Happy Wednesday! Happy April 1st! Happy April Fools Day!

And Happy Birthday to our precious Little Guy!

I’ve been keeping a secret. And no, this is no April Fools joke…

Right now, 9:30am Wednesday, April 1st, 2015, I am sitting atop a surgery bed where one of my favorite nurse anesthetists is starting my spinal in preparation for my c-section.

In less than 15 minutes, our baby boy will be placed in Neil’s arms and he’ll bring him over to me where I’ll get to hold him skin-to-skin. I’ll hold my baby to my chest while the nurses assess him, giving him his first vaccine and heal prick in the comfort of his momma’s arms. While I’m transferring over from the OR bed to the stretcher, Neil will accompany him to be weighed in the OR suite and then he’ll promptly return to my arms. The three of us will then head to recovery for a couple of hours of “recovery” and bonding, hopefully breastfeeding.

That is the PLAN at least.

Oh my goodness, I should back up because most are not aware – Yup, I’m having a c-section.

At my week 36 appointment, the ultrasound showed his abdomen and femur length measuring right on schedule, but his head was a tad bigger – 4 whole weeks and 1 day bigger to be exact!!

This prompted my OB to discuss the possibility of having a c-section, instead of Plan A – a unmedicated vaginal birth.

I’ll need to back up a liiiittttlllleee further to explain why the discussion was even allowed. My eldest brother’s head was large for his gestational age and almost didn’t make it during his vaginal birth. My second eldest brother did in fact die during his vaginal birth due to his very large head. Myself and my younger brother were both automatic c-sections, to be safe.

So, of course, our Little Guy’s large head was worrisome to everyone involved. If I made it to 40 weeks, his head would likely measure closer to 44 weeks… that’s a toddler sized head, y’all! By the end of the 36 week appointment, we decided that if I went into labor before week 37, I could continue on with my Plan A and at least attempt to deliver him vaginally. Anything past the week 37 mark would automatically be a c-section for me and Little Guy.

Even though I knew it would be for the best, you could say I was heartbroken. There was so much I loved about having a vaginal birth that the routine c-section just would not give me. I set out to research my options and found this video:

I was inspired and immediately felt hopeful, even though I wasn’t sure my hospital would be on board. I shared the video with my OB via Facebook (because we’re friends and she’s awesome!) and found out at my 38 week appointment that everyone to be involved in my c-section was all for it, in fact, most were really excited to try it!

I spoke with the head of Maternal and Baby at our hospital over the phone just two days ago and everything is still on track! I hope that when I blog his birth story (whenever that happens…) I’ll have a a special c-section story for you!

Until then, I ask for your prayers for both Little Guy and myself. To be continued!