICAN or Spinning Babies before my c-section.

And I'll rest easier when my friend's baby is born and everyone is all safe and sound.
I know I have tons of work to do, but whenever that happens I tend to get paralized and do nothing productive (like 'net surfing). I heard somewhere that one way to get out of this rut is to do ANYTHING in order to get the action juices flowing. So I'm going to clean my desk. Then I'm going to make a list of the work I need to do, then prioritize that. OK, action plan ready.

… just can't wait for it to be two weeks from now, when we're on vacation, when my biggest decision will be deciding what fun thing to do next.

OK, getting off my 'arse now officially…