Born: August 17, 2007 at 1:50 p.m.
Gestational Age: 39+ weeks
Weight: 9 lbs. 13 oz.
Height: 19 1/2 inches
The Pregnancy: As Serena quickly grew, Michael and I were ready to start trying for our second (and last) child. We decided to leave it to fate and were blessed when we became pregnant quickly. I was especially lucky as this pregnancy progressed easily and without complications. It was definitely easier than my first! I had very little nausea during the first trimester. I was able to enjoy the honeymoon phase of the second trimester. Then some mild aches and nausea reappeared during my last trimester. During the last month, I had occasional high blood pressures. And during the last couple of weeks, both glucose and protein were seen in my urine. But thankfully, nothing became of either issues. My darling husband was very supportive and he made it to all but two ob appointments. (Both times he had to stay at home and watch Serena.) My weight gain was similar to my previous pregnancy; in other words, a lot! My son fooled us all. The biggest he ever measured via ultrasound was in the 67%ile and lo and behold, look how big he turned out!!
The Plan: Because of my previous c-section, and also because hemophilia runs in my family, I did not want to risk using a scalp electrode, vacuum or forcepts on my son. So a repeat c-section was scheduled at 39 weeks.
Labor and Delivery: The last week prior to my surgery, I had a couple false labor starts, lost my mucous plug, and also had random strong contractions in the middle of the night that would wake me. But I never had a true labor pattern. So I went to the hospital as planned without incident. The delivery, however, was another story. Michael was in the O.R. with me, and when it was time to come out, the baby didn't want to. He was twisting and turning and even changed positions in my uterus. The doctors were almost going to use a vacuum, but then decided against it because of the risk of hemophilia. Instead, they had to widen the original incision to get him out. I was in A LOT of discomfort and for a moment, I was worried I was going to be put to sleep completely and given a classical incision. Thank God that didn't happen. My son was born and to everyone's surprise, he was larger than his sister!! I'm glad I never opted for the VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section)!! Afterwards, my recovery went well. Nikos and I were discharged within 48 hours. I got what I prayed for - a healthy baby and a healthy mom.
