United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Hi all, I am waiting to get the call from my brother -his second child is a scheduled c-sec because it will be a very large baby. I should find out any time now if I'm an aunt or an uncle - LOL - old joke! Anyway - I keep thinking about what things will be like when Brittney has a child - how worried I'll be. How worried she'll be too. She'll have fears that I never knew to have when I was pregnant with her. And my other daughter - what about her? I know that alot of you who are older have had children and some are also grandparents. Does anybody want to share their feelings? Did any of you have problems delivering your own kids or did your siblings have trouble? Even though Brittney is only ten - it has been on my mind - and I think it has been on hers too - while she's waiting to hear if her new cousin is a boy or a girl.
Thanks for reading this and for any input,
Christy

Christy,

I had a c-section for the birth of my son, and with the births of my two grandchildren, I have been a total wreck, making sure the ob's were well informed about shoulder dystocia and risk factors. I didn't think about the risk with my own son because I did not know at the time that my injury was not unique, but by the time of my grandchildren's birth, I knew enough to know that the birthing process held danger.

Not sure what you are asking, but if it concerns risk factors being hereditary, well, diabetes has been shown to have a familial link. My mother was an insulin dependent diabetic and I have been tested thoroughly throughout my life and have not shown any signs. I participated in an islet study with the Lilly Foundation for their testing of type 1 diabetics and their children and have been under continuous study with them as they are trying to understand the hereditary linkages.

Nancy

Christy

This is a very good question. Like Nancy I never knew there was a risk factor with my three children. But I did ask if they could have the same injury.
My first child was transverse and face up. The fractured my tailbone to deliver her and she had a black chest and smashed in head. The doctor told me he invited the staff in to see her delivery at the final stages because they needed to see how he delivered her safely. I had my second child 14 months later she was larger -(my first was 8 lb. 3 oz. my second was 8 lb. 14 oz. and 21") I am only 5' 3" and wore a size 5 when I got pregnant... I did not have diabetes but was hypoglycemic my mother and her 5 sisters and one brother were all diabetics. All of my children were high forceps deliveries. My third child had his arm transverse and rough delivery he was 9 lb. They said his shoulders and chest were too big.
I smoked when I was pregnant and encouraged to smoking to keep my babies small since I only gained 13 lb. with the first. 14 lb. with the second and 17 with the third. I never once gave it a thought that I was at risk for having my child injured. FYI my children are 30, 34 and 35 - women did smoke when pregnant then they considered the placenta to be a barrier.

When my first grandchild was born at 8 LB 15 and my daughter is built like I was small and thin I was amazed. She had a long slow labor. My second grandchild was 9 lb. 3 oz. and another long labor. But the birth of my daughters third child was so traumatic for me... I knew what could happen I was scared to death and nagged my daughter to death to make sure the ob/gyn was well informed. He even spoke to me about it. I used the same Gyn as she does. She was late -- he said he would not induce or give her the pit. When she asked about the maneuvers for SD baby he told her everything off the top of his head -- just what he would do. When the baby was delivered he delivered her slowly used massage to slowly open the cervix ... she had 9 lb. 9oz. baby without a stitch! Again it was a long slow labor and a very large baby for a very small girl but he knew his stuff and it was her best delivery.

My Mother had all large babies so did all of her sisters they developed Diabetes in there 60's ... I have always been hypoglycemic and wonder if that had something to do with the fact that I did not gain weight and had large babies and now my daughter has very large babies. She is also hypoglycemic.

I think that if a doctor really knows his stuff he can safely deliver a baby with SD without injuring the baby. if he is in doubt then he should do a C-Section.

Hope this help
Kath

Thank you Nancy and Kath for sharing your experiences. You've been very helpful. I am so glad that I can ask you questions like this. Brittney pretty much looks just like me, same bone structure, blood type, even freckles....and I worry that she might face the same birth problems that I had with her. The big difference is that she will be informed - I wasn't. You helped me realize this!

Good news! My brother and his wife have a healthy baby boy. Zachary weighed 9 #, 13oz and was 22-1/2" lg. I had given my sister in law all sorts of awareness info early in her pregnancy so that she would better understand what had happened to Brittney and she would know what to ask her doctor and make sure he would know what to do if the baby was going to be big and the other warning signs. My sister in law gained alot of weight throughout the pregnancy. She really wanted to deliver vaginally. Her doctor on Monday felt that the baby was way too large to safely be born vaginally and scheduled a section for the next morning. (My sister in law is tiny!) During the c-sec the doctor confirmed that the baby was definitely way to large to fit vaginally and that my sister in law's bladder and uterus had grown together somehow during her pregnancy. If she would have tried to vaginally deliver the baby it would have been awful. I am so thankful that I had the UBPN material to give them months ago:)))

Thanks again for replying,
Christy

I also wanted to mention that it is so great to hear about doctors who know how to safely and successfully deliver babies at risk for shoulder dystocia. Most of our focus on this board, when it comes to doctors, is how they should have known what to do. I wish there was a way to recognize or honor or whatever all of the doctors that did know their stuff. It's so good to hear about GOOD doctors!
Christy