Every pregnant woman has surely heard n number of times that how a normal delivery is better than C-section and how she must do this and do that to facilitate the normal delivery. It was no different for me.
I was in the 8th month of pregnancy when my gynac hinted that she would prefer a c-section in my case. No there were no complications then but just that ours was a precious baby conceived through ivf. People back home were not happy with the decision but I was neutral. Everyday I was being advised that I must put my foot down and insist on a normal delivery. I was also told that the doctor was manipulating me in the name of ivf pregnancy. I did try a couple of times to talk to the doctor and check if we can wait for the normal delivery but in vain. The doctor said that just out of precaution, they do not wait for normal delivery to happen in case of ivf conceptions.
Finally the time came when we had to make the final decision. I readily gave in for a planned C-Section delivery because I had thought over the matter for two whole weeks and had come to the conclusion that at least in my case, C-section was a better and safe option. I will tell you why.
I readup lot of stories of normal deliveries. We always think that normal delivery is the best and safe from the health perspective of both, the mom and the child. But I came across many cases where the mothers regretted having chosen normal delivery because they encountered an emergency situation while in labour.
I came across many cases where mothers paid a huge price for normal delivery. Like, being unable to push till the end and and baby facing distress inside the womb. Many cases unfortunately also turned out to impact the baby physically, like an arm was damaged and even worst something as simple as shooting bp during labour made the child autistic. These are not stories but live examples in the form of friends and relatives. We often think that such things happen to others until it happens to ourself, but I was not ready to take a chance.
I was not ready to experiment in any way, because we had conceived after 8 yrs of marriage and after spending lakhs of rupees, loosing two baby in the womb twice and shedding countless tears and spending numerous sleepless nights. There was too much to lose if something was to go wrong. I couldnt imagine having come this far and going home empty handed – a fear that all ivf mothers have in the deepest corner of their heart. Secondly my body may not have been able to support the normal delivery because I had a condition with uterus (though it was cured by then). Aditionally, all the hormonal medicines and countless injections of ivf procedure had made my body weak. Another reason was that ivf babies are observed to be weaker than normally conceived babies, hence I didnt want my baby to utilise all his strength to come out in this world and then fight for life with certain health conditions.
On the other hand, the only flip side of a C-section was the difficult recovery, some marks that would stay on my abdomen forever and an increased cost of the surgery. At least, my baby was going to be safe! So, I was very clear that I would go for C-section only.
I entered 37th week of pregnancy and we were scheduled for a C-section as soon as the week ended. However, I started feeling extremely uneasy 4 days before. I was having a difficulty to breath and could not feel my baby’s movements actively. We rushed to the hospital and a few tests were performed. It showed that the baby had a looped the umbilical cord around the neck. Also, instead of descending, the baby had moved upwards so much so that his legs were pushing into my chest. So each time he tried to move I would face a bout of breathlessness. The technician said that it is not an emergency yet but I must discuss the reports with my gynac to check whether we need a C-section any time soon. She obviously was not aware that I was scheduled for one in a few days.
My gynac told me to take as much rest as possible in order to complete 37 weeks without needing to deliver before. And by God’s grace, I somehow pulled through. Nobody can imagine my fear and insecurity in those 4 days when I felt breathless and no movements of the baby for a longer than usual time.
Eventually the day arrived and I was rushed to the OT. Since a sonography was performed just 4 days ago, another sonography was not performed before the surgery. The baby’s heartbeats were monitored every two hours though. I couldnt wait any longer to get done with the delivery and I laid calmly on the operation table as my gynac made an incision on my abdomen. My baby was out in 15 mins. You can hear and talk to the doctors at the time of delivery because anesthesia works only on the lower part of the body and I clearly remember doctor using suction and forceps to pull my baby out because he was ascended way higher than normal. Later, the doctor said that with this position and the loop around neck normal delivery may not have been possible even in the case of a normal conception, let alone the ivf conception.
Thus, in the eyes of society I fell prey to the doctor’s gimmicks of tricking me into C-section to make money. For some, I was a coward who feared a normal delivery and for others I just did not have enough tenacity to bear the labour pain. I don’t care what others have to think. I am glad that I had a planned C-section and I am not ashamed about it. My baby was and is far more important to me than to worry how much extra bucks the doctor was making or how ugly my abdomen will look with those stitches from the surgery.
This is a part of #LetsBlogwithPri, a Blog Train hosted by Prisha Lalwani, Author at Mummasaurus.
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I wholeheartedly thank Shruti Mirchandani, my fellow blogger, for introducing me in her blog about how to handle a cranky baby. Also, I would like to introduce Mariyum. Do read her blog on here