At 36 weeks I went in for a regular check-up, and the OB said I was measuring small. Based on the u/s machine in his office it looked like Baby Boy was about two weeks behind. We set up an appointment for the following week to get an extensive doppler ultrasound. At 37 weeks we went in for that and checked out baby movements, fluid levels, placenta calcification, blood flow in the cord etc.

Everything was perfect except that Baby was small (appx 35 weeks). The diagnosis was IUGR (Intra Uterine Growth Restriction) but I was one of the small percentage where they couldn't pinpoint why it happened as I didn't have any risk factors. DH is in med school so I left him to do the extensive research and I just read up on the basics of what that meant and tried to focus on eating well, resting and keeping the kiddo baking for as long as possible. In retrospect this was really important to making peace with the fact that I could not plan my birth experience. Timing and interventions would depend on how the Baby was doing at any point in time from here on out.

At 38 weeks we went in for another check up- everything still looking good with cord and fluid levels and Baby grew a little more, so that was a good thing. There was some placenta calcification but it wasn't concerning yet. OB did a membrane sweep but since Baby was still growing didn't want to induce.

At 38 + 5 we went in again to see how Baby was doing. This time he hadn't continued growing and my fluid levels started to be low. OB did another membrane sweep but we decided we would come in daily and check on Baby until I went into labor spontaneously or needed to be sent to Labor and Delivery. Well, that day I ended up going into labor.

I don't recall how long I had contractions before my water broke- maybe an hour or two. They didn't hurt, just felt uncomfortable and I wasn't even sure it was real labor. Around 5:30 pm my water broke, we called the OB and were sent straight to the hospital. When I arrived contractions were 1 minute long, 3 minutes apart. They hooked me up to an external fetal monitor right away because IUGR babies have a tougher time tolerating labor. About 3 hours later the contractions were much closer together (not sure of the stats) and Baby's heart rate started dropping and not recovering between contractions. OB checked and I was only 1 cm dilated and so we were off to the ER. Eight minutes later and Baby Boy was born via c-section at 5 lbs 5 oz and perfectly healthy.

Even though two weeks earlier I had cried a lot about the prospect of a c-section, at the moment that I was whisked away I felt very calm and knew it was for the best. It wasn't about me, it was about delivering a healthy baby. I'm not sure how to end this but I hope this was reassuring. All in all, considering the circumstances, I was happy with the way things turned out and am thankful every single day to have Baby Boy with us (now 16 months old).