Baby M will be coming around Aug 18.

So you read that correctly, baby M will be making an early entrance. I am 40 weeks on August 25, but will be having a planned c-section around August 18 once I reach the 39 week area. Dr. MacDonald made this decision for me for several reasons, and I agree with all of them. 1. Cailin was a big baby. 2. I have GD. 3. This baby is already massive. 4. Cailin's birth had many complications. 5. Letting me go past 40 weeks could be dangerous to the placenta due to the GD. I know this is for the best even though it is a really big and scary decision. I will need a lot more recovery time and being with Cailin will be hard since she is so young. Dan's mom and Aunt Val will be around to help and Dan will be taking some time off from work.

The c-section itself doesn't really scare me. While it does pose more risks than a vginal birth, they are still minimal. What I am most upset about is not getting to spend the quality time ith baby M right when he is born, which I was also robbed of when Cailin was born. When Cailin was born her shoulder dystocia and the cord around her neck, along with her decelerations in her heart rate right before birth prompted a nicu team to be in the room. The took her over to the exam table instantly. I didnt get to hold her until she was 10 minutes old. I really missed being passed a slippery newborn and having the dr put her directly on my chest for instant skin to skin contact time. Dan never got to cut her cord either.  I had been really looking forward to those first moments and I never got to have them. This time it will be the same. No skin to skin, no slippery baby, no cord cutting. Instead I will be passed a well cleaned bundle who is already wrapped in a blanket and who has already seen the pediatrician. I could ask for them to not clean him off but it will take 40 minutes to clean me up and send me to recovery before I could see him. It is just too long. Dan will be with him from the second he is born and will go with him to be evaluated and get his first bath, just like he did with Cailin.

I am a little nervous about the pain management because we all know that I am a pain wimp. I can't handle anything. I know I will get either a spinal block or epidural during the c-section, so I know I will be all set there, but it is after that I am more worried about. Simple Percocet won't do the trick. They gave me that, after some begging, when Cailin was born and it was a joke. If it can't dull the pain of a vaginal birth, than I can imagine it would be like taking one tylenol for a migraine. Nothing. I am lucky to have a friend who has already had a c-section before and she said she received dilauded and that worked well. I hate asking for drugs but I will do what I have to. Hopefully they give me some valium and zofran because I can already see myself being a friggin disaster.

In the end, I know attempting a vaginal birth will be too risky at full term. If I go into labor around 37 weeks they will do an ultrasound first to measure him and then assess the situation. 38 weeks plus will require a c-section. It is a difficult decision to deal with but I know it is the right one. I trust Dr. MacDonald and this is what she thinks it best. Let's all hope she is going to be the one to do the procedure. If she isn't I willbe sure to be a nervous wreck for the whole ordeal.

Next Wednesday we will have a date and I will know who will be doing the procedure. Fingers crossed for Dr. MacDonald!