MrsMiggins
06-02-2006, 23:43
Just a warning - this is a VERY long one!
(I've been meaning to get this posted for nearly 4 months now! :o )
I knew from my first scan at 19 weeks that there was a chance I would need to have a caesarian. Our baby was fine, but I was diagnosed with having a "significantly low-lying placenta". The Drs all kept assuring me that this was quite common at the first scan & not to worry as it would more than likely clear up. Also at this first scan, we were very keen to discover the sex of our baby. The sonographer said she couldn't be 100% sure but she thought it was probably a girl. I was over the moon! A boy would have been fantastic, but I secretly always wanted my first baby to be a girl!
I had to have another scan, scheduled for 32 weeks to check the placenta again. This time the sonographer was almost positive I was carrying a girl. The news on the placenta wasn't quite so positive however, I was now in the minority of cases where it hadn't moved away from the os by the 32 week scan. I was still confident though of being able to deliver vaginally!
I had yet another scan scheduled for 34 and a half weeks.
By the time the third scan came around, I was enormous, heavy & uncomfortable! My baby girl's head was jammed right up into my rib cage and showed no signs of moving!
The 34 1/2 week scan showed the placenta at only 1.8cm away from the os, where they really like to see it at least 2cm. The Dr was all set to schedule a caesarian as bub was also breach, although when he discussed it with the head OB (they were all fascinated with the case!) they decided to send me for scan #4 at 36 weeks. If this scan showed the placenta was at least 2 cm from the os, and if the baby was still breach, they would offer me an ECV to try to turn her at 37 weeks. I was very nervous as I didn't know whether to try the ECV, let nature take its course, or just allow the caesarian.
As it happened, I needn't have worried - they did an internal scan at 37 weeks which showed the placenta was actually only 1.5 cm from the os and that the baby was still breach. When I visited the Dr again the following week, they said with both conditions, there was no way they'd let me trial labour & that I would have to have a caesarian. I was disappointed, but by this stage I knew it was a foregone conclusion & I had prepared myself for it.
What I hadn't prepared myself for was what the Dr had to say next - they wanted to schedule my caesarian for 4 days time! They were concerned that the pregnancy had been allowed to go on for too long as it was, as with cases of placenta praevia they like to do a caesarian around 35-36 weeks! No problem.... except that my DH had left to do a job in Sydney (we live north of Brisbane!) that morning & wouldn't be home for a week!! The public hospital was only able to schedule c-sections for Tuesdays, so if we couldn't do it on the day they wanted, we'd have to wait another whole week, making me 39 weeks +1 day! Far too long for a case of placenta praevia!! After a lot of to-ing & fro-ing with the head OB, they finally agreed to let me have the c-section booked in for the following Tuesday, on the condition that I signed a waiver absolving them from blame should anything happen in the meantime & that if I even so much as thought I was going into labour, I was to get to the hospital immediately! While I would never do anything to put my baby's life in jeopardy, I just couldn't go through this without my husband! As I had had a blissfully easy pregnancy & no bleeding (unusual for cases of placenta praevia), and the fact that it wasn't the whole placenta which was low - just a narrow "lip" that extended down the wall of the uterus, I felt that I had made the right decision & I would be OK for another week......
Well!
That sure didn't stop me from worrying over every tinge & tingle I felt for the next week!!!
But I was right! We made it!!!
On the morning we were due to go to hospital, I was very nervous!
We drove to the hospital, sat in the delivery ward waiting room for about an hour & a half getting more & more nervous as the minutes ticked by. Then a midwife came in and took us to the maternity ward & my bed. I put on my gown, got the dreaded bikini shave (:eek: ) and was whisked away down to the operating theatre.
