We had the weekly ultrasound a few days ago, and things looked good: this is one seriously long baby, the femur length is at the 95th percentile! Weight-wise, this baby is sort of small (20th percentile) when compared to the US growth charts, but he/she is bang in the middle in the Indian population charts. So yep, everything looked good there.
Went to Hiranandani Hospital. Chatting with a bunch of surrogates made me realize one thing: Indian surrogates (in Mumbai anyway) don't seem to get epidurals, even if their labor is long and painful. I asked the handler like 4 times...nobody gets epidurals? She was like, nope. Just FYI, if I were going through a delivery at the same hospital, I would definitely get the choice of an epidural. They are common here for all the "regular" upper middle class moms. When I told my mother about the surrogates not getting an epidural for the pregnancy in which the cost of an epidural is a mere drop in the bucket compared to the other expenses, she just sadly shook her head.
If J goes through labor, I'm going to make sure she gets one if the labor is protracted. However, around 75% of all surrogate deliveries are C-sections. J asked me wistfully if she could get a C-section because the last time had been so rough. I was like...but you suffer AFTER the procedure, instead of during. And she was like, well, yes, that is true.
From my end, I definitely don't want a C-section; what I want is for J's water to break naturally after she is safely ensconced in the hospital, so she does not have to go through the more painful induced labor process. I highly doubt that fate would cooperate like that.
After a 2-hour wait for me (a 4-hour wait for the various surrogates gathered), the doctor saw us. Her BP was on the high end: 130/84. Gotta start monitoring that.
Slightly nervous now.
Went to Hiranandani Hospital. Chatting with a bunch of surrogates made me realize one thing: Indian surrogates (in Mumbai anyway) don't seem to get epidurals, even if their labor is long and painful. I asked the handler like 4 times...nobody gets epidurals? She was like, nope. Just FYI, if I were going through a delivery at the same hospital, I would definitely get the choice of an epidural. They are common here for all the "regular" upper middle class moms. When I told my mother about the surrogates not getting an epidural for the pregnancy in which the cost of an epidural is a mere drop in the bucket compared to the other expenses, she just sadly shook her head.
If J goes through labor, I'm going to make sure she gets one if the labor is protracted. However, around 75% of all surrogate deliveries are C-sections. J asked me wistfully if she could get a C-section because the last time had been so rough. I was like...but you suffer AFTER the procedure, instead of during. And she was like, well, yes, that is true.
From my end, I definitely don't want a C-section; what I want is for J's water to break naturally after she is safely ensconced in the hospital, so she does not have to go through the more painful induced labor process. I highly doubt that fate would cooperate like that.
After a 2-hour wait for me (a 4-hour wait for the various surrogates gathered), the doctor saw us. Her BP was on the high end: 130/84. Gotta start monitoring that.
Slightly nervous now.
Completely unfair that surrogates don't have access to epidurals, especially when warranted.
ReplyDeleteAnd hey! 33 weeks. Getting closer and closer to full term. How exciting is that!
Glad everything seems to be going well with baby and surrogate and mom. Let's hope the bp doesn't keep climbing.
33 weeks! Wow! So close now! I am glad that all three of you are doing well. It's ridiculous that surrogates aren't given the option of epidurals and other pain management.
ReplyDeleteSo very close. Alarming to know that pain is not the factor in distributing relief. Lots of great thoughts for these weeks.soon!
ReplyDeletewhy is the c section rate higher for surrogates? good to hear your news.
ReplyDeleteThanks for checking in & I'm glad all is well.
ReplyDelete