C-sections...advice?

[Mandarine]

Hi

Baby A continues breech and the Drs are pretty sure he won''t turn....so next week I get to schedule the c-section!

I was hoping he would turn and we could try to have them vaginally, but all that matters is that they make it to this world safe, so I''m not going to get upset about it. It is what it is!.

The Dr said we would schedule it for week 38-39. I''m thinking scheduling it as late as possible just to give the boys a chance to pick their own birthday.

I met with the anesthesiologist today (standra as part of the hospital''s pre-registration process) and he said they don''t do an epidural, but some sort of spinal anesthesia...I can''t recall the name though...

So anyway..I was wondering if anyone had tips or advice?. I''m a little nervous because I''ve never really had any major surgeries.


TIA!

M~

 

[soocool]

My DD was a planned c-section also because she was a breech. Did the doctors try to physically turn the baby around? They did with me and she was almost 1/2 way around and went back into her original breech position. The doctor tried for over an hour and no luck so it was the c-section. Turns out, DD was butt first and was V-shaped when she came out. The pics are funny because the first couple of hours she was in that position before she straightened out.

No eating or drinking after a certain hour the night before, so make sure you eat a good healthy meal with lots of water. You will get tube that they will place in your bladder to collect the urine in the bag and an IV for fluids. (This did not hurt at all) You will also be shaved, you know where.The weird thing about the anaesthesia was that my legs felt like rubber, but the good new is no episiotomy!!!

The good thing to know is that you will not be exhausted since you won't have any labor so I know that helped me recover quickly. After the baby is delivered you will go into your room or a recovery area for a little bit while the anaesthesia wears off. You will be given a light meal (that means jello and juice and more jello) and you only eat what you can ( I was flat on my back the whole time). I ate everything and asked for more so I definitely was feeling fine. They will have you get up and walk around the first day and yes it is painful, but they will give you painkillers. Make sure you get an extra pillow, it helps to prop it up against your belly in case you sneeze or cough.

The doctor will ask you if you have had a bowel movement, so if you can make sure you have some fiber for breakfast...it will help get it out of you, otherwise it will hurt if you are constipated. On the second day, I showered and that felt great.

Use these few days you are in the hospital to eat well and get lots of rest, because when you get home believe me you won't get much the first few weeks.

Good luck to you and post pics of the baby when you can! We'll be thinking of you.

ETA: I get picked a lot to talk about my c-section at the prenatal classes even though it was a bunch of years ago. I guess I can entertain a crowd.

 

[Mandarine]

Thank you!!

I don''t know if they would try to turn him...not sure if they do that with twins??. I think he still has time to turn (33 weeks this week)...but the Drs think because it''s twins, he most likely doesn''t have enough space to turn.

Thank you for walking me through it!. It''s very helpful to know what you can expect. I had no idea they shaved you...I guess that''s one less thing I have to worry about then...since that''s a hard job to do myself these days...hehe

Is it ok to breast feed while you''re taking pain killers? I assume so, but I was curious.

Also, I keep hearing the bonding time right after the baby(ies) are born is very important...but how do you have that when you do a c-section?. I assume they will take the babies away (with my husband) while they put me back together. I think the hospital said we would then be reunited in the recovery room...is that then when the bonding will happen?...poor guys, ni skin to skin or anything like that right after they are born. I am sure they will be fine, but I was wondering how that works...

 

[MustangGal]

I had an unplanned c-section after 12 hours of labor, so a little different, but it wasn''t as bad as I thought it would be.

For a planned one, they do a spinal tap instead of the epi, but it''s pretty much the same thing. You will still feel from about the boobs up, but everything else was completely numb. They put a big sheet up, so you and your DH won''t have to see anything, but DH will still get to cut the cords. They let my DH hold the baby while I was put back together, then took him away to the NICU, so I don''t know what the normal procedure would be. One good thign about a c-section is they clean you all out while they have you open, so not too much bleeding after.

They made me get up and walk a few hours later, and I didn''t get solids to eat until I farted (about 24 hours later). It hurt to laugh for about a week, and sitting up in bed was the worst! But I was walking around the block at home a week PP.