My DH had to suit up & was asked to wait outside while they put my spinal in. I had to sit hunched over my massive baby bulge, clutching a male nurse while they attempted to get the needle in the right spot. The anaesthetist who was putting the needle in had only done a couple before (I found out later!) and had a lot of difficulty putting the needle in! After 80 minutes & two attempts, they finally got it in! When they lay me back down, I was sweating (I was so hot! Even though it was quite cool in the room) and shaking, but when I looked at the poor girl who'd been trying to put the needle in, she was a wreck! She'd burst into tears (after she'd finally done it) under the stress of it all. She was only about my age & I felt sorry for her! I asked her if she was OK and asked the male nurse if he would get her a glass of water!
Then into the operating theatre where my poor DH who'd no idea what had been going on was ushered in, looking bewildered & concerned! The nurses explained to him what had happened.
Within minutes I could feel tugging & pulling - it felt like I was glued to the table & they were trying to pull me off!
Then one of the Dr's called out; "The fluid is nice & clear.... Oh wait! Now it's not!" They'd pulled one little leg out & she decided to poo everywhere! The next thing I knew I could hear this crying that sounded very distant. I kept asking "Is that her? Is that my baby crying?!" but they must have thought it was a stupid question because no-one answered me! Then, at 2.25pm they were holding this gorgeous, chubby, pink, screaming baby up for me to see!
They took her off to the side to be weighed & measured & DH went over to watch & help (he got to measure her!) I got to hold her in my left arm while they stitched me up. It was very awkward though as she was wrapped up in a blanket with only her little face peeping out & I had wires & bits & pieces connected to me everywhere! DH told me that she had a little cut on her bottom where the Dr nicked her with the scalpel!
I wanted to feed her in recovery, however I wasn't able to as they had an emergency with one of the patients in there just as I was about to go in, so I had to wait. DH took our still unnamed baby up to the ward & they had to give her a little bottle as she was screaming away wanting to be fed! When I was finally able to come up to the ward, I held my beautiful baby girl & breastfed her. She was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen! And so healthy! Her apgars were 8 & 9! She weighed in at a huge 8lb 7oz (3930g), which doesn't sound so big until you see that she was only 48cm long!
Later that day, my DH said that as we couldn't decide between our favourite names, he'd made a decision to go with Claire (which was my favourite anyway!!)
Welcome to the world my precious little girl, Claire Fae!
(I've been meaning to get this posted for nearly 4 months now! :o )
I knew from my first scan at 19 weeks that there was a chance I would need to have a caesarian. Our baby was fine, but I was diagnosed with having a "significantly low-lying placenta". The Drs all kept assuring me that this was quite common at the first scan & not to worry as it would more than likely clear up. Also at this first scan, we were very keen to discover the sex of our baby. The sonographer said she couldn't be 100% sure but she thought it was probably a girl. I was over the moon! A boy would have been fantastic, but I secretly always wanted my first baby to be a girl!
I had to have another scan, scheduled for 32 weeks to check the placenta again. This time the sonographer was almost positive I was carrying a girl. The news on the placenta wasn't quite so positive however, I was now in the minority of cases where it hadn't moved away from the os by the 32 week scan. I was still confident though of being able to deliver vaginally!
I had yet another scan scheduled for 34 and a half weeks.
By the time the third scan came around, I was enormous, heavy & uncomfortable! My baby girl's head was jammed right up into my rib cage and showed no signs of moving!
The 34 1/2 week scan showed the placenta at only 1.8cm away from the os, where they really like to see it at least 2cm. The Dr was all set to schedule a caesarian as bub was also breach, although when he discussed it with the head OB (they were all fascinated with the case!) they decided to send me for scan #4 at 36 weeks. If this scan showed the placenta was at least 2 cm from the os, and if the baby was still breach, they would offer me an ECV to try to turn her at 37 weeks. I was very nervous as I didn't know whether to try the ECV, let nature take its course, or just allow the caesarian.
As it happened, I needn't have worried - they did an internal scan at 37 weeks which showed the placenta was actually only 1.5 cm from the os and that the baby was still breach. When I visited the Dr again the following week, they said with both conditions, there was no way they'd let me trial labour & that I would have to have a caesarian. I was disappointed, but by this stage I knew it was a foregone conclusion & I had prepared myself for it.
