As you can see (from the title of this post) my second baby is breech…and I’m NOT a happy camper!

I decided early on in my first pregnancy that I wanted to go natural and so I chose to have a doula (also a good friend of mine!).  To make a long story short, everything went according to my “plan” (the perfect scenario for a type A person like me!)

The “plan”:
1) Go into labour at home
2) Labour at home (or at my doula’s house) for as long as possible before going to the hospital.
3) NO epidural or IV
4) Have a quick and relatively “easy” labour

Believe it or not, that is pretty much what happened! Ask my doula or my husband-they’ll vouch for me!  It all happened so fast that we have little “documentation” of the event.  My husband/back-massager didn’t get a chance to take pictures or film the labour or birth because I practically screamed bloody murder anytime he tried to leave my side he just didn’t have any time!

He managed to take one picture between contractions while I was still labouring at my doula’s house…

Subsequent pictures weren’t taken until after my son was born!

Now, let’s fast forward back to the present! I naively figured my labour would be “more or less the same” this time around, if not even easier!  Boy, was I wrong!

To make a long story short, at 36 weeks I had to go in for an ultrasound and NST because my stomach was measuring smaller than normal.  Low and behold, my doctor told me I had low amniotic fluid and (my greatest fear)…she’s breech!  The first word that came to my mind was, “Noooooo!” (then of course, “son of a breech!”)

I wasn’t prepared for the next two words, (my second greatest fear)…”bed rest!” Anyone who knows me knows I am usually running around like a chicken with my head cut off, pregnant or not-which is what I have been doing for the last 8 months!  (Maybe this was a sign that I need to stop and smell the roses?!)

My baby girl is in a Frank breech…

I was however, reassured that she will “most likely” turn.  I mean, statistically, only 3-5% of babies remain breech up to their due date.  Well, I’m  now 38 weeks and she hasn’t budged, so it looks like I’m one of those 3-5%!  What are the chances?!!!

Needless to say, I have tried just about everything to get this stubborn little girl to turn (Yah, I know, I can’t count how many times I’ve heard, “she’s going to be just like her mom!”).

Here are some of the suggested things you can do to try and turn a breech baby-so far we’ve tried most of them in vain…

1) Inversions – check!
2) Meditation/talk to baby – check!
3) Chiropractor (Webster technique) – check!
4) Acupuncture/moxibustion – too late, I’ve given up!
5) External cephalic version, or “ecv” (as a last resort).

And here we are, at 38 weeks, and still NOTHING! Oh, she moves alright but she just does not want to turn. There is a slight chance that she could still turn but I’m losing hope!  Needless to say, we are discouraged, cranky (well, I’ll speak for myself-the bed rest doesn’t help!) and we’re exhausted because we’ve exhausted the options!  I’ve wanted to avoid an epidural AND a cesarean at ALL costs…so you can imagine how this big slap in the face has affected me!

Here are the possible options that we have (and supposedly having more options is supposed to make the decision easier?!):

1) Wait it out (hoping praying she’ll turn), go into labour naturally, deliver natural (that’s if the doctor on call will deliver a frank breech baby, otherwise it’s a c-section)
2) Book a c-section a week before my due date
3) Book an ECV, which has a 30-50% success rate of turning baby (so there’s STILL a 50-70% chance of a cesarean!!), OR the baby turns and I get induced.

Check out this video of an ECV being performed…

Contrary to popular belief, I HAVE come to terms with the fact that having a natural birth is out of the question! (Sniff, sniff!)

At the moment, it looks like an ECV is the top contender.  I’m not entirely convinced about any of the options…partly because the type A in me just can’t accept the situation, and partly because no option is complication-free!  I just have to go with my gut!

I spoke to a good friend last night who reminded me that it is now time to STOP thinking altogether (although for me, that’s easier said than done!) It is what it is…and I completely agree with her.

Now, I need to focus on the POSITIVE…like how I’m going to meet this little bundle of stubbornness joy sooner than I thought! 😉

What was your labour experience like? Is it what you expected or were you thrown a surprise curve ball like I was?

If you had a choice, would you opt for a cesarean or an ECV?