Final doctor appointment

At the appointment that would ultimately be my last before meeting our sweet baby, we found out that baby was still breech, still really high (like, in my ribcage - which explains the insane reflux), and still had plenty of fluid. The particular physician that we saw "loves flipping babies" and thought I would be a good candidate for an external version (the doctor physically tries to turn the baby by pushing on the belly). If you don't already know, these are/can be extremely painful and risky to the unborn baby.

Good thing Bryan and I had already discussed and agreed that we did not want to try this procedure. It just seemed as if too many signs were pointing to a well-medicated Cesarean delivery. So again, I tried to roll with it (and cried a lot... and still spent lots of time in this position with fingers crossed... sorry for the crappy camera phone picture).

The next step was to sign my life away with release forms pick our baby's birthday! I was so ready to get the show on the road that we took the next available appointment in the OR the following day.

Phone calls were made, plane tickets changed, and we had the wagons circled. My besties gave me pep talks and pointers and told me all of things I didn't want to know about recovery. I don't know what I was more upset about, not being able to eat the entire next day or electively being filleted open on an operating room table. Turned out it was nothing a big fat glass of wine and a great night's sleep couldn't overcome. I set my alarm for 4am (the last time I'd be allowed to eat or drink anything) and drank 32oz of water and ate two granola bars in bed, and slept like a little baby all night.

Next up... birth day!

Birthday and pre birth day

Hello 31. Today I felt young, energetic, full of life (quite literally and figuratively), and ready to flip a baby at my second appointment with the chiropractor. That is, until the chiropractor called to cancel my appointment due to strep throat. I begged him to just wear a surgical mask and to see me anyway, but then decided that I was grasping for straws. This baby isn't going anywhere. I took a deep breath and decided I had to let it go.

I went about my merry way - at times choking back tears and at others responding to birthday well wishes. At least I had dinner with the hubs to look forward to! Darra (or Dora as Sophie likes to call her) watched Soso and put her to bed while Bryan and I went out for sushi and icecream. Pregnancy cravings, anyone?

In case you have kept up and were wondering about my little 30 in 30 book project, I was a miserable failure. But I think it's only fair to consider that I started a little side sewing business, we moved out of state, went on a two-week vacation, oh and I got pregnant which requires lots of napping when chasing a toddler around. I probably read 10 of the 30 books in their entirety, started five others which are still on my nightstand, and I threw in four others for fun and for child-rearing.

So, to 31 and beyond, I'll never have to ask for a book recommendation when I find myself with some free time (ha! free time!).

Webster

Pregnancy, childbirth and motherhood in general have forced me to become more familiar and comfortable with otherwise unknown, funny or strange words. To name a few: lightening, effacement, linea negra, Weissbluth, nipple, breech, anterior fontanelle, craniosynostosis, and my newest vocab addition is the "Webster Technique" (which I'll get to in a minute).

I've used this blog to write about mostly sunny and wonderful moments of motherhood. I am not really one to mass communicate on the hardships. Like almost a year ago when we saw a pediatric cranial plastic surgeon for a possible diagnosis of craniosynostosis (aka scariest time so far in my mothering career). Sophie is fine, by the way.

The second most paralyzing moment in my mothering career happened yesterday. We had an ultrasound to check on baby Barber's progress at almost 39 weeks and the technician told us we have a big, healthy BREECH baby. I kind of checked out at that point. In the contiguous United States, this presentation of baby equals Cesarean delivery. I know - women do it every day, it's safe, it's routine, blah blah blah. The last thing I want is scheduled major surgery to extract a baby from my body, at the risk of offending anyone that reads this. It's just not for me. I mean, I cried when I got my flu shot.

In coming to terms with my new potential reality, I reached out to my very best resources who gave me some excellent advice. I immediately scheduled an appointment with a highly recommended chiropractor for first thing this morning. He's had a great success rate with something called the "Webster Technique" which involves small adjustments and encouraging some involuntary muscles and ligaments to relax and stretch giving baby any extra room available to get head-down.

A chiropractic adjustment called the Webster technique is a specific sacral adjustment to help facilitate the mother's pelvic alignment and nerve system function. This in turn balances pelvic muscles and ligaments, reduces torsion to the uterus and offers a greater potential for optimal fetal positioning.

So I'm freshly home from my first treatment and feeling relaxed and hopeful. There has been a lot of activity in my belly (fingers crossed), and I go back in on Monday for another round. Tuesday my doctors are going to want to make a plan that minimizes risk for safe delivery. If it doesn't work, I will know that I tried. Head down, head up, surgery or labor... healthy baby. Thank you to my friends and family for prayers, thoughts and words of encouragement!