 

[Jas12]

Mandarine, can''t help with the c-section stuff but re: painkillers. yes, you can certainly BF while taking them. Everything passes in minute quantities in breast milk, but generally painkillers are considered safe.
Kellymom.com has tons of info on the safety of medicine while BFing. Hope that gives you some peace of mind. And best of luck--i hope that little guy turns for you

 

[westjenn]

I''ve had 2 c-sections, 1 emergency & 2nd one was scheduled. My best advice to you is to remember that although it is major surgery but its common. In all honesty (and embarrasing, but truthful...) the worst part of it for me was the gas pains afterwards. I JUST heard a story on NPR about a study done in Egypt where they took 2 groups of women who had C sections and during recovery gave one group of women sugarless gum to chew-- a new piece every 15 minutes for an hour a day and it significantly decreased the gas pains that are very common after abdominal surgery.
I wish you the best and just get plenty of rest and think about the end result

 

[Mandarine]

thank you everyone! This is definitely helpful!
I had no idea about the need to fart after! hehe...that''s good to know!!
and I thought you bled about the same afterwards...definitely a plus there!

 

[soocool]

Congrats, I didn''t realize you were having twins. So you better make sure you get your rest in the hospital.

While I was getting stitched up, DD''s pediatrician and nurse took her over to another table where they cleaned her up and took her vitals and kept her warm. I could see everything from where I was and DH was videotaping everything. Then they brought her over to me and my DH followed the pediatrician to another room . I was wheeled into recovery and DH was with the baby. She was under some special lights because she was slightly jaundiced. At some point I was wheeled into my room and ate and they brought the baby to me. She had her own little bed right next to mine since I couldn''t get myself to sit up yet, I could reach and touch her tiny hands.

To tell you the truth, I was grateful for the 4 days I was in the hospital, because while there the nurse heard a slight murmur in DD''s heart and she was checked out immediately by a pediatric cardiologist. Out of all the nurses there, only one picked up on it. Also, some of the nurses are specialists in lactation and they helped me a great deal when it came to breastfeeding and the getting the baby to latch on. My milk came in about 3 days so in the beginning she was only getting collostrum. I was only on painkillers (percocet) the first day as I really don''t react well to them and the next day only asked for Tylenol (the doctor said I could take 3 if needed). I feel the narcotics were probably flushed out of my system pretty quickly as I was on the IV the first day and remember having to pee alot that first night. Some women getting the "sweats", but I didn''t.

 

[soocool]

The farting is funny! I am a fiber nut, so the next morning I ordered Raisin Bran and applesause and a bran muffin for breakfast. So there was no problem going!

Yes, I also made sure I walked in the room and in the corridors as much as possible , so no gas pains for me!

 

[D&T]

I also had an unplanned C-section the first time, the second one planned. Passing gas was soooo hard for me, I actually had gas bubbles that shot up in my neck/shoulder region soooo bad it hurt more than the the meds wearing off..lol anyhow because it is planned I think you are better prepared and try to sleep as much as possible before going in. My first one c-section, I had to get up three hours to walk right after my c-section!

 

[Pandora II]

Can''t help on the c-section stuff, but you can definitely breastfeed on painkillers - I take a huge whack of them daily (about 60mg of morphine equivalent) and the neonatologists were more than happy about it. I''m constantly being told how very ''alert'' Daisy is and have been since she was born, so I don''t think it has any effect on her at all. IIRC my pain consultant and I worked out that it''s something miniscule like 0.3% of things like codeine that passes in breast milk.

Re the bonding - I didn''t get skin to skin after birth. DH got handed the baby after the peds had checked her over (no possibility of cutting the cord either) and was left holding her for over an hour while they tried to stop my bleeding and sew me back together. I finally held her a few hours later and she fed straight away. I''m a little sad that I didn''t get that initial experience but I don''t think it affected our bonding at all.

In the UK they only shave a tiny bit just so that they can be sure that the incision scar will be covered once it grows back. You also get immediate skin to skin while they stitch you back up unless you have had a GA or the babies are very prem/have problems.

Spinals and epidurals sound a lot worse than they are - honestly I would rather have one of them than have an IV put in! You won''t feel any pain at all, but you will feel some sensations. I remember when Daisy was born I couldn''t feel the forceps at all or the contractions, but when they told me to push with the contraction I could feel her head come out and then with the next her body being born. It was very strange, but kind of nice as I felt that I had still ''participated''. Friends who have had c-sections have said that you can feel some pressure and tugging so I guess it''s a similar thing.

I have no experience with c-section scars, but I can promise you that no episiotomy is a GOOD thing - four months on my stitches are still uncomfortable (I had an extensive medio-lateral one) and I could barely sit down for the first 2 weeks! They did do the ''cleaning out'' thing on me due to the haemorrhage plus most of my blood ended up on their floor anyway, but it certainly seemed like I had a lot less bleeding pp than most people with a vaginal birth do - so that is definitely a plus!

