24 Week Appointment

This morning, as I previously mentioned, we had our 24 week appointment. It was at 8:15 am --yikes! But, I'm glad we were there early and since it is the day after New Year's, there weren't any other patients there at the time. We decided now was probably a good time to discuss a VBAC vs. repeat c-section with the doctor. I must say, I feel incredibly lucky to have randomly picked him from the Internet. He is really nice and very straight forward. I have done some research on VBAC and there is definitely some conflicting information, as well as a lot of it to be determined by the doctor's individual preferences (i.e. whether or not to administer pitocin). Dr. Grover said it was definitely our decision whether or not to try a VBAC and I feel he would have supported either decision. He simply told us the pros and cons of each and we all discussed it together. I know there is a slight risk of uterine rupture with a VBAC, but I did not realize it is 1:200. That is a little risky for me. And Dr. Grover does not give pitocin to VBAC patients, as it can cause very intense contractions (been there, done that), increasing the risk of rupture. And since I did not contract on my own or dialate, we are opting for the repeat c-section. He said he has performed up to 5 c-sections on a woman with no problems, although each c-section poses a slightly greater risk due to more scar tissue to cut through, etc. I told him we will not have more than 3 :) And obviously the recovery is much harder than a vaginal. But all in all, I think this is the best option for us. I don't want to end up with another labor like Caroline's -- 22 hours of labor (18 of those without an epidural) to end up in a c-section. I have never been so tired in my life!

So, we have a date for April 14, 2009!!! That is exactly one week before my due date (I will be 39 weeks pregnant) and he insists she will be fully cooked :) That is only 14 weeks and 4 days! Holy cow!!!

Everything else looked great at the appointment. I have gained a total of 16 pounds in 24 weeks, which is nothing short of a miracle given the massive amounts of food I've eaten over the last month. So that puts me on target to gain significantly less than I did with Caroline. Let's hope that continues...And my belly was measuring at 25 weeks, so that is right on track as well.

The only hard part is that Caroline freaks out everytime the nurse does something to me. Usually it starts with crying when she listens for the baby's heartbeat (which is still 160), but today she got upset when she put the blood pressure cuff on my arm :( She is so sensitive...the nurse says it is so cute how she is protective of me.

Also, the tightening I have been feeling really low is apparently braxton hicks contractions. I never had these with Caroline so it feels really weird. They said it is a little early and to keep an eye on them. If they start happening more regularly then I will need to go back in.