Possible csection due to large baby - fears

[TTC LADY]

I had my 36 wk mw check up today and the baby is still following a growth curve which suggests he/ she will be near to 10lbs.

My first was 6 pounds 14 oz and I had a really bad episotomy tear and developed some excruciating haemorrids. The mw asked whether I may want to have a planned csection this time round and I have a appointment scheduled with consultant this Friday.

Part of me thinks this is the route to go, but then I hear about horror stories of people not being up and about for weeks, painful scars months later and I get nervous just thinking about it.

However if this baby is going to be near 10lbs then there is no way I will be able to push that out without another tear and no doubt awful haemorrhoid. Which last time took about 2 weeks to recover from.

Would love to hear from ladies who have had both a vaginal (with tears / episotomy) and csection birth to understand more real life stories about which one was easier to recover from.

 

[LDC]

Hi there, sorry I have only had a section but this was due to a big (10lb 1oz) back to back baby, I couldn't get her down the birth canal and went from 8cm back to 6cm after nearly a three day labour. I ended up with an emcs which was a very positive experience. My recovery went really well, it was hard or the first few days, especially with a big baby to lift but after a week I was moving around much better and by week 2 I felt good but still obviously took it easy. I'm planning on having a section if we are lucky enough to have anymore because I'm worried that baby will be even bigger and the NHS won't give me a growth scan to see how big baby is to allow me to decide whether to go for a vbac or section, which is frustrating!

Sorry I know that's probably not much help but good luck with whatever you decide.

Xx

 

[winegums]

Hey there I've had an elective section and a vaginal birth with my son who was just under 9lbs and got a 2nd (nearly 3rd) degree tear.

The recoveries where completely different worlds apart - the section I was in hospital for 4 days and then struggled for quite a long time after needing pain meds and iron due to blood lost in the section etc. Also emotionally I really struggled with finding it difficult to pick my baby up, play on the floor with him, put him on my tummy etc.

With my vaginal birth I gave birth early hours of the morning and was home by 4pm. I could play with my toddler and pick up my baby, carry him around. Breastfeed in any position without being worried about my tummy etc. I still had some pain meds for the tear but not nearly as strong ones and could stop taking them after a couple of days.

At the end of the day though everyones experiences are different. I've seen teeny tiny women push out 11lb babies without a graze, and equally I've seen women who have had children before without a problem give birth to a 7lb baby whilst sustaining 2nd and 3rd degree tears.

Each pregnancy is different, each baby is different, even your body will have changed. Tears happen more due to the position of baby as they emerge and the speed of the birth than due to the size of the baby.

Speak to the consultant, read around the subject, think about it - don't rush into any decisions. At the end of the day its your body and your birth and if you are really apprehensive of the outcome of a vaginal birth it could actually have a real effect on labour itself.

Oh and don't forget how inaccurate growth scans can be - especially as you get further on into pregnancy.

 

[Lil_Pixie]

I had an emcs due to having a large baby (9lb 15oz and I'm under 5 ft tall)

Physically my recovery was easy, not very painful at all although obviously I don't have much to compare it to. On day 2 I had to have a couple of blood transfusions and before that I was very dizzy and confused so struggled a bit. I felt very disconnected from my baby when he was born though. Everyone saw him but me, all the theatre staff had a cuddle and my dh obviously. They were telling me all the things I wanted to see for myself - his hair colour, his crazy fat feet etc and it just broke my heart that I wasn't able to meet my son and have him meet his mummy before anyone else.

 

[kimberleyrobx]

I had a c-section 3 weeks ago... it was AMAZING! the worst part was having the spinal and local anesthetic in as it stung! the thing i hated most is that i was bed bound for 12 hours after as thats when my catheter came out! i went for a shower 12 hours after my c-section and surprisingly there was barely any pain! make sure you get your oral morphine every 2-4 hours along with the paracetamol every 4 hours, otherwise it does get painful! best operation ive ever had lol xx

 

[JeepGirl]

I had a EMCS due to DS being back to back and getting stuck. The recovery was one of the worse things I've ever gone through. I was in the hospital for a week and needed help at home after for weeks for even simple things. I had pain for months after when I moved the wrong way. I have a planned CS coming up and I'm absolutely dreading it but I'm not a candidate for a VBAC Everyone is different when it comes to the recovery, but it I had a choice I would chose a vaginal birth any day. This time not only do I have to recover from a major surgery, but I'm going to have a 2year old who wont understand why Mama can't pick him up for at least 6 weeks.