As you say, number one priority is you all getting through this safely, but there are pros and cons to each way.

 

[Kaleigh]

Hey Madarine,
I had 2 C sections, both were not planned. The one thing I learned after the first one.... You gotta get moving as soon as possible. If you do, you will heal soooo much quicker, pluse it helps alleviate the gas.

Now you are having twins so imagine you will be more sore than us that had singletons?? I dunno. But try to get moving as soon as you are able. Walk a bit, just a few steps in the beginning will really make a big difference.

I did that with the second C section... I walked just fine by the last day, some nurses were shocked I even had a C section. It made it so much easier for when I got home too... I had an 18 month old at home and no help. So I had to be able to do laundry, cooking and cleaning..


Best of luck Mandarine. I love love your nursery BTW!!!

 

[Mandarine]

Thank you guys

It definitely makes me feel better reading about it from people I "know"

I know they will talk to us about c-section in our childbirth class, but it''s just different from the nurses/staff perspective!.

I''m definitely going to try to get moving as soon as I can. I suffer from constipation as it is (not during pregnancy though for some unknown, but awesome, reason!). I''ll probably bring my little stash of ground flax seeds so I can have that with breakfast the next day to "help" things along!

Re: bonding, thank you Pandora!. That did worry me, but I''m sure it''s fine and we''ll all get to bond a little later. Hopefully DH can snuggle them while I''m getting put back together!

Re the nursery, thank you Kaleigh!!!...you''re so sweet

M~

 

[somethingshiny]

I''m sorry I haven''t read all of the posts but I had a couple responses for your last post.

After my unplanned C, they gave me tons of stool softeners at the hospital. However, the first BM is like giving birth (or what I would assume it would be like considering...). I felt like my guts were going to fall out on my lap. I was clutching a tightly folded sheet to my abdomen and I was sure there was going to be blood. There wasn''t. LOL. btw-the folded sheet instead of pillow was a trick from one of my nurses. It was so much easier and more supportive than a pillow.

I never had my childbirth classes due to some other stuff so I wasn''t familiar with RL experiences with Cs. I didn''t know I was going to be away from my baby for so long. At my hospital the "rule" was NO one, not even dad, can hold the baby until mom does. DH got to carry him to the nursery and watch through the window for 3 hrs while I was in recovery. If I had been aware, I would have tried to let DH get to be with him during those hours.

As difficult as the being apart was, we bonded entirely before I left the hospital.

Also, LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of walking as soon as you can. I think that''s why I healed so quickly and had an "easy" recovery.


Oh, and the doc WILL come in and in front of EVERYONE ask if you''ve passed gas.

 

[nycbkgirl]

if u take anesthesia well, everything should be just fine...the hardest part of my whole delivery experience was the blood taking (or trying to!!) noone in that whole freakn hospital could find a vein!!! i was screamin and crying and just jumping out of my skin thru this whole time while they "prepped" me..it was just so awful (meanwhile my reg ob and internist find my veins right away!).. i was also begging the nurse for ice chips

...the c was a breeze, didnt feel anything and was a great experience!...(the spinal wasnt pleasant but its quick)

the recovery for me was a different story, the first nite was great..they put a cathedar in and i felt good. the getting up the next day wasnt so great. i had 1 spot that was just burning and hurting for 2 wks after and i had to be on bedrest (well i was supposed to walk around but couldnt) and percocets all the time bc of that 1 spot. but its all fine and i hope u enjoy ur experience even tho its not the one u hoped for but the end result is the best

cant wait

 

[neatfreak]

Honestly I think it was pretty easy! The spinal epidural wasn''t bad at all (IMO), the recovery was pretty easy, breastfeeding was fine, it was all pretty good!

I know you want to let them pick their own birthday-but don''t take it too far. After 38 weeks (for twins) the benefits of keeping them in there longer no longer outweigh the risks of taking them early. Add in to that the fact that it''s less stressful for everyone if it''s a scheduled surgery vs. a "I''m in labor!" surgery-and I would recommend that you don''t wait too long to schedule.

Somewhere I have a list of tips that I found really helpful that I sent to another twin mom...email me and I''ll make sure to get it to you.

And re:turning-they don''t really try to turn twins except for if you have Baby A vaginally they sometimes will try to turn Baby B if necessary. But unfortunately if A is breech you''re really stuck with a c-section.

