munchkin

My niece just had one last week. The baby was 9 lbs 5 ozs. They were afraid he was too big and they might have to break his collarbone. . . or something like that. They decided rather than have her go through labor for hours and have to do a c-section anyways just to go ahead and schedule it. She said the dr commented several times as my great nephew was born that his head was very big and they were glad they didn't try a vaginal birth. My poor niece thought she had this badly proportioned baby with a big head and little body (kind of like those martian pictures). Not the case. He is beautiful and beautifully proportioned. They took him to pediatrician Saturday for his first visit and there was another newborn who only weighed about 5 lbs. My niece said when she saw how little that baby's head was compared to hers she was thankful they did a c-section.

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3b/c

WileE-Dead

~915~

I have a lot of strong opinions on c-sections. The area in which I live has one of the highest c-section rates in the country, according to my lamaze instructor. In a nutshell, the art of giving birth is no longer passed down from woman to woman. There aren't midwives like there used to be. Birth is now considered a medical procedure and is handled mostly by men.

I did it the old-fashioned way and I still have a flat tummy (when I stand up ), I healed within weeks (no tearing or episiotomy) and I am definitely very close to being the same down there. Obviously, with the tummy, I had genetics on my side, but I know that the weight loss came from the breast-feeding. I also watched my sugar intake at the end of the pregnancy so that my child turned out 7.6 lbs, which is manageable.

It's my understanding from the women that I know personally who've had c-sections that the scar tissue prevents the tummy from going flat again. The c-sections that I know are all a little chubby in general because of the old story of their milk not coming in (because of the c-section) and needing to bottle feed on top of it all.

I know that some women need c-sections for medical reasons, but every woman I know had a medical reason. They all have some long story explaining why. It just makes me wonder what's up.

M2LR

Well, both apply to me.

First baby: Boy that was close to 9 pounds and 22 inches. He was breech, head wedged under my rib cage, and he was born with congential muscular torticollis and needed physical therapy until 6 months old.

Second baby: Had a previous c-section and scheduling the second one was just easier. I also couldn't be induced due to the previous c-section and didn't feel like sitting waiting for labor, when I was all ready carrying a big baby. She was born about three weeks berfore her brother and was the exact same size as he was...I didn't feel like waiting and having a 9 or 10 pounder.

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loosecurls

I plan on it if we have another baby that is measuring large like Betsy. Generally 2nd & 3rd babies are larger than the 1st so that would put me at having a 12 or 13 lb baby. Sorry but no thank you! Judge all you want!

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Slinky's rule for NC.com:

I suppose I can't judge you because you married a serviceman and it is wartime. Boo hoo. You must be loney sitting at home with nothing else to do but pick on people. Why don't you go masterbate again?

Mip

Wimp.

Meghuney

You changed your name. LMAO!!

Mip

Dee Curlz

Sorry about the poll girls! It's my first one and I had a "no" option, I really did!

~915~

12 or 13 lb babies are a necessary c-section in my opinion. I wouldn't begrudge you a c-section. Did you or do you have diabetes?

iris427

ITA here. There is something fishy going on with all these C-sections. To answer the OP's question, yes they are on the rise. In 2004 the US rate was 29.1 % of all births!!! Even taking into account the rise in elective c-sections, I find it impossible to believe so many women could not give birth without surgery. Women's bodies were made to give birth and babies were made to be born.

Doctors today are very worried about being sued which is why most say c-section at the first sign that labor isn't progressing exactly the way some text book says it should.

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DarkAngel

I had one for medical reasons. My water broke at 34 weeks. The docs tried to induce labor with pitocin. Nothing much happening. I dilated to a whole 1 cm. They tried to put an internal monitor on the baby and then his umbilical cord decided it was ready to born. Once the cord dropped out, his heart rate dropped to under 50 beats per minute. They had me in OR and him out in less than ten minutes.

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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." -- Theodor Seuss Geisel

~915~

It's very difficult to talk about the negative effects of c-sections without hurting a lot of people's feelings.

Rain

My first pregnancy, I ate sooo healthy. I took all my vitamins. I ate a ton of veggies. My baby was almost 7 pounds even though she was born at 35 weeks. Her dad was a 10-pounder. There's only so much you can control through diet, then genetics come into play.

For what it's worth, I breastfed both my c-section babies. I had milk and milk to spare. I've never heard of a c-section preventing milk coming in. I remember my mom nursing my baby brother after she had an emergency c-section. She had four of us naturally, then with the last one there was a breech presentation and he had his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. His heart stopped beating and they had to slice into her the horribly painful way, all up the belly. She breasfted when she brought him home. I didn't even nurse my first baby until she was five days old and we had no problems with breasfteeding for the year she was nursed.

I have a saggy belly that may or may not go flat again but I think that has more to do with the fact that I have a short torso and huge babies than it does with how they were born. My belly had a lot more stretching out to do than someone with a longer torso. It took my abs a long time to come back after being sliced into though. I mean, I literally couldn't even feel that I had them for years.

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3a/b, fine, lots of it

loosecurls

Judgey McJudgerson!!!

__________________
Slinky's rule for NC.com:

I suppose I can't judge you because you married a serviceman and it is wartime. Boo hoo. You must be loney sitting at home with nothing else to do but pick on people. Why don't you go masterbate again?

Mip

Ahem, concept of separation of powers alert! As President, I can't be a judge.

loosecurls

Ah, right. hmmmmm ---LOOK! SHINY SHINY!!!!

__________________
Slinky's rule for NC.com:

I suppose I can't judge you because you married a serviceman and it is wartime. Boo hoo. You must be loney sitting at home with nothing else to do but pick on people. Why don't you go masterbate again?

Mip

violets

I don't know a doctor who would agree to get a baby out a month early just because the woman doesn't want a tummy.
During the last few weeks, the babies develop their lungs. Not too many women are going to risk their baby like that. This doesn't sound like you got accurate information.

WileE-Dead

Girrrrl! I think you deserved one after all that...lol