Before the baby - Part 1 of Troy's Birth Story

It’s true.  It’s official.  Troy Michael Blaesser was born on September 25^th at 3:03pm weighing in at 9 pounds 5 ounces.  We are so, so, so in love.  It’s truly an incredible feeling, as all mom’s know, to suddenly have this tiny baby placed in your arms, and you’re never again the same person you once were. 

The days leading up to Troy’s birth were hard.  Some of the hardest I’ve had.  As I previously explained, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes in my third trimester.  Despite the fact that I had been on a strict diet to monitor my blood sugars and things were never too out of control after that, this baby was just on a rapid growth plan.  My due date was September 26^th, but both my OB and Perinatologist were hoping I’d go into labor earlier than that, however that didn’t happen. 

I had an ultrasound scheduled for Monday September 23^rd to determine just how big this boy had gotten.  Let me just say that I loved, the perinatologist, that did all of my ultrasounds.  He was so comforting and never pressured me.  I would recommend him to anyone out there in need of one.  However, after the ultrasound technician mentioned she thought this baby was measuring to be 10 pounds 2 ounces, and was off the charts in terms of how large his abdomen was, I was shocked.  Then Dr. Kurtzman came in and he decided to take his own measurements and said he didn’t think this baby was quite that large.  He then put his hands on my belly, mentioning that that experienced human hands are often better than the machines.   He then said that he thought this baby was about 9 pounds 4 ounces at this point.  He went over all the measurements and the risks of what might happen if I tried to labor naturally.  He told me if I went into labor in the next couple of days I could technically try, but it would be risky the way the baby was measuring, he could very well get stuck at the shoulders and create all kinds of issues.  He said ultimately it was my decision, but suggested that if I hadn’t gone into labor by the end of the week I should really think about a c-section.

I was pretty devastated.  I never imagined having to have a c-section with my first baby.  No one in my family has had to have one and I just didn’t expect things to go this way.  I wanted to labor naturally and that whole experience.  Hoag Hosptial where I delivered is all about doing things naturally, so I felt even more of a sense of guilt in trying to make this decision. 

However, Adam and I went home and prayed about things and talked through the options.  We had made our decision.  Unless I were to go into labor that night or the next, we would decide to schedule a C-section.  I made the call to my OB first thing Tuesday morning to tell them about my decision.  They told me they would have to call me back and work on scheduling things that worked best for my Dr. and the hospital.  The next hours of waiting seemed like an eternity.  But by 1:30 in the afternoon the call came, and when the Dr. said, how do you feel about having a baby tomorrow, I took a deep breath and said…I feel like that’s the best decision.  It’s strange knowing exactly when you will be giving birth.  Both Adam and I had kind of anticipated that whole moment of my water breaking and the contractions getting stronger and us making the decision to go to the Hospital.  But that just wasn’t in the cards for us.  We would be checking into Hoag Hospital at 12:30pm and my C-section would take place at 2:30 pm.  Stay tuned for a recap of the birth experience. 

 

Here I am 39 weeks and 6 days pregnant, just before leaving for the hospital.

Adam and I ready to start this new chapter