Head’s Down!
Posted by Dineen on November 8th, 2005 filed in Days of ThumperToday at my prenatal appointment I got the great news that Thumper has, in fact, turned head down. All of your good vibes worked! I certainly wouldn’ t mind continued head down vibes, as the baby is not yet engaged and could float around some more. The midwife advised no swimming, which made me laugh because our Doula, Shannon, had her first child by c-section because she was doing handstands in the pool and flipped the poor girl breech a few days before her due date. When I told Shannon about the no swimming comment, she thought it was pretty funny, and agreed whole-heartedly.
Otherwise, a great appointment. All my blood work from last time came back fine — iron a wee bit low, but not enough for supplements, just enough for a reminder to eat raisins and spinach and plenty of red meat and chicken. No prob there. Blood pressure was a great 116/70, and my weight was unchanged from last visit. And, they had a note waiting for me to take to the flu shot folks, and happily signed an FMLA form for me. I left there feeling like everything is falling into place nicely!
November 14th, 2005 at 12:08 am
Dineen,
I did not know Alex was delivered cesarean. Gee, we really do have a lot of things in common!
So know that I am praying for you and assume you are majorly hoping for a VBAC (from your writing, did I gather that). Let me reassure you it is a WONDERFUL thing. Natural childbirth is AWESOME. I did hours and hours worth of research (even medical journals) and learned two very important things that increase your chances for a VBAC:
1) If possible, avoid an ultrasound after 36 weeks. They are almost always wrong! And if they predict that your baby is going to be heavier than he/she really is, your doctor may be biased for a repeat C. Many women have had HUGE babies after C-sections and scar rupture was not an issue. Don’t worry about the 0.001% it happens to.
2) If possible, AVOID INDUCTION! The one factor that I read that *always* decreased the chances of a VBAC was not awaiting *spontaneous* labor.
I did await spontaneous labor with Baby #2 and he came 1 day after predicted due date. And my 39-wk U/S had predicted a 9 lb 15 oz baby, but Dennis was “only” 9 lb 1 oz. When you get into those numbers though and you talk vaginal birth, that’s a HUGE difference!
I’d love to talk more to you. Feel free to call me if/when you get the chance! And good luck waiting out these last few weeks. I know the anticipation is huge.