Today was my 36 week appointment. Countdown of the last 4 weeks. The beginning of the end. My doc did the strep B test and I declined the internal (my dilation at 36 weeks has NO bearing on when I will go into labor). I asked him if the baby felt head down. He said it felt that way but that he couldn't be sure without an internal exam. I was about to blow it off and told him I trusted his judgement, but then he suggested that we do an u/s just to be sure. I'm not one to turn down seeing my baby, so off we went to the sono room.
As he is looking at the screen he asks me what made me ask about her being breech- mother's intuition? I told him that my first was breech and was turned by version at 37 weeks. And then he said the thing that I fear the most at this point in pregnancy: the baby is breech.
Ugh.
Really NOT what I need right now.
So what are my options? My doctor is not experienced in doing a version (turning the baby from the outside) so he does not feel comfortable doing it. He says that it is a dying art due to the ease at which doctors can do c-sections instead. He is calling around today to find out if there are any doctors in the area who would be willing to do the procedure.
IF there is a doctor willing, it would need to happen next week. Past 37 weeks the baby gets too big to turn and there is less fluid to ease the process.
IF there is a doctor willing, it's still not a happy thing. The procedure is extremely painful. They give you a drug that calms your uterus that makes you all jittery and you sign away your life beforehand so that they can rush you to an OR if anything goes wrong. It's not something that I want to do again. But I'd take it over a c-section.
It's still possible for this girl to turn. There's room and she's not engaged in my pelvis yet. This is my first choice if I were to chose what would happen. Lots of prayers will begin...
My final option is a c-section. I have NEVER wanted a c-section. I know they're common now, yada yada yada- and I'm not dissing anyone who's had one- but I just don't like them. I would hate being strapped to a table, cut open, to not be able to hold my baby right away, the long healing time afterward... I have always been a full participant in my labors- I find joy in the labor and birth process. It just makes me sad to think about it. Of course if that's my only option, then that's what I'll do... the baby's health is the most important thing. It's just not what I wanted.
But then, who ever said that we get everything that we want?
I'll post again when my doctor calls to let me know my options.
2 comments:
Aww, I hope she turns on her own. :( Garrett was still flipping all over the place at 36 weeks. He'd be breech at one NST and head down the next.
What a shame that it's a dying art. I'm with you on the avoiding-a-c-section-at-almost-any-cost thing. I hope it works out.
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