Breech Baby
Today I'm 37 weeks pregnant.
It's crazy to think that at this time in my last pregnancy I was 3 days away from spontaneous labor.
Lane's birth was so textbook, other than being a few weeks early. He was head down from 32 weeks on, he was calm as can be throughout labor, it was a perfect 12 hours from start to finish, with minimal pushing, barely any tearing, lalala.
So last week when my midwife said, "Hm...how about a cervical check...just to see if this is the head or the butt" and then she said, "Hm...not the head...." I lost it in the exam room. Breech at 36 weeks?
I looked at her in disbelief and pouted. She was very optimistic and said lots of happy positive things about fluid-to-baby ratio and dilation and space, but I fixed my gaze on her smile and replied with a frown. I went home and cried about it. Then I sprung into action. Sound familiar?
Here's what I've been doing to try to flip a baby, and here's what it's done so far:
1. Moxibustion.
How it's done: I bought mugwort smudge sticks from the witch store up the street and had Colt burn it by my pinkie toes for the whole weekend while reading Anais Nin erotica (the erotica isn't required).
Affects: Well - it makes my house smell like pot and makes my feet feel warm. It makes Colt and I spend at least 30 minutes with each other every evening feeling ritualistic and pagan and talking about sex (that's the erotica's fault). It makes the baby move a bit, but it hasn't had any obvious impact on the baby's position so far.
2. Rebozo, Forward Sitting, Down dogs, Breech Tilts, crawling on hands and knees, sitting backwards on chairs, everything on the spinning babies website.
How it's done: anything that puts you upside down in some way is how it's done.
Affects: some heartburn, mostly a ton of weight on my arms. Also hasn't had any obvious impact on the baby's position. Rebozo sometimes centers her in my abdomen, but doesn't seem to flip her completely.
3. Journaling
How it's done: The idea here is that there's an emotional reason your baby isn't preparing for birth. If you journal it out, you can deal with it, confront it, talk to someone about it, and make sure your hesitation about labor and birth and motherhood isn't adding to the baby's inability to flip.
Affects: Well this one has been my cup of tea, obviously. There are a lot of reasons I'm afraid to have a girl, but writing anything down and seeing the words helps organize the feelings around them, so maybe this is doing some good. Again though, no obvious shifts in position but wouldn't it be cool to find and process the one serious hang up and feel her flip?
4. Hypnosis
How it's done: I bought the audio track from they hypnobabies website "Turn baby Turn" and have been listening to it every day. The track helps you relax all the muscles in your uterus and around your baby to give them as much space as possible to flip. It also confronts emotional blocks like journaling.
Affects: Like most hypnosis, this makes me super calm and relaxed for the rest of the day. I DO feel more space in my stomach after listening to it, but I haven't felt the baby pick up on this yet and somersault.
5. Webster technique (chiropractor)
How it's done: Call up a friendly chiropractor who's certified in the technique and get evaluated for pelvic misalignment. He'll do some minor adjustments, none of which are too extreme. Go back as often as you want.
Affects: This one has been the coolest so far. I KNEW I was misaligned, but whether that was because of the baby's position or affecting the baby's position, I didn't know. The chiropractor could immediately tell what was wacked - and he said it was very wacked. He did some easy stretching on the ligaments on the front of my uterus and did some basic adjustments on my hips and my baby felt like she was in a completely different position.
...I came home after the chiropactor and took a bath and laid on my stomach in the water and felt some crazy movement in places I've never felt before. I don't know if my baby has flipped but this has been the most dramatic change in movement and position so far. I can also physically see a difference looking down.
THE PLAN:
Tomorrow I have an ultrasound to see exactly what's going on. Then I have another chiro appointment. If baby girl is still breech and not moving, I'll be getting an ECV - where a doctor manually flips the baby on the outside of the stomach. This is my last resort option. I don't want this to happen because there are some risks associated with it and...honestly who wants someone to rotate a baby through your abdominal wall?
I can't imagine anything other than a natural birth right now. I know women have options and yada yada, and many women get c-sections and have safe, healthy babies and safe healthy bodies. I was born by c-section in fact, after a failed natural birth. But I can't wrap my head around agreeing to this as a birth experience. I can't wrap my head around needles being stuck into my back and arms and antibiotics and pain medication and incisions and a baby being delivered to me from my stomach. All of that noise is scarier to me than any labor pain I can imagine.
And THAT has been the biggest blessing in disguise.
I am not afraid of this birth at all.
I'm not afraid of how it will feel or if I can take it.
I WANT it. I want it all the way. I want to be in labor and I want to birth a baby and I'm going to fight for it like crazy.
