Labor & Delivery

A girl I went to high school with just gave birth to a baby boy yesterday. She lives in Boston and was seeing a midwife throughout her pregnancy (she switched from an OBGYN fairly early on in the pregnancy) and was hoping for an all-natural delivery. She was taking Bradley classes to assist with breathing and was practicing kegels, squats, taylor presses, etc. Well, she finally went into labor and it was a disaster! She was in hard labor for about 60 hours and only progressed to 4 cm and eventually had to go to the hospital for a C-section. Her baby was over 10 pounds and this girl is barely 5' tall. Her baby is in NICU because he is having respiratory problems and won't be able to go home for a while. He was born about 10 days past his due date and according to her mother is so big he looks like a 3-month old.
I spoke to this girl via chat last week and asked if she had thought about getting induced and she gave me a HUGE attitude about it. I distinctly remember saying it's better to get induced and still get to deliver vaginally then let yourself go so long that the baby is too big and you require a C-section. She didn't like that at all! I think she was receiving shoddy care because I am convinced she had gestational diabetes that went undiagnosed. No woman as tiny as she is (in HS she weighed about 80 pounds) is likely to have such a huge baby. Plus, it is very common for GD babies to be born with breathing problems, which are typically only seen in preemies. It sucks that her birthing experience was not what she wanted it to be, but it is sort of reassuring to me that maybe I am making the best choice by going with an OBGYN. If, God forbid, I do need a C-section I will already be at the hospital and at least I got tested for everything under the sun. Hopefully she'll be able to take her baby home soon.

Comments

[Erika]

That is a rough story. And, certainly not what one wants to think about only a month before giving birth. I hope that baby turns out ok, the NICU is a scary place but boy those nurses are good. I can't believe this girl was 5' and had a 10lb baby! You're right, that doesn't seem right. My OB told me that women can generally birth a baby comfortably up to the size of their shoe. She said she knew it sounded crazy, but that it really is almost dead on. That leaves me at 6.5lbs, not very big! However, I am already a prime candidate for a c-section. My cervix is nice and deep but doesn't have any spread in the width. I'm not terribly surprised as my mom had the same problem and had 2 c-sections. I am just glad to know this is a real possibility faaaaaar in advance because I think I would hate it more if I wound up laboring for 2 days and then still had to have the section. At least this way, I'd know up front.

[Leets]

Yes, I've heard the shoe thing before as well. Although I don't have very big feet (size 7.5) I think I could handle a bigger baby because I have pretty wide hips and a big pelvis. I can already feel the joints in my pelvis getting looser and looser. My friend told me during labor you can actually feel your pelvis opening up as the baby moves down!

Maybe I am just ultra optimistic but I think I am going to get the perfect labor that I am dreaming about.

I am surprised they can already tell you are a candidate for a C-section, but yes, much better to have it planned than to go through intense labor for days and end up on the operating table anyway! At least this way you can plan ahead for your recovery.

[Dandelioness]

60 hours?? SIXTY HOURS??? Holy cow, I can't believe she let it go on that long. I mean I'm all for natural birth and midwives, but you've got to be smart enough to know when to say when. And just because you're with a midwife doesn't mean you shouldn't see a doctor throughout your pregnancy to make sure you don't have any of the many complications that they can diagnose. How in the world she expected to have a natural birth of a baby that size (and you can't tell me they didn't know it was going to be big!!!) is beyond me. If I act like that, one of you needs to slap me.

At sushi this week Bonnie was talking up the c-sections. She said she recovered faster from that than from the natural birth, and that her scar is less than three inches. It still wouldn't be my first choice, but hey, you're giving birth no matter how the baby comes out!!

[Erika]

Yeah, I would much rather have a natural birth, but I need to be realistic about what the possibilities are at this point. I come from a loooong line of c-section mamas......no hips, no waist. I have actually always hated that about my shape. I am not curvy in the places where a woman should be curvy. Instead, I have a boy shape with no hips and no waist. Lovely. My doc says of course we can hope for the very best scenario but that we should also prepare for other possibilities now so I'm not blindsided when/if the time comes.