What I hadn't prepared myself for was what the Dr had to say next - they wanted to schedule my caesarian for 4 days time! They were concerned that the pregnancy had been allowed to go on for too long as it was, as with cases of placenta praevia they like to do a caesarian around 35-36 weeks! No problem.... except that my DH had left to do a job in Sydney (we live north of Brisbane!) that morning & wouldn't be home for a week!! The public hospital was only able to schedule c-sections for Tuesdays, so if we couldn't do it on the day they wanted, we'd have to wait another whole week, making me 39 weeks +1 day! Far too long for a case of placenta praevia!! After a lot of to-ing & fro-ing with the head OB, they finally agreed to let me have the c-section booked in for the following Tuesday, on the condition that I signed a waiver absolving them from blame should anything happen in the meantime & that if I even so much as thought I was going into labour, I was to get to the hospital immediately! While I would never do anything to put my baby's life in jeopardy, I just couldn't go through this without my husband! As I had had a blissfully easy pregnancy & no bleeding (unusual for cases of placenta praevia), and the fact that it wasn't the whole placenta which was low - just a narrow "lip" that extended down the wall of the uterus, I felt that I had made the right decision & I would be OK for another week......
Well!
That sure didn't stop me from worrying over every tinge & tingle I felt for the next week!!!
But I was right! We made it!!!
On the morning we were due to go to hospital, I was very nervous!
We drove to the hospital, sat in the delivery ward waiting room for about an hour & a half getting more & more nervous as the minutes ticked by. Then a midwife came in and took us to the maternity ward & my bed. I put on my gown, got the dreaded bikini shave (:eek: ) and was whisked away down to the operating theatre.
My DH had to suit up & was asked to wait outside while they put my spinal in. I had to sit hunched over my massive baby bulge, clutching a male nurse while they attempted to get the needle in the right spot. The anaesthetist who was putting the needle in had only done a couple before (I found out later!) and had a lot of difficulty putting the needle in! After 80 minutes & two attempts, they finally got it in! When they lay me back down, I was sweating (I was so hot! Even though it was quite cool in the room) and shaking, but when I looked at the poor girl who'd been trying to put the needle in, she was a wreck! She'd burst into tears (after she'd finally done it) under the stress of it all. She was only about my age & I felt sorry for her! I asked her if she was OK and asked the male nurse if he would get her a glass of water!
Then into the operating theatre where my poor DH who'd no idea what had been going on was ushered in, looking bewildered & concerned! The nurses explained to him what had happened.
Within minutes I could feel tugging & pulling - it felt like I was glued to the table & they were trying to pull me off!
Then one of the Dr's called out; "The fluid is nice & clear.... Oh wait! Now it's not!" They'd pulled one little leg out & she decided to poo everywhere! The next thing I knew I could hear this crying that sounded very distant. I kept asking "Is that her? Is that my baby crying?!" but they must have thought it was a stupid question because no-one answered me! Then, at 2.25pm they were holding this gorgeous, chubby, pink, screaming baby up for me to see!
They took her off to the side to be weighed & measured & DH went over to watch & help (he got to measure her!) I got to hold her in my left arm while they stitched me up. It was very awkward though as she was wrapped up in a blanket with only her little face peeping out & I had wires & bits & pieces connected to me everywhere! DH told me that she had a little cut on her bottom where the Dr nicked her with the scalpel!
I wanted to feed her in recovery, however I wasn't able to as they had an emergency with one of the patients in there just as I was about to go in, so I had to wait. DH took our still unnamed baby up to the ward & they had to give her a little bottle as she was screaming away wanting to be fed! When I was finally able to come up to the ward, I held my beautiful baby girl & breastfed her. She was the most amazing thing I'd ever seen! And so healthy! Her apgars were 8 & 9! She weighed in at a huge 8lb 7oz (3930g), which doesn't sound so big until you see that she was only 48cm long!
Later that day, my DH said that as we couldn't decide between our favourite names, he'd made a decision to go with Claire (which was my favourite anyway!!)
Welcome to the world my precious little girl, Claire Fae!