Today, I spent the day in the hospital attempting to turn the baby from breech to head-down. It was a full day with a lot of monitoring and a lot of waiting! The doctor usually does two attempts, but because we are a little more "high risk", he only tried once. The baby didn't turn so is still breech, but thankfully we didn't experience any complications and so did not need an emergency cesarean today.
Because the baby is still breech, they have scheduled a cesarean for December 4. I'm a bit concerned that it is too close to my due date (only 3 days "early", usually they do it 1-2 weeks early) - I don't want to go into labour and then need an emergency cesarean which will be more risky for me and the little one - plus Bernard will not be able to accompany me. I've contacted the doctor to ask if it is possible to move the date closer but I'm not holding my breath - I'll see what he says.
All in all, I think I'm glad we tried. If we hadn't, I probably would have wondered "what if"... although of course since she didn't turn, it does feel in some ways like a waste of a day, and unnecessary discomfort as well - but we would have never known if we hadn't have tried.
There still is a (small) chance that the baby will turn by herself before the scheduled cesarean, in which case they will cancel the surgery and wait for her to come naturally. We'll just have to wait and see what happens. It is surreal to think that in just a couple of weeks, she will be with us!
I went into labor before my scheduled c-section. I was 7 cm dilated when I got to the hospital (because when I called my doctor and asked him what to do he said drink a glass of water and go to bed, you'll feel better in the morning) and then we still had to wait for the doctors (2 for a c-section) and then wait longer for the anesthesiologist. It was a little hectic, but really no big deal. I think worst case scenario my baby would have been born feet first :-)
ReplyDeleteI think the risk of spontaneous labor is better than the risk of delivering a baby who isn't fully ready yet. Lungs are one of the last things to fully mature, a week or two longer in utero could make all the difference!
I'm thinking about your family all the time. I hope everything goes well in the coming weeks.
PS, those visiting hours are ridiculous! I'm so sorry!
Hi Chelsy, my main concerns about the emergency c are a) we don't know which doctors we will get. Given the extra medical concerns, I think this is not preferable. b) at these hospitals in HK, if it's an emergency cesarean, the husband is NOT allowed in the OT. Also given that we won't know how severely her breathing will be affected until her first few minutes, I really NEED my husband's support at that time.
DeleteIn addition, given that my due date from ultrasound is more like November 30 rather than December 7, I don't think that prematurity is a huge concern - the scheduled C-section is after my "ultrasound due date". I'd actually rather do a vaginal breech birth but the hospital won't let me!