I went to my latest prenatal appointment yesterday and got some news:
I don't know when, exactly, I might go into labor, but it won't be after April 28. Save the date, everyone, because I'm scheduled for a c-section that morning at 9:30 a.m.
Why? OK, here's the freaky part. As if the blue-lip phenomenon (which happened again today, once again at Babies R Us), the Bell's palsy, and the unusually large little girl I'm carrying weren't freaky enough, I just found out yesterday that my pelvis never opened.
(A primer for those who haven't been studying pregnancy-related things like I've been doing: When you're pregnant, cartlidge in your body expands because there's a little bit in the pelvis that can slightly separate the pubic bone, thus making a wider opening for the baby to be born. This is why pregnant women get overall joint pain, because the body can't send the signal to just loosen up that pelvic cartlidge; instead, it loosens up ALL of it to some extent. This pelvic opening happens to every mom-to-be, even just a little bit. Every mom, of course, except for ME.)
My doctor said I could get a second opinion, but frankly, my pelvis is closed so tightly that she couldn't even do a proper examination to see how my cervix was progressing. (This is probably the most graphic this blog has gotten so far; I could go into more detail but you probably don't want to read it, trust me.) There's still a chance that things could change, but my pelvis was supposed to have all this stuff happen gradually over the course of the past several months, not all-at-once in the next few weeks. Combine this with the fact that I'm supposed to be giving birth to Uber-baby, and you've got Instant Cesarean. (And if all this weren't enough to convince me, my mom and I discussed how my collarbone had to be broken for me to be born because I got stuck, and I wasn't that big of a baby - 7 lb., 13 oz., 19 inches long, and most of the weight was rolls of fat, as I was quite the chubby little newborn. Mom had an easier time with my sister, but she was only 5 lb., 15 oz., plus I've theorized that since my mom was only in her teens when she had my sister, then perhaps her pelvic bones weren't fully formed at that time and therefore were a bit more flexible. I don't know how medically sound that is, but I've heard weirder stuff than that be true, so I might have something there. My point being, this pelvic bone thing could be genetic.)
Jason and I have all sorts of feelings about this. Jason's first was both dismay and relief of fate, of all things - the genetic combination of my inflexible pelvis and his family's history of very large babies, which is unfortunate, but not as unfortunate as what could've happened had we been a couple in the last century, which would've left Jason a childless widower at 28. Let's face it, given the circumstances, we're very lucky that it's 2003. On a different note, I initially felt relieved at having a "stop date" - I hate uncertainty, as anyone who knows me can attest, so at least having a date I will not go past (and having it relatively soon) relieves me. However, I also know that while other women have these elaborate stories of when and where they went into labor, for how long, etc., I'm just going to have a tale of getting prepped for surgery. Yeah, I feel like I'm missing out somewhat - sure, I'm cracking jokes about my Lamaze classes turning out to be a waste of money, but it really does make me sad, even though I know the result will be the same - the birth of a beautiful baby whom I already adore. Plus surgery is scary (getting my wisdom teeth removed has been the most traumatic and invasive thing my body's been through thus far), as is the knowledge that I won't get to hold Veronica right after she's born and do all that snuggling and cuddling that new moms always seem to do minutes after birth - I'll be getting stitched up, no moving allowed. (I asked about that weeks ago, in a just-in-case scenario, not knowing it would be a definite thing.)
In the middle of all this, Jason's pregnant sister Anne freaked out over the date on which I will give birth - April 28, which is the same birthday as her husband's severely retarded brother. She does not think this bodes well; Jason has already mentioned that she will keep her legs crossed if she has to, or push all that much harder, to make sure that if labor arises around that date, she will give birth on the 27th or the 29th instead. (She's due on April 23, btw.) I know this is absolute nonsense, don't get me wrong - who knows how many millions of people have been born on April 28th and are completely fine - but to hear this sort of thing really doesn't help my overall state of mind.
I guess I should add some good news, this about the palsy: It's starting to go away. This week has been miraculous to me. I can close my right eye now, no problem, although the muscle responses aren't as strong as they used to be. (That's even getting better, though.) I can give you a full grin (although a full, toothy smile is still not there and I'm still really lopsided when I laugh.) I can drink pop from a can or a bottle and not dribble it all over, I can speak just fine (unless I lapse back into my West Virginia accent, which has nothing to do with the palsy but is just annoying sometimes), and I can even do my Billy Idol snarl on both sides of my mouth now. (Haven't seen it? Ask me next time you see me. It's priceless. I'll even throw in a couple bars of "White Wedding" for free.) The only thing that still isn't getting noticeably better is my right eyebrow and the right side of my forehead - it looks like I OD'd on Botox. Joan Rivers would run up to me and ask who does my work. You get the idea. But I'm just all shades of happy that, before I have Veronica, I got back the two abilities that I feel matter most: The ability to close that eye, for health reasons alone, and the ability to smile at her the first time I see her, for many more reasons than that. :-)
I don't know when, exactly, I might go into labor, but it won't be after April 28. Save the date, everyone, because I'm scheduled for a c-section that morning at 9:30 a.m.
