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davejag · Mar 13, 2008, 11:23 PM

I am 29 weeks pregnant and my baby only moves below my belly button, and mostly on my right side. When I went to my doctors appointment today he told me he can't tell if the baby is breech or not. He told me that we'll have to wait for another two weeks, and then if he still can't tell, I will have to have another ultrasound. Why can't he tell where the head of the baby is? If the doctor says the baby is breech does that mean I have to have a
C-section? Does the baby still have time to turn? At what point would they do the C-section? I am just a bit worried I hope some one can help thanks.

Wondergirl · Mar 13, 2008, 11:29 PM

Originally Posted by davejag

I am 29 weeks pregnant and my baby only moves below my belly button, and mostly on my right side. When I went to my doctors appointment today he told me he can't tell if the baby is breech or not. He told me that we'll have to wait for another two weeks, and then if he still can't tell, I will have to have another ultrasound. Why can't he tell where the head of the baby is? If the doctor says the baby is breech does that mean I have to have a
C-section? Does the baby still have time to turn? At what point would they do the C-section? I am just a bit worried I hope some one can help thanks.

At this point in the pregnancy, the baby still has room in which to tumble around. Soon the baby will fill all the space and tend to stay in one position. Sometimes that position is breech (feet first). During delivery, the doctor can sometimes turn a breech baby so it will emerge headfirst. A c-section isn't a guarantee even with a breech situation but it would make it easier if the doctor can't turn the baby.

I had one vaginal delivery and one c-section. I would take the c-section over the vaginal delivery any day!

davejag · Mar 13, 2008, 11:48 PM

Why is that? I heard that a C-section is so much harder on your body and it is so much harder to lose the baby weight. Can I make the decision to have a c-section or is that up to the doctor?

simoneaugie · Mar 14, 2008, 12:32 AM

If you are in an emergency situation, the doctor may feel a need to do a C-section. Without an emergency you can choose, unless you are railroaded. I've never had a C-section. My two babies were both vaginal deliveries without medication. The second was born at home, on the couch. That was great!

Find out about the Bradley Method. It uses the mood of the pregnant woman to determine what stage of labor she is in. It was right on for me.

nicki143 · Mar 14, 2008, 02:47 AM

My friends baby was breech right up till she was going to have a c section then he moved there is still loads of time

Wondergirl · Mar 14, 2008, 09:44 AM

Originally Posted by davejag

Why is that? I heard that a C-section is so much harder on your body and it is so much harder to lose the baby weight. Can I make the decision to have a c-section or is that up to the doctor?

With a vaginal delivery, the mother may have trouble sitting comfortably for a week or so, especially if an episiotomy was done. With a c-section, she would have to avoid a lot of bending and stretching for a week or two.

I don't know why you think a c-section would be harder on your body or make it hard to lose the baby weight. I didn't pig out during my pregnancies and didn't have extra weight from that, so getting back to my normal weight was no problem. Breastfeeding helps that process.

Vaginal deliveries are preferred. Lamaze training or Bradley preparation will help. Just remember that labor is a productive effort by your body -- a GOOD thing. The increasing strength of the contractions help push out that baby. The best thing to learn how to do is RELAX with instead of fight each contraction.

J_9 · Mar 14, 2008, 11:13 AM

Okay, here's the shizzy from a Labor & Delivery nurse intern...

At 29 weeks baby still has plenty of time to turn, if indeed s/he is breech. When the doctor puts the Doppler on your belly to hear the heartbeat, where does he put it? Below your belly button or above? That will give me an idea if baby is breech or not. Also, there is a maneuver called the Leopold's Maneuver that tells us what position the baby is in. It's all just basically feeling your baby and feeling the particular lumps and bumps to tell us which part is the presenting part in the pelvic cavity.

As for birth... if your baby is indeed breech you will in fact have to have a C-Section. That is because if baby get's stuck coming out buttocks first, the head is still inside the vaginal canal and baby is not getting any oxygen. Babies who are breech and are born vaginally have a very high occurrence of cerebral palsy. Another concern is that the ubmilical cord my prolapse or the baby may have "jewlery," which simply means the cord is wrapped around the baby's neck. If that is the case, and the baby is delivered breech, it is usually born, if alive, very hypoxic.

So, you don't want to risk baby's life just because you would prefer to have a vaginal delivery. Having a C-Section makes you no less a woman, as some women used to believe.

davejag · Mar 14, 2008, 11:29 AM

Thanks a lot everyone, all those answers helped a lot. To answer the J_9 question the doctor puts the doppler below my belly that's where he always hears it. He can't push to hard on my belly due to the pain I have, if I have a c-section how much sooner before my due date can they take the baby?
The reason why I am asking is because I've just had to many problems with this pregnancy. For example last week I ended up in Labour and Delivery because of unbearable pain due to an infection, then at 15 weeks I was run of the road by police officer ( he was going to an accident scene, he didn't see me in time and ran into me), so I was in hospital for that. Then at 18 weeks my labour began and the doctor had to stop it and for a while I was put on bed rest, not to mention the bleeding that has come along with this pregnancy. Would it be better if I had a c-section because of everything?

