Help Me Pick Cora’s Birthday!!!!

I went to see the doctor who could perform the External Cephalic Version. He said the version was a no go because her bottom is too far down in my pelvis. He said it would cause excruciating pain for me to get her disengaged. He said there's plenty of amniotic fluid, but there's no way she can flip on her own with contractions every 3-5 minutes. He said I'm looking at a c-section...and this is a doctor who prefers to deliver breech babies vaginally.

Why I really LOVE this doctor:
He said, "Wow, you've been contracting like this for three weeks?"
Me - Yes
Him - And aren't you uncomfortable all the time?
Me - Yes
Him - And do you sleep at night?
Me - I wake up off and on.
Him - I know it must be so frustrating to not know if she's coming tomorrow or next week, especially with not sleeping and contracting like this (I was having a contraction when he started to examine me, so he was able to feel their wrath). If you weren't still on the preemie side, I would say pick your day for a c-section. But I'm going to say 2 weeks from now, but I would be really surprised if you lasted that long.
Me - Well shoot, sign me up.

YAY! I have a real time frame. And it isn't 5 weeks from now! And he thinks I might go early.

The stats as of yesterday: 4-5 cm, 80% effaced, -1 station.

All right, here's where I need your help! There are three important days that happen in two weeks...

February 27th - My Grandpa's birthday. He passed away in 2001. I was really close to him as he was the main father figure in my life until I was 12.

February 28th - Jake's Dad's birthday. I think it would be fun for them to share that.

February 29th - LEAP YEAR!!! I'm a little weird, so I of course think it's AWESOME! But what if Cora REALLY loves her birthday, and only gets to see the day once every 4 years? Would she hold the fact that I scheduled her birth on such a day against me forever?

I will most likely have to choose at my doctor's appointment tomorrow morning!!!

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Totally random and super cool

I talked to a chiropractor friend about Webster's Technique. She had a friend a few hours away who does it. She got a hold of her, and then called with what she said. I'm on the phone and her friend had told her about a doctor in my area who I should go see. He has a high flip rate, but also delivers breech babies vaginally. She drops the name, and I almost fall out of my chair! It's the doctor I'm going to see on Wednesday. I'm so happy that his name is floating around in the world as the person to see if you have a breech baby!

I looked up the statistics for complications. 5 out of 100 breech babies delivered vaginally are at risk for complications. 1 out of 100 breech babies born via c-section are at risk for complications. I don't know how that relates to head-down babies born vaginally vs. c-section.

I just still can't get over the fact that she named the doctor I'm going to see as the person I should be seeing. It really takes a little load off.

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A semi-plan

I have been looking up all sorts of flipping techniques, and trying several. Last night I stacked pillows under my hips to they were elevated about 12 inches off the floor. I put my ipod speakers way down low (I started out playing her the I am Sam soundtrack (covered Beatles songs)), and an ice pack up where her head was. She moved around a lot, but never flipped. I can't figure out what I'll try tonight.

I'm going in to see a doctor who will do an ECVersion (manually flipping her from the outside) Wednesday afternoon. He wanted to wait to schedule a c-section until we see how this works out. He has done several vaginal breech deliveries. He prefers them to c-sections for breech babies (so a c-section could be out all together unless there is an emergency). I'm a little nervous. In my research to find flipping techniques I came across pictures of vaginal breech deliveries, wow, they almost freaked me out more than when I watched a c-section on youtube. I'm such a naturalist. So with a c-section, I can handle the idea of my skin being cut into a STRETCHED open, but I don't like the idea of my uterus being cut through. I also don't like that it's a guarenteed epidural. I just want Cora to arrive healthy and happy, with the least amount of risks possible. Hopefully the version will be successful, and she won't flip back to head up. I just want to be well informed with all of the possibilities. She is absolutely perfect where she is right now. I guess there's always apprehension in the "getting them here" process.

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Tornado Sirens at Noon

I am sitting in my living room on a sunny day without a single cloud in view from my window. In Oklahoma City at Noon on Saturday on a day such as this, tornado sirens are blaring in a system test, and I love it.

I was released from the hospital Wednesday evening. I'm still having frequent contractions, but haven't dilated anymore in about a week. I'm still somewhere between a 4 and 5. Cora is still breech. I've been doing random things to get her to flip. Different positions and such. I watched a video on Youtube last night of a pregnant woman doing hand stands in the swimming pool in attempts to flip her baby. Two days later she had her baby came and was head down. I hope to try that too.

I had an appointment with my regular doctor yesterday. She is going to talk to a doctor about scheduling a c-section at 38 weeks if she is still breech. She also is talking with an OBGYN who has a high success rate with external cephalic versions. A version is manipulating the baby from the outside in attempts of turning him/her into the head down position. That doctor usually doesn't do it until 37 weeks. My doctor is pretty sure that Cora would make her way into the world if she flipped around because her head would be pushing against my cervix during contractions...ya know, how it normally works. She said there's a reason why your body usually only contracts regularly for a few hours when you have your baby. After a while it's a bit tiring. I think Cora is getting bigger everyday. My tummy feels bigger all the time now.

My full paid leave ends on Tuesday. I'm not really stressed about it, but I do think about it. After Tuesday I have 20 days of leave where the substitutes pay comes out of my check. It cuts my monthly income in half. And after the 20 days, that's it, no more pay. Generally my benefits should go away too, but the district can work with me to continue the benefits. The 20 days would take me to March 12...so not even her real due date if she goes full term. I might be able to go back to work at 36 weeks...I don't like thinking about the maybes almost more than I don't like thinking about the fosho's.

