Intro: FTM and planned c-section

BootsOrHearts

Hello! I've been stalking this board for a while and thought I better intro over here before starting to post.

I'm a FTM, due 12/22, c-section planned for 11/29 @ 36 weeks and change. We had a loss at 18 weeks (unknown causes) and a c/p at 5 weeks so we're hoping this is our rainbow baby! For mobile users, I am 30 weeks now.

I had an extensive myomectomy last year (2 actually), hence the need for a c-section, and they want to do it early to make sure that I don't go into labor on my own as that could result in uterine rupture.

I had always envisioned having a natural birth so I never looked into c-sections, now I'm trying to learn and absorb as much as I can. We put together a tentative birth plan and are setting up an appt with the OB who will do our surgery (we see a MW for prenatal care) and hope that he/she is open to our request for a family-friendly (a.k.a. natural, or as natural as it can be!) c-section experience.

Hoping to pick up some information from you ladies and also share what I've learned so far in case it helps someone else!

BootsOrHearts

@lrachelle80 thank you! That is super helpful! I hope we both get a good experience this time around. Do you have a date set yet?

BootsOrHearts

lrachelle80 said:

Not yet, they won't set it up until a month out. We're hoping for 12/12, which is super cheesy, haha.

Well there's got to be some advantages to having a planned c-section, being able to pick the date being one of them!

We need to decide next week at our appt, they want to do 11/29, but i'll be 36w 5d and I really want to wait until 37, even though I know it's only a few days. Before that,  he's technically a preemie! The problem is their medical guidelines tell them I can't go past 37 so we'll see. I might ask if I can spend that weekend in the hospital on bed rest, then have the surgery on Monday 12/2.

spinsoffresonance

I had a c-section due to a previous myomectomy as well. Mine was at 38weeks though. My Ob said to schedule it between 37-38w to avoid going into labor. I wasn't comfortable with 37w, so 36w seems awfully early to me. Make sure you discuss it when you meet the Ob.

I asked if they could delay cutting the umbilical cord and if I could do skin-to-skin with DD ASAP after she was born. The first one they couldn't accommodate. They brought DD to me for skin-to-skin right after the pedi checked her out, so just a few minutes after she was born and they let her stay on my chest the entire time i remained in the OR while they were stitching me up.

BootsOrHearts

@lica001 Thanks for the info, I am going to ask about the timelines again and where they're getting them, because I've talked to a few ladies who have had c-sections scheduled at 38 weeks after myomectomy, so I don't know why they're pushing me to go so early.

Did they tell you why they couldn't delay cutting the cord?

spinsoffresonance

BootsOrHearts said:

@lica001 Thanks for the info, I am going to ask about the timelines again and where they're getting them, because I've talked to a few ladies who have had c-sections scheduled at 38 weeks after myomectomy, so I don't know why they're pushing me to go so early.

Did they tell you why they couldn't delay cutting the cord?

My Ob said the problem with delaying cutting the cord with a c-section is that when they deliver the baby they also deliver the placenta. So if they don't cut the cord, they have to hand off the baby to the neonatal pedi with the placenta dangling off the cord and it could get in the way when they're evaluating the baby. My Ob was actually willing to give it a try, she said she would have to clear it with the pedi first if I really wanted to. So at that point I told her not to worry about it. This was 11 months ago. So I will ask again about it with LO2, maybe they tried it since then!
I just saw your surgery history in your siggy. Will you be having a hysterectomy too? I had a myomectomy to remove 17 fibroids. Then my Ob removed 8 more during my c-section and those were the ones she could easily get to. 6 months later I had too many fibroids for them to count, they gave me the green light to TTC LO2 (luckily I got KU quickly) but I will be having a hysterectomy with the c-section, sad.

BootsOrHearts

lica001 said:

BootsOrHearts said:

@lica001 Thanks for the info, I am going to ask about the timelines again and where they're getting them, because I've talked to a few ladies who have had c-sections scheduled at 38 weeks after myomectomy, so I don't know why they're pushing me to go so early.

