The baby's birtday will be April 11, 2001. How strange to know it already.
We just went into the doctor's surgery to speak to the consultant. The scan last week showed that the baby is oblique breech, meaning it's diagonal in the uterus, with its bottom and feet down. (This is not normal - babies at this stage should be head down). The appointment was to discuss what we should do about it.
The consultant poked around my enormous belly and stated that it was now breech, meaning that its bottom had settled into position to come out first. This change is a good thing, since if it were still transverse, they would want me to come into the hospital and wait for it to be born. With a due date 2 weeks away, that just sounds horrible. No E2...
As things stand, there are a number of options.
- Try to turn the baby by external manipulation. This has about a 60% chance of success, but there's also the chance of foetal distress and an emergency 1 Caesarian section right then. Although the doctor didn't discuss pain, I have looked into it, and the procedure is uncomfortable at the very least. If the baby went head down, and stayed that way (some do shift back), we could have a normal birth.
Further web research by my better half has just revealed that in cases of Rh incompatibility (I'm Rh-, he's Rh+), exernal manipulation is not recommended. There's too much chance of foetal bleeding, which is A VERY BAD THING INDEED.
- Since the doctor thinks it's breech (I'm not sure, based on where the kicking comes from), just wait on things and try a standard delivery. Now, I know from talking it over with mothers of breech babies that this is not fun, not even by the standards of childbirth in general.
- Book us in for an elective 2 section.
Option 1 really didn't grab me. If it were that or go through a breech birth, then I would have jumped at it. But it failed the Guilt Test...if something went wrong, and we found ourself rushing for an emergency section, and (God forbid) the baby was in distress, I would blame myself terribly.
Option 2 was right out.
So we're scheduled for a C-section on Wednesday, April 11, 2001. The first choice date, medically speaking (Friday April 13) was ruled out because it's Good Friday, a bank holiday, and the hospital will be (relatively) lightly staffed (can't say I mind skipping surgery on Friday the 13th). The second choice, Thursday April 12, was booked solid already.
So in a week, I have a baby. Wish me luck.
Since the Lord and Master is also an Everythingian, I shall get him to post an announcement in the daylog when the deed is done...
- An emergency section is generally done under general anaesthesia. This presents a risk to the mother (as all general anaesthetic does). It can also affect the baby.
- An elective section is done under spinal anaesthetic, usually an epidural. That means I will be awake for the whole experience, and that the baby will not be affected by the anaesthetic.