 

[Mandarine]

that sounds painful somethingshiny!!!

Thank you guys!

Neat, thanks for chiming in on the actual date. I think you''re right...I''ll have to ask my Dr about the dates and what they think is best. I''d love to get that list from you! I''ll send you an email

 

[Mara]

in the 'old days' wasn't the c-section kind of a last resort? it seems like so many people get them nowadays. why wouldn't they try to turn the baby just to see....before they choose to do major abdominal surgery? unless it's common with twins.

recently also my mom said something about how she heard that you can CHOOSE to have a c-section if you are afraid of vaginal birth? not even sure if that is true but

?? it seems surprising that doctors are so blase about it nowadays? maybe things are so much better monitored than when our parents had us.

mandarine, i hope he turns and you have the chance to go natural!!! come on baby, be good to mommy! if not, my pal who had an emergency c-section was up and walking around within 5-7 days afterwards. she said it was very painful but it helped her on the road to healing much faster. however, up to 9 months later she said she could still feel her incision inside...so recovery will take a while. the one thing she said was that it was hard to get up to see/tend to the baby the first 5 days while she was pretty much flat out.

 

[Kaleigh]

Mandarine,
Bring a couple of comfy pillows from home. I loved sleeping on my own pillows, and loved being propped up on them. It's a small comfort but sure made me feel better.

Another small thing is adjustable straws so you can drink from a cup. I know sounds silly, but when your stomach is cut, anything to help you to not have to reach is a god send...

If you have comfy slippers pack them, I just had those socks the hospital gave me.

Think about what pads you want... I didn't love the ones from the hospital.

One bright note?? You won't be torn, your down there region is left in tact... TMI I know. But it's the one thing I counted as a blessing...

OK over and out for me, fore I get in trouble!!!

 

[drk]

Speaking from the anesthesiolgy side of things:
- Spinal is no big deal and very safe. Tiny needle compared to an epidural. Most of my patients say it''s not as bad as the IV. Skin freezing burns, after that mostly just a little pressure. Many say that they didn''t even feel it going in. It gives you better pain/sensation relief than an epidural does, because the block is denser. You''ll likely still feel some touch and pressure, but nothing sharp or painful. It''s very common for your blood pressure to drop after the meds are working - if you feel dizzy or nauseous, just tell your anesthesiologist and they''ll give you something to bring the BP back up. Some people feel like they''re having trouble breathing, simply because their rib cage muscles are partly frozen, and their bodes don''t feel their rib cages moving as usual. And some get the shakes, which not much can be done about.
- I imagine they won''t try to turn the baby because there''s less room in there to turn him. And there are risks to a version (like placental abruption) that must be increased when there are two in there. I''ve never heard of it being done, actually.
- Bonding with baby is very hospital-dependent, from what I''ve seen. At the two downtown teaching hospitals I did OB in, the Dad sometimes got to trim the cord after the baby was over getting cleaned up and dried off on the baby warmer. Sometimes not, depending how things were going/which nurse it was. When baby was bundled and doing well, they''d usually lay it on Mum''s shoulder and have Dad help hold it there. Then I''d give it to Mum to carry on the stretcher to the recovery room, where Dad would take over again while Mom got put on monitors and settled in. No skin-to-skin till after everyone was settled in recovery though. At the community hospital I now work at, it sucks. Baby gets cleaned up, wrapped up, and shown briefly to Mom for one kiss. Then they take Dad and baby away to the nursery upstairs, while Mom gets sewn up and taken to recovery room for an hour of so. She later meets them upstairs. I''d be way pi$$ed if that was how my delivery and first bonding time was handled!
- the little extra morphine you''d possibly need for pain control after the C/S wouldn''t cause any harm to the babies. The only thing they warn about here is codeine, since some patients don''t metabolize it to morphine (the active drug) at all, and others are rapid metabolizers. There was one case where a baby died because its Mom was a rapid metabolizer who was taking large amounts of codeine over days, and the baby was getting a much higher than normal dose in her breast milk. It got very drowsy, hard to rouse, behaving differently... and those signs were ignored. Had they seen a doctor because the baby was behaving abnormally, the baby would have been fine. As long as your boys are feeding fine and are rouseable, there''s no need to worry.

Hope that helps in some way. And that I didn''t ramble too much!

 

[gailrmv]

I had the labor everyone fears. Induced, terrible pitocin contrax, epidural that didn't work very well, long labor that didn't progress, then C-section. The C-section was actually a relief because I was so uncomfortable before. Uncomfortable being a nice way of saying, in pain.

