Anne Rogers wrote:

With that list, I sometimes wonder if I am even nuts to consider a
vaginal birth, then I think back to my first birth and if it were that
easy again, I'd be nuts to consider anything else. The thing is though,
he was an IUGR baby and thus had enlarged fontanelles, they were about 3
inches across, when 1 inch is normal for a full term baby, about the
size of a quarter. Another IUGR baby wouldn't be great and may not have
such extreme fontanelles.

What about considering birth on your knees to open things up more
easily? I think I remember that you didn't last time because of
shoulder problems. I've seen pictures of women birthing on their knees
with their upper bodies propped to avoid arm/shoulder strain.

In my personal experience giving birth, my hands and knees deliveries
have made a world of difference in avoiding the pounding to my pelvis
and resulting injury.

Another consideration is timing of delivery, with DD I was in horrific
pain the final month, the obsetric community tends towards symphysis
pubis pain not being a condition where damage is occuring, the
orthopedic community pretty much seem to say that is rubbish and any
time there is dysfunction of a joint there is going to be swelling and
often other mess as well and if they do end up doing surgery, the first
thing they have to do is a thorough clean up. Based on that, the
obstetric community see no difference in delivery at 37 weeks and 42
weeks, whereas there's a possibility that this extra month could make
quite a difference in terms of the amount of inflammation that needs to
calm down. In the UK at that time there was a big drive to do elective
c-sections at 39 weeks or later, whereas I get the impression here that
most doctors are more open to doing amnio for lung maturity and
delivering earlier if that comes back ok. That could be a significant
benefit to us.

While the obstetric community may see no difference between delivery at
37 and 42 weeks, some people in the breastfeeding community find that it
is often more difficult to get breastfeeding off to a good start with a
37-38 week baby. Another breastfeeding thing to consider with a C
section is that your milk may not come in as soon.

I'm not bringing these things up to say that a C section is the wrong
choice, but just as factors for you to research. All those well
meaning people who say "All that matters is a healthy baby," bother me.
I think the health and happiness of the mother are very important for
her own sake and for her baby's sake.

--Betsy