Also DS was estimated to be between 10-11lbs, and at birth only ended up being 8lbs 2oz. Their estimates can be way off.

 

[RachA]

I've had both and for me the vaginal birth was much easier to recover from than the c-section. Most people i know don't have prolonged problems after a section though - i think i don't deal with surgery well. It took me 12 weeks before i felt normal again with the section. Even now i get pain in my scar due to adhesions and my son is 6 this August.
My vaginal birth took me about 4 days to get over.


One thing i would say is that growth scans are not accurate. Both times i was pregnant another lady i know was pregnant too. She was told all the way along 'you need to consider a section as your baby is going to be big, over 9lb, you will have problems' etc. He son ended up being 7lb. Whereas they thought i was having a normal sized baby and he ended up being 9lb 3oz!
Also, a bigger baby isn't always harder to birth - quite often it can be harder with a smaller baby.

 

[aimee-lou]

While I haven't had a section, I wanted to say that the growth scans are NOT accurate in the slightest. A 2nd labour is an entirely different kettle of fish, and there's no guarantee that you'll struggle if baby is considerably bigger. Both my boys have been born by NVB and my 2nd was nearly 11lb (growth scans said 9.5lb, same as my first), and the consultant has simply said to me 'As long as you're happy, go for it' about another NVB attempt. I'm not allowed a home birth, or even to go Midwife led, as they want me within shooting distance of surgery just in case. I didn't have straightforward births - both have gotten stuck due to shoulder width, and Earl got an injury. Even so my recoveries have been very quick - 10 days with Earl, 2 days with Edward!! I have done a lot of research as the concept of giving birth naturally to an 11lb+ baby scared me! From what I can gather, if you opt for a section and go in with it planned, your recovery is likely to be smoother. If you go for an NVB and you then require a c-sec then recovery is a lot harder as you have the trauma of labour on top of the surgery trauma. I think if I have any doubt at all that I cannot do it, I'll opt for an elective planned c-sec rather than go for the NVB and risk that double whammy. It's difficult though - at the moment I'll be going the NVB route, hoping to get to use the water suite in delivery (fingers crossed) but I'm not ruling out the ELCS route if something crops up.

 

[kimberleyrobx]

While I haven't had a section, I wanted to say that the growth scans are NOT accurate in the slightest. A 2nd labour is an entirely different kettle of fish, and there's no guarantee that you'll struggle if baby is considerably bigger. Both my boys have been born by NVB and my 2nd was nearly 11lb (growth scans said 9.5lb, same as my first), and the consultant has simply said to me 'As long as you're happy, go for it' about another NVB attempt. I'm not allowed a home birth, or even to go Midwife led, as they want me within shooting distance of surgery just in case. I didn't have straightforward births - both have gotten stuck due to shoulder width, and Earl got an injury. Even so my recoveries have been very quick - 10 days with Earl, 2 days with Edward!! I have done a lot of research as the concept of giving birth naturally to an 11lb+ baby scared me! From what I can gather, if you opt for a section and go in with it planned, your recovery is likely to be smoother. If you go for an NVB and you then require a c-sec then recovery is a lot harder as you have the trauma of labour on top of the surgery trauma. I think if I have any doubt at all that I cannot do it, I'll opt for an elective planned c-sec rather than go for the NVB and risk that double whammy. It's difficult though - at the moment I'll be going the NVB route, hoping to get to use the water suite in delivery (fingers crossed) but I'm not ruling out the ELCS route if something crops up.

I had a scan at 37 weeks and baby was measuring 8lbs 2oz... he was born a week later weighing 8lbs 3oz so they werent far off it xx

 

[winegums]

Mine were really far off, they were worried my first wasn't growing well - estimated 5 and a half lbs he was just under 7lbs when born. My second they told me he was going to be large and estimated 10lbs 4oz at I think it was 38 weeks. He was born 4 weeks later at 8lbs 13oz... go figure

 

[Evansangel]

I had growth scans due to a big first baby (she was 9lbs 11) and they said that he would be between 7lbs 5 and 8lbs 5, but more likely 7lbs 5.

He was 8lbs 12. So smaller than lily was but a lot bigger than the scan said!

 

[confused87com]

i have had 2 sections, the first i was pretty drugged up more due to being an emotional wreck rather than in pain. This time was properly planned. i had the morphine straight after surgery but went on to tramadol straight after, i hated feeling drugged. i was up within 2 hours and walking around, the nurses said they wouldnt have known id had a section...not all recoveries are a hard recovery, the only thing i had problems with was lifting my toddler...i prob overdid that a bit, but recovery was great and a lot of my firends who had nvb, seemed to take longer. everyone is different tho i suppose.

