Breech

Madeline is a stubborn girl with her own agenda and is making it known to me now, that SHE is in control of things around here - not me.

Her position was first noticed/mentioned at a follow up ultrasound appointment that I had at 31 weeks pregnant. The Dr. causually mentioned "Hmm, she appears to be breech... BUT don't worry, she still has plenty of time to turn to the head-down position."



Telling ME not to worry about something is pointless, so when I got home I immediately looked into the policies/laws regarding breech births in my state as well as exercises and techniques I could do on my own to try to persuade her to flip into the correct position sooner than later.

My Dr will NOT deliver a breech baby vaginally. Neither will any of the midwives in the organization that my doula is a member of. None of the hospitals I contacted would knowingly deliver a breech baby in their facility. I was beginning to panic. While some people may suggest that I have an unassisted homebirth, or just wait until I'm in VERY active labor (read: ready to push) and then just show up unplanned at the hospital and give birth vaginally because there is no other option - those options aren't right for me or for our family. I'm a planner, and I was a girl scout for my entire academic career - so I'm way too honest to lie/omit my "plan" and just wing it once I'm in labor.

I immediately starting doing two different inversion techniques found on www.spinningbabies.com to try to help her flip to head-down on a daily basis.

This one I do for 20-30 minutes at a time with an ironing board and it KILLS my hips:


This one is much easier, but I can only do it for about a minute and a half before I can't breathe and my face starts to go numb:


So far, neither has worked. I'm currently 36 weeks, 3 days pregnant. Typically, babies should be in the head-down position around week 32. I've heard many-a-success story about babies that flip at 37, 38 or even 39 weeks of pregnancy... but with every day that passes and her head remains JAMMED up into my ribs I worry that it's just not going to happen.

I will have another ultrasound next Wednesday and if she's STILL breech my OB will check if her umbilical cord is long enough, if she has enough amniotic fluid surrounding her and the general health/condition of my uterus to see if I qualify for her to attempt to manually flip Maddy via an External Cephalic Version.

the upbeat music kills me

*IF* she attempts the ECV, it is truly a last ditch effort to give me the opportunity to have a natural birth. But, it is not without risk. I would have to be admitted to the hospital, put on an IV and monitored JUST IN CASE all the pushing and prodding puts the baby into distress, or in extreme circumstances if it breaks my water.

Statistically, ECVs are successful about 53% of the time. Not great odds, I know. My Dr. said that in her 12 years of practicing she's performed between 150 and 200 ECVs and has been successful about 70% of the time. She said that she's never had the ECV attempt induce someone's labor - or break their water - but did make it clear that it doesn't always work, and it may be a bit painful. I'm hopeful that she'll flip on her own before then, or that the ECV will work if/when I go in for the procedure.

*IF* she just REFUSES to flip, I will have to have a c-section. Something that I'm not wanting, or looking forward to, but I understand that I'll do what I have to do to ensure that Madeline is born in a safe, healthy, manor.

So... that's what's been going on with us lately. I hadn't wanted to mention her breech position before now because I thought I might jinx something if I did... but now that I'm ALMOST full term (Hell-o?! I'm full term in 4 days!!!) and we're running out of time - and room - for her to flip on her own I figured I'd suck it up and explain the situation thats going on in case I end up having a c-section.

I'll keep ya posted. ;)

I'm a lucky girl!

As I'm sure any 8+ month pregnant lady will tell you, pregnancy eventually becomes pretty uncomfortable. Especially if you're 8+ months pregnant in the summer. Especially if you live in Las Vegas where it's normal for it to be 110*F in the summer.

I've never been a summer girl. I've always gotten wilty in the heat. I just can't deal with it being THIS hot. Now that I'm 8+ months pregnant I REALLY can't handle the heat. I'm sweating non-stop, my temp seems to go from 0-60 in 2 seconds of stepping outside, and it usually takes me over an hour to cool back down.

There's only so much you can do to try to stay cool. You can only wear so little clothing before it's indecent, and when you're pregnant it's even harder because you want to stay looking modest. Let me point one thing out - these elastic belly panels in maternity pants are NO BUENO when it's summertime!! You can only eat so many popsicles before your unborn baby goes into a sugar overload! And we don't have a pool.

Well, we DIDN'T have a pool. Jeff bought me a little kiddie pool!! It's only 5'5" across, and you can only get about 2' of water in it, but it's still a pool!! I now have somewhere to lounge around and cool off! I'm a much happier girl when I'm not overheated!!





Jeff is more than happy to lug the pool out of the house, put it out back and fill it up for me when I just can't take the heat any longer. He has no interest in getting in it with me (lol!) but sits outside - in the heat, no less! - in a patio chair to keep me company! I'd love to make it a family affair, but Rambo doesn't have any interest in "swimming" with me either. Roxanne however loves the pool!! It's not deep enough for her to actually swim, but she tries!! She slow-motion swims/marches in the water around in circles trying to catch the waves. haha! She also goes snorkelling underwater to try to "catch" the label on the bottom that warns you that you can't dive into the pool. (Thanks for that, warning label. If it weren't for you, I'd totally try to dive in!) She's pretty funny in the pool, and she also enjoys cooling down in there!


mid-shake! action shot!!



We're both so thankful that Jeff loves us enough to get us a silly pool! ♥

8+ month pregnant women will also tell you that there are things you just can't do for yourself anymore.

Case in point: painting my toenails has become IMPOSSIBLE!!!

I hadn't painted my nails since my baby shower and they were in desperate need of a polish change!! So, yesterday I sat down on the bathroom floor, got out the nail polish remover and cotton balls and went to work! About 10 minutes and a LOT of huffing and puffing later I only had two nails wiped clean and I declared that I just can't do this!

Jeff sort of chuckled at me, but when I informed him I was serious and that I would need his help he obliged without too much protesting! He wiped all my nails clean, even though apparently the feel of cotton balls creep him out! (This is news to me. I didn't realize cotton balls were something that could give you the heebee-jeebies, but he says the crunchy feel of a dry cotton ball is like nails on a chalk board to him!)

As if that wasn't sweet enough of him, when I declared that I couldn't have plain nails he even painted some clear polish on them for me! (I requested clear so that it won't be noticeable when I need a polish change... I don't plan on subjecting him to this again. Haha!)

He went with me to get the car seat inspected, to ensure we were installing it properly and went with me to a breastfeeding class offered by the hospital! He never complains about these things. He just does them. He supports me and humors me.

Sometimes I take him for granted, but I don't ever mean to. He's really great to me - he really is my best friend. It's the little things that he does that make me so thankful that I have him, by my side, for the rest of forever. ♥