Oh my, this little baby boy is already testing us! A couple weeks ago, I posted about baby being in the transverse position and then flipping on his own. Well everything has been hunky dory until yesterday. It was off to the midwife again (this time with my sister for company) for my weekly check up. I was 38 weeks and 5 days. The plan for the day: talk over with my student midwife and the midwife about natural ways to bring on labour as well as discussions on possible complications that could arise. The chat was good - I learnt a lot and felt easy about things. It came time to do the exam, and my student midwife asked for a second opinion as she thought baby boy was possibly in the breech position. The other midwife agreed. Then they called in a third opinion. Yep - she too, felt a breech baby.
So we left with the plan to get an ultrasound book as soon as possible to confirm breech. I wasn't even out of town when I got a call on my cell to stick around as the ultrasound would happen in two hours. This gave us enough time for a quick trip to a store to shop, grab a bite to eat, and do three conference calls with work (as I was supposed to be in a meeting!). My sister and I headed to the hospital and the ultrasound tech confirmed that yes, baby boy was breech (and an estimated 8lbs 1 oz!).
I called the midwife back to give her an update and we planned to meet back the next morning at 9am to do an ECV. On my way home, I was able to call and book a chiropractor appointment last minute to see if he could attempt the Webster Technique on me (this is a technique that helps open the pelvis to allow baby room to flip). It was quick and easy and I went home to my little girl to try all of the other tricks I'd been told and read about (frozen things on my tummy and a flashlight down below, good posture while sitting, forward leaning inversion etc). It was a late night of doing last minute packing (like packing Kennedy's bag and adding more things to my hospital bag). Knowing that the EVC in the morning could potentially bring on labour or, worst case scenario lead to a c-section, I wanted to be prepared.
So my hubby came home from work early from his night shift so he could get a few hours of sleep before we had to head to the hospital. The morning started off well and we dropped K off at the sitter. Off to the hospital we went, feeling a little nervous, but hopeful that the ECV (External Cephalic Version) would be successful. We met three of our midwives there and they started a non-stress test (to make sure baby was happy and comfortable before they attempted the ECV). After about 10 or 15 minutes of being monitored my midwife informed me that the OB doctor was busy in the OR and we would have to stop and wait for her to be available (just to be on the safe side for the worst-case-scenarios).
SO - off we went to the mall. After an hour of touring around we came back and were soon informed that we could start again. Back to the room we went where we had my student midwife, three other midwives I have met, the resident doctor, the OB doctor, and 2 nurses to chat with (can you tell that nobody else was in labour today and we got all the special attention!). They started by feeling around on my tummy - the resident doctor and two of the experienced midwives and were all trying to figure out what they were feeling. What? Head down, they wondered? Couldn't be.... so they hooked up the bedside ultrasound machine and started to look. It did look like head was down (and then the machine shut off - ahhhh - panic and fingers crossed!) But it was confirmed - baby boy's head was down. HE FLIPPED HIMSELF AGAIN!
What a great feeling - we were all in disbelief and couldn't believe that this baby had done it again! However it also raised a bit of concern. He obviously has enough room to be flipping around.... will he keep doing that? Will he flip back into breech or transverse or will he stay head down? We started discussing the possibility of starting an induction right away to be sure that he is in the correct position, but after a lengthy chat, and having the doctor check me out, we decided that today was not the right day. We'll cross our fingers that he stays the way he is, and do what we can to keep him that way (and to make him go even lower in my pelvis).
So that was our morning. A busy one at that. I'm thankful for my midwives, their knowledge and guidance. I'm thankful that they have a good relationship with the OB doctors and the sharing of information and ideas they passed back and forth. I'm thankful that we were so involved in the decisions of today and that they talked TO us, not around us. I'm thankful for my hubby's support through all of it and I'm thankful for a baby who is starting to cooperate! :) (and I was thankful to come home to a happy, smiling two year old daughter!)
