Meeting our C section Doctor

I met Dr. P today. He will be the one doing my c section if bebe doesn't flip (I had another chiropractic appointment today and acupuncture. My right toe didn't hurt as much today- don't know if that is a good or bad sign.) The chiropractor said that if a baby is going to turn it typically will do so within a week- so I guess if it doesn't happen this week it is probably not going to happen.

We are waiting to here back from Dr. P about what day our c section is scheduled for. I asked for Friday March 8th- that way Matt can take a week of vacation, and the following week is my moms spring break so she can be here the week after. That's two full weeks of help at home- I think I will be ok after that.

I was a little disappointed by my appointment today. I was nervous about the whole thing so was shy I suppose. But Dr. P just wasn't personable. Maybe because I am used to Dr. H who is just fabulous. This appointment seemed very matter of fact. I peed in a cup. Got my blood pressure checked by a nurse then went into Dr. P's office to discuss the c section. He explained the procedure and said he would call me and tell me when it was scheduled for. Obviously this didn't go over well with me. (I briefly explained our desire to have a natural birth and wanted to wait as long as possible to give bebe the chance to turn. I also told him I would like the 8th. He said Fridays aren't good because they have office hours and so I said the 7th. He still has to call the hospital and see what is available and said he would call me in the next few days to let me know. I asked about being able to vbac for our next child, and about skin to skin in the operating room, and delaying newborn procedures. He said he didn't see a problem with any of that and told me to tell Matt to wear a button down. He did said that the newborn procedures were up to the nurses in the OR with us.

So here we are- we will be finding out if this LO inside of me is a boy or girl in 10-11 days.

39 Weeks

How far along: 39 weeks. Wow! We are in the single digit countdown- if baby arrives on his/her own. 7 days left. If bebe doesn't come on his/her own then we will still have a baby in the next couple weeks. Dr. H doesn't do c sections so I have to go Monday to meet another doctor and schedule for the first week in March. I can't believe we are going to have a baby in the next two weeks or so!

We are still crossing our fingers that bebe will turn. I went to the chiropractor today and got my hips adjusted (un-aligned hips/pelvis is one reason why some babies don't turn). The chiropractor also did acupuncture to help the baby turn-
Focusing on four points on my feet. The right pinky toe is supposed to be the point to help the baby turn, and that needle hurt- so here is to hoping! (I can't remember what the other needles were for)

This week, baby is the size of a: watermelon
Next appointment: March 1st with Dr. H. I also have an appointment Monday with Dr. P to schedule my c section and also have chiropractic appointments next Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Labor signs: I'm still 1 cm dilated. No other signs stand out. I think this LO is here to stay and I will make it to my due date.
What I miss: nothing really.
What I'm loving: I love my preggo belly.
What I'm looking forward to: meeting this precious little one in the next few weeks!

High Risk Uktrasound

I had to go for a high risk ultrasound today to recheck my fluid levels. This ultrasound was better than yesterday but still not "great news". Fluid levels are fine. Bebe is measuring 37 weeks 5 days. His/her head is of a normal size- but that normal sized head is still lodged under my right rib and doesn't seem to be going anywhere.

I have a doctors appointment Thursday the 21st so Dr. H and I will probably discuss a c section more in depth. We still want to try to wait as long as possible to schedule to give this LO a chance to turn on his/her own.

Ultrasound

Today was a rough day. An emotional day full of tears and fears.

I had my ultrasound, after having to wait almost an hour due to a mix up in paperwork that had to be fixed before I could be registered. The baby is indeed breech with a foot lodged rather low. They took all the measurements and the machine estimated the baby to be 37ish weeks, with a head that is off the charts. She said its a really big baby- 8 pounds and 4 ounces already, give or take a pound. How do they come up with that anyway?

I don't know if it was the big head, or the weight, or the feet planted firmly in my pelvis that broke the wall of tears- but I got into my car after the appointment and I cried. I cried when I got home. I cried when I told Matt. I called Dr. H's office and left a message with the nurse asking her if she had recommendations for a chiropractor who specialized in pregnancy and the Webster technique to try and get baby to flip. Pretty much immediately after hanging up Dr. H called me back and told me about the ultrasound. She also said that my fluid was measuring a little low and she wanted to schedule another ultrasound for the next day to get I looked at. She wanted to make sure I wasn't leaking. She explained that if fluid was fine we could try some different things to get baby to flip but that our LO (or should I say big one) has been in the same position for quite awhile now and just may be stubborn and not move. But she didn't want me doing anything until after he ultrasound. If fluid was low we would talk about scheduling a c section (she did say not until the first week in March though). Unless I went into labor and started contracting.

We got off the phone, and I cried.
I cried when I told Matt, I cried when I told my mom. I cried when I texted friends. I cried. I researched c sections and I cried. I sat and thought and I cried.

I knew the baby was more than likely breech. And I knew that more than likely meant a c section. But to hear Dr. H say we will talk about scheduling a c section hit me HARD!

