One Month and Counting

We had an ultrasound today! I always love seeing baby. It's so fun! Especially this far along, he looks much less alien-like than he did before - more like an actual baby. It makes me realize how close we're getting! Anyway, Sequel looks great! He's still head down, fluid was good and all that good stuff. The tech said that his diaphragm was going up and down, indicating breathing-like movements, so that means good lung development. And he's measuring at... drum roll... 39w3d, which is all fine and good, except for the fact that I'm only 35w5d!! The u/s tech actually had to check her measurements. She thought I was due today instead a month from today. But we have to take this with a grain of salt because the tech said that it's accurate within 22 days. That means it could be off by three weeks. Either way, he's still measuring a bit ahead, but maybe not by as much as we think. Based on the measurements, the u/s tech estimated that he is 8lbs 4oz right now (give or take a lb). That's the 90th percentile! Even if you subtract 1lb for margin of error, he's still over 7 lbs. Isaac was 6lbs 13 oz when he was born at 37w6d. This kid is already bigger than his brother was when he was born! Eek!

Next we had our NST (non stress test). This consisted of me sitting on the exam table with two monitors strapped to my belly - one to monitor baby's heart beat, and one to monitor contractions. The goal was for baby to have two "accelerations" in a 20 minute period, meaning his heart rate had rise by 15 bpm twice in that 20 minutes. They also gave me a little button to press every time I felt him move. After about 5 or 6 minutes he wasn't moving a whole lot, so the nurse gave me a Sprite. That did the trick. Then he moved around like crazy and we got our accelerations. Everything looked great!

Finally, we saw the doctor for our appointment. She was very happy with how everything was going. My BP was 130/65, which she was happy with. She had a pretty frank talk with me about re-evaluating my VBAC, though. She said that she really believes that our bodies don't make babies that are too big for us to give birth to, and that I certainly can still plan on having a VBAC, she just wanted to lay all the cards on the table at this point. If this was a first pregnancy, or if I hadn't had a c-section before, she would probably suggest induction after 39 weeks because the baby is so big. Unfortunately, we can't induce for a VBAC (as I've mentioned before), so I'll have to go into labor on my own. She didn't seem very comfortable letting me go too far past 39 weeks because of his size, and I'm pretty certain that she won't let me go past 40 weeks. She also said that labor will be more difficult if this baby is a 9 pounder, and if I were to end up needing a c-section after my trial of labor, the recovery would be harder than it would be with a planned c-section. She said, if I get to that 39 week milestone and haven't had the baby yet, we'll have to have a more serious talk about scheduling a c-section.

To be honest, this is exactly what I was afraid of. I knew that if baby measured big, my VBAC would be in jeopardy. And I also know that ultrasounds later in pregnancy are much less accurate for measurements. I do know he's big. I can feel that. I'm much more uncomfortable than I was in my last pregnancy. My belly is bigger, and I've gained more weight than last time, so this news is not surprising to me. However, women deliver 9lb babies all. the. time. Heck, my mother-in-law's last baby was over 10 lbs. It's possible. And I want to try it. And I'm fairly confident that I will, indeed, go into labor before 39 weeks, although there are no guarantees. (Hey Cat, when do you want to come over and give me a foot rub? LOL)

James and I talked about it, and as of right now, here's how we feel: We will still plan for a VBAC, but we will schedule a c-section for July 8th. July 8th would bring me to 39w2d. If I haven't had baby before July 8th, that will be his birthday. For me, this decision really had nothing to do with his size. I feel like July 8th is a good date because it's not too close to Isaac's birthday (July 13th) and not too close to the 4th of July, and it's two days before our OB goes on maternity leave, so she would be able to deliver him. I am pretty comfortable with this decision, but I reserve the right to change my mind, of course. ;)

The OB also said that I'm past the point where they would intervene if I did go into labor. That means baby could come any time now! Although, I think it will be a few more weeks. I was only a fingertip dilated today, which is the same as I was on Thursday. I was hoping for a little more, but I know that it doesn't necessarily mean anything. Oh, and she also said that I still have to take it easy, but I can do a little more since my BP is down. Yay!

Ok, I'm cutting myself off now. This post has gotten really long. If you're still with me, thanks for reading. :)