Hi there! I have a somewhat an immediate dilemma. My little guy is still breech now at 38 weeks and after the internal exam I am not dilating or anything. Just came home from the DR and he gave me a couple of options. (1) To do an external version or (2) schedule a C-Section (he did give me a 3rd and I said no way to a breech delivery!). He is going to go ahead to schedule the c-section anyways (for the end of next week) but will cancel it if we do the version. If I choose to do the version I would have it done ASAP since the little guy is getting big. If he does the version, he would give me an epidural for the procedure and if successful I would then let my pregnancy progress as plan. My husband is leaning towards just doing a c-section and so am I BUT…. I am still not sure!!! Appreciate any thoughts from others who have been in this dilemma as well and what you decided to do. Thanks!!
Thank you all for your input as I had to let me DR know this morning of my decision. I opted not to do the version. He did give me some positioning exercises and I like the other suggestions with the ice pack which I am going to try. I do have a "scheduled" c-section but if he flips on his own before (still have a week), then I will not need it. At this point I feel the little one will figure out what is best for him and not have to put us all through a lot of stress of another procedure. Thank you again!
my sister in law's dr. told her to wait until she went into early labor.. like the beginnning of labor.. some babies will turn around.. her's didn't.. and then she had to have a c section.. she liked doing it this way because she felt maybe the baby would turn.. it didn't... and after the c.. everyone is fine.
Your doctor is allowing you the option of birthing vaginally and you're not going to take it. My son was breech. My doctor would not deliver vaginally. The hospital wouldn't even let her. I struggled with the to version or not to. Another difference here my doctor wouldn't do it after 36 weeks. She said it was too late and the baby would be too big. She did feel I was a good candidate for the version having already had two children before, but my concern with doing the version was ending up in an emergency situation and having to have an emergency c-section with a baby that was only at 36 weeks. Which of course isn't a bad thing there, but to go through all of that pain and discomfort and then on top of that still need the c-section it seemed unnecessary. So I opted not to do the version and just plan the c-section. Turned out to be a great idea too. My son had the cord wrapped around his neck twice. And this was why he couldn't move himself. The version would have put us in an emergency situation. The way I looked at it is my body knew what to do with my older two and for whatever reason it wasn't going it with this one so better leave well enough alone and do this the safest way possible for my little guy. I suppose even delivering or trying to deliver vaginally would have resulted in me having an emergency c-section, but still I would have liked to try. Thankfully though I do have a doctor who's all for vbacs so if I ever do want to have more children I should be able to do it vaginally. The c-section does take a lot out of you and we ended up having to stay the full five days because of jaundice which if I had delivered vaginally I would have been home when he started to present with the jaundice and they just would have treated it at home rather than keeping us in the hospital. So it would have been nice to go home sooner for sure, but I do think we made the right choice. You really have to go with your gut.
Hi C.,
Some other minimally invasive options you can try are the "Webster Technique" done by a chiropractor and accupuncture.
Congratulations on your upcoming birth. I wish you the very best outcome!
C.
My daughter was the same way. She turned breech 4 wks before delivery. I decided against the inversion and went ahead with the c-section. 1st, the whole inversion process is very stressful on your body and the baby. 2nd there is no guarentee that he won't flip back and you'll need the c-section anyway. 3rd my dr told me that during the process it was possible for the imbilical cord to get wrapped around the baby's neck (not a chance I was willing to take). And since my body had been through so much (my pregnancy was horrible, but to long a story for now) I decided to just schedule the section. I've heard that you can try to get them to flip on your own. Take a ice back and put it by their head and put a heat pack by their butt. And they will flip away from the ice on their own. The nice thing about scheduling a c-section is that you know ahead of time that this is happening. I was in labor for well over 16 hrs with my son and ended up with a c-section after 4 hrs of pushing. I felt like a failure because I couldn't do it. But with my daughter I knew there was no way, and it was easier to deal with. I didn't have the same expectations for her delivery that I did for my son's. So I wasn't disappointed that I couldn't do it. It was all her fault (LOL). By the way, the morning before my scheduled c-section, I woke up and went into labor. Full contractions and all. So there is no saying that you won't go into labor on your own even if he's breech.
I had a version done with my 2nd child at 38 weeks. I had an epidural and 40 seconds into the procedure, he was flipped. I felt NO PAIN!!!!!! I'm not sure why you would lean towards having a C-section. If the version doesn't work, you'll need one anyway but why not try to prevent unnecessary surgery and a more difficult recovery. The worst part of the version is psychological - I was so nervous. I spoke with our pediatrician and other doctors who all said there were no side effects and that if they were in the same position, they would opt for the version. Good luck! I hope this email helps. Email me if you want more info........
I know this may sounds insane, but it worked for me. When I did it, I wasnt as far along as you are now, but its still worth a try...
My daughter was breech, and my midwife told me to put a bag of frozen peas on the upper part of my belly. The baby will feel the cold, and instinctively move away from it. Whenever I was sitting down, I had a bag of frozen veggies on my belly.
And it worked. At my next ultrasound she had flipped around. And was in the correct position.
Like I said, it sounds crazy...But worth a try.