It's crazy to think that at this time in my last pregnancy I was 3 days away from spontaneous labor.
Lane's birth was so textbook, other than being a few weeks early. He was head down from 32 weeks on, he was calm as can be throughout labor, it was a perfect 12 hours from start to finish, with minimal pushing, barely any tearing, lalala.
So last week when my midwife said, "Hm...how about a cervical check...just to see if this is the head or the butt" and then she said, "Hm...not the head...." I lost it in the exam room. Breech at 36 weeks?
I looked at her in disbelief and pouted. She was very optimistic and said lots of happy positive things about fluid-to-baby ratio and dilation and space, but I fixed my gaze on her smile and replied with a frown. I went home and cried about it. Then I sprung into action. Sound familiar?
Here's what I've been doing to try to flip a baby, and here's what it's done so far:
1. Moxibustion.
How it's done: I bought mugwort smudge sticks from the witch store up the street and had Colt burn it by my pinkie toes for the whole weekend while reading Anais Nin erotica (the erotica isn't required).
Affects: Well - it makes my house smell like pot and makes my feet feel warm. It makes Colt and I spend at least 30 minutes with each other every evening feeling ritualistic and pagan and talking about sex (that's the erotica's fault). It makes the baby move a bit, but it hasn't had any obvious impact on the baby's position so far.
2. Rebozo, Forward Sitting, Down dogs, Breech Tilts, crawling on hands and knees, sitting backwards on chairs, everything on the spinning babies website.
How it's done: anything that puts you upside down in some way is how it's done.
Affects: some heartburn, mostly a ton of weight on my arms. Also hasn't had any obvious impact on the baby's position. Rebozo sometimes centers her in my abdomen, but doesn't seem to flip her completely.
3. Journaling
How it's done: The idea here is that there's an emotional reason your baby isn't preparing for birth. If you journal it out, you can deal with it, confront it, talk to someone about it, and make sure your hesitation about labor and birth and motherhood isn't adding to the baby's inability to flip.
Affects: Well this one has been my cup of tea, obviously. There are a lot of reasons I'm afraid to have a girl, but writing anything down and seeing the words helps organize the feelings around them, so maybe this is doing some good. Again though, no obvious shifts in position but wouldn't it be cool to find and process the one serious hang up and feel her flip?
4. Hypnosis
How it's done: I bought the audio track from they hypnobabies website "Turn baby Turn" and have been listening to it every day. The track helps you relax all the muscles in your uterus and around your baby to give them as much space as possible to flip. It also confronts emotional blocks like journaling.
Affects: Like most hypnosis, this makes me super calm and relaxed for the rest of the day. I DO feel more space in my stomach after listening to it, but I haven't felt the baby pick up on this yet and somersault.
5. Webster technique (chiropractor)
How it's done: Call up a friendly chiropractor who's certified in the technique and get evaluated for pelvic misalignment. He'll do some minor adjustments, none of which are too extreme. Go back as often as you want.
Affects: This one has been the coolest so far. I KNEW I was misaligned, but whether that was because of the baby's position or affecting the baby's position, I didn't know. The chiropractor could immediately tell what was wacked - and he said it was very wacked. He did some easy stretching on the ligaments on the front of my uterus and did some basic adjustments on my hips and my baby felt like she was in a completely different position.
...I came home after the chiropactor and took a bath and laid on my stomach in the water and felt some crazy movement in places I've never felt before. I don't know if my baby has flipped but this has been the most dramatic change in movement and position so far. I can also physically see a difference looking down.
THE PLAN:
Tomorrow I have an ultrasound to see exactly what's going on. Then I have another chiro appointment. If baby girl is still breech and not moving, I'll be getting an ECV - where a doctor manually flips the baby on the outside of the stomach. This is my last resort option. I don't want this to happen because there are some risks associated with it and...honestly who wants someone to rotate a baby through your abdominal wall?
I can't imagine anything other than a natural birth right now. I know women have options and yada yada, and many women get c-sections and have safe, healthy babies and safe healthy bodies. I was born by c-section in fact, after a failed natural birth. But I can't wrap my head around agreeing to this as a birth experience. I can't wrap my head around needles being stuck into my back and arms and antibiotics and pain medication and incisions and a baby being delivered to me from my stomach. All of that noise is scarier to me than any labor pain I can imagine.
And THAT has been the biggest blessing in disguise.
I am not afraid of this birth at all.
I'm not afraid of how it will feel or if I can take it.
I WANT it. I want it all the way. I want to be in labor and I want to birth a baby and I'm going to fight for it like crazy.
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