hi. im not currently pregnant but TTC. i was told by my surgeon i HAD to have c section for my next pregnancy. (1st baby was prior to pouch and vaginal delivery). i see on here that lots of women still have vaginal deliveries with the pouch. but it does increase the risk of nerve damage down the road, right? and the size of the baby has something to do with it? basically i want to know if insisting on a vaginal delivery is ok. i was thinking if the baby was under 7lbs i would, over 7lbs i would do c section. does this logic make sense? my first baby was a preemie and under 5 pounds. so pretty easy delivery. plus, my insurance sucks and a c section is going to cost me at least 5,000. any opinions??

Sarah - great to see you back, it's wonderful to see you are well enough to be TTC.

I asked my doctor about babies and having a vaginal birth compared to C section and he said that he rather me have a C section because if I push it can hurt my pouch and I might be left with not having control of my bowels after....I rather have control. Plus he said that he can come in after my csection, take a look on how the pouch is and make sure that everything is ok before they close me up. And I like that reassurance!

like you, i had my first baby pre-pouch vaginally. because i had birthed a baby with no complications, all my docs agreed a vaginal delivery would be best with my second. we decided to wait until the end to decide if a c-section would be necessary (based on size of baby).

at 37 weeks, he was tracking very similarly to my daughter. we scheduled an induction for 38 1/2 weeks to keep him from getting to big. my doc would only induce if i was 3 cm or more dilated at the time, which i was.

the pitocin didn't do much of anything, but once they broke my water, i was ready to push in one hour. pushed for almost 30 mins (one minute longer than my daughter...could have been faster, but she didn't want me too push too hard to prevent tearing). i had a second degree tear, which has healed fine (son is 8 weeks today). pouch function same as before...no continence issues from day one after the birth).

let me know if you have any more questions!

The risks are not so much with pregnancy or delivery, but that vag delivery can cause the small bit of rectum that's left for you to have control over your stools can be stretched/perm damaged from going through labor and delivery, and as a result, perhaps not right after the baby but in the next couple of years, you will become more incontinent and that will last the rest of your life.

For me, I was not real hot on having a C-section but I didn't want to be changing my diapers and my kid's diapers at the same time, it wasn't worth the risk to me.