Thursday, September 16, 2010

Pregnancy Tracker - 8 weeks

So this week marks my 8th week. As you know, I had my first appointment yesterday with my OB. I love my OB. He's so calm and reassuring - and he really puts me at ease with any concern I have.

We had quite a lengthy discussion about my options for delivery with this child. My first concern is the safety of the child, simply because we had so many scares with Carter during my 15 hour labor. Most people assume that once you have one c-section, every subsequent birth must also be via c-section. This is not true. There is always the option to do a vaginal delivery. In my case, however, I'm committed to doing an additional c-section. My doctor felt that given the complications with Carter, combined with the increased risk of complications associated with a vaginal delivery (including rupturing my scar tissue from my previous c-section, which can cause SERIOUS problems), my best option was to deliver this baby via c-section. I had actually already made up my mind to go this route anyway, but listening to his logic, reasoning, and experience, I feel 100% confident in my decision.

Now - on to the good stuff.

New this week: webbed fingers and toes are poking out from your baby's hands and feet, her eyelids practically cover her eyes, breathing tubes extend from her throat to the branches of her developing lungs, and her "tail" is just about gone. In her brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways. You may be daydreaming about your baby as one sex or the other, but the external genitals still haven't developed enough to reveal whether you're having a boy or a girl. Either way, your baby — about the size of a kidney bean — is constantly moving and shifting, though you still can't feel it.


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