Skip to main content

Baby Update - Not Born But Correctly Positioned

We just got home from the hospital, with our baby still inside me. We are probably one of the few families happy to leave labor and delivery without the baby being born yet. The reason I am so happy is that the baby was in a breech position (head up, more dangerous to deliver, usually lead to a cesarean) and we had a successful procedure to turn the baby head down! It was not painful, didn't take very long, and baby and I are both doing great! Husband is napping on the couch, while I am actually full of energy right now.

The procedure, called an external cephalic version, generally has a 50-70% success rate, but I had lots of factors in my favor including the fact that this is my second baby and I have plenty of amniotic fluid.

We found out on Wednesday of this week that the baby was breech, went in to a clinic for an ultrasound to confirm and do an anatomical scan to make sure a version would be safe on Thursday, and went in to the hospital for the version today. In between, we did final preparations for meeting this baby, including setting up the tub and installing the carseat and packing hospital bags. There were lots of possibilities and contingencies to prepare for, but by this morning I actually felt ready. I also have been doing physical movements that were supposed to encourage turning, talked to the baby about turning, got a chiropractic adjustment, and listened to a hypnobabies mp3 track about turning breech babies.

I was anxious about the version, particularly the part where I would have to get an IV, but that ended up being fine. I listened to hypnobabies and felt pretty relaxed during the procedure. I trusted the doctor, the nurse was experienced and kept giving me nods and smiles, helping me feel that everything was going well, and I felt like my body was ready for the baby to move around.

We had discussed trying to get labor going shortly after a successful turn, but now my midwives are both at another birth, and the doctor also felt confident that the baby has great chances of staying head down, so we are waiting on doing any natural induction methods. I am going out for a walk right now, to take advantage of my current energy and get my dog a little bit of exercise and stimulation. I am leaving my daughter watching Dinosaur Train on the couch with her sleeping dad (her choice). So, maybe I will try to do more communing/communicating with the baby during the walk and let it know we are all ready for it!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Woollybottoms Giveaway

I am hosting my first giveaway! I have been wanting to do this for a while, and I'm so pleased to have it finally planned. The item I chose to give is a new pair of Woollybottoms - wool pants for babies. The retail value of these is $29.00. I have been really into the wool pants thing lately, as you may have noticed from my recent posts (about Nifty Knickers , and my baby blue longies ) so this seems like a good fit. Wool pants can be used as a cloth diaper cover, or just as snuggly warm pants for the winter or for bedtime. These ones are "footies" so they should keep your baby toasty! The pair I am giving to one lucky winner is light blue with fish fabric for the footie part. Maybe a little more boyish than girlie, but Stella would definitely wear these if we got to keep them. They are size medium, and have the following measurements: 8" waist (elastic) 9" rise 18" length Here they are: To enter, simply comment below and let me know why you wan...
47 comments
Read more

Summer 2020 - Life in a Pandemic

I'm in my final week of summer before work as a middle school teacher begins again. This time of year I'm always in a reflective mood.  I look back and feel so lucky to have had this time with my kids. We went camping, biking, boating, golfing, and hiking. We celebrated my sister's wedding, we did projects together, watched movies, and just hung out at home. It really was everything that summer is meant to be. There were many events and plans that we canceled due to Covid, but we did all the most important things. We missed friends, but I also reveled in the togetherness with my little family unit. Today, I spent time registering for fall childcare and activities. It's less than usual, but still I can see the pace of our lives picking up. As we move into a season of more busy-ness, more work, and likely more stress, this poem sums up the feelings I'm experiencing.... Vacation End by Leslie Pinckney Hill From the charm of radiant faces, From the days we took to dream...
1 comment
Read more

To Preschool or Not to Preschool

My Sweet Pea turned four years old this week. Unbelievable! This year, I quit my job to spend more time at home with my kids. Or, more precisely, I took a leave of absence from my part-time teaching job that I actually worked at nearly full-time because my part-time teaching wages didn't cover full-time daycare for two children and working full-time was stressful for me and my family, even though I loved my job. (Precision is wordy.) I was hoping that I could net more income overall by subbing a few days a week, and I am so far! Last spring, even after I knew I wouldn't be working every day, I was researching preschools for Stella because age three is the year when children generally start preschool. I found some really great-looking schools and situations, but it seemed the more I liked the school, the more it cost (my preference was for Montessori or bilingual, of course). Since I was planning to be home most days, the more I thought about it, the less sense it made to me t...
5 comments
Read more