38 Week Update

Kara still doesn't have a computer, so I'm updating the blog for her. This is an email that Kara sent to a few people and I thought it was good blog fodder, so here it is:

Hi everyone! I'm just writing to update you all on the babe! Today was my 38 week doctor appointment. Here's what we found out...

My belly is measuring 39 weeks. However, I am not dilating or effacing at all. I'm not even thinning out a little bit and and Skogen's head seems to be rotating around sideways (into a more transverse position) instead of starting to drop down. At this point in the pregnancy with Maida, she had dropped and I was already effaced 60% and dilated to two. Our doctor figured Skogen would be a little later than Maida at progressing, since it's my second pregnancy, but she is concerned about my cervix not thinning at all yet and had suspected last week that at least something would be started by now. I also didn't gain any weight since last week, which I thought was great(!), but it could mean the baby isn't gaining weight either, and for that to happen at this time in the pregnancy isn't very common as I guess they usually gain and gain and gain the last couple weeks. This, I guess, could mean then that he is actually, literally, running out of room.

Since Skogen hasn't dropped (which would give him a little bit more room) he is crammed into my belly like you wouldn't believe! The reason why his head is rotating to the side is because he's having to turn sideways to get more room. His head is jammed into my left hip and his butt is under my ribs on the right side. His legs are stretched out to my right side, sometimes feeling like they are going to touch my spine because they are so long!! Our doctor isn't able to feel and determine his size because she can't grab onto Skogen's butt as it's under my ribs. So, she has scheduled another ultrasound for this Friday to try and get a better guess at how big Skogen is. She advised that if they find that Skogen is measuring 7 pounds or more, she would do a c-section if it was her baby. Our OB (a different doctor) said previously that if Skogen was much bigger than Maida was at birth (8 pounds 3 ounces) that he would schedule a c-section.

The way that my family doc put it today was that maybe my pelvis just isn't able to deliver the size of babies that I'm carrying and since Maida had dropped so early, she dropped and then gained weight, making her get wedged in there, not able to be delivered (...leading to a very long, dramatic, nightmare of a birth). Our doctor said that she thinks Skogen, as most second babies, probably would have dropped later in the pregnancy, but is already too big to fit into my pelvis. The fact that I've already had a c-section makes my chances of a uterine rupture greater, especially with a bigger baby and my chances of needing a hysterectomy if something goes wrong with the VBAC (like Skogen getting stuck just like Maida did). Most doctors, in the research that I've found, won't recommend VBACs for babies that are predicted to be 8 pounds 13 ounces or over and will rethink that weight if the previous baby got stuck at a lesser weight... ugh, why can't I have smaller babies?!!

I'm really anxious for the ultrasound on Friday and I have a lot of questions and concerns to work out internally. I have spent the last nine months reading, researching, and digging up every piece of information I can get on elective c-sections and vaginal births after c-sections. I have planned for this vaginal delivery, visualized this delivery, prayed and meditated over it and dreamed of the day when I could overcome my fears of our first birth. However, I now have two doctors presenting the same bit of advice to me and since they know the situation right here, right now, and they are the experts, I know I have to trust them.

I will update you guys on Friday after we figure out how big this babe really is and then after Erik and I make our decisions about our birth, we'll keep you in the loop with that too. (Erik is a little more attached to a vaginal birth than I am, if you can believe that!? So I actually will have to convince myself and then convince Erik, if a c-section is needed.)

~ Kara :)

p.s. Sorry if there are spelling or grammatical errors. I'm stealing time on Erik's computer and he's rushing me, which means I can't go back and re-read what I wrote. I hope it all makes sense!