Anyway, the C section was really not that bad. The baby was delivered quickly. Then it took a while (45 min?) for them to sew me up. I kept my eyes closed and focused on other things. If I thought about what was going on I would have freaked out so I had to rely on visualization of happier things and I was able to stay calm.

I'm told I made a quick recovery. I think this was due to being very athletic before and during my pregnancy, and getting up to walk around as soon as I was allowed.

It was hard for me to need to ask for help for EVERYTHING. Even reaching something on the bedside table a couple inches away in those first few days. Also, laughing hurt (a lot!) and I really needed to be able to laugh in those early days!

Bonding with the baby seemed fine. I have nothing to compare it to. I think we bonded even more over the first few days at home and even the next few weeks than we did in the first few hours. There were many factors at play though - he had to spend the first day in special care, so we weren't able to spend much time together until the second day anyway.

For a while I was quite sad that my labor and delivery had gone so differently than what I'd hoped. I'm over it now though. With a scheduled C, hopefully you won't have those feelings.

If you plan to breastfeed, I would insist on doing so right away. I was not able to breastfeed til the next day (number of factors involved) and that was unfortunate. I'm lucky I was able to get breastfeeding established, considering. Since you know you are going to have a C section I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND reading about breastfeedng after C section in some breastfeeding books or online. I like Jack Newman's website and book, and also the Nursing Mother's Companion book.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Hi,

Sorry you''re going to have to have a c/s. My first son was emergency c/s and my second was a planned. With both, I did take pain killers while BFing and there wasn''t any problems with that.

With the bonding, both my kids were taken and weighed and then taken to me later in recovery. There was no bonding problems with either and the boys slept with me in my hospital bed.

Best of luck.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 9/15/2009 8:07:57 PM
Author: Mara
in the ''old days'' wasn''t the c-section kind of a last resort? it seems like so many people get them nowadays. why wouldn''t they try to turn the baby just to see....before they choose to do major abdominal surgery? unless it''s common with twins.

recently also my mom said something about how she heard that you can CHOOSE to have a c-section if you are afraid of vaginal birth? not even sure if that is true but

?? it seems surprising that doctors are so blase about it nowadays? maybe things are so much better monitored than when our parents had us.

C-sections cost quite a bit of money, so most insurance companies don''t cover elective c-sections unless you''ve already had one. FWIW, my first was a "kind of last resort," in that I pushed my son for 3.5 hours and he didn''t budge. My midwife told me I would have died if it weren''t for modern medicine. Because of THAT, I was afraid of trying for a VBAC and therefore my second c/s was covered.

 

[cara]

mara, you must have missed out on the mommy wars prequel: the c-section controversy featuring natural-birthers, women too posh to push and evil doctors who schedule unnecessary c-sections for convenience and/or profit. its been circulating for awhile but still going strong... the us c-section rate is like 30%! so a last resort no longer. its major surgery, but also pretty safe especially when scheduled. the line is that an easy v-birth is better/safer than an easy c-section, but a bad v-birth can be worse. there are a lot of things driving the high rate, i think truly elective c-sections are only a small part at least in this country (in brazil they became the standard 'modern' way to give birth!) many women here can't afford true elective c-sections because of insurance reimbursement issues, but if you have a preference and an accommodating doctor and a minor issue maybe your preference can be accommodated. then after you've had one c, vaginal can be more risky so some places woln't even let you try. there's the US legal system, tends to make ob-gyns risk adverse. once there is a study saying c-section is slightly safer under X condition, women get sections for that condition today where in our parents day they just would have attempted vaginal birth, sectioned only if things went bad and had a higher rate of bad outcomes.

mandarine, no advice but good luck! and fingers crossed for baby a to have a last wiggle or so into position. its probably good you have some time to adapt to the idea of surgical birth - i have some friends that ended up with emergency c-sections and there was some mourning/grief associated with it (one couple still arguing over it a year later, bleh!) best have a happy day for babies' birthday!

