My son turns seventeen today!

Today is my oldest son’s birthday. Seventeen years ago I became a mother and a little baby entered the world. Thank you, Jared, for helping me grow and learn.

I was in for a routine check when my ob stated he was worried because my blood pressure was going up. He asked me to come in the next day so we could check it again. On that day, he said it would be better to get baby out. My first son was born at 38 weeks by scheduled cesarean, weighing 7 pounds 3 ounces.

Six years later, I requested a copy of my hospital records of Jared’s arrival and found the “Justification for Surgery” Form which stated the cesarean was done for the following reasons:

1.       Patient Choice Elective

2.       Mild pregnancy-induced hypertension

3.       Recent herpes outbreak

Obviously, I didn’t “choose” an elective cesarean. I was told there was a medical reason for it. Even ACOG states that mild hypertension is not a reason for a cesarean, it needs to be moderate or severe. In addition, at the end of a normal pregnancy, a woman’s blood pressure can increase, as her blood volume increases, and in preparation for labor and birth. As for the herpes outbreak, yes, I do have a history of it, but do not remember an outbreak at that time. Also many obs were prescribing  medicine to prevent outbreaks (which my ob never mentioned).

My reasons the cesarean was really done:

1.       Physician Choice Elective

2.       Physician Impatience

3.       Physician Fear

4.       Patient Ignorance

I’ve learned so much since then. I hope I can share with you some of the things I’ve learned. Top three for pregnancy:

1.       Listen to your intuition.

2.       Ask questions and listen to their answers.

3.       Carefully choose your careprovider.