Thread: Ellen's (~Ellen~) Lodge (pre-natal)

Here you go my dear! Sorry it took so long!

Please tell us your story and how you ended up here!

Yay for your lodge!!!!! I'm excited to read it!!

Oh Ellen! Congrats on your lodge, thanks so much bobbie for starting this!!

Welcome to your lodge!

Thanks ladies!

I am 37 weeks and 2 days pregnant with my second son. I hope to have an unmedicated VBAC this time around. My older son is 17 months old, so these little boys are going to be a lot of fun to watch growing up together.

Here's a brief history: My son, Josh, was an emergency c-section at 38 weeks 5 days. I went in to get checked out because he was "nice" to me for a whole day. He was a serious rib kicker... It turns out he was in distress and my docs delivered him via c-section that night. He had ZERO amniotic fluid and the cord was wrapped around his leg and getting compressed, so there is no way I could have delivered him and have him survive. The nurses and doctors thanked me over and over for coming in when I did because in all likelyhood we would have lost him if I had waited for my regular appointment the following day. Even so, I was sorely disappointed that I didn't have a natural birth experience. They never figured out what caused the loss of amniotic fluid.

I am still with the same OB, who is being extra cautious this time. I have twice a week checks where we do an NST and once a week they peek at the fluid levels. After the close call with my older son, I am OK with the extra appointments. I really like my OB. He is very hands off and very supportive of my wanting to go VBAC. Because of the c-section, I have to go into labor on my own. If anything arises that would warrant an induction, I am afraid I am in for another c-section. So far things are looking great. My little boy is doing well, he's head down, and my fluid levels are nice and high.

We had a bit of a scare last week when I started measuring small and my OB couldn't find a lot of fluid, but a follow up ultrasound with the perinatal clinic showed plenty of fluid and that my little boy is just on the smaller side. No surprise there, because my older son was just 6 lb 2 oz at birth. Both my husband and I were greatly relieved!

Now that I am getting close to the end and things are looking up, I am allowing myself to begin to look forward to another shot at a natural birth. I will be having it in the hospital, but after my first experience, that really doesn't scare me. The L&D nurse was so wonderful about trying to make all the things she could on my birth plan come to fruition, and I really like and trust my OB and his partners. I'm also going to have a doula this time to help us through the process. She has actually worked with my OB before and mentioned that he is more like a midwife than an OB. I am very hopeful that this will be a positive birth experience for all of us.

Thanks for reading.

Congrats Ellen! I look forward to following your birth

Wooo!

Can't wait to follow your lodge!

Love,

Sarah-Jean

Wow!! I'm so glad you went in ith your first son!! It sounds like your OB is really great and is taking good care of you!! That's awesome!!

E, that is a scary story about your LO!!! I'm so glad you followed your mama's intuition! Wow! Good for you!

I'm glad that this pregnancy is going so much better for you!

Yeah, DS's birth was pretty scary, and even though I had my heart set on a natural birth, I am really glad that I live in a time and place where c-sections are safe and available. As a result, I am a HUGE believer in following your instincts. I figure that if you suspect something is up, you will only regret the call you never made.

37 weeks 4 days today and our appointment went great. Kevin was awake and happy for his NST and my fluid measured at 14+ cm. My doc is on vacation, so I saw another doc in the practice today who is really nice. She was going to check my cervix, but I easily talked her out of it. I'm not a big fan of them, especially since they don't really tell you much.

I asked her about how long she thought they would let me go if I went past my due date. She said it really depends on the doctor, but usually 41 weeks is as long as they like to go, although if the baby looks good then it is always up for negotiation. She asked if I prefer vbac to c-section, and I told her hands down vbac. I'll take labor over 6 weeks of recovery time any day! Yes, you can get out and about sooner, but lifting too much too soon can cause hernias and with Josh at 32+ lbs he is definitely hernia fodder. She said she totally agreed and was surprised that more women didn't see it that way. I guess the majority choose repeat c-sections.