My pelvic bones are starting to get sore but no signs of labor. I'm 39 weeks tomorrow. I think I won't go into labor until the 41st week.
Just two more weeks of work in the office.
I've become a champion of long midday naps.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
The beauty of having easy access to an ultrasound machine
Confirmed! Baby is head down again! I hope he/she stays there!
Sunday, April 22, 2012
You little bugger.
So the baby may have flipped back to vertex all on his/her own. I took a long nap today because I didn't sleep well last night and the baby's head was back in my pelvis, as far as I can tell. I'll sono myself tomorrow to be sure but it makes me pretty darn excited!
It makes sense. The baby only flipped to breech within the last 48 hours and the physics of breech mean that there is less room for the baby. That is, the baby maximizes the amount of room it has by being in the vertex position. So, maybe the baby was uncomfortable in the breech position (and didn't like how much I was playing with his/her head since I had such easy access) and flipped back over.
Now let's hope he/she stays there!
It makes sense. The baby only flipped to breech within the last 48 hours and the physics of breech mean that there is less room for the baby. That is, the baby maximizes the amount of room it has by being in the vertex position. So, maybe the baby was uncomfortable in the breech position (and didn't like how much I was playing with his/her head since I had such easy access) and flipped back over.
Now let's hope he/she stays there!
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Breech Baby
It finally happened. Something actually went wrong this pregnancy. The baby is breech, that is, butt down. There are no doctors these days that would do a full term vaginal delivery with a breech baby so I have limited options.
Here is the plan for the next week:
1. Do exercises to help encourage the baby to move back to vertex position by itself - inverted positions, abdominal massage, music down by the pelvis, swimming, headstands in the pool. I'm not even kidding about these.
2. Get moxibustion - this is where an acupuncturist burns incense by my pinkie toe to get the baby to move head down. This sounds a little crazy but there is research supporting that it works a statistically significant amount of time.
3. On Wednesday I will get an external cephalic version after work. This is where I'm in the hospital, probably with an epidural in place, and they push on my abdomen from the outside to try to move the baby back into vertex (head down) position. There are risks associated with this, and it may mean I need a c-section directly after the attempt.
4. If any of these are successful, great! I continue on like nothing's happened until I go into labor. If they're not successful my goal would be to stay pregnant and continue these exercises/acupuncture until 40 or 41 weeks. Then I will have a c-section unless the baby decides to flip on his/her own.
I have to say, I'm super disappointed. I figured this all out a few hours ago. The baby's movements had changed in the last 24 hours and so I palpated my belly to figure out if the head was still down. I've been doing this for a few weeks now - it's called Leopold's maneuver and I do it on all my pregnant patients. Today, the head didn't feel down. It felt like it was sitting at the top of my uterus. So I went over to the hospital and had the attending from my practice ultrasound me. Sure enough, baby was butt down.
It's really disappointing to be planning not just a vaginal birth but an out of hospital vaginal birth and now be faced with a good likelihood that I'll need a c-section.
I've been crying a lot today. Maybe crying will get the baby to turn!
Here is the plan for the next week:
1. Do exercises to help encourage the baby to move back to vertex position by itself - inverted positions, abdominal massage, music down by the pelvis, swimming, headstands in the pool. I'm not even kidding about these.
2. Get moxibustion - this is where an acupuncturist burns incense by my pinkie toe to get the baby to move head down. This sounds a little crazy but there is research supporting that it works a statistically significant amount of time.
3. On Wednesday I will get an external cephalic version after work. This is where I'm in the hospital, probably with an epidural in place, and they push on my abdomen from the outside to try to move the baby back into vertex (head down) position. There are risks associated with this, and it may mean I need a c-section directly after the attempt.
4. If any of these are successful, great! I continue on like nothing's happened until I go into labor. If they're not successful my goal would be to stay pregnant and continue these exercises/acupuncture until 40 or 41 weeks. Then I will have a c-section unless the baby decides to flip on his/her own.
I have to say, I'm super disappointed. I figured this all out a few hours ago. The baby's movements had changed in the last 24 hours and so I palpated my belly to figure out if the head was still down. I've been doing this for a few weeks now - it's called Leopold's maneuver and I do it on all my pregnant patients. Today, the head didn't feel down. It felt like it was sitting at the top of my uterus. So I went over to the hospital and had the attending from my practice ultrasound me. Sure enough, baby was butt down.
It's really disappointing to be planning not just a vaginal birth but an out of hospital vaginal birth and now be faced with a good likelihood that I'll need a c-section.
I've been crying a lot today. Maybe crying will get the baby to turn!
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Serenity now
After all that snail's pace stuff last week, I'm happy to say that I have reached this serene calm for the first time this pregnancy. I'm 37 weeks tomorrow, officially full term, and for the moment at least, I have no desire to rush this baby out of me anymore. I'm cherishing these last few weeks of pregnancy, having a constant (and quiet) companion. I'm resting a lot, feeling a little anti-social, but overall I feel pretty darn great.
I'll take a 37 week picture sometime this week as I have slacked in that capacity recently.
Here's to the next five weeks and the baby that those weeks will certainly bring. And here's to this calm state of mind; let's hope it lasts.
I'll take a 37 week picture sometime this week as I have slacked in that capacity recently.
Here's to the next five weeks and the baby that those weeks will certainly bring. And here's to this calm state of mind; let's hope it lasts.
Monday, April 9, 2012
A snail's pace
Things are getting harder. Each week takes longer to reach its end and each week's ending brings aches and pains and swelling. It's strange how time changes like that - how the first 9/10ths of this pregnancy flew by and now, time crawls, laughing and sneering at me on its way by.
I chose to work past my due date because I didn't want to waste any time off. By that, I mean, I wanted all 12 weeks to be baby weeks. I didn't want two of those weeks to be lazy-sit-around-the-house-waiting-for-baby weeks.
I may have made a mistake.
I know I'll be uncomfortable post-baby due to the whole pushing-out-a-baby thing, but I'm SO VERY excited for my swelling to go down. My ankles look like grandma ankles and it grosses me out. It's not painful or anything, just really gross looking. It's the part of the pregnancy I was least prepared for.
I wonder if I can talk to the head of my department about going out early or if I should just suck it up. Maybe all the overworking I'm doing will make me go into labor earlier rather than later!
I chose to work past my due date because I didn't want to waste any time off. By that, I mean, I wanted all 12 weeks to be baby weeks. I didn't want two of those weeks to be lazy-sit-around-the-house-waiting-for-baby weeks.
I may have made a mistake.
I know I'll be uncomfortable post-baby due to the whole pushing-out-a-baby thing, but I'm SO VERY excited for my swelling to go down. My ankles look like grandma ankles and it grosses me out. It's not painful or anything, just really gross looking. It's the part of the pregnancy I was least prepared for.
I wonder if I can talk to the head of my department about going out early or if I should just suck it up. Maybe all the overworking I'm doing will make me go into labor earlier rather than later!
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