At my appointment yesterday, I saw a different midwife and because I'm full term, she did an internal exam to check to see if I was dilating yet...I am at 1.5cm and 50% effaced. As she did that, she thought she felt fingers and thought that was peculiar so she called for an ultrasound machine to double check the babies position and found that he was opposite of what the last midwife said. He was transverse, but his head was on my upper right side and his bum was on my lower left. :( I wonder if it's been that way the whole time and the last midwife just got the head and rear mixed up....identifying them correctly just by feeling my belly can't be that easy!
SO, I have a breech baby. That DEFINITELY was not in my plans! Even though he was breech early on, I thought surely he'd flip and I'd have a seamless labor and delivery just like with Brady. The midwife told me that I could have an External Cephalic Version done, wherein they manually attempt to move the baby into the appropriate position by pushing on my belly. It's supposed to be a pretty uncomfortable procedure and the success rate is only like 50%. AND, if it works, there's no guarantee that the baby won't just flip back to the breech position again. BUT, if I don't try and he doesn't happen to flip downward before I go into labor, then my only option at this hospital is a C-section.
I decided to give this a try because if I can possibly avoid a C-section, I'd like to. I know many people have had C-sections and have had great experiences, but I know my recovery will be much easier if I can avoid one and since it's a major surgery, I'd love to NOT have one! Of course, if the version doesn't work and it turns out I need a C-section, I'll be ok with that too. I just want this baby to get here safely. But in the mean time, I'll do what I can to have the delivery that I'd hoped for.
SO, our plan is to go in to Labor & Delivery at 11am tomorrow to give this a try. From what I understand, I'm given something to relax my uterine muscles, but I'm not given anything for pain or discomfort. I asked if I should take a Tylenol before, but the midwife kind of chuckled and said it wouldn't help much. :( After the procedure, which I think only takes 5-10 minutes, I have to continue being monitored for an hour to make sure the baby is happy, whether it worked or not. If the baby is doing well then we come home and either wait for labor to start or wait for a scheduled C-section.
I'm feeling pretty positive about it. I'm hopeful that it will work and I'll be able to have the natural delivery that I've had planned from the start. I just can't imagine having a C-section...like I can't picture that as being my reality, so it makes me think that it won't be. But I could be totally wrong and just in denial...who knows.
The craziest part to me is that after we check in tomorrow, there's a chance we won't be checking out until we have the baby (if labor starts or if I have to go in for a c-section), so I have to have my bags totally packed just in case this is the real deal. I put the baby's bassinet together tonight and we're installing the car seat tomorrow before we leave. Ryan went out with a friend tonight and told me "don't you be going into labor while I'm gone", which made me laugh because at this point, that could happen too. Brady was 10 days early, and since I'm already dilating, who knows what could happen. It's funny because you try and plan these things out and then you just have to realize that you really have little to no control over the situation. Sure, I'm frustrated that things aren't going "my way", but luckily I'm not a rigid birth plan kind of girl and I know that whether it's a c-section or a natural delivery, the baby should arrive safely and we'll be a family of 4 very soon.
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