Blessed

Well I have to say, 38 weeks have gone by so fast! The hubs and I were recently reflecting on how blessed we've been with this pregnancy. We made it to term with baby and mamma doing great. Our only little hiccup has been Gus wanting to stay breech. I guess there is so much excitement in the world, baby wants to remain upright to take it all in! 


Yesterday we attempted an external cephalic version (AKA: a barbaric manual attempt to flip baby over.) It was recommended by our OB as a way to convert a breech baby to vertex and lead to natural labor and a vaginal delivery. I was a good candidate with amniotic fluid, posterior placenta and baby's size to go forward with the attempt. Overall an ECV is very low risk for complications (emergent delivery for fetal distress or placental abruption) and with a 50/50 success rate. My emotional brain was ok with the idea of a C section. I had about 10 weeks to allow the idea to sink in since my 28 week ultrasound when we first found out. As most of you know I'm a planner and I liked the idea of knowing when the delivery would happen and be able to prepare. Not to mention there was the convenience factor of pre-booking my parents flights! Yet, despite all these benefits, a vertex baby post version still put me at a double risk of needing a section compared to the regular vertex babies who were never breech (28% vs. 13%). And there was still some risk of ending up with an emergent section if there was a complication. We knew we didn't have to attempt a version as that was an option too. 


However, my medical brain knows that C sections also come with risk. Surgical and anesthesia complications, longer recovery time, delays to milk production, increased respiratory difficulties for the baby etc etc. What to do, what to do. Therefore the medical objective opinion won us over and we went with OB's recommendation to attempt the version. But how did I feel about all of this? Would I be disappointed, would I feel like a failure for not getting to experience natural childbirth (with an a la carte epidural of course!)?

I still wasn't sure. So I put it in God's hands and said a prayer that whatever is in the Lord's plan will be.


Here was the outcome:
Gus and uterus: 1
Kim: 0


The good ole college try was given with 3 attempts to flip the baby over... baby just wouldn't budge. Thankfully, though uncomfortable, both baby and I tolerated the attempt ok. Now we're moving on to game time: a C section June 1st when the all the magic will happen. 


I'm truly ok with this outcome. I've had plenty of time to let this idea of a C section settle and we did everything we could to try to get baby to flip over, just wasn't in the cards. The exciting part is we now have a birthday: June 1, 2012. (That is unless Gus decides to make an earlier appearance! )


Meanwhile, we're getting the last minute things done on the nursery. Furniture comes today, finally, and we're running a few errands. My level of stamina is down to about 2 hours of activity and then I need a recliner break as I just don't have the energy I did even a couple weeks ago. Sleep is sort of a joke as I'm up wide awake every 2 hours. This is certainly mother natures way of preparing for many sleepless nights to come! 


Overall, we've been blessed! Our prayers continue for a healthy baby, as in the end that is all that matters. 

So much love in a face

Yesterday, I had a wonderful visit with a friend who delivered her first baby 3 weeks ago. The little one is adorable and mom is recuperating very well. It was a surreal experience after I left as I realized I too will be in the same situation, God willing, in 10 short weeks. My husband and I have remarked how much 'stuff' we still need to do in preparation. Painting the nursery, getting the last needed baby items (car seat), childbirth classes/breastfeeding, the small home improvements we've wanted to do since moving in, completing house painting, buying furniture etc etc. We're on a good path to get these little projects completed. But what I know we'll never be prepared for is actually being a parent. A statement often said 'if you wait until you're ready to have a baby, you'll never have them' has real meaning. To us, this is the time in our life we decided we 'were ready' but to be a parent begs the question "it's there a program or certificate or a master degree that's needed before being allowed to bring another person into the world?" Ha!

Obviously millions of people do this everyday, so why am I even talking about this! It's become so evident to me why there is so much info is out there, well meaning advice from loved ones, books, parent groups etc. I never truly understood until now it's because new parents really have no clue what they are getting themselves into! It's scary to realize how much you don't know and all the while this little face will be looking up at you expecting you to be their hero.

Thursday at my ultrasound it was a nice surprise to find 'Gus' (blog post explanation for another day!) sitting forward, frank breech, just waiting to check out the world. This position allowed for the tech to use a special probe and produce this amazing 4D image. While the image isn't perfectly focused and it may not be clear for everyone viewing, it was clear as day for me: a little nose, lips and cheeks. The baby's face.

It was love at first sight, and no matter how much we have to learn as new parents, when this little face looks up at us for real, we will just figure it out.

Thankfully we'll have our friends, families and others who have done this before and can lend their support, suggestions, advice and love.