Did they tell you why they couldn't delay cutting the cord?

My Ob said the problem with delaying cutting the cord with a c-section is that when they deliver the baby they also deliver the placenta. So if they don't cut the cord, they have to hand off the baby to the neonatal pedi with the placenta dangling off the cord and it could get in the way when they're evaluating the baby. My Ob was actually willing to give it a try, she said she would have to clear it with the pedi first if I really wanted to. So at that point I told her not to worry about it. This was 11 months ago. So I will ask again about it with LO2, maybe they tried it since then!
I just saw your surgery history in your siggy. Will you be having a hysterectomy too? I had a myomectomy to remove 17 fibroids. Then my Ob removed 8 more during my c-section and those were the ones she could easily get to. 6 months later I had too many fibroids for them to count, they gave me the green light to TTC LO2 (luckily I got KU quickly) but I will be having a hysterectomy with the c-section, sad.

Ah ok. Well it's something I'm going to ask the OB about and see what he/she says!

17, hey you almost have me beat! I haven't met anyone who had more than 1 or 2.

No I don't plan to have a hysterectomy, we want to have more kids assuming there are no issues. Are they saying you need to have a hysterectomy? I hope not, if you don't want that. :-(

Welshgirl12

I too had hoped for a medication free delivery but ended up having a cs at 36 weeks due to my waters breaking while baby was still breech.

it sounds like you are approaching it all witha frame of mind. It it's hard to do that when a cs is so far removed from your original expectations. For me I tried to reassure myself that they simply had to do a lot of things for the well being of the baby or hospital policy.

my hospital would not allow skin on skin inthe OR but we did do it as soon as baby had been cleared by the Neonatal team. I think it was about 30 mins from baby being born to skin on skin, but dad followed her at that time and held her hand, sang and spoke to her etc. That said there were no complications with baby so he was allowed to do that.

I would recommend adding lots of questions and don't be afraid to ask for whatyou want. you may get a no but at least you have been proactive!!



Good luck!!

spinsoffresonance

BootsOrHearts said:

lica001 said:

BootsOrHearts said:

@lica001 Thanks for the info, I am going to ask about the timelines again and where they're getting them, because I've talked to a few ladies who have had c-sections scheduled at 38 weeks after myomectomy, so I don't know why they're pushing me to go so early.

Did they tell you why they couldn't delay cutting the cord?

My Ob said the problem with delaying cutting the cord with a c-section is that when they deliver the baby they also deliver the placenta. So if they don't cut the cord, they have to hand off the baby to the neonatal pedi with the placenta dangling off the cord and it could get in the way when they're evaluating the baby. My Ob was actually willing to give it a try, she said she would have to clear it with the pedi first if I really wanted to. So at that point I told her not to worry about it. This was 11 months ago. So I will ask again about it with LO2, maybe they tried it since then!
I just saw your surgery history in your siggy. Will you be having a hysterectomy too? I had a myomectomy to remove 17 fibroids. Then my Ob removed 8 more during my c-section and those were the ones she could easily get to. 6 months later I had too many fibroids for them to count, they gave me the green light to TTC LO2 (luckily I got KU quickly) but I will be having a hysterectomy with the c-section, sad.

Ah ok. Well it's something I'm going to ask the OB about and see what he/she says!

17, hey you almost have me beat! I haven't met anyone who had more than 1 or 2.

No I don't plan to have a hysterectomy, we want to have more kids assuming there are no issues. Are they saying you need to have a hysterectomy? I hope not, if you don't want that. :-(

Unfortunately at this point my fibroids are way too bad that I have to have the hysterectomy. DH and I had talked about having 3-4 kids but that's not in the cards anymore. I really can't complain though, we're blessed with one perfectly healthy DD and LO2 is on the way (hoping for a sticky baby) . I'm glad they're not making you have the hysterectomy. Like you said you're the only other woman I've seen with as many fibroids as me.