J_9 · Mar 14, 2008, 11:51 AM

If the doppler is below the bellybutton, most likely the baby is not breech. If the baby were breech, the heartbeat would be higher up, more like above your umbilicus.

Now, as for the C-Section and when they would take the baby. They can't take it any earlier than they would if the baby were being born vaginally. The baby needs to grow inside you, it's still growing and it's organs are maturing.

The minimum age of term is 34 weeks for some doctors and 36 weeks to others. HOWEVER, this does not mean that they will take the baby then because you are suffering infections, etc.

At this point, if born, baby would most likely be in NICU on a ventilator. You see, there are certain weeks during pregnancy when certain organs, hormones, bodily chemicals, etc are formed. At this point in time there is not enough surfactant in the baby's lungs to help it breathe should it be born now.

The longer the baby stays inside you the healthier it will be.

Wondergirl · Mar 14, 2008, 01:23 PM

Originally Posted by J_9

hypoxic? surfactant??

We are just ordinary peepul, J_9!!

J_9 · Mar 14, 2008, 01:34 PM

Sorry, I forget that as it's ordinary language to me now.

Hypoxic means that there is not enough oxygen to the brain and that can cause brain or other organ damage. Many children who have cerebral palsy were hypoxic during labor and delivery, or even during pregnancy. This means they lacked the adequate amount of oxygen.

Surfactant is a chemical produced by the body so that the lungs perform properly. If we don't have surfactant, we don't breathe and our lungs risk collapsing. It is produced around the 26th week of pregnancy but is not in high enough concentration until around the 34th week.

davejag · Mar 14, 2008, 01:49 PM

Oh I see what you mean that makes a big difference in time when the baby is ready to come out. Well thank you again for all the help I will speak with my doctor in a few weeks and then I will decide if I want a c-section or vaginal delivery.

J_9 · Mar 14, 2008, 01:53 PM

Honey, you may not have a choice for a c-section or a delivery. If your baby is indeed breech, you will not have a choice... if labor does not progress in a timely manner (about 24 hours) you won't have a choice.

You see, pregnancy is all a guessing game until that precious bundle of joy is in your arms.

ang8318 · Mar 14, 2008, 05:15 PM

As far as when they will do a c-section. My doc would NOT let me schedule mine before 38 weeks, she said anything earlier than that... there is a risk that the lungs may not be fully developed. I was very devastated when I found out I had to have a c-section, but now I am glad I did, as there were so many risks to me attempting vaginal delivery. Thanks to my c-section I have a healthy 3 month old son!

simoneaugie · Mar 14, 2008, 05:49 PM

It sounds as if you have a "high risk" pregnancy. Do what the doctor says.

It would be unsafe to have the baby at home. However, episiotomy... That is when they widen the vaginal opening... In Sweden the episiotomy rate is about 2%. In the USA it is about 98%. The women are close to the same size, so, go figure.

davejag · Mar 14, 2008, 07:58 PM

Thanks again for all the great answers it really helps, I just hope everything goes well. It just seems like I am a less of a person or mom to be because I am just so sick and tired of being pregnant. I know how that sounds I am just so tired and my morning sickness is still not gone, I am just having to many problems. I think I just imagined pregnancy a bit different it's a selfish of me to think that. I thought if I had a c-section or an induction I would have everything planned out, and not be so scared of going into labour and not knowing what to do. Am I less of a mom for wanting my baby out sooner.

Wondergirl · Mar 14, 2008, 09:07 PM

Originally Posted by davejag

I am just so sick and tired of being pregnant. Am I less of a mom for wanting my baby out sooner.

Most of us have walked in your moccasins. I suspect any woman who loved every second of her pregnancy is lying. After the sixth month, you are physically uncomfortable, your skin and hair get oily even after you wash them, you can't see your feet, you have to pee a lot and know the location of every public bathroom in the county, sleep is interrupted by Baby moving around or kicking, and the last thing you feel is pretty. If, on top of all that, you are having a lot of sickness or other problems, you just want it to be over. It certainly isn't the wonderful experience you've read about. (You do get a place to rest your arms or a plate though.)

And then the baby arrives.

Chapter Two.

davejag · Mar 14, 2008, 10:46 PM

Thank you I am not alone, it feels good someone else feels the same way the women I have talked to have said they loved every minute of their pregnancy.

Wondergirl · Mar 15, 2008, 12:54 AM

Originally Posted by davejag

Thank you I am not alone, it feels good someone else feels the same way the women I have talked to have said they loved every minute of their pregnancy.

When you hear that, just chuckle. Notice they aren't pregnant when they say that. It's always during the "afterglow" (probably after Baby's been potty trained or is finally married) that they say that.

davejag · Mar 15, 2008, 11:17 AM

Originally Posted by Wondergirl

When you hear that, just chuckle. Notice they aren't pregnant when they say that. It's always during the "afterglow" (probably after Baby's been potty trained or is finally married) that they say that.

Ha Ha Ha that is so true come to think of it everyone that says that to me isn't pregnant at the moment.