It is crazy how time flies and how I keep meaning to post more often than I do. Since my last post we have found out that I am having a girl! We are very excited to complete our family. What could be more perfect than a boy and a girl?
Hip wise things have been ok. I do feel quite a bit of weakness in the left hip. I imagine it has to do with the lack of weight lifting I have not been doing. My OB does not want me to do a lot of lifting so I have been using the exercise bike a few times a week. It does help, but it is so boring! I have some numbness when I lay on my left during sleep, I always was a tummy sleeper and the belly is making that impossible. Thankfully there is no locking up so I am happy with that result! I do have pain in the left buttock now and then, I think this is do to the weakness and fact that I am adding the extra weight from the pregnancy. All in all the aches and pains are not much different than my last pregnancy.
In the back of my head I am worried I will have to have a PAO on my right. The relaxin released in pregnancy is great for birthing babies, but not so great for dysplastic hips. I have had some locking and weakness in the right hip. I will worry about that bridge later though. Right now the big dilemma is to have a vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC) or not.
My last post said I was 85% sure I was doing a repeat C-Section, but now as it gets closer the thought of one more surgery is not appealing to me. So many worries though, wondering if my hips will allow me to do it since Caleb never got past my pelvis before. (He was 9lbs and face up - the most difficult position to push out!) I know the PAO should not have any effect on the vaginal birth, but my right hip bone is smaller than my left so in the back of my mind I wonder if my hips expand the way they should. Of course there is no one to answer this question. My OB's want me to do the C-section, they say I have a 13% chance of success with the VBAC based on how my last labor went. (Fully dilated and pushed for 2 hours with no movement from the "0" position) That percentage comes from a study done in 1997 though so I wonder how accurate it is anymore. The big worry is uterine rupture, only a 1% chance, but the outcome could be catastrophic and I am usually the worst case scenario type person. So, like I said not an easy decision. I would like to see if these hips and my body could do a natural childbirth, but still not sure if it is the right decision for me. I will keep everyone updated with my decision, I promise! I would like to thank all of the Hip Women on the yahoo group for their quick responses and great advice, it does help to chat with people who have been through the same things I am going through.
4 years ago