Why? OK, here's the freaky part. As if the blue-lip phenomenon (which happened again today, once again at Babies R Us), the Bell's palsy, and the unusually large little girl I'm carrying weren't freaky enough, I just found out yesterday that my pelvis never opened.
(A primer for those who haven't been studying pregnancy-related things like I've been doing: When you're pregnant, cartlidge in your body expands because there's a little bit in the pelvis that can slightly separate the pubic bone, thus making a wider opening for the baby to be born. This is why pregnant women get overall joint pain, because the body can't send the signal to just loosen up that pelvic cartlidge; instead, it loosens up ALL of it to some extent. This pelvic opening happens to every mom-to-be, even just a little bit. Every mom, of course, except for ME.)
My doctor said I could get a second opinion, but frankly, my pelvis is closed so tightly that she couldn't even do a proper examination to see how my cervix was progressing. (This is probably the most graphic this blog has gotten so far; I could go into more detail but you probably don't want to read it, trust me.) There's still a chance that things could change, but my pelvis was supposed to have all this stuff happen gradually over the course of the past several months, not all-at-once in the next few weeks. Combine this with the fact that I'm supposed to be giving birth to Uber-baby, and you've got Instant Cesarean. (And if all this weren't enough to convince me, my mom and I discussed how my collarbone had to be broken for me to be born because I got stuck, and I wasn't that big of a baby - 7 lb., 13 oz., 19 inches long, and most of the weight was rolls of fat, as I was quite the chubby little newborn. Mom had an easier time with my sister, but she was only 5 lb., 15 oz., plus I've theorized that since my mom was only in her teens when she had my sister, then perhaps her pelvic bones weren't fully formed at that time and therefore were a bit more flexible. I don't know how medically sound that is, but I've heard weirder stuff than that be true, so I might have something there. My point being, this pelvic bone thing could be genetic.)
Jason and I have all sorts of feelings about this. Jason's first was both dismay and relief of fate, of all things - the genetic combination of my inflexible pelvis and his family's history of very large babies, which is unfortunate, but not as unfortunate as what could've happened had we been a couple in the last century, which would've left Jason a childless widower at 28. Let's face it, given the circumstances, we're very lucky that it's 2003. On a different note, I initially felt relieved at having a "stop date" - I hate uncertainty, as anyone who knows me can attest, so at least having a date I will not go past (and having it relatively soon) relieves me. However, I also know that while other women have these elaborate stories of when and where they went into labor, for how long, etc., I'm just going to have a tale of getting prepped for surgery. Yeah, I feel like I'm missing out somewhat - sure, I'm cracking jokes about my Lamaze classes turning out to be a waste of money, but it really does make me sad, even though I know the result will be the same - the birth of a beautiful baby whom I already adore. Plus surgery is scary (getting my wisdom teeth removed has been the most traumatic and invasive thing my body's been through thus far), as is the knowledge that I won't get to hold Veronica right after she's born and do all that snuggling and cuddling that new moms always seem to do minutes after birth - I'll be getting stitched up, no moving allowed. (I asked about that weeks ago, in a just-in-case scenario, not knowing it would be a definite thing.)
In the middle of all this, Jason's pregnant sister Anne freaked out over the date on which I will give birth - April 28, which is the same birthday as her husband's severely retarded brother. She does not think this bodes well; Jason has already mentioned that she will keep her legs crossed if she has to, or push all that much harder, to make sure that if labor arises around that date, she will give birth on the 27th or the 29th instead. (She's due on April 23, btw.) I know this is absolute nonsense, don't get me wrong - who knows how many millions of people have been born on April 28th and are completely fine - but to hear this sort of thing really doesn't help my overall state of mind.
I guess I should add some good news, this about the palsy: It's starting to go away. This week has been miraculous to me. I can close my right eye now, no problem, although the muscle responses aren't as strong as they used to be. (That's even getting better, though.) I can give you a full grin (although a full, toothy smile is still not there and I'm still really lopsided when I laugh.) I can drink pop from a can or a bottle and not dribble it all over, I can speak just fine (unless I lapse back into my West Virginia accent, which has nothing to do with the palsy but is just annoying sometimes), and I can even do my Billy Idol snarl on both sides of my mouth now. (Haven't seen it? Ask me next time you see me. It's priceless. I'll even throw in a couple bars of "White Wedding" for free.) The only thing that still isn't getting noticeably better is my right eyebrow and the right side of my forehead - it looks like I OD'd on Botox. Joan Rivers would run up to me and ask who does my work. You get the idea. But I'm just all shades of happy that, before I have Veronica, I got back the two abilities that I feel matter most: The ability to close that eye, for health reasons alone, and the ability to smile at her the first time I see her, for many more reasons than that. :-)
posted by Maranie @ 10:45 PM
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