 

[momto4girls]

While I haven't had a section, I wanted to say that the growth scans are NOT accurate in the slightest. A 2nd labour is an entirely different kettle of fish, and there's no guarantee that you'll struggle if baby is considerably bigger. Both my boys have been born by NVB and my 2nd was nearly 11lb (growth scans said 9.5lb, same as my first), and the consultant has simply said to me 'As long as you're happy, go for it' about another NVB attempt. I'm not allowed a home birth, or even to go Midwife led, as they want me within shooting distance of surgery just in case. I didn't have straightforward births - both have gotten stuck due to shoulder width, and Earl got an injury. Even so my recoveries have been very quick - 10 days with Earl, 2 days with Edward!! I have done a lot of research as the concept of giving birth naturally to an 11lb+ baby scared me! From what I can gather, if you opt for a section and go in with it planned, your recovery is likely to be smoother. If you go for an NVB and you then require a c-sec then recovery is a lot harder as you have the trauma of labour on top of the surgery trauma. I think if I have any doubt at all that I cannot do it, I'll opt for an elective planned c-sec rather than go for the NVB and risk that double whammy. It's difficult though - at the moment I'll be going the NVB route, hoping to get to use the water suite in delivery (fingers crossed) but I'm not ruling out the ELCS route if something crops up.

I had a scan at 37 weeks and baby was measuring 8lbs 2oz... he was born a week later weighing 8lbs 3oz so they werent far off it xx

My 2yr old was estimated 4 days before delivery (EMCS) at 10lbs8oz, and he was 10lbs4oz, so they weren't off with him either. He measured big on every scan they did on him though, and they did a lot. I had a lot of complications with his pregnancy. They suspected my 4 month old would be large as well, and I guess he was, 8lbs9oz, but he seemed small to me after his brother. My girls were all natural deliveries, so my doctor was going to let me try to VBAC, but all hope was tossed out the window when at 39 weeks I started laboring on my own and he was determined to be breech, so csection it was for me.

The first one was hard to recover from, but only because I had 4 natural deliveries before it. It was also the first major surgery of any kind I've ever had, so I was in loads of pain. With the second one, I knew what to expect, and was up and moving around within 6 hours of the surgery, and was pretty much ready to go home the next day, though they wouldn't let me.

 

[Twinkie210]

I have had both a vaginal delivery (with forceps/episiotomy/4th degree tear) and a scheduled c-section. My first son was a forcep delivery. It was a horrible recovery. He was on the larger side 8lb 14oz, but his head was a wopping 14.25in. He got stuck while pushing and his heartrate started dropping (he had his cord around his neck twice). It was either delivery him with forceps or have an emergency c-section, which the forceps were faster/less risky at the time. It took a long time to feel "normal" again.

My second son was a planned c-section, because he was breech. He ended up being even bigger than his brother 9lb 6oz and a 15in head circumference! The recovery from my c-section was a cake walk compared to the recovery from my vaginal delivery! I was in the hospital longer and I was sore for a couple days, but I got around fine on my own.

I think the difference in my recovery was my expectations. I was a first time Mom with my vaginal delivery and had NO idea what to expect (you read stories, but you don't know until you have been through it). I was expecting my recovery after my c-section to be horrible, so I was pleasantly surprised when I could do more than I expected

 

[Feline]

I had a wonderful, positive elective c-section in January this year (check out my birth story) - it was the best day of my life! I felt pretty normal within a couple of days, and it presented no probs at all with breast-feeding or picking up my new born.

Good luck with whatever you decide.xx

 

[purplelou]

I had a csection, not planned but emcs due to failure to progress. I was induced because i was 14 days overdue and just didnt dilate past 7cm, my babys head would not come down at all. once she was delivered by section we found out why - she was big!! 11 lbs 3! after being in labour and really struggling for 24 hours the c/s was a relief. I think I recovered quite fast. the staff at my hospital were brilliant and came whenever I needed to feed my baby or wanted to cuddle her as I couldnt lift her from the bed initially, then they helped me whenever I was on my own. I found it to be a very positive experience and tbh I was dead against a csection before I went into labour.
I am planning to ask for a section second time around if I managed to get pregnant again...the thought of another huge baby scares me!