Just Flip It

Days to Due Date: 22

BB is upside down, that is to say her head is up and it should be down. I have known this for about a month, but I have really been hoping that she would do a few flips and get into position. Today was the moment of truth and she hasn’t moved. Her head is still lodged up under my diaphragm which makes breathing difficult and her feet are standing on my bladder which makes me spend most of my day in the bathroom. The combination is especially dangerous when I sneeze. Sneezing causes a chain reaction which only sheer determination prevents from resulting in peed pants.

So what does this all mean? Well, for delivery BB should be head down, otherwise it is known as a breech birth. Breech births can be dangerous and most hospitals won’t allow them to happen. Instead they schedule a C-section. I am not quite to that place yet, but next week, if BB hasn’t turned, they are going to attempt an External Version. This is where they physically try to turn the baby from the outside. I am worried about this because it can be quite uncomfortable for me, can result in spontaneous eruption of baby or an emergency C-section. I hope that she heads south over the weekend, making the procedure unnecessary. If I can’t have that I hope that the procedure works and BB stays where she’s put. The thing I am really dreading is having a C-section. There are many medical reasons that I dread a C-section, but the most prominent reason is that I won’t get to see BB for several hours after she is born and that just makes me so sad. I am trying to convince myself to consider those hours as part of the birth process, but I want to see her and hold her and all these other people in the world will see her before I do.

So as I consider all these possibilities of where this next week will lead, I have to remind myself that I have had a relatively easy pregnancy…well, as easy as pregnancy can get. I have to remind myself that instead of thinking that maybe I will have 3 fewer weeks to prepare for BB, I have may 3 fewer weeks of pregnancy and all the discomforts.

Tomorrow is my last day at my job at the Norfolk Botanical Garden. It has been a great place to work and I will miss it and I will miss the people. I know it will some time before I stop worrying about what is happening there and about the classes. There is also a part of me that is sorry to be missing out on some of the exciting classes coming up, but as with all jobs, there are some aspects that I won’t miss. :)

I will keep you all posted on BB’s position in the world and I hope you will all send BB visions of flipping over this weekend!