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 9/16/2009 2:45:01 AM
Author: cara
mara, you must have missed out on the mommy wars prequel: the c-section controversy featuring natural-birthers, women too posh to push and evil doctors who schedule unnecessary c-sections for convenience and/or profit. its been circulating for awhile but still going strong... the us c-section rate is like 30%! so a last resort no longer. its major surgery, but also pretty safe especially when scheduled. the line is that an easy v-birth is better/safer than an easy c-section, but a bad v-birth can be worse. there are a lot of things driving the high rate, i think truly elective c-sections are only a small part at least in this country (in brazil they became the standard ''modern'' way to give birth!) many women here can''t afford true elective c-sections because of insurance reimbursement issues, but if you have a preference and an accommodating doctor and a minor issue maybe your preference can be accommodated. then after you''ve had one c, vaginal can be more risky so some places woln''t even let you try. there''s the US legal system, tends to make ob-gyns risk adverse. once there is a study saying c-section is slightly safer under X condition, women get sections for that condition today where in our parents day they just would have attempted vaginal birth, sectioned only if things went bad and had a higher rate of bad outcomes.

mandarine, no advice but good luck! and fingers crossed for baby a to have a last wiggle or so into position. its probably good you have some time to adapt to the idea of surgical birth - i have some friends that ended up with emergency c-sections and there was some mourning/grief associated with it (one couple still arguing over it a year later, bleh!) best have a happy day for babies'' birthday!

I am grumpy so forgive me. Too posh to push???? That wasn''t me. I wish I could have pushed. I never got the chance.... And had 48 hours of labor... I didn''t grieve because I had a C section. I was just so glad to finally have my sweet baby in my arms safe and sound and healthy.......

Nighty night, way up past my bed time...

 

[cara]

um, i was just trying to say its a controversial topic

not women who have csections for any reason are too posh to push! (but it is a lovely britishism for what it is) where's the foot in mouth icon when you need it if I wasn't clear! Oh, typing late at night...sorry kaleigh.

 

[Mara]

cara i had no idea..! it wasn't until my mom recently mentioned that to me (she volunteers in L&D at our hospital) that i was like WHAT? pre-electing surgery...interesting. and dr's standing to make more profit, ugh. to me BOTH options could be equally scary if one is thinking about it that hard hahha. BUT i guess in a good way our technology makes things so much more safe than in the past.

speaking of csection, it can be very expensive, mandarine, make sure you check your insurance out. my friend who had to have the emergency c after hours of pushing ended up having to pay out of pocket about $10k. the cost was $50k for the csect and the resulting care, and she had PPO so i think it was like 80/20 coverage. so, yeah you don't want to be surprised with a $10k bill as you are leaving!

you will be fine and the babies will too (though i am still hoping for a 'turn' for you, stand on your head for a while!). at least you can be prepared with the planning just in case.

 

[Mandarine]

Thanks everyone!

re: insurance, I''ve met my out of pocket max (not hard to do when you''re at the Drs pretty much every week! hehe)....so my cost will be zero, thank God!

Thank you for the info on the anesthesia!! That really helps!!!. Also on the pain killers!.

And thank you for the reassurance on the bonding and breast feeding!!

I think the number of people that "elect" to have a c-section is pretty minimal. However, it is common for moms of multiples to elect a c-section for many reasons (even if both babies are head down). I think that may also have something to do with the rate of c-sections going up (since there are a lot more moms of multiples nowadays!)

 

[Jas12]

Cara--i don''t think you were suggesting everyone that has a section is too posh to push--not at all. The reality is that there are a myriad of motivations for having a c-sections. They range from true necessity/medical emergency (and in those cases we are very lucky to have modern medicine) to OB''s motivated by fear, convenience or profit (in those cases we need adjustments to our health system to deal with this b/c it''s a complicated issue with many invested parties) all the way to individual women wanting full control over their birth and therefore scheduling a c-section (something that i *personally* don''t fully agree with, but can understand on some level). Article HERE if anyone is interested in CS rates/causes in the US.

mandarine--it is really good that you are finding out about the breech position now and can research and prepare yourself for the different possibilities. I posted about this on the mommy thread, a close friend of mine just had her second boy (first birth was vaginal) and as she was crowning they discovered he was breech and lodged in. She had an emergency CS. It was difficult for her to come to terms with b/c it was all so sudden.

 

[soocool]

When the doctor informed me that DD was breech, he actually left it up to me as to what to do. He said that the baby may still turn (this was 2 weeks before my due date) or I can schedule a C-section. This to me was not a difficult decision, as I did not want to put the baby in any distress, so I opted for the C-section. Good thing I did because as I stated earlier she was butt first (& over 8 lbs) and no way would she have turned around according to the doctor who delivered her. I wasn''t about to play the "what if" game with my baby''s life and of course picked what I believed was the safer option for her.

When I delivered I was the only scheduled C there. Another couple from our prenatal class was there the same day as she went into labor and had complications that necessitated a C-section.