So, I was a belly model on Thursday. First let me just say that it was so fun! I felt very pampered- 75 minutes of foot massages and doting over my belly will do that! Seriously though, those foot massages. Wow. It was everything I could do to stay awake, I was so relaxed.
During the "session" I had 15 different women- mostly student midwives in their first year of training- come palpate my belly to check for baby's position (for their benefit, not mine of course) and practice other clinical skills such as checking for fetal heart tones, measuring fundal height, checking for diastasis recti, etc. It was great. They were all so eager and so complimentary- swooning over baby's very apparent movements, ogling my henna belly, and generally just treating me like a queen- offering water, etc. Like I said, it was awesome. Two of the instructors and long-time midwives were there and they, too, came to dote on my belly and palpate a bit. More than a bit, really. They seemed awfully curious, to tell you the truth. I didn't think much of it at the time but....
My midwife called me today and said that the head teacher (a good friend of hers and her former instructor) called her to let her know that she had seen me the day before as a belly model and that she was concerned about baby's position. She wasn't fully convinced that he was in a cephalic presentation (head-down) and wanted my midwife to know. Well, Stephanie asked me to just swing by the birth center for a quick check. I thought it was kind of silly, to be honest, because I just KNEW that baby was head down. He'd been head down! Hiccups were felt down low! I was just SURE of it!
Sometimes I'm wrong, you guys. (I also haven't felt hiccups in a few days....)
I went in and within 20 seconds of beginning to feel my belly Stephanie said "Yup that's a definite breech." Just like Kraig was. (While there is not *supposed* to be a genetic factor for breech presentation, it does have a weird way of popping up in families.....)
Crap.
Kraig wasn't in the room yet, and she said she'd go grab another midwife to confirm and that it seemed that they could likely move him right then (he was in an oblique lie- kind of diagonal in my tummy). Kraig came in while she stepped out and I told him what she said... and promptly burst into tears. All the what-ifs and decisions that needed to be made flooded my mind. This is so not what I wanted to be thinking about as we are SO close to welcoming baby into the world.
The second midwife confirmed, and we talked about options. They could attempt to turn him, I could continue on to my chiropractor appointment that afternoon and have her try (Webster technique), I could try acupuncture and moxibustion (both have amazing success rates), or I could schedule an External Cephalic Version with ultrasound for next Wednesday at a nearby naturopathic/midwifery clinic. We opted for the ECV with ultrasound so that the position of the cord and placenta could be confirmed. (there are also positions and things to try at home- music, ice packs, "breech tilt", inversions, etc.) We're also obviously REALLY hoping I don't go into labor before Wednesday. I mean, it's not super likely, but it could definitely happen.
And then what....
Well if he turns and stays, hooray! We can just continue on as planned with our birth center birth and chosen midwife (Stephanie).
If he doesn't turn or turns but then flips back to breech we also have a few more options to think about....
-I could schedule a c-section. HAHA! Oh my, if you know me at all you know that nobody is coming near my abdomen with a knife unless it's an absolute 100% emergency. A breech presentation is NOT an emergency. Not at all. But I'll save that speech for a different time.
-Another option is to birth at one of the local hospitals that offers vaginal breech delivery. This would look a bit different from a normal vaginal birth in that I would have to labor and deliver in the operating room. This is so that IF baby got stuck or was otherwise in distress (i.e. emergency) they could cut me open right then and there. From what I understand, these particular hospitals do NOT automatically place an epidural (some do so that mama is already numb in case of needed c-section). I *think* that would mean that if an emergency arose that I would be put under general anesthesia? Not sure. Need to ask more questions about that if it comes up. They would also only allow this if he was in a frank breech presentation. There is also a lot of monitoring, etc.
-Yet another option is home-birth with a midwife experienced in breech delivery. There are *lots* of options in Portland, but I think as of right now Kraig and I are thinking of this as a second option (behind vaginal breech hospital birth). Of course, scheduled c-section is the LAST thing I would do. Ever. For any reason. Heh.
We're trying to stay positive. Obviously I am bummed and frustrated. This pregnancy has had far more complications than I would have ever hoped for. However, we know that there are lots of options to try to get baby to turn and we are willing to try every single one of them before he makes his appearance. We are obviously also running out of time. Ideally a breech presentation would have been diagnosed and "corrected" by 37 weeks, but both my midwife and chiropractor are convinced that he has lots of room and seems easy to flip. Here's hoping they are right. My ECV will be performed at 39 weeks and while that's "late" for such a procedure it has been done before and has. a reasonable chance of being successful, especially since I am a second time mom (read: roomier uterus) and baby is not engaged in the pelvis. I can't say I'm not nervous- an ECV is not exactly the most gentle procedure.... But if it works, it works.
No comments:
Post a Comment