Breech Baby!

MY BREECH BABY: A few weeks ago at our 3-D ultra sound, we discovered that baby-girl #2 was head up in my tummy - Breech! I was told not to worry because I was only 30 weeks along and baby still had plenty of time to flip. I was also told that with 2nd pregnancies, they baby has more room due to your fabulously pre-stretched uterus and can take longer to flip to the head-down position.  At our regular Kaiser baby/mommy check-up two weeks ago, my midwife found that baby was side ways. She said there was still plenty of time for baby to flip but she also knows how neurotic I can be and told me all of the options for if the baby is still breech at the next appointment. My appointment is Tuesday and I will be 35 weeks. I can't tell if I feel a head near my ribs or a butt, but there is something big under my right rib,  so either baby is completely breech at this point or she's moved into position and her little booty is the knot I can feel under my ribs (fingers are crossed)!

EXTERNAL CEPHALIC VERSION: On Tuesday at my check-up we will find out for sure what her position is. If she is breech, they would like me to try External Cephalic Version - often referred to as just Version or ECV. This is where they manually move baby from the outside of your tummy and try to get her into the right position. Before talking to my mid-wife, I researched ECV... ONLINE..... Pregnant women should really not research online! In fact, they should have a pregnancy internet block like they have for kids that husbands can install on their computers so that pregnant women can't read all of the horror stories from the internet and panic.... What I read online about ECV is that it has a very low success rate (less than 60%), that it is painful, and that it can cause complications, such as the placenta pre-maturely separating from the uterus leading to immediate delivery of the baby.  There were other scary things about ECV online, but these are the main things.

When I shared my crazy concerns with my midwife, she told me the true facts about ECV. First of all, at Kaiser, they have a specialist at the local Kaiser hospital that does ECV every day and is supposedly wonderful at it with a high success rate. I like this idea! If he or she does them frequently with high success, then I am already way way less worried!  The doctor does the procedure while watching your baby via ultra sound the entire time to make sure they aren't hurting her. Second, ECV isn't very effective for first time moms, but it is highly effective for 2nd timers because of the uterus already being a little more stretched and roomier allowing more room for baby to move. I found out that they do this procedure at the hospital. In case there are any complications, they can safely deliver the baby right then and there. The do not do this procedure until the woman is full term - about 37 weeks, just in case you do go into labor because of the procedure. She said that the chances of placenta separation happening are so slim and that you are more likely to make it happen by bumping into a table or falling over.

I am still a little on the fence about ECV but if it comes to that, I will be sure to ask more questions before I go through with it. The only other option is delivering via C-Section and I really don't want to do that. I have heard from actual real women (not the internet) that ECV is pretty painful, but I don't want that to be the reason that I don't try it. I am scared about it though!

WHY I DON'T WANT A C-SECTION: I have many hang-ups about C-Sections even though I know tons of women who have had them who are perfectly healthy and have healthy kids.

First of all, my birth experience with Emily was chaotic at times, but awesome! I had health complications, but during the time when I was pushing and Emily came out, it was such a cool and even peaceful experience! For a while, it was just my husband, myself, and a nurse in a dimly lit calm room pushing away... nothing scary and medical feeling like they show on TV... I did have the epidural, but I could still feel everything (just not the extreme pain)... It was incredible. Immediately after she was born, they put her on my chest "skin-on-skin" for a brief moment before they took her to be checked out and measured. Despite all of my health complications and our long long stay at the hospital, I wouldn't trade that experience for  the world... The idea of having major surgery where they strap down my arms and legs and give me major pain meds afterwards makes me feel very very anxious! I don't want to wait to hold my baby for an hour after having her because the doctor is still sewing me up!

Again, I have many friends who have had C-Sections and even I was born via C-section, but I really don't want to do it! I feel like the "C-Section Women" are always trying to convince the world that it is somehow better than natural birth and a piece of cake. I think somehow they feel guilty because they couldn't do it the normal way and are trying to convince themselves that they did it the best way! There is no best way! It is actually really annoying because when they get together, they act like they are in some cool club because they all had to have a C-Section... It is way weird! I don't have a "my baby came out of my vagina" club where I sit around and talk about how amazing I am for having a baby the normal way.... I don't see anything wrong with having a C-Section if you have to have one! If it is safest for mom and baby, then it must be done! I get it! But lets not kid ourselves here like its the equivalent to going in to a nice day spa and coming out with a child! It is real major surgery! It takes a while to recover from it! They cut into your skin and stomach muscle tissue and uterus and have to sew up several different layers when they are all finished. It is major freaking surgery! I also don't want to be all doped up on heavy pain meds while I am trying to care for my brand new baby! I like to be as alert and functional and as self sufficient as possible! Is that too much to ask for? Even after regular child birth, they offer you strong pain meds and I would only take the Ibuprofen because I didn't want to have that druggy hazy feeling while learning to breast feed and change diapers!

I even know of some women who have "elective" C-Sections that their doctors allow. This kills me! C-Sections should only be reserved for women who actually medically need to have one!  These "elective C-Section" women will use the words "vaginal trauma" about natural child birth! I am not kidding! "Vaginal Trauma"! As if your hoo-hoo becomes traumatized doing the very thing that is was made for! Yes it will likely tear a little and be a little worse for the wear for a couple to a few weeks, but ladies, it goes back to normal!!! My hoo-hoo is fabulous and is in no way going through post-traumatic-stress disorder from giving birth to my child! Its not like my hoo-hoo was on the front line in a war!!! There are no complaints from my husband either! He's an honest guy (to a fault)! He would tell me if there was a problem!

Ok I should wrap this up now! I have gone on a tirade! SORRY! I guess my point in this blog is just working out my own thoughts about all of this... I am scared of trying ECV but even more scared of needing a C-Section. Let's just hope that on Tuesday we find that baby girl #2 has flipped head down and I can quit worrying about this! If not, at about 37 weeks (two weeks from now), I will probably try ECV and hope for the best. I will at least know that I did everything that I could to have the baby the way that I want to.  I will blog on Tuesday after my check-up and tell you how it goes!