Let's flip baby!
I went in for my 36 week appointment today. I was so excited for this – I’m not sure why. Perhaps because it signified the start of actually talking about delivering the baby?!?
The appointment went great, except for one big part: baby has still not flipped into delivery position. It’s in a half breach/half transverse position.
The options are:
1. Wait to see if baby flips on its own — doctor said she has only seen one baby do this since she’s been practicing (based on baby’s current position).
2. Schedule an ECV – external cephalic version. This is a manual manipulation where the doctor attempts to manually move baby in the uterus to the head down position.
3. Schedule a C-section at 39 weeks.
Sooo…. dilemma.
I really would like to experience a natural birth, especially for my first… I’ve also heard that the return to running time is much shorter with a natural birth.
The risks with choosing option 2 (version)? It could cause my water to break. It could rupture the cervix. It could cause the umblilical cord to become wrapped around baby or be kinked. Or, it could generally cause baby to go into distress. If any of this happens, it would mean an emergency C-section.
The other complication with option 2: because I was fit/strong before becoming pregnant, moving baby through my abdominal wall will be much harder and much more painful for me (they booked two doctors for me…). The chances of it working are usually 50/50, but for me will be much lower because of my abdominal strength.
*Sigh* I know those crunches were worth it at the time… but….
So… what did Nate and I decide to do? We’re going to try to turn the baby this Wednesday. Nate will go into work late that morning so he can be there. Please, hope for the best!
I have heard that this procedure is as painful as childbirth… (they don’t offer pain meds as an option since they want you to be able to tell them when its too much)…. I’m hoping to look at warm-up to labor? 🙂
Send all of your thoughts to baby this week – TURN!
I’ll keep you posted!
