How far along? 37 weeks...the size of a piece of swiss chard!
Total weight gain: 17.4lbs...there's those pesky extra pounds, although Dr. Nguyen says it's likely water weight
Maternity clothes? comfy ones
Stretch marks? still none!
Sleep: not sleeping very great...mostly because I can't stop thinking about breech babies and having random theme songs from Mila's shows in my head ("Dora, Dora, Dora THE exploraaaaaaa!")
Best moment this week: Mila gave me a kiss and said "I love you" first, before I said it. BEST FEELING EVER.
Worst moment this week: by far the ECV (details below)
Miss anything? actually no...feeling pretty content
Movement: all kinds of movement, just not the kind we want! Sometimes it feels like she is jumping on my bladder and I am afraid I might pee myself!
Food cravings: soup
Anything making you queasy or sick? nope
Labor signs: pretty much all of my labor signs have stopped...although today the nurse asked if I had been having contractions and I said no. Then, at the moment, she was like "oh, you're having one right now!" So apparently I AM having contractions but have no idea. Just the way I like it :)
Wedding rings on or off? on
Happy or Moody most of the time? usually happy but have been feeling sad the past couple of days, most likely because of the breech situation. This post makes it sound like I'm super depressed about it...it's coming across worse than I actually feel though :)
Looking forward to: having our kitchen back! We've been doing work throughout the house (pictures coming soon!) and haven't had a sink or dishwasher for the past two weeks...that's rough!
For a look back at Week 37 with Mila, click here.
This morning was my External Cephalic Version (ECV) to try and move Nellie from head up to head down and, let me tell you, it was quite invasive! I had to be at the hospital an hour early and was in a hospital bed, hooked up to a fetal monitor, with an IV...the whole deal.
The gave me a shot of something to relax my uterus so it wouldn't contract (and it stung SO bad, like 100 little bee stings) and then also gave me morphine for the pain (although I can't imagine it hurting more than it did!).
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| morphine smiles |
Then it was time to start the ECV, which consisted of Dr. Nguyen pressing down (as hard as she could??) and pushing all over my stomach; like imagine molding clay, that's what it was like. It was SO uncomfortable, the pain did stop when she stopped but it was not pleasant at all. We tried for a very long time; Dr. Nguyen broke out into a sweat and said that I could call it whenever I wanted to but I said I was up for it as long as she was. Pretty much the entire time Nellie was not budging and at one point put her arm behind her head like, what else do you got?? After about an hour with Dr. Nguyen she said that we would take a break and she wanted another doctor to come in to see if they could push and pull to get her to turn. We tried that, again, to no avail, and Dr. Nguyen said that she was calling uncle because Nellie just did not want to move. Nellie's heartbeat stayed in the "140s" the entire time, which is apparently good and Dr. Nguyen couldn't believe how the ECV wasn't even affecting her. I think we may have a VERY stubborn girl on our hands!
While we were waiting for the second doctor to arrive Dr. Nguyen actually had to go and speak with the maternity board chair to get special approval to deliver Nellie via breech vaginal delivery as, apparently, it's not usually done at this hospital. I had no idea it was such a process and am SO thankful that I have a doctor that will go to bat for me to have the labor and delivery that I want to have. You don't realize it when you have a normal, perfect birth (like Mila), but the fact that Dr. Nguyen gave me her all this morning (and I am sure had to cancel other patients since she was with me for 2 hours) AND went to the hospital board for permission, rather than just saying no, is so awesome and makes me so happy she is my doctor.
At this point we talked about our options. She said that a vaginal breech birth is riskier than a normal birth because the head is the last part to come out and what if it doesn't fit? She said the only way she will be comfortable doing it is if Nellie is the same size or smaller than Mila (7lbs, 7oz) since we know a baby that size will fit. We have an ultrasound scheduled for 12/17 to check her size and then I will meet with Dr. Nguyen to discuss the next step. We are going to wait and see what the ultrasound shows on 12/17, because Nellie COULD still move on her own. Dr. Nguyen has been so accommodating as well; at this point we are planning for a vaginal (breech or no breech) delivery on 12/18; once they give me the epidural they will try to move her once again, assuming she is still breech. If she can't be moved on that day then we will go ahead and proceed with a c-section. As much as I want another vaginal birth, I also want what is best for Nellie. At the end of the day I want to be able to look back and say I did everything I could to have the labor and delivery that I wanted and with this, I think I can.
I was so glad Robert was there today, even though he didn't get to do much but watch his very pregnant wife cry out in lots of pain, but it was nice having him there nonetheless. I am feeling okay right now, still a little queasy from the morphine and my stomach has broken blood vessels and some bruises on it. This definitely isn't the way I thought this labor and delivery would go, but it rarely is, right? And the icing on the cake? In two weeks or less we will have a new little babe to love on and snuggle and all will be right in the world :)
Upcoming Appointments
12/8 at 9am - regular OB check
12/17 at 2pm - Ultrasound
12/17 at 2:30pm - discuss plan with Dr. Nguyen
12/18 at 5am - induction (or possible c-section)
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