"Bad Baby!"

"Bad Baby!" Yes, those were the words uttered by my doctor yesterday as she performed the 36-week ultrasound to check the baby's positioning and discovered our baby in the breech position. That certainly wasn't the news I was expecting to hear and the more it sunk in, the more disappointed about it I became. So basically we have two options. The first option is to wait until next week for another ultrasound and hope that the baby has turned. If not, we could opt for a procedure called an external cephalic version (ECV) in which the doctor attempts to manually turn the baby in the head-down direction. If the ECV is successful which apparently it is about 50% of the time, then I would most likely be able to have a vaginal delivery. If we decide to bypass the ECV or if the ECV isn't successful, I would be scheduled for a c-section at 39 weeks - which is only two and a half weeks away! Eek!

My initial reaction was to completely rule out the ECV and just plan for a c-section, however, I was pretty upset by this turn of events. I guess it's just not the way I pictured the whole birth experience would go. On the plus side, if I choose this option, we get to meet the baby sooner and I would actually know the date I'm going to deliver ahead of time. Also not to be forgotten, instead of the 6 weeks pay I would get for a vaginal delivery, I would get 8 weeks pay for a c-section. I'm not sure that surgery is worth an extra two weeks pay though!

After allowing all of this to sink in and after getting some really helpful comments from mothers who have been in similar situations, I'm starting to reconsider. A girl I went to high school with recently had a successful ECV and delivered a beautiful healthy baby boy. She has provided me with some really good information which makes me feel like maybe it's something I want to try. It is possible that the procedure could result in an emergency c-section so I would need to be ready for that scenario. Check out this YouTube video of an actual ECV - pretty crazy!



I don't have a ton of time to make this decision as the ECV is generally done between 36 and 37 weeks (I'll be 37 weeks next Wednesday). Dave has said that it's up to me whatever I choose to do. In the mean time, I'm going to attempt to coax the baby to turn on it's own by trying some various pelvic tilt exercises I've been reading about on the Internet. I figure I have nothing to lose!

One thing is for certain, this baby is already taking after its directionally challenged mother!!