Monday, June 1, 2009

Turn, baby... turn!

Today I had my 36 week OB appointment.  (I know, that number got big in a hurry, didn't it!?  36 weeks!!)  The results were not what I expected.

I'm dilated to 1 cm already, which isn't that big of a deal.  You can hang out at 1 cm for quite a while without further progress.  But as my doctor was checking me, she announced that she wanted me to have an ultrasound because things felt 'squishy' where the head was supposed to be positioned, and she suspected that the baby was not head down.

So down the hall we went to see, in black and white, that indeed our little girl is upright in her cozy little womb-home!  Her head is tucked right up next to my right ribcage.

Ugh.  As soon as she landed that ultrasound wand on my belly where she suspected the head was, and that big old noggin showed up on the screen, I moaned good-naturedly "nooooo!".  We both laughed.  My doctor is so sweet, and she reassured me that 30% of babies at this point are breech, and most (all but 4%) reposition themselves to head-down by the time labor starts. 

Enter in the evil internet.  
I just read that a baby's first milestone is the ability to get into head-down position in the womb.  That a breech baby could be out of position because they lack the coordinated movements to move into a head down position due to neuro-muscular problems.  And with that, I have just decided to abandon my online quest to learn all that the internet has to teach me about breech babies.

But if you stop by my house and find me laying inverted on an ironing board propped up against the sofa, acupuncture needles stuck in the sides of my pinky toes, shining a flashlight at the base of my belly, with homeopathic pellets under my tongue, now you know what is going on.

All joking aside, please pray with us that this little girl decides to turn herself before I go into labor.  Next Tuesday I have my final growth-check ultrasound prior to my weekly OB appointment, and they will be able to see what the position of the baby is at that point as well.

4 comments:

MP said...

we will be praying. Just this week this happened to my friend..she was on the ironing board, and her baby girl flipped. I think it will work!! Just keep doing it..and oh..she was also 36 weeks along! :)

Becki said...

There's still time, Ash! I will be praying that she decides to turn soon.

the deKorne family said...

praying for both of you...kaiya pulled the same little thing. i did some crazy stuff. keep us posted!

ZFam said...

love that new picture of robbie at the top of your page! PRECIOUS!