Not So Speedy: Baby Watch Day 3

As we enter Day 3 of Baby Watch, we are left wondering if Speedy will in fact ever join us in the real world.

As it turns out, we have now booked a date to meet him.

On the Twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me ... a bouncing baby boy!

Yes, we are booked in for an elective Caesarean section on 5 January 2011.

We went to see Dr Baber today for our weekly check up, and while everything is still coming along nicely - my blood pressure is holding steady at 120/80, and the baby's heartbeat is at a very healthy 142bpm, the worrying factor is that he is still in my belly. After careful examination, Dr Baber presented us with one option - an elective C-section.

There are many reasons behind this option, the first being that Speedy is currently sitting in a posterior position, which would make a natural birth very difficult. Dr Baber reluctantly mentioned trying to induce labour for us - we say reluctantly, because he clearly stated that he thought the baby would get stuck if we were to try the natural birth option. In that case, then no, please let's not induce the birth.

The second factor is that theoretically, Speedy is going to be a big baby, who is likely to weigh in at around 3.8kg. Yes, you read that correctly. 3.8kg. That's 8lbs 6oz in the old scale. That would make him the biggest baby on the Chan side of the family! And it's all Jonathan's fault!!!

To be honest, I'm a little bit disappointed that Speedy won't be delivered naturally. I had been looking forward to facing the pain and pushing through the pain barrier, and seeing how strong I really am, etc. More the case though is the fact that I'm scared of going under the knife, even though Dr Baber has done hundreds and thousands of C-sections before and I'm in good hands.

But, at the end of the day, we are at least going with our birth plan - being that we wanted to give birth to our baby in the safest possible way at North Shore Private with Dr Baber. And if the safest possible way is via a C-section, then so be it.

The family is all aware of the situation. We called my parents and told them about the impending surgery, and sent text messages to my sisters informing them of the same. We jumped on Skype and told Jonathan's folks, who told me that an 8lb 6oz baby is not that big of a deal - Jonathan's brother Dave was 9lb 12oz, and his daughter Tammi was 9lb 13oz when she was born earlier this year. That's around 4.4kg. And to top it off, Jonathan's paternal grandfather was a whopping 13lbs - nearly 6kg!!! Why didn't anyone tell me these stats before I got pregnant with a Hill baby???

So we keep watching and waiting now, to see if there are any movements, because if I do go into labour, then we will be looking at an emergency C-section. Unless, of course, the baby moves into a better position for a natural birth between now and next Wednesday. Who knows what's going to happen. All we want is a healthy baby, so Speedy, you do what you need to, and we'll see you very soon.