With low fluid, a big baby, feet down, and an anterior placenta I knew an external version probably wasn't going to be successful. And I didn't really know if I wanted to try and manually turn the baby anyway.

I worked myself up and thought that I was having contractions. At this point I had "okayed" myself with the fact that a c section would happen if the baby would flip. I of course don't want a c section, but I thought if it were scheduled it would give my parents the opportunity to get here for it. And I liked that idea.

But of course my next freak out started soon after because "what if I go into labor- then it would be an emergency c section and that would be done immediately. And there is no way my parents would get here." I was not ok with this.

I took a bath, ate some dinner and relaxed. I just finished adding some things to a c section birth plan I'm working on (just in case) and wrote down some questions to ask Dr. H.

Fingers crossed for good news tomorrow.

38 Weeks

 

I had my doctors appointment today. Had my group B strep test.
Had my first internal check.
Had blood work done.

The internal wasn't as bad as I thought it may be. I am 1 cm dilated already (Dr. H was surprised by this) She wasn't able to tell if the baby was head down or not. She thought there may be a hand or foot down there. I'm thinking we have a breech baby :/ We will see on Monday. Cross your fingers.

I told Dr. H about my freak out moment and she said she would be there to get me through it. And assured me that everything would be ok. It eased some fears. I am glad that I have a doctor that I can trust and takes time to listen to my fears. She doesn't brush them off or make me feel stupid, and doesn't rush in and out of the room. You don't always find that in a doctor.

37 Weeks

 

 

New symptom added this week- snoring. Matt recorded me. Yep I snore. I knew before he recorded me though because I've woken myself up a couple times. It's not really bothering me- what bothers me is when Matt wakes me and tells me I'm snoring. Then complains when I start moving around trying to get comfortable again. If he wouldn't have woken me up then I would still be asleep and not moving. Haha.

Pregnancy has been very good to me the past nine months. I still "forget" that I am pregnant. I have only had a bout or two with heartburn, haven't had issues with constipation or hemroids , no real sickness, sleeping has become "less easy" than before- it takes longer for me to fall asleep- but before I was pregnant I'd be asleep in a matter of minutes. Now when I first lay down it takes me awhile, but I still fall asleep quickly after using the bathroom in the middle of the night. I really can't complain. I probably should never get pregnant again though, because I'm sure the second time around will be 100% different.

I think that the fact that I've felt so good has held me off from having a "holy crap" freak. But that finally came at our Bradley class last night. Our instructor was asking questions and going a mile a minute and I thought to myself "how am I ever going to do this?!? I don't know what she is talking about- what's the difference between the first stage of labor and the second stage of labor. When do I call Matt? When do I call my parents? When do we go to the hospital? My head was spinning and I had to hold back tears. Let's hope Matt has been paying attention and will be able to handle and coach me through labor. I'm just along for the ride.

I am going to be a mom. Wow.

36 weeks

Well 36 weeks has brought some excitement to this household. I've had a cough and stuffed up nose/drainge for the last week or two. Which is miserable when you aren't pregnant- add pregnancy to it and it beyond sucks. It ended up turning into a sinus infection and I got put on a zpack. About a week into the cough, I coughed and felt like I broke a rib. I survived through it without taking any medicine- didn't even really mention it to much to the doctor bc there was nothing they could do.

But yesterday while I was getting ready for my doctor appointment I coughed in the shower and heard a pop (same area my rib was hurting before but instead of being in the front it was in the back). It hurt to bend down and pick my phone up off the coffee table. It hurt to sit in the car, to turn my head. It hurt. Since my appointment was that day I mentioned it to Dr. H and she said that I may have pulled a muscle or moved a rib out of place but that there wasn't anything I could do. Just take it easy. Hold that spot when I cough. And I could take Tylenol. I took it easy the rest of the day which helped but as soon as I moved it would hurt again.

Well fell asleep Thursday night, turned from my left side to my right side, or maybe it was my right to my left (doesn't really matter). But that turn did me in. I couldn't breath. I couldn't move. I had to have Matt help me sit up in bed. Sitting was helping so I thought I would get up. I was hot, and in a lot more pain than before. It took a lot of effort to walk to the bathroom and had to stop half way because I thought I was going to pass out. We ended up going to the ER (I was afraid that with the breathing issue that I had punctured a lung or something)

Looking back now I guess I should have just stayed at home- because they didn't do anything. The ER doctor listened to my lungs and said I sounded good, felt my ribs and said he couldn't feel a distinct break but that that it didn't mean I didn't have one. We got some pain meds and went home. I was hesitant to take medicine while being pregnant but I needed it the first day or so. I would only take it before bed to help me sleep instead of taking it every 4 hours. And would take tylenol to help at other times.

In other news- Dr. H doesn't think that the baby is breech anymore so that's good news. We also went over my birth plan- she was on board with most of it. There were a few items that we discussed in depth that she said she wasn't comfortable doing or not doing. I was ok with it. YI plan to discuss it more with her at a later appointment as well.