Any moms out there have a large baby vaginally, without pain meds?
Is it customary in the USA for type one Moms to be induced early?
My hospital in Japan is refusing to schedule a 38 week induction, although my last baby went full term, got stuck, and then was born not breathing and rushed to the NICU where she spent 9 days. Most likely this is because she was 10lb 4oz!
She was big.
My hospital also does not offer epidural. At all. Period. None!
Would it be normal for this to happen in America?
I’m needing some feedback, anything would be great!
I was induced early with my two kids. They were both born c-section as well. The safe delivery of the baby is the main focal point, along with the well-being of the mother. I’d get out of where ever it is that you are beforethe baby is born if I were you. It doesn’t sound good there.
Not me.
My first was born vaginally at 38 weeks. She was 7 lbs 3 oz. My second was born via CS at 39.5 weeks, for reason unrelated to my diabetes. She was 7 lbs 6 oz.
Early induction is not recommended unless there is a clear medical reason, even for mothers with diabetes.
My twin sister birthed a very chubby, nearly 10 lb baby using a water birth. No tearing, no pain meds. She said it was not easy. That was her 4th baby, so she has done it before. She is in Australia, and had her baby in a birthing centre.
Wow, your babies didn’t get too big!
How was your blood sugar management during pregnancy?
With my first, mine wasn’t great, but I’m trying very hard to keep tight control this time around, and hoping my baby will be smaller because of it.
Hi. First baby hba1c was about 4.9 at the end of pregnancy, second was 5.6, if I remember right. Very high doses of insulin. About 90 units per day end of first pregnancy, about 120 units per day at end of second pregnancy. I also ate very low carb and monitored and corrected a lot. Only gained about 7 kg each pregnancy.
Currently nearly 9 weeks pregnant, about 60 units insulin a day, and very low carb still. Latest hba1c 5.1. Still have a long way to go.
Low carb, frequent checking, frequent corrections, managing weight gain, all contribute.
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This discussion is super interesting for me (FTMTB; EDD 10/19/17), but I have the exact opposite objective! I absolutely want to try to go as natural as possible but my high-risk OB/GYN (I am in the US) told me from the beginning that his clinic’s protocol is to induce around 39 weeks. But induction, as innocuous as it sounds, esp. at 39 weeks, disrupts the normal hormonal cycle of labor and birth and is much more likely to lead to a cascade of other interventions, which are disruptive both to baby’s earliest postnatal development, to the mother’s natural healing process, and not least – to successful breastfeeding!
I have been trying to convince the medical team (including with medical literature and the relevant ACOG positions on the topic, see esp. #560 which states that there is no indication for early induction for mothers with well-controlled diabetes) that unless it becomes medically necessary for unexpected reasons, they should tailor their approach and not just refer to “protocol”. I think they are starting to accept my preference not least because my diabetes control so far has been great. But they do keep postponing the real decision-making, saying “let’s talk again after the 36-week growth scan.” That’s going to be in two weeks. So ultimately I don’t know what will happen with me, but I very much know what I want to happen. 
I don’t want to come across as trying to “convert” you, @T1_Japan, but the fact that what you are describing will indeed not happen in the US is not at all a good reason for you to want it. Labor and birth here (in the US) are notoriously medicalized; I would even say industrialized and commodified.
(Do you know that one reason for the ubiquity of epidural for birth is the compensation hospitals get for it from patients with good insurance coverage, when compared to non-medicated birth?)
I understand completely that you’d want to avoid a similar traumatic experience to your first birth, where your newborn had to spend time in the NICU, but I just don’t think that planning for an induced delivery at 38 weeks is the best alternative. Tailoring the plan based on how the baby is growing and how your pregnancy is progressing is probably the most helpful approach.
Do hospitals (or any other organizations such as Lamaze, Bradley, etc.) offer birth classes in Japan? I think you can try to 1) have as good control during your pregnancy as possible and 2) prepare yourself with techniques and the right attitude to go through a less-interventionist birth (as long as you don’t develop any further medical complications of course).
My pregnancies were so long ago that much has changed. I was scheduled a c-section with my first as I was told many start to lose the placenta early. And I wanted a happy healthy baby, so I went along. Especially because when I was first diagnosed I was told I could/should never have children. I did go into labor earlier than my scheduled 2 weeks early c-section and labored for 18 hours. Didn’t know what I was doing as I never went to birthing classes but got through it with help from the nurses and my husband. We did end up doing a c-section as she wasn’t moving. My secon was also a c-section but it was an emergency because we thought we were losing the placenta as my blood sugars were at record lows. He was also happy and healthy and all was good. But now, women are being told that they can do anything they’d like as long as there is good blood sugar management and the baby is not getting to big. I had ultrasounds weekly towards the end to make sure that wasn’t happening and I would hazard a guess that now, if the baby was at a good weight most doctors would be fine with a natural delivery.
Key point here is that it is your baby, your body and your decisions. The doctor should be trying to make your wishes happen. Good luck, either way you go and I hope and pray for a happy healthy baby and a happy healthy Mom!