At any rate, I am home. I can't imagine a better place in the world.

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Home

I hope the subject of this blog isn't too deceiving. Yesterday morning I was told I would be able to go home this afternoon.You'd better believe I was excited. My mind kept wandering with all of the things I was going to do when I got there. I was especially excited about sleeping in my sheets! When I was n the monitor last night, I was contracting every 1-3 minutes. 3 minutes was a rarity. It was more like 1-1 1/2. Anywho, a doctor who has checked my cervix before, checked it again and said I was a 4-5. When the doctors came in this morning, they talked about my "rough" night last night. The new attending said she didn't think I should go home for a few more days because I'm still having contractions and Cora is still breech. I was like "WAIT A SECOND!!!!" I didn't say it out loud, but that's what Jake and I had been talking about. Like if all of the conditions that are dangerous haven't changed then why are we going home. We just took comfort in the idea that we were less than 10 minutes away from 2 hospitals and we were past 34 weeks, which is the most crucial time...and the other attending said it would be cool. So even though this attending makes much more sense, it's a bummer to find out you must stay longer on the very day you were supposed to go home. She said I need to have a few calm days of no pelvic exams, etc. I haven't had one of those yet...well, I've gone 2 days once without having my cervix checked. I have no idea how long it will take to have a few days of "good" days, especially being that I'M STILL CONTRACTING ALL THE TIME!

So now that we're pretty much past critical mass for Cora, how are we gonna get her out? ;) If she comes in this next little extended visit, then I won't have to pay another admittance for my insurance. Perk, right?

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Cora Flowers

Yesterday was so weird! All morning long we thought Cora might have flipped around. There was definitely something that wasn't very bottom-like down in my pelvis. By the time the ultrasound came, she was breech...the hard spot we thought was a head was gone. She's in a better breech position though! She's not sitting on a leg anymore. From the measurements they did, she weighs FIVE pounds! She must have an ultra-large umbilical cord, or she's just being greedy with her portion of the food we eat. Either way, if she was 5 pounds at 33 weeks and 3 days, she's going to be HUGE if I end up making it to full term (highly unlikely). I do not have a big baby body....yet another thing to discuss with her.

A nurse who has never measured my cervix for dilation came in and did just that yesterday. It was SOOOOO discouraging. Right before she started I said, "Don't break my heart with the new number." She gets done and says, "Yeah, you're only about a 2-3."

I was like, "WHAT?!?" I told her that I'd been consistently measuring at 4 for the last few days. She said a little bit more to justify her 2-3. And then said, "You're lucky these contractions aren't doing anything..." I'm still stuck on her number...and then, this is the kicker! She says, "Just drink some water and lay on your side and they should go away." I could not believe this woman. I had been in the hospital for 8 days, EIGHT DAYS! and that's her answer. It would generally be a very good answer. I've done it and it has worked well with cramps and uneasiness, but it has yet to stop or slow my contractions since I've been in here. I was a 2-3 when I went into the hospital on the first day. My progression to a solid three (measured by the same person) is how I got moved to this hospital. My progression to a solid four (also measured several time by one person...and backed by others) is why I'm still here.

When she left I just started crying. Oh, and when she left, she didn't give me anything to remove the excess gel stuff, AND she left my door open. So I'm just lying under the covers without my pants, BAWLING, and I can't get up to get anything because my door is open. I waited for my real nurse to come back, it took her a while because she was ordering morphine to see if it would calm my uterus down because the contractions had been right on top of each other, which is why I had the cervical check anyway. Right after I called my nurse, and before she got there, this man pops his head in the door with a BEAUTIFUL arrangement of flowers. I was trying to get out through the tears that he probably had the wrong room, but he says my name before I can get it out. I said, "Yes." He put them on the counter of my sink so I could see it, and then he brought me the card. He was so apprehensive because I was really just crying hysterically. I read the card, and this sweet couple from church had sent the flowers. I looked at them and laughed and cried, and despite the fact that I kept crying, and requested to see the doctor when my nurse got back, I couldn't think anything but "Cora" when I looked over and saw the light coming down through the pink petals of a lily.

That night I went over to visit a woman who has been here for three days. This is her second pre-term labor. Her first was with her little girl who is 13 months. A nurse who I had a few days ago, who still visits me, said that I should go see her because her little girl was born at 33 weeks. I'm sitting in a chair next to her bed, her husband and two kids are there. We're just talking, and then I start feeling really light-headed, like I'm going to pass out. I just stop talking and say, "I'm sorry, but I feel faint." They're both looking at me, and her husband goes over and calls the nurse, and then I feel like I'm going to throw up. There's a trash can right next to me, and I grab it, but then I think about how they're right there. I bolted up and stumbled into the bathroom and threw up! They're just out there asking if I'm okay. The nurse hadn't arrived yet, so her husband told me to pull the little string in the bathroom to see if they would get there any faster. My nurse and her nurse both arrived together. I finished up, cleaned up, and was escorted back to my room. I felt a twinge of embarrassment coupled with a little "What the heck?" I just went to sleep when I got back. Jake was here, and also not feeling well. We both were in bed at 7:30, with a minor interruption so I could be put on the monitor for contractions and Cora's heartbeat.

Anyway, here I am this morning, hooked up to the afore mentioned machine...having contractions, oh, every two minutes for now...but every time I look up I catch sight of and spend a while lost in thought at my Cora Flowers.

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