Thursday, September 1, 2011

Doctor makes a difference

Since Dr. Google had freaked me out about not only having a breech baby but also c-sections in general, I was nervous going in to my follow up appointment. The option of turning the baby also produced some general gloom and doom like feelings as well. 

It is interesting how various people and websites will make you feel like a cesarian is the wrong choice no matter what. That you should of course try to turn the baby. That c-sections are for pansies who simply don't want the joy of ripping their goods. It's funny how people have opinions about your situation before they know the whole story. 

I was able to schedule my follow up appointment with one of my favorite doctor's at the practice.  The practice encourages a consultation about turning the baby and trying for a vaginal birth before they will schedule a c-section.  The one good part about this is that you get an unplanned ultrasound. Ultrasounds are like money when it comes to a pregnancy.  Pregnant ladies want to "see" the baby as many times as possible via ultrasound. After hearing about the options and learning about how they try to turn the baby but are prepared to deliver the baby immediately if there are issues, we headed for a visit with the ultrasound tech. 

The tech was pretty quick but explained what we were seeing and what she was looking for.  When considering turning a baby, there has to be enough fluid around the baby.  Think about it like a water balloon with a toy inside it.  If there is lots of water, the toy turns easier.  Not lots of water, not lots of turning. They also look for the placement of the placenta and to see how far down into the pelvis the baby is.  Those are the three biggest factors when determining if you are a candidate for the old baby spinnaroo. 

The tech first verified that the baby was still breech and what type of breech position.  He is considered frank breech, which sounds miserably uncomfortable to me. His head and feet are both at the top.  Basically he is sitting in a v shape.  Secondly, she started measuring the amount of fluid surrounding the baby.  The standard cutoff for fluid needed is 15.  I am at 11.  Phewwy. Then finally, she checked to see how far down the baby was. Once she got pretty far down in to my pelvis she stated that he was so far down she wasn't even able to go further with the ultrasound machine and get an accurate reading.  Phewwy number two.

The one good part of an ultrasound at this point is that she quickly pointed out a few things that were easily visible like the ribs and spine.  She made the comment of - oh my goodness- which is nothing you want to hear at any baby related appointment. But then laughed and said that she could tell us that the baby has a lot of hair on the back of his head. He may be sporting a mullet - which would be awesome in it's own way - but there is for sure a lot of hair. The way he is squeezed in there didn't let her see the front of his head, though I am guessing there is a lot of hair there as well. Not a surprise if you have seen the amount of hair on my husband's head.

We headed back to chat with the doctor and while she told us it was entirely up to us in regards to a c-section versus trying to turn the baby, it seemed fairly obvious to us that the baby would not be easy to turn.  She made me feel better about having a c-section by saying that she had the same situation with her oldest and then later had a VBAC with her second.  It is amazing what bedside manner can do to a nervous patient.

With all of that done, she broke out the calendar and we literally sat there and picked the date for our baby to be born.  It was slightly unreal and crazy to think that we picked his birthday.  Now if only we could pick his name.

4 comments:

  1. If I had made it past 32 weeks they were going to let me pick Jules' birthday. Unfortunately my body had other ideas. I'm glad your mind was put at ease about a c-section. It comes down to whether or not you'd prefer to stress your baby and I know that once I figured that out, it was an easy decision for me!

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  2. You're having the little guy this month right? Well Sept. 26 is a good day. It's my hubby's b-day. Or Sept 23. That's my step-dad's b-day. Keep me posted on the dates/names!

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  3. I'm telling you - our baby was nameless for the first 2 nights. I was asking the opinion of EVERYONE in the hospital but in the end, I went with what felt "right" (incidentally - everyone voted for the other name).

    Glad your doc put you at ease. I'm sure everyone says, "don't stress" or tell you something along the lines of how deliveries are all different. But really - they are. You can't stress. Just put faith in that the staff is there to support you and your baby. He'll make his debut one way or another!

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  4. I was in a full panic about having a C-section, even though I knew I would have to have one. I just wasn't ready when the day came, and my anxiety was through the roof. But honestly, it was better than another surgery I had which was just laprascopic. And I left the hospital 36 hours post-surgery.

    All of this is to say, if you have to have one, it may not be what you hoped for, but it also doesn't have to be a total nightmare.

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